News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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A state preservation official Thursday dispelled myths and disclosed some little-known facts about what happens when property is declared "historic" and entered on a registry. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Coulee Dam had invited Michael Houser, of the Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, to speak about the registry issue at a joint noon meeting last Thursday held in the community room at town hall. There was interest in the town to see if some of... Full story
The search for a new superintendent for the Grand Coulee Dam School District officially got underway Tuesday. Applications open first for candidates from within the district and will remain open until Jan. 4, 2016. The board has scheduled an application screening period Jan. 5–8, for members to screen any internal candidates. An interview schedule has been set for Jan. 12–13. If no one is selected through this process, then applications will be accepted from those outside the district right after the internal applicant interviews. The new sup... Full story
The historic Coulee Dam Community Church will soon close. One official at the church, Jerry Kennedy, said that the Christmas Eve service and one later in the month could be the final services. The late December gathering has been set for Dec. 27, at 3 p.m. The community is invited to attend and encouraged to comment on their memories of the church and share any pictures they may have. The church has had an aging, and diminishing number in, its congregation for a long time. About 20 attend on a... Full story
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The sound of loud booms ricocheting off the canyon walls last Friday and Saturday caught the attention of many local residents. Not to worry, though, it was all a group of pyrotech club people demonstrating their rocket prowess. Alan Cain, one of the members of the Northwest Pyrotechnics Association, said the 10 members who showed up for the fun were amazed at how the sound reverberated through the area. "One person said it was the best he had ever seen," Cain stated. And it... Full story
The staff at Grand Coulee’s city hall are still scratching their heads over this item. City Clerk Carol Boyce received a letter recently asking the city to not rename Main Street to “Ziaur Rahman Street.” They were wondering who thought the city was going to do so. The letter was signed by Bangladesh Ambassador M. Ziauddin of Washington D.C. “It has been recently noted that initiatives are being taken to name streets, roads and important parts of cities and towns in the USA after Major General Ziaur Rahman who in 1977 had unlawfully seized... Full story
Purchases made at Amazon, the giant online retailer, can now benefit the Coulee Medical Center Guild. Guild President Clea Pryor told The Star Monday that her organization had been selected as a participating charity by Amazon. Pryor stated that if you go to AmazonSmile.com it will ask to what charity you want a donation to go. If you select or add Coulee Medical Center Guild, the guild will get 0.5 percent of the sale, at no additional cost. “Not all items fall within their charity giving,” Pryor stated. She said she tried the system, and it... Full story
An effort to get talks going on consolidating two local cities may be in jeopardy. A decision Feb. 10, by Electric City’s council, to move forward in support of an independent study, was not a formal vote, according to City Clerk Jackie Perman. At the city council meeting on that date, a motion was made and seconded to move forward with providing up to $15,000 for a study by consultant SCJ Alliance, facilitated by the local chamber of commerce. The council was asked for a show of hands to show who was in favor of the idea. A majority of the c... Full story
Carrie Derr’s sixth grade class let the school board know how they felt about school uniforms Monday night. The school board has discussed pursuing school uniforms for next fall to begin the 2016-17 school year. A special committee will be formed to work on the project. Earlier this year, administrators reported to the board that an unofficial poll of teachers indicated the majority were in favor of the idea. The school uniform plan, if initiated, would involve all grades and even the staff, according to preliminary comments made at board m... Full story
Riverview Lanes has set Tuesday, Dec. 8, as its opening date. New owner Scott Elmore said Monday that he still had some minor mechanical problems to iron out before the lanes would be ready. He had earlier scheduled the opening date for Dec. 1. Elmore, along with former lanes owner Pat Zlateff, has been reconditioning the mechanics of the eight-lane operation for several weeks. A couple of mechanical problems cropped up over the weekend, forcing Elmore to delay the opening. He has been working with the town to finalize a new lease on the... Full story
A state official will give a public talk in Coulee Dam next week, where he will also speak with town officials about the possibility of designating parts of town as a historical site. Michael Houser, from the State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, will speak at a Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the town hall Dec. 10. The event is open to the public. The price for the catered lunch will be $10; and those wishing to attend the Thursday lunch must call the... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce’s Vintners & Brewers Tasting and Auction event this Saturday night has 13 tickets left at press time. The chamber has been holding the event for nearly 20 years. It is always held the first Saturday of December. The event will be in the community room at Coulee Dam Town Hall, where doors will open at 6 p.m. It features dinner, wine and beer tasting, and an auction. Auction items have been donated by both local and outside the area businesses and individuals. Tucker Cool from Dayton will be the a... Full story
Coulee Dam could have a new police chief sometime in December. Town officials were busy Monday, interviewing the top three candidates provided by the Civil Service Commission, which narrowed the list of candidates down from 10 who applied for the position. Civil Service Commission member Herb Sherburne stated last week that all applicants were from Eastern Washington. Town Mayor Greg Wilder said he had planned to complete the interviews of the three on Monday and then would wait until all the background checks were made before making a... Full story
The idea of joining two or more local towns into one involves a lot of factors, not to mention public opinion, which might soon be addressed if two cities are willing to fund a consultant’s help. A proposed agreement between the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce and SCJ Alliance to consider issues pertaining to consolidating Grand Coulee and Electric City is moving forward and awaits details of Grand Coulee’s 2016 budget decisions. The chamber hopes to enter into an agreement with the SCJ group from Wenatchee to provide planning service... Full story
The first of December is still the target date for the reopening of the bowling alley in Coulee Dam, the new owner said Tuesday. Scott Elmore said the Riverview Lanes and working areas are ready for business. “We have the lanes up and working and I’ve just a few more things to do before we can welcome customers,” Elmore stated. Most of the equipment has been refurbished, the lanes treated, and, Elmore said, the lanes will be ready for play. He plans to be open Tuesdays through Saturdays, continuing the same hours as the lanes were open befor... Full story
After more than a year of on-and-off negotiations, and an interlude with a third town, Grand Coulee and Electric City are set to wrap up an extension of their current police contract in December, ensuring police protection for Electric City in 2016. The new agreement proposed by Grand Coulee is for a two-year period at a basic annual cost of $125,000. The agreement calls for Grand Coulee police to answer all police calls, provide traffic control (including radar), check on business buildings during the night, do regular car patrols, do... Full story
Three representatives of area organizations went mining for a slice of Grand Coulee’s lodging tax funds for 2016, and they came out winners. Now it all depends on the city council passing its new budget, a task that will likely happen in December. Peggy Nevsimal, executive director of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, attended the city council last Tuesday to ask for $13,325, for advertising and promoting the area. She got it. George Kohout, president of the Ridge Riders Saddle Club, asked for $12,500. He got his amount. And Bob V... Full story
There could be an announcement soon on who is going to be Coulee Dam’s new police chief. The town’s Civil Service Commission, made up of Herb Sherburne, Joe Tynan and Councilmember Shawn Derrick, has received 10 applications of interest in the position. The commission has pared this down to six final candidates. A four-member interview team, made up of Sherburne, Tynan, town Councilmember Ken Miles and Nate Piturachsatit finished interviewing six of the 10 candidates who made it to the interview process last Saturday. Sherburne said the six... Full story
Some streets in Electric City will be receiving new names and numbers as a result of an ordinance passed last week by the Electric City council. The new names and numbering are being assigned to those properties that were taken in at the city’s latest annexation. The city has been working with the property owners affected in an effort to make the changeover without a hitch. A few of the property owners attended the last council meeting and seemed satisfied with the explanations given by Deputy Clerk Russell Powers. The numbering changes will m... Full story
There could be an announcement soon on who is going to be Coulee Dam’s new police chief. The town’s Civil Service Commission, made up of Herb Sherburne, Joe Tynan and Councilmember Shawn Derrick, has received 10 applications of interest in the position. The commission has pared this down to six final candidates. A four-member interview team, made up of Sherburne, Tynan, town Councilmember Ken Miles and Nate Piturachsatit finished interviewing six of the 10 candidates who made it to the interview process last Saturday. Sherburne said the six... Full story
High on the list of things to do for the school board is to find a new superintendent. Present superintendent, Dr. Dennis Carlson, has indicated to the board that he plans to retire when his contract is up, June 30, 2016. Carlson has been in the district for five years. That item will likely be on the agenda when the board meets Nov. 30. The board has several options, including the hiring of a search consultant to assist them. When school board members attended the Washington State School Directors meeting last week in Bellevue, they had an... Full story
The Electric City Council has agreed in principle to a proposal by Grand Coulee to provide police services to the city. The particulars were scratched out over an earlier agreement between the two parties and the council asked that it be finished up and prepared for adoption at its Dec. 8 meeting. The agreement for 2016 and 2017 would have Electric City pay $125,000 for Grand Coulee’s police services the first year. For 2017, the amount would increase according to the Consumer Price Index, not to be less than 2 percent or more than 5 p... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation is going green. You will soon see the all new electric-powered vehicles the bureau has added to its vehicle fleet. They are so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop. That is a fair description of the Bureau of Reclamation's new electric utility vehicle (EUV) fleet of 27 passenger and maintenance vehicles. The vehicles will be seen throughout the Grand Coulee Dam Project area soon and will save the government an estimated 10 to 15 percent a year in just gasoline...
Elmer City hopes to establish a Transportation Benefit District (TBD) which will allow the town to collect $20 on most new licenses issued for vehicles. The town will have a public hearing on the issue at 6:45, Thursday, Dec. 10, and will have an ordinance on the agenda that night for passage. The town council has indicated that any funds generated through a Transportation Benefit District would go into the town’s street fund for the improvement of town streets. After the TBD has been in effect for 24 months, the town may collect $40 per v... Full story
A dog owned by a city employee in Electric City was declared a "dangerous dog" at the council meeting last Tuesday night. The owner of the dog, Jared L. Armstrong, of 32 Hillcrest Place, who is an employee of the city's public works department, appeared to defend his dog. The gray, tan and white dog with spots, named Felicia, about 40 pounds, was described by Armstrong as nothing more than a 10-month-old puppy. "I would have brought him tonight and he would have probably licked all of you and... Full story
Electric City council agreed to the allotment of hotel/motel tax money for 2016 at its meeting last Tuesday and will consider keeping more than a quarter million dollars in tourism-promotion funds toward funding a pathway. The council tourism committee, made up of councilmembers Brad Parrish and Richard McGuire, recommended allotting the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce $25,000 for tourism promotion, with the stipulation that $3,200 be taken from that amount to make up for overpayments the city made during 2015. That created a debate... Full story