The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

Summers in Palouse when I was a kid meant carnivals and the circus. They held the carnivals just off Main Street and next to the downtown gym. My brother Bob got kicked out of the carnival one summer. They had a monkey on a chain,... — Updated 5/18/2022

I have been tracing my Lucas family back as far as the mid 17th century in LaRochelle, France. I can’t seem to get past Jean Lucas, so for now he is the patriarch of the family. The family followed the teachings of John Calvin... — Updated 5/11/2022

Why am I so lucky? I have a new great granddaughter, at least new to me. She was born the day that President Biden took office, Jan. 20, 2021. I saw Autumn once before, in Spokane at the hospital, but last weekend she was at the... — Updated 5/4/2022

I guess these places won’t be secret now. This weekend I visited one of our secret places, Hawk Creek campground. My wife and I used to prepare a picnic lunch and drive to Hawk Creek for one of our outings. I will miss this. Ther... — Updated 4/27/2022

Why am I cold all the time? Doesn’t the weatherman know it’s supposed to be spring?  But I’ve seen much colder days. I endured 46 below when working for Potlatch Forest shortly after I got out of high school. Work area... — Updated 4/20/2022

In my column I have often mentioned what good neighbors I have. I particularly mention Dave and Dorothy Stiegelmeyer, who frequently are doing little things to make life easier for me. I received a postcard recently from an old fri... — Updated 4/13/2022

We have just celebrated Indigenous People’s Day. We have called this Columbus Day for far too long. We have been taught for centuries that Columbus discovered America. As a people, we developed a word ditty that helps us... — Updated 10/13/2021

Sometimes doing things only once is a good idea. This is particularly true for me when it involves heights.  The top rung in an eight-foot ladder is enough for me. Flying into Kodiak, Alaska was a prime example of the kind of cowa... — Updated 9/30/2020

You see, I have this dog, by accident I remind you. Ten years ago I stopped and bought a dog from someone selling pups from the trunk of their car. The plan was for the pup to go to my great granddaughter, Kaylee. That lasted... — Updated 9/23/2020

My wife and I liked the coulee so much that we moved here twice. The first time was in 1954 when I accepted a job grading lumber at the planing mill above the dam. I worked for Everett Kirkpatrick and a junior partner. Old timers... — Updated 8/21/2019

Two Gun Willie was a featured attraction at Silver City, Idaho. The old mining town had seen better days, and so had “two gun.” Willie was born William James Hawes in 1876, right in the town, that in its heyday had some 2,500... — Updated 6/12/2019

A few years ago, I found a small box in my mail from Bill Thompson, a classmate of mine from Palouse. Bill and I, along with 13 others, spent all 12 years together out of a class of 24. Needless to say, we were tight, and very... — Updated 1/23/2019

A fossilized leg bone of the Hagerman Horse will soon be on its way home. It has been in my possession for 60 years, and it will soon rest where it had been for thousands of years before I dug it up in 1958. The bone has been with... — Updated 1/9/2019

In a few days the University of Washington Huskies will be in the Rose Bowl. It will be their 15th appearance in Pasadena and the Huskies will have the opportunity to tilt the record in their favor, currently having a 7-7 record.... — Updated 12/26/2018

I had my heroes, just like every kid. Mine really got started by getting to know the owner of one of the three active taverns in Palouse in the late 1930s. His name was Pop Brantner. I never did learn his first name. The unlikely... — Updated 12/12/2018

Meet the late Will Chaussee. On the outside, he was a cedar lumber owner-dealer. On the inside, he was a mountain man, and he owned a sapphire mine between Hamilton and Philipsburg, Montana. He retired and annually invited me to... — Updated 11/7/2018

I would like to make it clear: I didn’t do it! It wasn’t me who wrote that op-ed piece in the New York Times telling of the disarray at the White House. This is for the record. I do not know anyone that works for the Times, I... — Updated 9/26/2018

The person who called it “the last great race on earth” was probably right. The Iditarod is run each year the first weekend in March, with the next one is kicking off March 2, 2019. It’s the sled dog race from Anchorage to... — Updated 9/5/2018

The long, sleek train reeked of speed as it pulled into Tokyo station. I was finally going to ride Japan’s world-famous “bullet train” at speeds over 100 miles an hour. It was difficult to reference speeds on rails of such... — Updated 8/22/2018

Sometimes sports heroes come from unlikely places. Take the case of Vernon Law, right-handed pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Vernon came from Meridian, Idaho, a few clicks out of Boise, and midway between Boise and Nampa. Law... — Updated 8/8/2018

In the late 1950s and well into the ’60s, a number of Idaho athletes were at the edge of dominating their respective sports. Shirley Englehorn, from Caldwell, Idaho, at the west end of the Boise Valley, was one of them. She won... — Updated 7/25/2018

I entered Electric City the other day through its southern portal, and was shocked. I don’t know why; I had entered the city through its south end a hundred times before. But this time the many eyesores along the entrance to the... — Updated 6/27/2018

Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson announced Wednesday that both he and Nespelem School District Superintendent Rich Stewart have agreed to delay the opening of their respective schools until Sept. 8.... — Updated 8/27/2015

Animal control workers removed over 60 cats from a home in Electric City Monday. Representatives from Pasado’s Safe Haven, a rescue operation from Monroe, Wash., along with Grand Coulee Police Chief John Tufts, completed taking... — Updated 4/25/2015 Full story