News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Clay Hearne and his sons, Ronnie and Kenny, appeal to those using the Osborne Bay gun range to pick up their garbage after they get through sighting their rifles in. The Hearnes, from Electric City, recently hauled two large pickup loads of garbage from the site. Included in the trash were cardboard boxes, burned up mattresses, bottles, cans, a muffler and tailpipe and scores of shotgun shells. Clay said the place is a mess and people should pack out items they bring in. It is apparent that... Full story
Officials in the town of Coulee Dam are hopeful that they will be able to make a deal with the Bureau of Reclamation on a law enforcement contract. Mayor Quincy Snow, Police Chief Pat Collins and Councilmember Bob Poch met last Wednesday with the Bureau’s regional director, Lorri Lee, to make another attempt to land a contract. Chief Collins said that another meeting is scheduled for later this week and that “negotiations continue.” Recent developments saw the Bureau award a continuing contract to Grand Coulee, but Coulee Dam’s law enforce... Full story
The Candy Point Trail is in trouble, and Carol Netzel has asked the Coulee Dam Town Council for help. Access to the Candy Point Trail is through Netzel’s front yard and when you arrive at the top you are afforded a bird’s eye view of Grand Coulee Dam and the town of Coulee Dam. In a letter to the council last Wednesday, Netzel appealed to town officials to come up with a plan to fix the deteriorating trail. “Although this is not on city land, it has always been considered one of our local attractions,” Netzel wrote to the council. A sign in... Full story
Grant County Port District 7 commissioners approved their 2014 budget last Thursday. The budget shows $534,500 in revenues and $523,200 in expenses. The largest revenue and expense is a $322,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration which will enable the port district to purchase a new dump truck with snow removal equipment attached, plus construct a building to house the new equipment. The proposed budget also predicts $134,000 income from the port’s 18-hole golf course from memberships and pro shop sales; and shows $132,600 in expens... Full story
Grand Coulee Dam District schools will take part and allow Native students to participate in a Colville Indian suicide prevention day this Friday. Karee Picard, manager of the Colville Tribes’ K-12 Youth Program, appeared before the school board Monday night asking members to allow a minute of silence during lunch hour Friday to remember those on the reservation who have succumbed because of suicide. She told the board that the Friday suicide program will be held in four places on the reservations and last most of the day. Meetings will be h... Full story
by Roger S. Lucas Mark Payne is the new fire chief of Electric City’s volunteer fire department. He replaces Bill Miley, who resigned as fire chief after serving for about 10 years. Miley is retiring. Others named in the reorganization of the Electric City fire department were Gary Roscom, assistant chief; Carl Sheehy and Ken Dexter, captains; and Carlos Lira, training officer. Payne told the council last Tuesday night that his current contingent of volunteer firefighters is 23. “We could use a couple more volunteers,” Payne told the counc... Full story
A project to replace some 300 streetlights in Coulee Dam should get started in about a month, public works director Barry Peacock said last Friday. The town awarded a $118,246.25 contract to Northwest Edison, a Seattle firm, as the result of a 100-percent grant received from the Transportation Improvement Board. Coulee Dam is one of six communities in the state to receive the grant. When completed, just over 300 LED (light-emitting diode) street lights will save the town about 60 percent in energy costs, plus additional maintenance savings.... Full story
Are violators of pedestrian crosswalks a problem in the area? Yes, says Electric City resident Steve Salstrom, who has complained about the motorists who zoom by even when people are in the crosswalks. Salstrom stated that on one occasion he was midway across a crosswalk and had motorists pass him on both sides. He complained again at the Oct. 8 Electric City council meeting, stating that he had someone zoom by him at what he thought was about “45 miles per hour.” The crosswalk in question is the one by the Electric City post office and the... Full story
There seems to be an unusual amount of black bear in the area this year. Two were shot in Coulee Dam recently by Tribal Natural Resource officers, after residents there were bothered by them roaming the streets. A bear was trapped this week in the orchard at Shaw's Fruit and Produce, the fifth this year at that Belvedere orchard, tribal officer Rick Desautel noted. "That bear must have weighed over 300 pounds," Desautel stated. Orchard co-owner Donna Hamilton said that tribal officers came with... Full story
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
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
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
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
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
Some people have a tough time getting to work on Monday mornings. That was the case for Jason Mucciaccio this past Monday when he fell asleep and his pickup truck left the roadway and knocked down a power pole on SR-174, near Knute Street at North Dam Park. Mucciaccio was driving to work at the new school building project, where he is employed by a subcontractor, when he fell asleep, he told police. His vehicle and trailer left the roadway, jumped a curb and severed the light pole. Police said damage estimate was $5,000 to the pickup, $3,000... Full story
A special dinner to benefit the Coulee Pioneer Museum will be held Friday, Oct. 25, at the Senior Center. Tickets are $10 per person or $20 for a family and are available from museum members or at the Senior Center. Museum coordinator Birdie Hensley said the spaghetti dinner proceeds will help the museum move along in its efforts to define itself. “It’s all you can eat,” Hensley stated. The dinner is sponsored by Flo’s Restaurant. As part of the fund raiser, a quilt raffle will be held at $1 per ticket or six tickets for $5, Hensley stated.... Full story
Coulee Dam area school children will put on “Blackbeard the Pirate” when they perform as part of the Missoula Children’s Theater on Nov. 9, according to Crystal Jones, vice president of the PTA here. School children from kindergarten through sixth grade will be the actors. Auditions start Monday, Nov. 4, at the Center Elementary School gym. Jones said that 50-60 kids will be involved in the play. Representatives from the Missoula Children’s Theater operation will be in the area directing the youngsters for performances on Saturday, Nov. 9.... Full story
That’s one big pumpkin! Bill Niendam of Elmer City shows off what he calls his “300 pound pumpkin.” He and his wife Dusty raised a single pumpkin in their garden on Front Street. He said the pumpkin vine had a number of blooms but only one pumpkin. “We used a giant pumpkin seed for this one,” he said. It doesn’t look like he will move the pumpkin. “We would need a lift truck to get it out of here,” he stated. (Roger S, Lucas photo)...
The latest failure of Congress to compromise has shuttered two local branches of federal agencies but not affected operations at Grand Coulee Dam. The federal government went into shutdown mode Tuesday as the U. S. Senate and the House of Representatives failed to compromise on a continuing resolution that would allow the government to pay the bills already spent and approved by Congress. Locally, barricades and recorded messages greeted many who tried to contact federal agencies or receive... Full story
Police Chief Pat Collins made a little headway in his efforts to retain at least one of his patrolmen after the town of Coulee Dam was axed from its contract for law enforcement coverage with the Bureau of Reclamation. The contract, which affords the town four additional patrol officers, their patrol cars, training and equipment, was up Oct. 1. The town was already short two officers, and the contract’s end means the loss of two more. “I don’t know how I can provide coverage with only three officers,” Collins told the council last Wednesd... Full story