News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 831 - 855 of 1383
Grand Coulee’s new police officer is on the job. Christopher McClanahan completed his academy training and began duties in the department Sept. 1. Chief Mel Hunt said that McClanahan was voted vice president of his academy class and placed second in his class academically. McClanahan placed first in firearms at 99.1 percent and first in the class overall. Hunt said it was the highest any of his officers have scored at the academy. “Officer McClanahan is to be congratulated on his efforts and all the extra work he did,” Hunt state... Full story
The town of Coulee Dam has submitted grant requests to the State Transportation Improvement Board for three major projects. The first is for improvements around the new K-12 school complex. A second is for the reconditioning of Sixth Street, and the third for improvements to Lincoln Avenue. In the school portion of the grant request, the town points out that there will be an increase in general traffic, an increase in heavy vehicles such as school buses and heavy delivery vehicles and an increase in pedestrian traffic. The town’s submission i... Full story
Sunbanks Lake Resort’s fall Rhythm & Blues Festival kicks off tomorrow (Thursday, Sept. 4) and run through Sunday, Sept. 7. Thursday bands will begin playing at 8 p.m. in the Coulee Cantina (directly behind the lodge). Music on the main stage begins Friday at 5 p.m., Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. A variety of bands will play each evening until about midnight. Bands featured include The Fat Tones, LeRoy Bell, Junkyard Jane and Too Slim and the Taildraggers. Promoters stated that there will be a total of 19 bands performing during t... Full story
When you think of a Harvest Festival vegetables and fruits come to mind. The Chamber of Commerce’s Harvest Festival, Sept. 12-14, the third annual, at North Dam Park, is entirely different. It’s a fun festival for the entire family and a good way to polish off what has been a great summer. And it’s free! Always wanted to take a helicopter ride? You can do it at this year’s Harvest Festival, at a nominal price. Soar through the sky and look down on the things you’ve seen all year long except from a different vantage point. Rides are available... Full story
Grant County residents may dispose of household hazardous waste free on Friday, Sept. 12, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Delano Regional Transfer Station. Only hazardous waste generated by households will be accepted. Hazardous products have labels with words such as warning, danger, caustic, flammable and poison. These chemicals should be disposed of through hazardous waste collection opportunities, not in the garbage, down the drain, or on the ground. Examples include oil-based paint, contaminated used motor oil, thinners, household batteries,... Full story
Mayor Chris Christopherson made an appointment to the Grand Coulee Civil Service Commission last week, bringing it up to full strength. Named to the three-member commission was Bill Moore, a retired school teacher, and former city council member. Moore replaces Kenneth Carroll, who resigned earlier this month. Moore taught social studies, general math, shop and traffic safety during his 32-year teaching career. He retired in 1997. The commission is made up of Chair Alan Cain, Mark Graves and now Bill Moore. The Civil Service Commission meets... Full story
The school board Monday night was told not to believe rumors going around that the new school would not make the start date of Sept. 15. In fact, Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson told members of the board, the special ribbon cutting for the new school will be at 10 a.m., Friday, Sept. 12, with tours for the public immediately after. Seems there has been talk about town that the school won’t be ready for students on opening day. Only a rumor, Carlson stated. He added that teachers were asked about the “what ifs... Full story
Grant County Port District 7 is in its third year as manager of Banks Lake Golf Course, which is inching forward and soon will be in the black, according to port commissioners. The Port District took control of the golf course in the spring of 2012, under distressed circumstances. Now, with a membership of 86 and a successful year of managing the course, primarily with volunteers, things are looking good, Port District Chair James Keene said last week. Commissioners praised volunteers for... Full story
It sits on a flat area overlooking the Columbia River at the north end of Coulee Dam and may someday be the site of a development to assist visitors to the area. The gift to the town by Diane Hartzell, an Anacortes resident, was made last Thursday with a signing ceremony at city hall. The property was owned by Hartzell's father, Melvin Hartzell, who worked on Grand Coulee Dam in the mid 1930s when the large concrete structure was just starting to take shape. He had always wanted to build his... Full story
Students, staff, bus drivers, and the entire lot, will celebrate the opening of the new Lake Roosevelt school Sept. 15, with T-shirt mania. Everyone will receive a Lake Roosevelt T-shirt to wear on the first day of school. The gold, black and white design is on a crimson colored t-shirt background featuring a new Lake Roosevelt logo on the front and sponsors on the back. Near the shoulder on one side is the date, Sept. 15, 2014, signifying the first day in the all-new school. The T-shirt will... Full story
by Roger S. Lucas and Scott Hunter This year's Harvest Festival will feature a barbecue competition with some $3,500 prize money, as the event continues to evolve in its third year. That and a lot more will be part of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce's Third Annual Harvest Festival, Sept. 12-14, at North Dam Park. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce's Third Annual Harvest Festival, Sept. 12-14, at North Dam Park will also offer wagon rides, helicopter rides, an apple and... Full story
A resident on Columbia Avenue in Coulee Dam is about to throw up his hands in resignation from the runaround he has been getting on a serious water drainage problem. During the most recent storm, his driveway, garage and outbuilding were all flooded. The problem is that the drain at the street side of his driveway will not take all the water that gushes down Douglas Avenue, runs along the curb, and spills over into his yard and into his garage. Daniel and Ann Marie Morfenski have talked with... Full story
An Electric City man, already wanted on a warrant, was arrested Sunday on various charges, including possession of stolen jewelry. Arrested and taken to Grant County Jail was Jerome J. Harrington, 60, of 58220 Spokane Boulevard. When arrested Harrington had what was estimated at $15,000 worth of jewelry, including one very large diamond. Harrington is charged with breaking into an apartment occupied by Kelly Walker, 57, who lives in an apartment house on Continental Heights in Grand Coulee. Harrington is being charged with burglary,... Full story
An Electric City woman read a prepared statement before the Electric City council last week, taking apart the city in general, the planning commission, and, in particular, Gary Haven, the city’s compliance enforcement officer. Linda Zernick, who lives at 218 Stevens, was trying to find out who made a complaint about her property, to no avail. She received in the mail a notice that she needed to bring her property into conformance with city ordinances or face a citation. A walk through of her property revealed that it is perfectly landscaped and... Full story
Grand Coulee police Chief Mel Hunt and Sgt. John Tufts have about 70 years of combined service to the area. That's about to change, with Hunt ending 39 years of service to the Grand Coulee area beginning in 1975 as a reserve office and ending Oct. 1, 2014, as police chief for the past 35 years. Sgt. Tufts started with the Grand Coulee police department in 1984, after spending two years as an Okanogan County deputy sheriff. He has been sergeant since 2002. Tufts said Monday that he plans to... Full story
Electric City Mayor Jerry Sands took issue at the city council meeting last Tuesday night, Aug. 12, with two stories about him that appeared in successive weeks in The Star newspaper. “It makes me look like a village idiot,” he told the council and some dozen members of the community who had come to the meeting. The first story had outlined how the mayor went to police headquarters in Grand Coulee and told Chief Mel Hunt to back off enforcing Electric City’s noise ordinance. Police had issued a citation to Electric City Bar and Grill becau... Full story
A Spokane Valley man found that you can’t dig holes in a Grand Coulee park even though you are looking for buried treasure. Steven Harder, 46, was found Thursday, along with his metal detector, and dressed as a treasure hunter, digging in the park alongside SR-174 just west of La Presa restaurant. When police officer Joe Higgs got to the site, he found Harder with hand tools walking the park. He explained to Higgs that he was digging for buried treasure and always filled up the holes he dug. Higgs told the man that he was digging in a city p... Full story
Demolition of the classroom wing of Lake Roosevelt High School started Monday. Walker Construction, which has the overall contract, expects the demolition to be completed by the end of this week. A subcontractor from Moses Lake, Advance Demolition, after completion of the demolition, will take out the concrete foundation and provide some 8 feet of fill, raising the area where the classroom wing was located to match the elevation of the new construction area. Most debris from the demolition will... Full story
A Spokane Valley driver was critically injured last Friday when the vehicle she was driving crossed the center line and hit a tractor trailer head on. The accident occurred at about 8:20 a.m., about five miles west of Wilbur in Lincoln County on SR-174, according to the Washington State Patrol report. Deceased at the scene was Melinda L. Hirst, 53, driving a 2003 Thunderbird. Hirst was wearing her seatbelt when the accident occurred. The Thunderbird crossed the center line and struck a 2014 Volvo tractor trailer. The semi-truck was driven by... Full story
Plastic explosives from a mining operation in Canada have been showing up in Lake Roosevelt with some degree of regularity, the most recent near Crescent Bay. A tube of the explosives, about a foot long and several inches wide, was detonated at Crescent Bay by the Spokane Bomb Squad on July 31. The Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department was on standby during the detonation. One local resident, who saw the detonation, said it made a pretty big bang. Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area Chief R... Full story
Two Electric City women were arrested early Monday morning and are being charged with burglary and making false statements to a law enforcement officer. Taken to Grant County jail were Jennifer M. Miley, 33, of 340 Electric Boulevard; and Juliana Y. Terry, 30, of 58063 2nd Street NW. The two were found in a house at 110 E. Grand Avenue, Grand Coulee, at about 2:30 in the morning. A nearby resident had called police to say that some people were prowling around the house. When police arrived, the report stated, a back window was broken and when a... Full story
The Keller Ferry went back in service at 6 a.m. Aug. 13. after steering system issues were resolved. The Keller Ferry is down, with a steering problem. The relatively new ferry, the Sanpoil, went down Monday shortly after 2 p.m., and officials from the Washington State Department of Transportation stated that there is no estimate on when the ferry will be back in service. The new ferry, with a price tag of nearly $12 million, went into service August 14, 2013, connecting travelers from Wilbur to Republic across Lake Roosevelt on SR-21. The... Full story
A land donation to the town of Coulee Dam by an Anacortes woman will close at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 21, at town hall. Diane Hartzell, whose father, Melvin Hartzell, worked on Grand Coulee Dam in the mid-1930s, had purchased the property being donated, with the hope of someday building a retirement home here. The property, about an acre in size, is located at the north end of River Drive, with a portion of it overlooking the Columbia River. Diane will be in Coulee Dam to work with Mayor Greg Wilder and Town Attorney Mick Howe to close the... Full story
A Grand Coulee man who was in a Spokane hospital lost his safe containing from $5,000 to $8,000, plus coins and other money when an unknown person entered his home on Martin Road sometime from Aug. 1-6, a police report stated. Dean Stucker, former owner of Stuck’s Tavern, was in a Spokane hospital at the time of the burglary. Police stated that entry was likely gained through an unlocked window on the north side of the residence. This gave the intruder access to an enclosed porch area where a hammer was used to smash a window in a door that l... Full story
The city will spend more on a recent water pipe maintenance project than it thought earlier. Grand Coulee’s city council approved two change orders totaling $53,147.66, on its recent water project on Midway Avenue. Gray & Osborne officials appeared at the council meeting asking the elected body to approve the change orders and gave an explanation for the extra charges. The work was done by Pikin Construction of Wenatchee. The first change order was for $34,016.23, and was necessary because of rock excavation while digging across SR-155, a... Full story