News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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School directors voted to authorize an emergency budget resolution last week that allows the superintendent to issue RIFF-and-recall notices that warn of a possible reduction in force but would not implement them if it can be avoided. Instead, Superintendent Rod Broadnax is instructed to look for other savings and to "maximize revenue" for the Grand Coulee Dam School District. Preferred strategies for this include savings in supplies and operating costs, purchased services, and travel expenses,...
LACEY — Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson unveiled a plan Friday to steer $3 billion into preserving the state’s roads and bridges and building three new ferries over the next decade. Ferguson would raise the money through borrowing, with the sale of bonds backed by proceeds from a slew of new and increased taxes and fees lawmakers approved this year. This included an increase in the state’s gas tax. As envisioned, there’d be roughly a billion dollars apiece for paving highways, painting and repairing bridges, and adding three vessels to the Washi...
I am announcing that I will not seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives. Serving the Fourth District of Washington has been the honor of my life, and this decision comes with no reservations or remorse, only gratitude for the tremendous opportunity to have represented my home state in Congress. After over 25 years of public service, including more than a decade in the House, I am grateful to the Washingtonians who put their faith in me, as well as the colleagues I have served with on both sides of the aisle. Public service takes...
The Holiday Season is an especially tough time for anyone grieving lost loved ones. Evergreen wreaths placed on veterans’ graves across America help to ease that pain. On Dec. 13, an ISIS shooter killed two members of the Iowa National Guard and their American interpreter while they were serving in Syria, causing another tragic loss. More than 3.1 million red-ribboned wreaths were placed by thousands of volunteers, including many family members, on December 13. Those wreaths are made from clippings of balsam firs dedicated to deceased v...
The Northeast was blanketed with snow last weekend, and I loved it — because I love how snow humbles us. When it snows in my hometown of Pittsburgh, people pour out into the streets. We shovel sidewalks and driveways, invigorated by the crisp air and the physical work. We sip hot coffee as we enjoy cheerful conversations with neighbors. Snow still fills me with the same joy I felt as a boy when school was canceled. I still feel the urge to grab my Flexible Flyer sled and head for the steepest hill I can find — just to laugh like a kid aga...
Lake Roosevelt wrestling dominated at their annual Powerhouse Tournament, going a perfect 6–0 in the championship finals and bringing home six individual titles - capping it off with the overall team championship for the tournament. "The Raiders wrestled with intensity, skill, and relentless focus all day long," said head Coach Casey Brewster. That started with Jack Steffler at the 106-pound weight. Steffler (9-0 record) took first place with a 17-2 technical fall over Warden's Collin Cox (...
The Lady Raiders took seventh place at Saturday's annual Powerhouse Tournament at Lake Roosevelt in a contest that has grown so much it had to be separated from the boys' tournament and held in the smaller gym on the Lake Roosevelt Elementary side of the building. The hallways there were packed with teams and their gear, while the gym itself was standing room only, with a lot standing. Leading the Lady Raiders were Addison Cannon with a second place at 190, Ayamae Batten-Bob with third place at...
The community was thrown into grief Thursday night as word spread of the death of a mother and her young son in what law enforcement authorities are calling murder. Tribal police found Laura Dick and her 17-year-old son Anthony Vieira, dead in the family home after Damien Martinez Jr. called them and confessed, reported sources, including KXLY, which reported obtaining court records Saturday. Okanogan County Prosecuting Attorney Albert H. Lin issued a statement Monday saying Martinez was being held on two counts of first-degree murder, with...
Updating an interlocal agreement between Electric City and Grand Coulee on running the wastewater treatment plant they both use has been the subject of discussions for a year, but Grand Coulee has decided it won’t move ahead with changes. Under the decades old agreement it supposedly operates on says a joint board made up of representatives of both cities will govern, but just meeting on it has been a challenge, Electric City council members involved in the process said last week. Retiring Mayor Diane Kohout said at the Dec. 9 council m...
Do you yearn for a president who is not cruel, vindictive, racist, hateful, a liar, corrupt, a convicted felon, and a wannabe dictator, and for a Congress not typified by our own MAGA toady Republican Michael Baumgartner? Do you yearn for someone like Barack Obama who, in fact, is currently trying to save our democracy? Then let’s get him to run in 2026 for a House seat currently held by a Republican — there are three in Obama’s home state of Illinois. John Quincy Adams (1767 – 1848; 6th US president 1825 -1829) is the only president ever to...
Tracing my wife’s father turned up a lot of mysteries. He was born in 1882 in Kentucky, near the Land Between the Lakes. His name was James Oscar Compton. When he was 16, he left home after some disagreement with his father and headed west. Next, I picked up that he settled in Missouri for a time, long enough to get married and have two children, Richard and Clara. Upon the death of his wife, he headed west again, leaving the children with their grandparents. He stopped in Twin Falls, Idaho, and four years later married my wife’s mom. The det...
A local event has been recognized alongside several from across the country as a "champion" of economic impact. Reel Recreation's Triple Fish Challenge was named in the latest issue of Sports Destination Management as a Champion of Economic Impact in Sports Tourism. "We're honored to be recognized alongside events across the country that helped generate over $1.4 billion in economic impact and more than 800,000 hotel room nights over the past year," Reel Recreation, a local non-profit for...
The federal government will provide $12 billion to U.S. farmers who have been hurt by "unfair market disruption," President Donald Trump said at a White House roundtable event Monday. Trump said repeatedly the funding was available thanks to tariff revenues, framing his aggressive trade policy as a boon to farmers rather than a drag on their global market share as critics of the policy suggest. "I'm delighted to announce this afternoon that the United States will be taking a small portion of the...
I have always liked places where there wasn’t a lot of people. I think it is in our family DNA. I remember a few places where this showed up. We were in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. We were taking a few days R and R. My wife would be returning home in a couple of days and I would leave for Japan. The beaches were so crowded that you couldn’t enjoy them, so we rented a car and took off to find our own beach. Less than an hour’s drive later, we made our way through some palms and brush and we found our beach. It was a strip of sand about 30 fee...
As we finish the 2026 Lincoln County budget, the same themes I’ve consistently written about continue to be front and center: the 1% property-tax cap, runaway insurance costs, unfunded mandates, and a revenue system that simply can’t keep pace with reality. Washington law limits counties to a 1% increase in property-tax collections each year. That may have sounded reasonable back in 2001, but 1% doesn’t keep up when inflation as wages, utilities, equipment, and basic operating costs rise 5–10% annually. In 2026, that 1% increase, will generate...
Just eight Raider wrestlers dominated the Ocosta Tournament in Westport Washington last weekend, taking the team championship with high-placing wins and a pivotal pin for third. With four first-place wins, three second places, and a dramatic pin at the end of a match for third, LR beat out perennial powerhouse teams Warden and Forks for the team title. Taking first place: At 106 pounds, Jack Steffler. first at 113 - Collin Christman, first at 132 - Kaden Christman, first at 138 – Jacoby J...
The Raider boys have started off their basketball season with two decisive wins and an early ride on top of the league. Beating Davenport 58-49 Dec. 2 was a good start. Messing with the Mustangs Saturday in Coulee Dam looked like proving a point, at 67-50. Displaying some tactical thinking and a passing game that can provide an advantage, the team looked like a team that could become a machine. Despite plenty of assists all around, scoring was dominated by junior Kayman Jordan, who scored 26...
Lake Roosevelt girls got beat by Pateros at home last night in a non-league basketball game against 1B Pateros at home, 57-36. The 21-point loss was a humbling turnabout after Saturday's lopsided victory over the Bridgeport Fillies in Coulee Dam, 67-6. The week gives LR a 1-2 record so far after starting with a 69-39 lesson in Davenport Dec. 2 against the Lady Gorillas. Must be early season ball. LR won't play on the home floor again until they host White Swan, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 at 3:30...
The Bureau of Reclamation's new fire station has won a national award for design, taking the gold in Firehouse Magazine's annual contest. The Magazine announced the winners of its 12th annual Station Design Awards program Nov. 9. The program recognizes outstanding architecture and design from fire departments and emergency facilities nationwide. Gold, Silver and Bronze awards were issued across eight categories of facilities: Career 1, Career 2, Co-Located, Combination, Renovations, Satellite,...
We have had our first spit of snow. It was welcomed by some and dreaded by others. I am on the dreaded side. My record with snow is not good. I just don’t like it. Luckily, I am at that stage in life where I don’t have to go anywhere. So I can smile and say, “Let it snow.” I’ve had a number of mishaps or near mishaps in snow. Coming home to Palouse from southern Idaho when my father died, I slid off the road and had a difficult time getting one chain on as my wife held a flashlight so I could see. One chain did it that time. Another time, we...
If my body were a temple, the bricks would be glued together with Cheez Whiz. Okay, so sometimes I eat radishes and kale in between almost never-ending portions of hamburgers and leftover Chinese food. But the leftovers run out from time to time. Hence, I rely on the radishes. My idea of a balanced diet is a large Coke in each hand. But that changed when my sister told me about the 75 Hard Challenge. The rules are simple enough. You have to do two 45-minute workouts a day, eat healthy, drink a gallon of water, and read 10 pages of a...
A dozen basketball games got played Saturday afternoon in the Lake Roosevelt gym, but each of them included only 10 minutes of play. The Raider teams - both junior varsity and varsity teams for both girls and boys, hosted the six-school Basketball Jamboree event with Soap Lake, Omak, Inchelium, Nespelem, and Moses Lake Christian. Each team played two short games with three referees packing in a lot of play in just 10 minutes, but not much attention was paid to stats or even scores for long. It...
School district directors heard from surprised teachers Monday night as the district sought permission to make budget changes to meet the reality of shortfalls, stemming from many causes. Depending on whose estimate you’re looking at, the deficit could be from $600,000 to $1.2 million next year. Administrators want to find ways to cut back now to avoid blowing through all the reserves by the end of the current school year. Superintendent Rod Broadnax asked for approval of an emergency measure to allow the district to adjust as needed, i...
Coulee Dam’s town council heard a seconds-long discussion on the town’s lease of the Village Cinema space that had dominated the Nov. 12 council meeting a week earlier. At the end of the Nov. 19 special meeting, which mainly dealt with items like paying the bills, passing the budget for 2026 and a few other items, Mayor Bob Poch addressed the single item listed under Discussion Agenda, the theater lease. No one had anything to say except City Attorney Mick Howe. He said he didn’t have much to add to what had already been said, but he added that...
November 17, 2025 Voters decided this month to allow payroll taxes collected for Washington’s new long-term care program to be invested in the stock market. But they will have to wait a while for the decision to begin paying dividends. Nearly 58% of voters approved Senate Joint Resolution 8201 amending the state constitution to end restrictions on the types of investments that can be made with dollars flowing into the WA Cares fund. The state constitution generally bars investing public money in the stock of private companies, limiting state an...
