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 recent study by the National Park Service shows how a strong visitor base pumps money into local economies. A report on the 2012 season showed that the Lake Roosevelt National Recreational Area had nearly 1.8 million visits in 2012. That resulted in more than $71 million being spent in nearby communities, the report stated. The LRNRA stretches from Grand Coulee Dam almost to the Canadian line, a 151-mile stretch that follows the Columbia River. That spending in communities within 60 miles of t... Full story
Well laid plans sometime just don’t work out. That was the scene at Monday’s Grand Coulee Civil Service meeting at city hall. Commissioners discussed what went wrong at their last meeting when police officer/private citizen Sean Cook, got into it with commission Chair Alan Cain. Commissioners decided at the front of Monday’s meeting to allow persons wishing to address the commission three minutes, with an extension at the request of a commissioner. They also decided that commissioners wouldn’t respond to comments made from the floor. Barely had... Full story
Port District 7 officials, their engineering firm, USKH of Spokane, and contractor Blackrock Construction, of Moses Lake, plan a pre-construction meeting on a building to house a new dump truck with snow blade sometime next week. The building and truck will cost more than $300,000. Commissioners walked through the construction plan at their last meeting and reviewed funding for the combined project. The truck and building have been on the port district burner for about a year and the need for the truck had reached the critical stage. An... Full story
The Nez Perce Long House destroyed by fire the day after Christmas, 2012, will soon be rebuilt. An application for a land use and development permit was passed after a public hearing on the matter Feb. 27. Albert Andrews Redstar, representing the Chief Joseph Long House Redevelopment, proposed replacing the former 70-by-80-foot building with one nearly twice that size, an 11,000-square-foot building. The new building will be located in the same general area as the old building, about a mile south of Nespelem. The public hearing was held at the... Full story
The Colville Tribes new Omak Casino could open as early as May or June in 2015, according to Colville Tribal Federal Corporation’s chief executive, Joe Pakootas. Pakootas said final planning could occur this week and it was hoped that the project could get underway in April or early May. Pakootas said that the casino would take about 12 months to complete. The casino will be located on a 600-acre site between the Tribes’ convenience store/gas outlet and Omak. Pakootas said the casino would take up about 35 acres of the 600-acre site. The pro... Full story
The new K-12 school facility in Coulee Dam is beginning to show its colors. A walk of the place last Wednesday revealed painted classrooms, some finish work on the final red metal roof and the beginning of rock work on the outside of the elementary wing. School patrons and taxpayers in general may be in for a pleasant experience and surprise. The new school is huge. Many of the classrooms are large with every type of teaching technology device available. The walk through was in concert with... Full story
At one point, the Grand Coulee Dam School District was worried about a declining student population; now it is worried that it could end up with too many students. The issue came up Monday night at the school board meeting with Superintendent Dennis Carlson telling the board that the new school facility could be maxed out when it opens next fall. He asked the question: “Are we going to have a lot of students come here because we have a new school?” When plans were made for the new school, the student population trend line had followed a dow... Full story
The first step in developing a Gay/Straight Alliance Club at Lake Roosevelt High School was approved by the Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors Monday night. The board has asked the group to return in March with a set of bylaws, a purpose statement and financial cost to the district. Associated Student Body President Brandin Smith and LRHS counselor Andrea Sperberg presented the idea to the board. Its members gave a unanimous vote for the idea with a request for more information. The club would provide a place where gay... Full story
The all new laser light show is still on schedule for a late May showing this year. Bureau of Reclamation Public Affairs Officer Lynne Brougher said this week that LumaLaser, the firm designing the show, has made revisions to the story line, graphics and text, and is progressing through the project, the development of which is “well along.” LumaLaser, a Eugene, Oregon firm, landed the $1.6 million contract and has been working with a stakeholder group here as the work on the project continues. The project was supposed to be off and running las... Full story
The school board Monday night agreed to advertise for one administrative post and delay a decision on a second so it could discuss it more during its March 12 work session. The district begins advertising for a 7th-through-12th-grade principal this week, one that would take charge of the new grade lineup for the new school. Delayed was a decision on hiring a full-time dean of students, activities director and associated student body advisor, all rolled into one position. Brandon Byers is currently principal of Lake Roosevelt High School and is... Full story
Grand Coulee Mayor Chris Christopherson got another grilling from police officer Sean Cook Tuesday night after information in the city’s “Key report” was published in The Star newspaper, Feb. 12. Cook had confronted the mayor at the city’s previous council meeting, Feb. 4, concerning a number of concerns he had raised earlier and the lack of responses he had received. Tuesday night Cook was told he had five minutes to express his views. When he was told his time was up, he protested that the allotted time had not expired. Christopherson gave hi... Full story
The chamber of commerce named two of its own to awards last Thursday night as the "Achiever of the Year," and "Business of the Year." The awards are made by the vote of members of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. Named "Achiever of the Year" was Bob Valen, the chamber's own vice president and a retired National Park Service employee. Valen served over 35 years with the NPS, and in retirement has been as busy as ever. He also now serves as chairman of the Coulee Area Park &... Full story
Trees. That’s what dominated talk among town council members last Wednesday night. First, it was a move by the town’s public works department to call for bids on someone to clear branches that have grown too close to power lines. Public works director Barry Peacock said the town does this every four years. It prompted town councilmember Bob Poch to say, “The two places people plant trees is over sewer lines or under power lines.” The limb trimming advertisement for bids will go out soon. Then Mayor Gregory Wilder asked the council for authori... Full story
Electric City firefighters had a sensitivity training session last Wednesday night at the firehall. It all came about because of Fire Chief Mark Payne’s issue with illegal burning on two separate occasions recently. Mayor Jerry Sands made the announcement at a city council meeting Tuesday night and stated that firefighters were going to hear about what is a legal fire and an illegal fire. When asked if he was going to put a letter of reprimand in Chief Payne’s file, the mayor said “yes” but didn’t elaborate. Payne had been turned in for burni... Full story
With eyes on the future, the Electric City Council voted last week to move ahead with a 10-inch pipeline for the proposed Sunbanks Lake Resort water project. It will cost the city between $18,000 and $20,000 to expand the size of the pipeline from one that is 8 inches in diameter to a 10-inch pipe, but the move will put the city in a good position to deal with anticipated future housing expansion on the south side of Osborn Bay. The 10-inch line will go some 1,700 feet from the old vacated western store on highway 155 to the entrance to... Full story
The Colville Confederated Tribes have issued seven burn bans from November, 2013, through January of this year, officials said this week. Currently, no burn bans are in effect on the Colville Reservation. The report issued by Kathy Moses, of the Mount Tollman Fire Center, stated that the tribes’ Air Quality Program and the federal Environmental Protection Agency closely monitor air quality on the reservation and in part of Okanogan County. When issued, tribal burn bans include part of Okanogan County. The tribes have sent out public notices t... Full story
Electric City could land one of a handful of kiosks being planned along the Coulee Corridor. The "corridor" covers the area between Othello and Omak and is recognized nationally for the many unusual landscape features along the route. Birdie Hensley, who has been active in the Coulee Corridor organization from its inception, appeared before the Electric City Council a week ago to ask if the city was interested in getting one of the informational kiosks. She explained to city officials that it... Full story
An investigative report issued by the city of Grand Coulee’s risk management firm details infighting between the chief of police and the mayor, charges and counter charges of nepotism and favoritism, micromanagement by the mayor and a breakdown in authority fueled by a lack of respect, personality conflicts, and an inability “to work together for the good of the city.” The Star obtained a copy of the year-old report after it was referenced in a city council meeting last week. At the Feb. 4 council meeting, Police Officer Sean Cook took issue... Full story
Police reports that The Star newspaper has regularly picked up at the police department now have to be picked up at the city clerk’s office, by order of Grand Coulee Mayor Chris Christopherson. The newspaper has had access to the reports directly from police officials for nearly two decades and are summarized in Coulee Cops each week. That ceased last week, and now The Star has to go to the city clerk’s office to get the reports. No explanation was forthcoming other than that the mayor had ordered it. The police department has provided unc... Full story
Members of the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center are still hopeful that they will someday be able to build a garage to house their two buses, even though the city of Grand Coulee is dragging its feet on the issue. Larry Curtis, appeared before the city council at its last meeting, his fourth time on the issue, asking the city what is happening on the seniors’ request to build a bus garage on property that borders on Federal Avenue. The property is not zoned for a separate garage unless there is also a residential building in the package. Each t... Full story
Tom Poplawski, a retired state parks employee, was named to fill a vacant seat on Grand Coulee’s city council. Three people had submitted their names for the vacant position, but one withdrew his name the night the selection was made. Poplawski was sworn in last Tuesday night to fill the vacant seat, position 2, formerly held by Tim Alling, who chose not to run again for office. The new councilman served as park manager at Steamboat Rock State Park from 1996 to 2012, when he retired. Poplawski had a 37-year career in the state park system a... Full story
Grand Coulee will go out to bid on its Midway Avenue water project, the replacement of about 500 feet of line. The project will replace lines across Midway Ave. from Jess Ford, to Four Corners and to the Catholic Church. It will also replace lines from Safeway to the TeePee Drive-In. The city council gave Mayor Chris Christopherson the OK to execute a contract with Gray & Osborne, the city’s engineering firm. The project estimate, made a year ago, was for $100 per foot, or about $50,000. The job would be advertised, city officials said, Feb. 1... Full story
Dr. Nicholas A. Donaghey has joined the Gillespie Eye Care team as the primary optometrist at its Grand Coulee location, 407 Burdin Boulevard. Donaghey received his bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas and his doctorate from the Ohio State University. The eye care practice, which also has offices in Quincy and Brewster, has recently gone through a complete refurbishment, including fixtures and technical equipment. Gillespie Eye Care purchased Family Vision Care in August, 2013.... Full story
A Grand Coulee Civil Service Commission meeting Monday night turned out to be anything but civil. Commission President Alan Cain and police Officer Sean Cook got into a shouting match over issues that Cook raised before commission members. The civil service commission is an independent board that interviews and makes recommendations on police personnel. Cook said he wasn’t there representing the police department, but as a private citizen and veteran. Initially, Cook challenged the commission for ordering him out of the January meeting, t... Full story
Electric City is looking for a water source to service an eventual development of some 300-400 homes on the south side of the causeway. Mayor Jerry Sands appeared before Port District 7 officials Thursday evening to ask if the city could some day drill a well near the golf course to find a water source for future residential development that he said was “coming, maybe not in our lifetime, but it’s coming.” Electric City had engineers and hydrologists here the week before to test three wells that belong to the port district to see if the wells... Full story