News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Washingtonians recall Ralph Munro’s distinctive political advertisements, which featured 30 seconds of bagpipe music followed by a brief tagline stating, “This interlude brought to you by the Munro campaign.” As unusual and refreshing as the ads were, they worked! They spared voters from the merciless pounding dished out by sparing politicians and their band of campaign hacks. Munro was elected as our state’s longest-serving secretary of state in 1980 and retired, after five four-year terms, in 2000. While he often ran unopposed, Munro was tir...
Nearly 50 people walked along Grand Coulee's Midway Avenue Saturday with signs expressing frustration with the direction of the federal government, about twice the size of the group that has been making the gathering a weekly event for weeks. They were joining a national push to make an impression across the country as millions hit the streets in cities large and small carrying signs and conversing about a range of complaints, from President Donald Trump's rapid changes to the federal... Full story
The term “public health” takes in a lot of territory, and even in relatively less populated Grant County it takes a lot to do the job of watching out for the public’s health. This is public health week, and Grant County Health District met with local media last week to encourage some coverage and enhance understanding of just what’s involved. GCHD has a staff of 38 people in several departments, all working to keep our air and water clean, ensure our food is safe, prevent disease, and promote healthier communities. “From ensuring food safety th...
This story was updated at 10:24 a.m. EDT, April 8 WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Monday said the Trump administration could continue for now to use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to carry out rapid deportations of Venezuelans suspected of being gang members — but they must be given a chance to challenge their deportations in court. The 5-4 decision, which lifted a temporary restraining order by a District of Columbia federal judge, will allow the Trump administration to deport Venezuelans 14 and older who are suspected of Tren de Ara... Full story
In a sign that there is hope for a better government, a bipartisan bill in the U.S. Senate seeks to reassert the authority over trade granted to Congress in the Constitution. The Congress abdicated (delegated is actually the word they’ll use) that responsibility to the president back in 1934 in the midst of the Great Depression after the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act had deepened it in an attempt to protect American businesses. But that was back in the day when Americans expected and demanded normalcy and decency in a president, not when they c... Full story
Norm Luther’s accusations against Congressman Baumgartner are baseless, written in ignorance, and only echo left wing talking points. Mr. Luther accuses Congressman Baumgartner of undercutting Zelenskyy by saying that he is not doing a great job. That does not undercut him. Zelenskyy has been at war for quite a while now and continues to back out of cease fire deals. The U.S. has given hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine. We are now finding out that much of that is unaccounted for. It’s our duty to be critical of where our tax money goes...
While living in Boise, we decided to drive up to Payette Lake, about a two-hour drive. At Cascade, we drove around and ended up on a dirt road that headed east. We kept going and ended up in what is called the Stanley Basin. Stanley is a town of maybe 500-600 people. The town has a two-room schoolhouse with kids from all grades. But the little village houses a gigantic view of the Sawtooth Mountain Range. Its ragged rocky mountains reminded me of the Teton Range in Wyoming. It was our first discovery of the Sawtooths. Stanley is about 65 miles...
Three hospital leaders trekked to the other Washington last week to make the case at Congress for support of Coulee Medical Center. "During our meetings with Sen. Patty Murray, Sen. Maria Cantwell, and Rep. Dan Newhouse we discussed CMC's workforce housing needs, overdose prevention efforts and recent success in increasing breast cancer screening, as well as the significance of federal Medicaid funding to maintaining accessible healthcare services in our region," Chief Executive Office Kelly...
When Sam Peterson got the call, it was already too late. The National Park Service was offering to give him his job back, but he'd taken a job in Oregon and three days earlier signed a lease on an apartment. He needed to follow through on the commitment. "We have bills," Peterson said, "and a dog." Peterson, 26, had just started as a federal employee in June 2024 and was still in probationary status in February when the Trump administration started its Valentine's Day Massacre of federal...
Dozens of local students attend schools out of the Grand Coulee Dam School District, according to numbers compiled for the school board at their request. Director Alex Tufts had asked earlier this year that the district develop an exit interview as a matter of course to track reasons for students choosing to leave. The district has averaged 645 students across all grades this year, but is currently down by 22 students from the beginning of the school year. Director Rich Black asked at the March 24 meeting what reasons are for the migration. “So...
The Washington state House passed its budget just after midnight on Tuesday, setting the stage for negotiations with the Senate and the governor on a spending blueprint to address a looming multi-billion dollar shortfall. The House approved the two-year $77.8 billion operating budget on a 54-44 vote in which five Democrats joined all Republicans in opposition. The decision followed a roughly six-hour debate in which majority Democrats rejected more than two dozen Republican amendments to curb taxes and fees, boost special education funding,...
Rep. Michael Baumgartner is, figuratively speaking, “all-over-the-map” about Ukraine — but effectively supporting Russia. He agrees that Russia clearly started the war and was/is the aggressor, and he’s assured Thrive International Ukrainian refugees that he opposes their deportation. But he completely undercuts that by his Ritzville Town Hall statement, “I don’t think [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is doing a great job,” and by his outlandish calls for Zelenskyy to resign after President Donald Trump humiliated Zelenskyy. Co...
Everybody has favorite places. Some are lucky enough to live in them. For me, I have been lucky enough to live near some of them. I guess a favorite place is a place that captures your imagination and at the same time makes you feel good. I know of places I’ve been that didn’t do that. My travel agent in Kirkland called me one day while we were living in Bothell and said he had come across a special trip. Well, it turned out to be the Cayman Islands, where the water is clear and the sun bears down on you from midday on. We went for a week and...
Washingtonians recall Ralph Munro’s distinctive political advertisements, which featured 30 seconds of bagpipe music followed by a brief tagline stating, “This interlude brought to you by the Munro campaign.” As usual and refreshing as they were, they worked! They spared voters from the unmerciful candidate pounding dished out by sparing politicians and their band of campaign hacks. Munro was elected as our state’s longest-serving secretary of state in 1980 and retired after five four-year terms in 2000. While he often ran unopposed, Munro w...
Students at other school districts will no longer be able to participate in Lake Roosevelt’s sports programs following a vote Monday night by the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors. The new policy takes effect in the next school year. Currently, and for many years, students whose own nearby schools have not offered a sport have been able to arrange to participate in practices and play in Raider sports. But recent changes have drawn attention to the policy. Athletic Director Casey Brewster told the board Monday that the d...
A sixth-grade teacher at Lake Roosevelt Elementary will leave to join her husband in Astoria, Oregon. The school board voted Monday to let her out of her contract to leave before the end of the school year. Ashley St. Aubin-Clark's husband, Sam Peterson, was a first-year National Park Service employee at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area when the Trump Administration started cutting federal jobs across government services, starting with employees in probationary status. St. Aubin-Clark...
You’ve no doubt noticed them: all the empty commercial buildings in Grand Coulee. Or maybe you’re so used to them you no longer notice. Either way, the city council is talking about a new approach to dealing with the problem of blighted properties — empty buildings that don’t get used but just deteriorate. “I know this could be controversial. I know it could upset some people,” said Councilmember Tom Poplawski. “But on the other hand, I think we need to get it out there and talk about it, because our city has a whole lot of vacant busine...
Washington drivers would see higher gas taxes beginning this summer under transportation funding plans state House and Senate lawmakers unveiled Monday. The chambers approach what would be the first gas tax increase since 2016 a bit differently. The Senate’s proposal would raise the tax 6 cents per gallon, bringing it to 55.4 cents — not including the 18.4 cent federal rate. The state tax would then rise by 2% annually to account for inflation starting the following year. The House goes bigger, looking to raise the state tax 9 cents, and the...
As lawmakers meeting in Olympia wind up the 2025 session, they face a whopping $15 billion budget deficit—a situation they must address before adjourning and going home. Unlike Congress, state legislators and Gov. Bob Ferguson cannot authorize deficit spending or borrowing to fund state government. They either raise taxes and fees; or cut costs programs and people. Washington is primarily funded by sales, property, specialized taxes (such as unemployment, workers compensation and fuel), and gross receipt (business and occupation) taxes — a hig...
It’s said that a dog is man’s best friend. Not always. I’ve had a couple that wouldn’t qualify. I had a dog when I was in high school in Palouse. It was a shepherd, black, brown and white. We lived about a half mile from the school and no bus service so I had to walk. Every afternoon when I was walking home the dog would sit in the front yard and watch for me. When the dog could see me, it would race down the road to greet me. I really liked that dog. Later, someone shot it. When my wife and I married, she had a dog. We moved to Wilbur and ren...
By Scott Hunter Supporters filled the meeting room at La Presa as the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a dinner to honor local businesses for their accomplishments in 2024 March 13. Coulee Hardware was voted Business of the Year for being far more than a hardware store. The store "also provides a lot of other services," noted Nancy Zimmerman-Boord, chamber executive director," listing its UPS package shipping center, retail rentals, garden supplies, fresh plants every spring,...
March 18, 2025 WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has begun the process of reinstating tens of thousands of fired federal workers, though most are just being placed on administrative leave as the government cites the "burdens" of rehiring, court filings reviewed by States Newsroom show. The documents also show, agency by agency, the wide swath of firings that swept across the federal government in February and early March. A federal judge in Maryland last week ruled the recent terminations... Full story
As reproductive health access becomes increasingly restricted across the country, expanding Washington’s law that protects patients and healthcare workers is becoming more important, supporters of the law say. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, women from Idaho, Florida, Texas and Ohio have traveled to Washington for access to reproductive health care, and some worried out-of-state authorities would seek legal avenues to stop people from being treated here. In 2023, the state adopted the Shield Law to protect m...
While I have never been firmly hooked on fishing, I do have a history of trying my luck. I don’t own rod or reel. I have owned several but the interest of family members has made them disappear. My first experience was when I was a kid in Palouse. The Palouse River was not far away. In fact, it flowed through the center of town. Our family lived above the river. It was only a couple of blocks away. My first gear was a cane pole with some line tied around the end and of course a hook. At the time I could dig a few worms, grab my pole, and I w...