News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Grand Coulee’s Civil Service Commission chair said this week that there has been no explanation of why Mayor Chris Christopherson asked that the hiring of a police chief be placed on the agenda for the commission’s Aug. 6 meeting. Alan Cain, who chairs the three-member board, said that it is his position that the process of hiring a new police chief should go through the commission. The past two police chiefs have gone through the Civil Service Commission before being hired. The issue came up during Grand Coulee’s last council meeting and c... Full story
The chairman of Grand Coulees Civil Service Commission said last week that his agency and Grand Coulee’s city council should play a role in selecting a new police chief. It’s a bad idea for one person to have that kind of power, said Alan Cain, the commission chair, responding to a news report that the mayor intends to not include the commission in the process. We don’t select an imperial mayor, Cain added. The selection of a new police chief should be transparent. Traditionally, the Civil Service Commission has been the lead agency in the s... Full story
The selection of Grand Coulee’s police chief will be on the Civil Service Commission agenda when it meets Aug. 4. The request that it be placed on the agenda was made by Mayor Chris Christopherson Monday. The Civil Service Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. on the first Monday of the month in the city council chamber. At least two council members, David Tylor and Paul Townsend, had asked if the council was going to be involved in the selection of a new police chief to replace Chief Mel Hunt, who is retiring Oct. 1, of this year. In a telephone i... Full story
Electric City residents had their opportunity to share their feelings about police protection in the city last night during a community meeting in the fire hall. The city and Grand Coulee came together recently and agreed to a one-year extension of their law enforcement contract. The two cities agreed on a $115,000 contract for 2015. That would give the two municipalities about 18 months to come up with a plan of how they would jointly develop a police department. The whole thing got off to a rocky start when Grand Coulee Mayor Chris... Full story
A local registered nurse worked with the Red Cross shelter at Omak over the weekend. Nurse Alan Cain, of Grand Coulee, who went to Omak Thursday, returned home Monday night when the shelter was closed, but expects to return where needed later. “The shelter housed about 100 people the first night and it was down to about 60 the next night,” Cain reported. “By the second night many of those who had been displaced had found other places to stay.” As a nurse, Cain ran what turned out to be a clinic for those with a wide variety of ailments. The she... Full story
The hallways are polished and colorful. The elementary gym is ready for play, and all marked out for basketball and volleyball. Hoops are up. Racks are in the library and both libraries are ready for books and other materials. The kitchen is fully equipped with walk-in coolers and freezers, and soup will soon be on for students. You can almost hear the laughter from the various playground areas. Just 27 months after the state Legislature approved funding to build it, a tour of the Grand Coulee... Full story
Mt. Tolman Fire Center personnel are concerned about weather reports of a storm and possible lightning strikes that is going to pass through the area this Thursday. Kathy Moses said Tuesday that firefighters have welcomed the change in the weather Tuesday and are bracing themselves for whatever might happen Thursday. The Colville Indian Reservation had a hit of 700 lightning strikes just over a week ago and had some 11 small fires contained or extinguished from that storm. While a number of very large fires are occurring in North Central... Full story
Differences regarding wastewater treatment billings between Coulee Dam and Elmer City are slowly getting resolved. The two council committees met July 17, and agreed to two adjustments between the two towns. Representing Coulee Dam were council members Shawn Derrick and Ken Miles, meeting with Donna DeWinkler and Don Bonertz for Elmer City. Two issues were resolved. Coulee Dam has agreed to credit Elmer City $1,069.14, for electrical overcharges for the years of 2007 through 2012. Additionally, Coulee Dam is crediting Elmer City $1,656.51, for... Full story
Grand Coulees six-year street plan was derailed last Tuesday night when Fire Chief Richard Paris took issue with it. The council sent the plan back to committee to digest what Paris had to say. Paris asked the council why the six-year plan focused on streets south of SR 155 (Midway) but nothing was targeted on the north side of the highway. Paris noted that the council members all lived on the south side. Paris lives on the north side. He proposed that the council include the street approaching the hospital in the plan. Paris often is with the... Full story
It was Grand Coulee’s turn last night to address where its police contract with Electric City is going. Two council members were instrumental in working out an arrangement that would extend Grand Coulee’s police contract with Electric City for one year, allowing time to study how or if the two cities could develop a joint police department. Councilmembers Erin Neilson and David Tylor met with their Electric City counterparts, Aaron Derr and John Nordine, July 3 to hammer out the plan. The current contract between the two cities ends Dec. 31, 20... Full story
You can capture the fun this weekend when the Ridge Riders feature their Junior Rodeo, beginning at 10 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday. Bring your cameras and capture some of the most exciting type of rodeo activity you will ever see. Watch youngsters show their mettle, and who knows, you may be watching a future rodeo star. It’s all happening at the Ridge Rider Rodeo Grounds in Delano. Features include, but are not limited to, bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, calf roping, and steer wrestling, all junior style. Then there are t... Full story
One Central Washington fire has been put out and firefighters are making progress on two others, officials reported Friday. Crews mopped up the Highland Fire, just east of Bridgeport early Friday. Two strike teams that were preparing to leave assisted Douglas County firemen. This fire started last Wednesday and didn’t damage any structures. The fire was managed by the Spokane County Management team. A 240-acre fire near 25-mile Creek on the south shore of Lake Chelan was reported 90% contained Sunday. Kari Grover-Wier, Chelan District R... Full story
A 28-year-old man who was arrested by Spokane police after an incident at Deaconess Hospital is a person of interest in an ongoing investigation by Grand Coulee police. Cameron A. Trevino, listed from Nespelem, was involved in an incident in Electric City, June 30, and has been sought by police after he allegedly pointed a gun at another person while committing an armed robbery of a cell phone and laptop computer. Trevino was initially arrested Friday by Spokane police for first-degree assault with a firearm and unlawful possession of a... Full story
A veteran who "was surrendered" by Bataan military authorities to the Japanese in World War II, was a visitor to Grand Coulee Monday. Dan Crowley, who enlisted in Hartford, Connecticut, in early January, 1941, reported to Ft. Slocum, N.Y., and shortly after found himself on a troop ship to the Philippines. After being surrendered on Bataan, a small group of a couple hundred, decided to swim after dark the half mile to Corregidor, where they continued to fight for another month before "being... Full story
Four Western Washington men were convicted last week in Grant County Superior Court for poaching on Banks Lake, using gill nets to catch dozens of fish Dec. 5, 2013. “There really is no excuse for this behavior,” Grant County Prosecutor Angus Lee said. “We will be asking the court to impose two months of county jail time on each of these four defendants.” Arrested at the time were Vladimir Savchenko, 36, Edmonds; Peter Zhezhelev, 46, Kenmore; Aleksandr Kashnikov, 45, Everett; and Sergey Mitsevich, 38, Everett. The four were charged with using g... Full story
Of the 81 workers who lost their lives while working on Grand Coulee Dam, 79 have been identified by researcher Susan Dechant. Dechant has been researching the accident incidents for the past several years and only recently reported that she was able to identify two more victims. The Colville resident spoke before the Coulee Dam Town Council this spring when council members showed an interest in developing a monument to honor the victims. It would be a replacement monument since one that was placed here in the mid-30s was taken back by the... Full story
Some lucky child is going to end up with a playhouse this weekend. It's the annual one built by DWK Fowler Construction and given to the Ridge Riders for a special drawing, this year at the Junior Rodeo. Tickets for the raffle drawing are $1 each and may be purchased from Cindy Edwards at Loepp Furniture on Grand Coulee's Main Street, or at the rodeo grounds before the drawing. You can even check the playhouse out in front of the Loepp Furniture store. Fowler Construction has been building and... Full story
The police issue between Grand Coulee and Electric City took a number of twists and turns this past week. Electric City had threatened to walk away from extending its law enforcement contract with Grand Coulee and develop its own police department. That ended last Thursday evening when two council members from Electric City — John Nordine and Aaron Derr — and two council members from Grand Coulee — David Tylor and Erin Neilson — got together and developed a plan that could eventually lead to a combined police department. Grand Coulee... Full story
Consolidation — the word that sends chills up local spines, was spoken last Tuesday night. City Councilmember Tom Poplawski brought it up at the Grand Coulee City Council meeting. And he even said it out loud. Poplawski noted that maybe it was time that the different cities thought about combining operations — like police departments, city clerks, and more. Mayor Chris Christopherson jokingly said, “We could call it the Grand City.” Poplawski went on to say if the different towns and cities could combine, they could get a city manager and dev... Full story
A number of small fires marred the busy July 4 holiday weekend, Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Chief Richard Paris reported this week on behalf of several responding agencies, and one large fire near Keller was still being battled Tuesday morning. At least five of the fires were caused by fireworks incidents, but none covered more than small areas. Thursday night Electric City firefighters responded to a small fire just north of Devil’s Punch Bowl along Banks Lake. That fire covered a tenth of an acre. Friday night, July 4, Grand Coulee f... Full story
Crews from IB-1, an asbestos abatement firm, are currently removing asbestos from the classroom wing of Lake Roosevelt High School, and district officials stated last week that it will take about two weeks to complete the work. Then it will be time for the wrecking ball. Work was temporarily delayed recently when it was discovered that there was more asbestos in the building than previously thought. Thirteen of the classrooms had asbestos tile under carpeting. Superintendent Dr. Dennis Carlson stated this week that the abatement firm plans to... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District approved a five-year contract Monday night with Chartwell Food Service of Wenatchee, but has its eye on doing the food program within the district sometime in the future. The five-year contract will allow the district to opt out after any given year with a 30-day advance notice. Chartwell has been providing food service management to the district for the past five years. The board appointed Susan Chaffee and Carla Marconi to do a study on the benefits, if any, of the district managing its own food service.... Full story
A special levy on the Aug. 5 primary ballot could produce about $200,000 towards an Electric City police department, city officials said Monday. Mayor Jerry Sands and City Clerk Jackie Perman said the idea of an Electric City police department would be the main item on the city council agenda when it meets July 8. “We need a decision that night so we can prepare for a community meeting to explain and get input from community members,” Sands stated. A public meeting could be scheduled at the July 8 council session. The $200,000, coupled wit... Full story
Coulee Dam is moving ahead with an “alternatives analysis” of its plan for revisions to its wastewater treatment plant. The council voted funds, not to exceed $104,572, to move forward and to determine the scope of work, and best location for, the town’s proposed wastewater treatment plant overhaul. The town had earlier selected the engineering firm Varela & Associates, a Spokane business, to do the analysis. That selection was made with participation of Elmer City, the Colville Tribes, and representatives from councils and staff. Varela was a... Full story
Coulee Dam officials have their fingers crossed that a critical piece of equipment at its wastewater treatment plant now in operation will last until a new one is received. The town council voted Wednesday to spend some $40,000 to replace the "clarifier" at the treatment plant. Public works director Barry Peacock outlined the problem for city officials at the council meeting. The wastewater plant doesn't have a backup for the clarifier, and if it went down before the new one could be installed,... Full story