News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1357 - 1381 of 1383
American Legion Post 157, has a new commander. Cindy Jayne, United States Navy, retired, was inducted into the post commander position Oct. 28, replacing “Chuck” Henspeter, who resigned for medical reasons. Jayne, a chief bosun’s mate (E-7) spent 22 years in the Navy and had two tours in Kuwait, 2002-03, and 2005-06, before retiring and entering the Navy Reserve. That’s when she became acquainted with this area. Her reserve unit was stationed in Spokane, and then she came to this area about t... Full story
It’s a time to honor veterans. A number of special events are scheduled throughout the week to honor the area’s veterans, both in schools and in other ways. The Grand Coulee Dam Middle School will hold its annual Veteran’s Day celebration at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 8. Legion Post 157 plans to participate in the festivities, which include a slide show featuring local vets. Students from Sandy Hood’s class wrote to veterans encouraging them to attend the event, scheduled for the school gym. Posters are made honoring individual vets, and cer... Full story
The three municipalities that collect hotel/motel taxes have a combined total of $434,000 in reserve, even after spending over $100,000 this year to promote tourism through a variety of ways. Electric City is sitting on $197,000, Grand Coulee about $96,000 and Coulee Dam, $141,250. The funds, collected from customers staying in motel rooms and at campgrounds, by state law must be used for the promotion of tourism. The city of Electric City takes in about $65,000 a year from tourism taxes paid... Full story
Becky Billups was back at the Grand Coulee City Council to complain about how her neighborhood on Burdin Boulevard is getting cluttered up with junk cars and debris. She raised concerns early in the year when she appeared before the council to describe the collection of junk in her neighborhood as looking like a “ghetto.” Billups has appeared routinely before the council asking that the city do something about the collection of junk near her home. She has told the council that the places in question have been somewhat cleaner since she sta... Full story
Grand Coulee took its first step Tuesday toward getting a Spokane Way sidewalk project started. Council members Tuesday night voted to have Mayor Chris Christopherson initial an agreement with Gray & Osborne to do the design work for the project. The sidewalk will begin at SR-174 and come down the hill on Center School side, and provide a walking platform all the way to the sidewalk in front of the library. Gray & Osborne asked $26,000 to do the design phase for the $240,000 project. The sidewalk project is being financed through a grant from... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board accepted Sue Hinton’s resignation Monday night. Hinton was discharged from her position as principal of Center School and placed on administrative leave just before school began in late August. The final settlement was agreed upon by the school board Monday night in executive session and then passed in open session. Hinton remains on administrative leave until Nov. 1, when she will be placed on medical leave through Nov. 30, using up a month of sick leave. Hinton will still have 120 days of sick l... Full story
Owners of two business firms appeared before the Grand Coulee council last Tuesday to complain about a person doing mechanical work at his residence without a business license. Mike Horne, of MPH, and Jack Madsen of Jack’s Service, both in the vehicle repair business, stated that Donovan Picard, who lives at 431 Grand Coulee Avenue, is doing mechanical work at his home garage without a business license and in a residential zone that doesn’t allow businesses. Horne and Madsen explained to the council that the city isn’t getting tax reven... Full story
The Northwest Native Development Fund, a non-profit organization located at the tribal Indian agency, received two grants this past week. Ted Piccolo reported that the NNDF received a $300,000 grant from the United States Treasury for its revolving loan fund, and $44,540 from the Department of Agriculture to help develop a regional native business network with a “buy local” component. The NNDF performs a variety of services to both tribal and non-tribal individuals. The organization makes small business loans, conducts family budget wor... Full story
Police are investigating a burglary at Center Lodge Motel where an unknown party took about $2,000 from a drop box and cash register sometime during the early morning hours of Sept. 20. The report stated that someone used a key to gain entrance to the motel office where $756.91 cash and a $1,000 check was taken from a drop box and $351.45 taken from a cash register. The cash register was also taken, The loss was noticed by an employee who found the a key in the door which was unlocked when she came to work in the morning. Owner Dale Baty let of... Full story
Firemen responded to a fire at the Senior Manor last Thursday evening at 5:29. Upon arrival, firemen found smoke in the third floor hallway and that a sprinkler head had been activated in a nearby apartment. Grand Coulee fire chief Rick Paris said that the sprinklers “did their job.” The fire appeared to have started when a pan was left on the stove in one of the apartments and there was smoke and fire damage to cupboards and the ceiling. Fire damage was confined to the lone apartment and there was water damage to two apartments below. Sev... Full story
Grand Coulee’s mayor and council got a tongue-lashing last Tuesday night for what Becky Billups said was “not doing anything,” She repeatedly has appeared before the council asking that the city enforce its ordinances in regard to keeping up property and putting drug offenders away. Billups lives on Burdin Boulevard and repeatedly has been to council meetings to make formal complaints. “I want to know why you don’t do something,” she repeatedly stated last Tuesday night. “There are junk cars, garbage everywhere,” she declared. “I want to know... Full story
Interested in a job working for the federal government and have been frustrated trying? Then there’s help coming with two meetings scheduled, one Sept. 30 and the other Oct. 2. The meetings are designed to assist the job seeker in using the USAJOBS website, the official job site for the federal government. The first session, Monday, Sept. 30, will be at the Nespelem Community Center where interested parties can learn about job opportunities both with the federal government and the Colville Confederated Tribes. This session lasts from 10 a.m. t... Full story
Volunteers are the nuts and bolts of most organizations. It is especially true at Banks Lake Golf Course, now managed by Port District 7. The Port District took over management of the course two years ago when it was in danger of being closed, and has continued to administer and finance the course’s operation. This year, in particular, volunteers have been the nuts and bolts that have held the course together. And surprisingly, according to port authorities, the course has improved in large part because of an army of dedicated volunteers. T... Full story
Colville Tribal members by referendum voted overwhelmingly to approve distribution of another 30 percent of a $193 million settlement with the federal government. The vote was 3,497 to 303. The referendum went before voters following a petition drive. Votes were counted Friday. That money will be distributed Oct. 12, Colville Business Council Chairman John Sirois announced Tuesday. “The membership has spoken decisively on this matter and we applaud their voice on the issue,” Sirois said. “The Colville Business Council will now proceed accor...
Residents of Electric City will soon be in a new Transportation Benefit District, which will cost them $20 per vehicle owned. The measure was voted in last Tuesday night by the city council. The new provision was developed by Senate and House Bill 1858, which empowers cities, towns and counties to collect the fee. The money will eventually go into Electric City’s street fund, running short on funds ever since Initiative 695 in 1999 removed the huge vehicle licensing fees charged by the state. Those fees also supported local street funds. M...
Three people were pulled from the water in Lake Roosevelt between Crescent Bay and Eden Harbor last Wednesday evening after their boat had capsized. When word of the incident reached boaters at Spring Canyon, Javier P. Baca from New Mexico, took off in his boat to try to locate the capsized boat. He reached the boat and pulled two women from the water. A third person, the operator of the boat, was pulled from the water by Levi Seylor and Chester “Chip” Baer, who towed the small, partially submerged, flat-bottom boat to Crescent Bay. The two...
A Community Watch group in Electric City will hold an organizational meeting at 7 p.m., Monday, Aug. 27, at the city’s fire hall. The meeting agenda calls for the group to organize block captains and telephone lists. The group had a previous meeting a couple of weeks ago with 31 residents showing up. Concern has been growing among some residents about the amount of crime being reported in the Electric City area. A discussion on future training needed and community watch funding will also be on the agenda....
Residents will have the last opportunity to see A. E. Wright Elementary School intact next Monday before the wrecking ball strikes. The school district plans a little farewell party for the old school, built in 1949, before contractor Elder Demolition begins the process of knocking the building down. School Superintendent Dennis Carlson said anyone interested in swinging a sledge hammer or saying a few words about Wright, should show up Monday, Aug. 27, at 10 a.m. The school was declared surplus several years ago with students moving to Center...
On Monday, workers dug up what they thought would be a time capsule at the condemned A. E. Wright Elementary School. However, it really was a copper plaque that was placed at the school near a spruce tree planted April 27, 1976, in honor of the country’s bicentennial. The district had heard that a time capsule had been placed at the school. Workers dug up an area near the flagpole and later dug near the spruce tree after Brady Black, a summer employee, had found the plaque with a metal d...
The idea of creating a new Electric City logo cropped up again at the city’s last council meeting. A new logo has been on the slow burner for over a year, and it appears that it is going to be a committee invention. Mayor Jerry Sands distributed a fistful of ideas of what a new logo would look like. Ideas, he said, he took from a site on the internet. The current logo, a lightning bolt coming out of a cloud, was put together by city staff members. Sands noted that council members should make suggestions about the logos he showed at the m...
There will be a household hazardous waste collection at the Delano Regional Transfer Station from noon to 4 p.m., Friday, Sept. 7. Officials state that you can bring oil-based paints, stains, thinners, batteries, solvents, antifreeze, brake fluid, cleaning products, spot removers, insecticides, weed killers, fluorescent tubes, swimming pool and hobby chemicals. Those bringing hazardous waste are asked to keep products in original containers with labels, pack items so they won’t tip over and keep products away from children, pets and p...
Rex, a brindle mix canine, avoided being named a “dangerous dog” when Electric City council members refused to acknowledge that it bit a city resident, Amanda Lyn Button on May 13. The dog is owned by Michael Lowry, who appeared at last Tuesday’s council meeting, along with a handful of neighbors who spoke of the positive virtues of the animal. The council tabled the issue for the second time. The first time, Lowry pled with the council to delay naming Rex a dangerous animal so he could take the issue before a municipal judge late in July....
Okanogan County and Brewster law enforcement officers assisted Grand Coulee police in locating an Electric City woman wanted for stabbing her boyfriend with a knife May 18. Arrested on assault in the first degree, domestic violence, and providing false information to a police officer, was Mercedes A. O’Dell, 22, of 138 Miller Ave., in Electric City. Police say she tabbed Jacob M. Jackson, 24, who gave his address as Omak. Officers had originally answered a call that a suicidal person was at the Miller Avenue address. When police arrived the o...
The city of Grand Coulee received a scathing audit finding from the State Auditor’s Office for the calendar years 2009 and 2010. The SAO reported in audit findings released Monday that the city had overspent its budget by more than $400,000 in 2009, and that it had not billed for some $300,000 in ambulance services, and that then-mayor Tammara Byers had signed blank checks. “The city does not have adequate controls over financial operations, placing public resources at risk of loss or misappropriation,” the SAO findings state. During the audit... Full story
A man who has had a running battle with the town of Coulee Dam over water charges, appeared last Thursday at Elmer City’s town council, charging that the town there is being overcharged by Coulee Dam for its sewer service. Greg Wilder brought agreement documents between the two towns and took issue with the way Coulee Dam is drafting its sewer charges, maintaining that Elmer City’s quarterly bill is 25 percent higher than it should be. Wilder said this has been going on for the past 10 years or more. Wilder told town officials that they sho... Full story