News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 1897
He'd been planning to buy a car, but a month and a half ago Brandon Desautel decided he'd buy a bowling alley instead. "I've been saving for my car, and so I just had to make a decision on buying a new car or buying the bowling alley," he said. Former owner of the business, Scott Elmore, had told the town council of Coulee Dam, from which he was leasing the space, that his own health was making it impossible to keep the operation going. He was hoping to find a buyer to keep the business going....
Sometimes good news comes in waves. Yes, this is exactly about that. Our bowling alley is back open. Oh, you thought I was referring to a different wave that swept the country last night, a “blue wave,” meaning a Democratic Party mid-term win across the country with a return to control of Congress to the Ds. To be honest, the two happenings are a little tied together in my mind, only because yesterday (election day) I got to interview a 30-year-old entrepreneur who hopes to make a little money while improving life in the coulee by re-...
A plan to replace trees along two blocks of Coulee Dam's Ferry Avenue is moving toward a spring planting, following a public meeting Thursday where residents weighed in on tree species, shade and long-term maintenance. Engineer Marissa Siemens of TD&H said the Department of Natural Resources-funded project is designed to plant 24 trees, with 12 planned for each block. Because the season was already late, she said planting would likely take place in early spring. The town plans to seek...
With enrollment still fluctuating, school board directors heard some gratitude and cautions from Business Manager Suzie Marchand Monday. Marchand said spending was far lower in September than it had been in the same month a year earlier, and she thanked the principals for that. “Now, if we can just stay with that throughout the year, we’ll be hopefully building up our cash reserve,” she said. Nevertheless, the district spent more than it took in during the month by $509,000, decreasing its fund balance by that amount, down from $2.1 milli...
The Lady Raiders are having an exceptional soccer month, tarnished only by their first loss last night of the month, their first this season in league play. The only game they hadn't won in October they instead tied, against 1A Chelan. They beat 1A Omak 3-2 on Oct. 17, then on Saturday wrapped up Oroville in a postseason game, taking down the sixth-seeded Hornets 8-0 at Grand Coulee. The LR win ended the Hornets' season in a game that saw two Raiders each accomplish a hat trick, the rare...
The Scarecrow Trail is waiting for your vote, and it might be a lot more fun than actually electing people running for public office. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce has elicited good vibes from many businesses and organizations taking part in the contest intended to dress up the town in the spirit of fall, Halloween, harvest. Think pumpkin spice with a big boo! attached. You get the idea. Voting officially opened Tuesday, and the chamber had earlier announced a way to vote online...
The Coulee Area Park and Recreation District on Friday approved its 2027 operating budget and a separate budget for submission to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, while warning that expected revenue may fall short of operating needs by at least $16,000. The larger budget gap - about $48,970 - reflects the district's preferred service level, including an estimated $50,000 for maintenance needs and $15,000 in potential ballot costs. Those figures are estimates, not commitments to spend the full...
Many people are awakening to the significant changes artificial intelligence is beginning to have in various endeavors. But most of what we are individually aware of can amount to nothing more than a diversion away from what is actually important, even critical, regarding AI at this point in history. Less attention should be paid to the distraction lest we miss the central reality of the age: it could be wonderful, or it could be catastrophic. “Since late November of 2022, when ChatGPT was officially released, savvy readers began to notice s...
Grant County Public Utility District is proposing electricity rate increases for 2027 that would raise residential rates by about 3.1% and small-business rates by 3.6%, while establishing two new rate classifications for data centers and cryptocurrency operations. With demand for electricity widely expected to climb, future rates are projected to grow 21% higher than next year’s proposed rate in nine years, according to a fact sheet published by the utility this week. The proposal reflects the utility’s effort to accommodate growing industrial...
Grant County Public Utility District is proposing electricity rate increases for 2027 that would raise residential rates by about 3.1% and small-business rates by 3.6%, while establishing two new rate classifications for data centers and cryptocurrency operations. With demand for electricity widely expected to climb, future rates are projected to grow 21% higher than next year’s proposed rate in nine years, according to a fact sheet published by the utility this week. The proposal reflects the utility’s effort to accommodate growing industrial...
Taking opportunity where they found it, the couple working to create the Coulee Art House hosted a reception for the Washington Supreme Court justices last week as the court happened to schedule one of the court's traveling sessions in Nespelem. Ben and Naomi Dupris have been working to bring together their vision for an artistic hub and resource place for youth. As the old Coulee House Motel was being torn down, they saved as much of the salvageable signs as they could, which are now inside...
Hopefully, the justices of the Washington State Supreme Court came to our community to learn a thing or two, because they probably did, whether they realize it or not. It’s the kind of knowledge that sneaks into your mind quietly, the kind that lets you look back on your former self and realize what has changed in you, that somehow the formerly obvious truth has slipped away in humble retreat before a rising inspiration that is just as true. Those nine already very wise men and women may someday look back to a conversation they had with a d... Full story
People wanting to voice their opinions to the school board may have to be more prepared with their thoughts if the board adjusts its policy for receiving public comment. The Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors reviewed proposed revisions to its public comment procedure Sept. 14, discussing shorter speaking limits, a sign-in requirement and a shift away from answering residents on the spot. The changes to their procedure for audience participation were taken up as a discussion....
Electric City's leaders are wondering if residents want to keep using cameras at the end of town that snap photos of every car passing by, then stores the photos, records its license plate, time, and other information in a sharable online database. The city council on Tuesday postponed a decision on the city's Flock Safety license-plate reading cameras until October, pending information on the cost and filing deadlines for a possible special election to let voters decide. The council took no...
With attendance sharply up and the principals assurance of seeing progress, the school board approved this school year’s School Improvement Plan Monday. The Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors approved the district’s 2026-27 school improvement plan Sept. 14 after hearing from Elementary Principal Lisa Lakin that chronic absenteeism at the elementary school has fallen from 233 students to 61 in a single year. Lakin presented a one-page summary of goals the district set last spring rather than the full 67-page document, tel...
Elmer City officials signaled more utility rate hikes may be unavoidable as they wrestle with mounting attorney fees from the town’s ongoing sewer dispute with Coulee Dam, council members said at Monday night’s meeting. Mayor Jesse Tillman told the council the town is currently covering its basic sewer costs but is falling short once legal bills tied to the court case are added. He estimated Elmer City would need about $30 more per sewer customer per month just to keep up with attorney fees if the legal fight continues through next year. A jud...
She graduated at the top of her class from Lake Roosevelt High four years ago, then earned her bachelor's degree at Western Washington University in Bellingham last spring where she was named an "Outstanding Graduate." "During her time at WWU, Piturachsatit completed a 360-hour internship with Bellingham Public Schools shadowing the International Baccalaureate coordinator at Happy Valley Elementary and Alderwood Elementary," wrote Mary Lane Gallagher of WWU's communications department....
It’s normal that hundreds of tons of trash to be hauled from Grand Coulee to Ephrata in a typical month. Manager Randy Gumm moved roughly 420 tons of solid waste last month on 19 trailer loads from the Delano Regional Transfer Station, according to his report to the Regional Board of Mayors Sept. 2. Asked about how much solid waste he typically hauls to the landfill in Ephrata, Gumm also noted holiday use at Steamboat Rock State Park had pushed volumes sharply higher over the Fourth of July weekend, with park users generating nearly 9 tons o...
America’s collective understanding of itself was mortally injured 25 years ago. What we feel about our nation now, what we live every day breathing about it, is not what it was before September 11, 2001. In the long run, that’s at least as tragic as the thousands of Americans killed when two airliners were turned into giant, flying weapons aimed at the edifices that housed the literal and figurative powers of capitalism and U.S. military might — the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Much more than physical structures started careening downw... Full story
by Scott Hunter The Coulee Dam Town Council Wednesday night declined to move forward with a request to loosen the town's fence regulations, opting instead to keep its long-standing prohibition on front-yard fencing. Council members considered a request from Michael Dennis to amend Municipal Code 17.85.040 to allow six-foot, open-style fences to extend all the way to the front property line. Dennis, however, after reading The Star's story about the council meeting online, posted his letter, on...
Coulee Medical Center recorded a strong surplus in July, helped by a major estate gift and several one-time payments, the hospital’s chief financial officer told commissioners Monday. Chief Financial Officer Natalie Dennis reported a July gain of $1,457,710, bringing the year-to-date surplus to $2,227,577. She said total cash and investments climbed to $7,040,947 by the end of the month. That monthly gain handily beat CMC’s simple monthly goal of a $50,000 increase. Much of the cash boost came from a $1,385,463 endowment from the estate of a fo...
Residents pressed Grand Coulee city leaders last week to crack down on long-running nuisance and drug problems they say are driving away tenants, scaring off potential homebuyers and damaging the town's reputation. During a council meeting Thursday night, multiple speakers focused on a cluster of problem properties - especially on Dill Street - where people are living in RVs and tents without utilities, dumping waste outdoors and attracting steady drug activity. "I have numerous rentals in...
The Coulee Dam Town Council Wednesday night declined to move forward with a request to loosen the town's fence regulations, opting instead to keep its long-standing prohibition on front-yard fencing. Council members considered a request from Michael Dennis to amend Municipal Code 17.85.040 to allow six-foot, open-style fences to extend all the way to the front property line. Clerk/Treasurer Stefani Bowden reminded the council of the current code. "The fencing can't come beyond ... the front...
Lake Roosevelt’s alternative education program has a new name and, soon, a new home. The district is moving ahead with a disputed plan to relocate the ALE program from the old middle school campus miles away to a controlled classroom in the CTE building on the main Lake Roosevelt campus, even as staff raise safety and supervision concerns. The Grand Coulee Dam School District board on Aug. 24 unanimously approved renaming the district’s ALE program the Lake Roosevelt Alternative Learning and Online Alternative Learning Experience, a change req...
We don’t have all the comforts of city life in this community, but we don’t always realize what we do love about life here. When we lose one little aspect of it, even temporarily, we can get cranky. That’s been the experience of many since the emergency repair work began on the SR-155 bridge over the Columbia River as our little region has suffered the absolute injustice of the addition of traffic lights. The horror! Probably, when engineers were faced with an emergent need to specify the deck repairs on the bouncy, clanking bridge surfa...