News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 6066 - 6090 of 7200
They are going to dress up city hall. The Electric City council has approved a plan to replace its 22-year-old carpet at city hall, doing half with this year’s budget and the other half with its 2014 budget. Loepp’s Furniture will be doing the work. City Clerk Jackie Perman said the new floor covering will correct worn traffic areas of the carpet that was installed in 1991. This year’s floor improvement plan includes the carpet for the council chambers, tile for the back bathroom and a carpet that catches the dirt at the rear maintenance compu... Full story
Mike Horne, owner of MPH, a mechanical firm on Midway in Grand Coulee, made his second appearance before the city council to complain about a home mechanic operation at 431 Grand Coulee Avenue. The operation in question is owned by Donovan Picard, who allegedly doesn’t have a city business license and the current zoning does not allow business operations. Horne had appeared before the council, along with Jack Madsen, of Jack’s Service, in September, raising the same concerns. Horne told the council last Tuesday night that the home mechanic ope... Full story
Our diverse region and readership have decisions to make. We hope this week’s Local Candidates Forum provides some help for voters who open their mail-in ballots to cast decisions on races they may not have even realized were occurring. Readers should know that candidates were notified that we wanted them to answer three simple questions, but only via an email and a front-page article in last week’s paper. If you don’t see a reply from them this week, there could be several reasons for that, including that they’ve been away and didn’t... Full story
In referring to your article praising Coulee Medical Center and Foisy and Kennedy for their assistance signing people up for mandatory health insurance, I would like to add Dawn Ensminger and Darcy Epperson at the IHS Clinic in Nespelem. These women have been to countless hours of training and are assisting our Native American community in this monumental task as well. Sheri Shumway... Full story
Good Letter Don McClure, but you didn't go quite far enough. Regarding the economic collapse of 2008. This collapse was caused by Congress with the Affordable Housing Act pushed thru with President Clinton and the Democratic Congress. To give the uninformed an education on the Affordable Housing Act. This legislation forced banks to give loans to people that could not afford houses or the payments and they had to have almost nothing for a down payment, then Freddy & Fanny were forced to purchase them from the banks. During President Bush's pres... Full story
WHAT DO YOU THINK!? (like Sneena likes to say). I say our incompetent kiddy council needs to get their political priorities straight and actually “DO” something for the Colville Tribes, the Colville tribal peoples. Spending how many thousands and thousands not only in campaign support, but also: “How many of our dunce sheepdom council went on pilgrimage to Oklahoma just to vote?” All those wasted thousands upon thousands could very well have been put to much better and more meaningful use. All our tribal kiddies at this late date will still s... Full story
In 1992, a single male sockeye salmon managed to swim 900 miles from the mouth of the Columbia River to Redfish Lake in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains, the end of his migratory journey. Biologists dubbed the sole survivor, “Lonesome Larry.” By 2010, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council happily reported record-setting runs for sockeye —nearly 387,000 had climbed the fish ladders at Bonneville Dam. The numbers, which fluctuate annually, stand at 186,000 this year. The resurgence of the soc... Full story
by Roger S. Lucas Grand Coulee police officers can no longer operate within the town limits of Coulee Dam, according to a letter sent last Wednesday to Police Chief Mel Hunt. The letter from Coulee Dam Chief Pat Collins revokes permission for Grand Coulee officers to operate within the town of Coulee Dam, even when they are covering for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Collins said Tuesday that the decision was prompted by Grand Coulee getting a bureau contract when Coulee Dam didn’t. The bureau awarded the three-year, $1.6 million contract t... Full story
The National Park Service (NPS) has reopened all 401 national parks, including Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, LRNA announced Thursday. Visitor facilities normally open during this time of year including campgrounds, boat launches, and the Kettle Falls Information Center will be open as quickly as possible. All park programs and special events scheduled to take place will go forward. In addition, National Park Service websites, including Lake Roosevelt’s, will be available again for information. “We are proud to be a part of this are... Full story
The Star will publish next week responses to questions recently posed to candidates for local office. Star readers will decide among 22 candidates in 11 local races this year. We sent each candidate an email asking for their responses to a set of questions. If no email address was provided on their candidate declaration on file with the county, we placed a phone call to them. Voters will soon receive their mail-in ballots for the election that concludes Nov. 5.... Full story
Electric City’s council approved a request for a $2,000 contribution to the Grand Coulee Dam/Coulee City Nutritional Program at its meeting Oct 8. The council will take a formal vote on the resolution at its next meeting, Nov. 5. The request, made by Myrna M. Schryvers, director of the program, is for the city’s 2014 budget. This budget year Electric City gave the organization $1,500. Schryvers, by letter, explained to the council how costs have risen and how popular the program has become. The organization has a budget this year of $15... Full story
A school bus accident Oct. 4, in Elmer City, ended up with some students getting shook up, but with only minor damage to the bus, school officials said this week. A number of middle school-age students from both Grand Coulee and Nespelem were checked out at Coulee Medical Center and released. The accident occurred shortly after 5 p.m., with an after-school bus near the old Tillman Store. The bus was struck by a vehicle driven by Daniel Parks Conant. School officials said that bus driver Stephanie Anderson saw that Conant’s vehicle was going t... Full story
Tribal natural resource officers shot two black bears last week that have been repeated uninvited guests in Coulee Dam. The town has been bothered by black bears visiting both the commercial and residential areas recently. One bear was shot on Fir Street early in the morning about the time that children were going to school, and the other was shot on Tilmus about 10:30 at night. A resident near Tilmus said it sounded like a shooting war. Both bears were 2-year-olds. “Please do not feed the bears,” states an informational poster sent out fro... Full story
Timing is the key to progress on any building site, Rotarians learned at their meeting last Wednesday. Speaking was Jim Crowley, Walker Construction superintendent on the K-12 school project in Coulee Dam. Crowley explained the importance of getting materials delivered on time and how it relates to subcontractors and their efficiency. The construction of the Grand Coulee Dam School District’s K-12 building project is back on schedule after a delay that occurred several months ago when the o... Full story
My previous letter to you was not published and I didn’t think much about it, assuming you seek to balance the public input for fairness. I feel compelled to write again after reading the letter from Mayor Snow’s daughter that was recently published. I can understand why a loving child would feel the need to defend and support her father. What I can’t understand is why the father (Mayor Snow) can’t defend and support himself! I haven’t seen one letter from him either promoting an issue, or defending his position. Why is that? To be fair, I w... Full story
Let me make it VERY clear. NO ONE is to blame for the theater closure. We were not able to raise the $90,000 needed to upgrade from 35mm film to digital. Our 35mm projector broke and the part we needed, they did not make anymore. We asked the community for help. Very few offered to help us. We had raised a pledged amount of approximately $2,500 — no where near what we needed to open the doors again. My grandmother, Carole Fisher (now deceased) had bought the theater to try and keep it up and running to give back to this community — before she... Full story
Time for new leadership I read the letter to The Star written by Mayor Snow’s daughter and asked Mr. Wilder if he was going to respond, and he said that he “wasn’t going to argue or debate the issues with a father’s daughter or any other stand-in!” And he asked me, “Where is the mayor himself? What does HE have to say?” Mr. Wilder is right; we never really seem to know where Mayor Snow stands on the issues. We want a more open government with fair and impartial leaders willing to actually listen to their constituents and to think the important... Full story
Answers for Jesse given Here is some of the history Jess Utz asked for. I moved here 51 years ago. Rawe and Rauch now houses All American Spacers where airplane parts are being built. Brown’s Department Store, it is not being used now. The old Wild Life Restaurant is now Pepper Jack’s Bar & Grille. The Wild Life started on B St., now located on Midway, highway 155, Grand Coulee. The Eagles Lodge is still on B Street and still is being used. The city hall in Coulee Dam is very old and still is the city hall. The Credit Union used to be an old sc... Full story
The blame game hit home recently when Scott Hunter (the Star editor) blamed the Tea Party for the country’s woes. I’m not a Tea Party member but know a lot of good people who are. It seems people have a short memory. The billions of dollars the stimulus plan that was supposed to revive our economy just didn’t work. Fannie and Freddie were bailed out for over one hundred bllion dollars, mostly for wrecking the housing market and causing real hardship on a lot of people. Watching the news one evening, it was pointed out the president had lied... Full story
Duane Johnson has chosen to oppose Andy Trader in the upcoming Coulee Dam Council election. I support Duane and feel that his experience and education as a manager in the public sector will be a welcome addition. He is articulate, sensitive, and respectful. Duane graduated from Lake Roosevelt High School, went on to get a master’s degree, and adds a cultural perspective to the mix that has been too long missing! Likewise, I support Gayle Swagerty’s bid to unseat Karl Hjorten. Karl has been at the center of, and instrumental in, shoving the ove... Full story
Bob Hinkey spends a lot of time, energy and money making Halloween a kick for all those brave enough to trick or treat at his Coulee Dam home. We found him busy Saturday afternoon with preparations for this year's spectacle....
Grand Coulee’s city council declared surplus a number of items from the police department at last Tuesday night’s meeting. Included were two bullet proof vests from the 1970s, a breath analyzer device referred to as “dial a drunk” by Police Chief Mel Hunt, a Polaroid camera with case, boxes of electronic items, some phone parts, and an outdated fax machine and typewriter. But the items that caught the fancy of members of the council were two horsehide leather coats about 40 years old. Several members of the council tried the coats on. The hea... Full story
Last Friday, eighth graders at Nespelem Elementary School gained something in common with students in far-flung school districts around the continent intent on making sure students are prepared for the future that’s already here. Each Nespelem eighth grader received a new laptop computer to use for all their school work. While many “one-to-one” districts are opting for cheaper tablet computers (the Los Angeles Unified School District just launched a $1 billion program), the Nespelem Schoo... Full story
Grand Coulee passed an ordinance last Tuesday night declaring a moratorium on any type of marijuana operations in the city. The moratorium came after a public hearing where three residents of the city spoke supporting the issue. Speaking against any marijuana activity in the city were Cheryl Piturachsatit, Linda Black and Al Jordan. All were for the moratorium and against marijuana operations in the city. The moratorium is for six months, effective from Tuesday’s meeting, to April 1, 2014. Residents of Washington State voted approval of I... Full story
Coulee Dam has a new licensed day care. The day care center, at 1111 Central Drive, is run by Clarissa Cawston and is designed to take care of 12 children, from 6 months to 12 years of age. She has named it “Coulee Kids Day Care.” Cawston has designed the daycare center to be somewhat like a preschool, with educational materials including lesson plans and learning opportunities. It’s an opportunity for her to exercise her education degree from Washington State University and still be home with... Full story