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

A drive through the Hartline area the other day showed piles of wheat forming outside granaries, an indication of an abundant harvest. I was born on a farm about four miles south of Palouse, delivered by my aunt while my dad went... — Updated 8/5/2020

It’s almost unimaginable. Music, whether we realize it or not, plays an important part in all our lives. My earliest recollection of music was when I was very young and my father sang to me. My father had an ocean of Irish ditties... — Updated 7/29/2020

Ever wonder why some of our elected officials have it in for immigrants? All of us could easily trace our citizenship back to the time that our forebears arrived on our shores. In a sense we are all immigrants, some more mindful... — Updated 7/22/2020

A person can be defined by the little things he remembers and his favorite places. My parents liked to take drives, and on one of them they would stop at a roadside springs to get a drink of ice cold water. They had a collapsible... — Updated 1/22/2020

You don’t know how important your freedoms are until you start to lose them. That’s what is behind the protests going on in Hong Kong. In April the government in Mainland China passed an extradition bill that would allow off... — Updated 12/31/2019

Earlier this week the nation took pause to honor our veterans. The debt we owe to veterans goes well beyond Nov. 11. I didn’t come from a military family; however, my father and three of my brothers were in the military: my father... — Updated 11/13/2019

It was a scene that would have made Clint Eastwood laugh. I had learned that Burma was allowing travelers in on 72-hour visas, and since I would be traveling in the Far East I booked a flight out of Thailand to Rangoon. The country... — Updated 9/4/2019

Young people today, when you make up your bucket list, be sure to put in a train ride. Transportation by train is a rarity today, and only on occasion do you stumble on a coal-fired engine. I was a “gandy dancer” for the Nor... — Updated 8/14/2019

I am a lousy fisherman, getting boxed out, except one time. That was out of Kodiak, Alaska, fishing for halibut. I was on a charter boat that had twin engines and a lot of speed. We were 50 miles out, where the skipper said that... — Updated 7/24/2019

The Major League Baseball season is upon us. The game is looking less like the “National Pastime” each year. I remember when every little town or city had its own baseball team. There was no talk then of major changes to the gam... — Updated 4/3/2019

As a kid growing up in Palouse, I loved the snow. Snow meant sledding, and we had a couple of great runs, one in town and the other on the outskirts. The one in town was from the top of North Hill that wound its way through the... — Updated 3/6/2019

Gail Morin, of Elmer City, is on her 62nd book. Are they western adventure, romance, war stories, children books? No, nothing like that. Gail writes geneology-type books, getting all her information from public records. Her books,... — Updated 10/17/2018

Boise, Idaho, was a great baseball town — home to the Boise Braves, a Milwaukee Class C farm club in the Pioneer League. But it was the large number of big-league players that set the tone in the valley. Larry Jackson, Harmon K... — Updated 7/11/2018

Yes, the fireworks off Grand Coulee Dam will be on July 4 this year. Doing the show will be Rocketman Pyro, out of Spokane. It is the third straight year for the Spokane firm to light up the top of Grand Coulee Dam. Speaking for Ro... — Updated 6/13/2018

There’s a rooster in Electric City. And it is a direct violation of the city’s chicken ordinance, which allows a handful of hens, but no roosters. A clear violation of equal treatment under the law. The city council, who sta... — Updated 5/23/2018

Police arrested and jailed a 41-year-old Grand Coulee man after he was identified by separate people as the person entering a house at 208 Banks Avenue after another local house had been broken into and guns taken. Jonathan J. Ande... — Updated 5/17/2018

The 62nd annual Colorama Pro-West Rodeo is ready to go, Ridge Rider president George Kohout said this week. The rodeo will play out over two days, May 11 and 12, beginning at 6 p.m. Friday night and then at 4 p.m. on Saturday at... — Updated 5/2/2018

The Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union, in conjunction with 2nd Harvest, is sponsoring a “free food distribution” Thursday at the Zion Lutheran Church parking lot. It will be the third year that the credit union has sponsored the pro... — Updated 5/2/2018

The fish-raising program that keeps Banks Lake supplied with trout is in danger of ending. Carl Russell, who ran POWER (Promoters of Wildlife and Environmental Resources) for a number of years and is still active in the... — Updated 5/2/2018

A pit bull killed three Chihuahuas at a residence on Kent Street in Electric City, April 14. The pit bull was among six dogs owned by Trina R. Davis, and housed at 202 Kent Street, where she had lived with Raymond E. Atchison,... — Updated 4/25/2018

Carnival tickets are on sale this week, offering substantial savings for early birds, a chamber of commerce official reported. Executive Director Peggy Nevsimal stated those who purchase carnival tickets by Thursday, May 10, will... — Updated 4/25/2018

Drivers on a main Grand Coulee street will notice a major maintenance effort this year, as Spokane Way and other streets receive a pavement treatment. Grand Coulee has hired Gray & Osborne as its engineering firm to oversee a... — Updated 4/25/2018