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 1552
Leaders at one local school district broached the idea of changing the yearly school calendar to an alternative that cuts down on the long summer break. The state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction calls the concept a “balanced calendar” approach, which generally means taking the same 180 days a year of school and not concentrating them all into nine months, then taking all summer off. Nespelem School Superintendent Effie Dean said she’s noticed frustration on the part of teachers whose students are taking longer than expecte...
A cooking mishap turned a house to ashes Friday, leaving a family without a home, but well, not including one or more less fortunate pets. Firefighters got the call at 5: 24 that evening, according to a post on the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department's Facebook. When they arrived, "the fire had progressed enough to determine it would be a defensive attack," the post states, so firefighting would emphasize keeping it from spreading to other structures and the dry grass in the adjacent lot. A...
A young man came down from the top of the Columbia River Bridge in Coulee Dam Thursday evening, coached down by a Nespelem Valley Electric worker with a bucket truck. Police had called for the truck earlier in the day from the Rural Electric Authority utility, which also contracts to do line repairs for the city utility in Coulee Dam and was nearby. Police were looking for a way to communicate with the man and planned to have a cell phone delivered with the bucket truck. But the man in the...
As a newspaper, we actually try not to cover certain stories if they’re arising from an individual’s personal mental health problems. It’s not unusual to get a report that authorities have responded to an individual in distress, or worse. But if someone threatens to do themselves harm, most often it seems far less likely that a news story would help either the individual or society, which might only suffer greater loss if a news article placed more pressure on an already bad situation for that individual. Most of the time. But it was diffi...
Update A young man came down from the top of the Columbia River Bridge in Coulee Dam Thursday evening, coached down by a Nespelem Valley Electric worker with a bucket truck. Police had called for the truck earlier in the day from the Rural Electric Authority utility, which also contracts to do line repairs for the city utility in Coulee Dam and was nearby. Police were looking for a way to communicate with the man and planned to have a cell phone delivered with the bucket truck. But the man in...
This Saturday’s Swing for the Good Charity Scramble at Banks Lake Golf Course will help the cause of developing a new park in Electric City. The event, sponsored by Jess Ford and the Columbia Basin Foundation offers teams of four a fun tournament Saturday morning with an 11 a.m. shotgun start. The $400 registration fee for the foursome includes green fees, cart fees, lunch, goodie bags, and prizes — plus that chance to win a new vehicle. Run the Dam, the local non-profit that puts on the annual Run the Dam race coming up on Sept. 21, will get...
A new Alternative Learning director at Nespelem School told its board of directors Aug. 26 he was excited for the program. “I just wanted to thank you all for the opportunity of bringing an alternative program to Nespelem,” said Mark Herndon, who made the move to Nespelem this fall after heading the ALE program at Grand Coulee Dam for several years. Nespelem’s program is integral to the startup last year of its emerging high school offerings, designed to develop a Career and Technical Education component, working with the Colville Tribe...
Elmer City officials and citizens met to look over a draft of the town's park and recreation plan Aug. 22. Planning consultant Kurt Danison of Highlands Associates presented the draft as the small group discussed ideas and additions or changes to it. The town hired Danison to help put together a master plan that will serve in the ever-important process of acquiring grant money for projects to improve the quality of life in the town with better recreational amenities. That process, itself, is...
Larry Hernandez sat alone Tuesday in the Coulee Dam theater that hasn't been operating as one since 2013, testing speakers with the big screen blank, streaming the audio from his phone via a Bluetooth connection, the 1985 movie "Back to the Future" blaring out. That alone could be taken a hopeful sign for the theater that closed 11 years ago as technological updates mandated by the movie distribution industry collided with small-town realities in many places that still operated with projectors...
A 17-year-old lost her life in a tragic crash Aug. 13 as she and her four passengers headed north on SR-155 five miles south of Nespelem. The Washington State Patrol reported that at 9:24 p.m., the 1999 GMC pickup Jaelynn F. Vallee was driving failed to negotiate a curve, drove onto the shoulder, overcorrected, came back across the northbound lane, rotated and rolled onto the southbound shoulder. The four other children in the vehicle injured and taken to hospitals: a 3-year-old girl to Coulee Medical Center, along with a 12-year-old boy; a...
Central Washington’s longtime man in Congress, Rep. Dan Newhouse managed a majority in Grant County in last night’s primary, but that was the only county he won of the eight that the 4th Congressional District reaches into. Newhouse was bested by challenger Jerrod Sessler, one of three fellow Republicans seeking to oust him from his seat following Newhouse’s vote in 2021 to impeach then-president Donald Trump. Newhouse was leading by a nose in Grant, according to unofficial results at the Secretary of State’s Office, but overall, the distric...
Firefighters plumed the area in smoke for a few days over the last week, but their prescribes burns paid off. The Swawilla I Fire encompasses 53, 462 acres and is 94% contained as of about noon Tuesday. The Bridge Creek Fire is 100% contained at 3,998 acres. Its 50 firefighters were to be transferred to the Swawilla I Fire. There are still 556 personnel on that fire, and a change of incident management teams has transitioned to the next phase of fire management. The Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 6 handed the fires off to the Souther...
Wildfires on the Colville Reservation forced people to leave their homes, roads closed, and a ferry to re-open just to help them leave, evacuation centers to open and the burning of more than 51,000 acres on two fires. With a wind shift on the Swawilla I Fire, Colville Tribal Emergency Management early July 24 called for a Level 3 (Go Now) evacuation of Buffalo Lake and McGinnis Lake areas, Belvedere and Seaton's Grove as the fire grew rapidly toward the northwest. Air support increased on...
Update: A Level 3 EVACUATIONS "GO NOW" just issued for residents of Peter Dan Road, McGinnis Lake, Reynolds Resort, Belvedere, and Seatons Grove. Due to increased fire danger from the Swawilla Fire, the current Level 2 evacuations status for your area is now elevated to LEVEL 3 EVACUATION. A shelter is open at Lake Roosevelt High School Gym, 500 Civic Way, Coulee Dam, WA. For information call Tribal Emergency Operation Center at 509-634-7350 or 509-634-7359. There will be a public meeting on...
Bob Valen sent us the time-lapse video above, condensing an hour of smoke and cloud formation above the fire into 30 seconds, shot from across Lake Roosevelt above the Sring Canyon area. Keller evacuated, fire doubles overnight With a wind shift, Colville Tribal Emergency Management early Wednesday called for a Level 3 (Go Now) evacuation of Buffalo Lake and McGinnis Lake areas, Belvedere and Seaton's Grove as the fire grew rapidly toward the northwest. /Users/scotthunter/GCDStar Dropbox/Scott...
Nespelem School District’s high school will add a 10th grade this year, plus an alternative learning experience program that could push enrollment high enough to add a high school basketball program. The school board Monday night approved hiring Marion Ives and Rowena Antone as coaches for the high school boys’ and girls’ teams. They coached them at the middle school level in the 2023-24 season, superintendent Effie Dean said. The district, which started its new high school program in 2023 with just ninth grade, plans to add 11th grade, then...
Nearly a hundred kids attended a Mega Sports Camp organized by Faith Community Church last week, ending in a cool way to conclude a very hot week. The four-day event had community volunteers teaching elementary-age children the basics in football, soccer, basketball, and cheerleading, said Shannon Hitchcock from the church. Hitchcock said the event was also designed to teach several core concepts important in sports and in life in general, including preparation, commitment, endurance, an all-in...
A fire that originated at a local resort spread rapidly over a hill separating the resort from the rest of Electric City, but ultimately required all local fire crews, federal wildland firefighters, and air support to suppress Tuesday. Fire calls went out between 2 and 3 p.m., drawing in local firefighters from all stations, and prompting fire chiefs to call for air support. The blaze, which got away from a Sunbanks Lake Resort fire, the origin of which was not clear at the time of this writing,...
We like to go about our business believing that things are working as they should — and they seem to, mostly. Until they don’t. That can be when we have to realize some foundation of stability in our experience just wasn’t so stable after all. Take our local police forces and the way our firefighting infrastructure is set up. Yesterday’s wildfire at Sunbanks in Electric City (actually outside town at the moment) was prolonged due to — well, that’s uncertain at this point. But a nearby firefighting helicopter sat on the ground at Grand Coule...
Grand Coulee volunteer firefighters responded to 526 Wetzel Street for a fireworks-related blaze reported at 8:41 p.m. They were on scene by 8:46. Douglas County Fire Disrtrict 3 also responded. It was one of several fires that burned in region over the last several days. The fire was put out quickly and all crews left by 9:09 p.m., a department Facebook post said. Police at the scene said it was believed to have been started by people under the age of 18 and that no infraction would be issued s...
Searchers on Tuesday recovered the body of a young man missing in Banks Lake since Thursday. From Tacoma, Daniel Ciobanu, 28, and his wife had been riding a paddleboard near Coulee City when a breeze came up and they fell into the water in a spot "filled with very thick aquatic vegetation," according to a Grant County Sheriff's Office Facebook post. "The woman made it to shore, but the man went under and didn't resurface. First responders were called right away." That was about 8:30 a.m. They se...
The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce's Festival of America drew good crowds all day July 4 and filled the park below the Visitor Center at Grand Coulee Dam for the STCU-sponsored fireworks off the dam that night. Chamber Executive Director Nancy Zimmerman-Boord said more musical acts got people from all over interested in the festival as a music venue, and the addition of a beer garden kept people in the park. She said the plan will be considered and refined for next year. The second...
The Grand Coulee volunteer firefighters would like to remind everyone to be careful during the upcoming July 4th holiday and to be careful all summer during outside activities. Local firefighters are not alone in their concern. Agencies responsible for fighting fires statewide are issuing pleas for safety and advising people take in public displays instead of lighting off their own fireworks. "In 2023, fire incidents from fireworks resulted in more than $12 million of property damage in...
Oohs and aahs and lots of applause were audible at the end of last year's fireworks show put on by Rocketman Pyros, L.L.C. So the chamber of commerce brought them back again. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce's main sponsor of the fireworks, STCU, merged in 2021 with the Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union and has been a reliable community partner ever since, helping the community to put on many events. It's hard to imagine a better, more iconic venue for the patriotic show than the top...
The Visitor Center Park in front of Grand Coulee Dam is a sprawling lawn just below an award-winning visitor information center that you can walk to learn more than you thought possible about the mile-wide concrete behemoth in front of you, but that might not mean much to your kids. That’s why the Festival of America organizers for the sponsoring Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce will have games and activities, including cool water features, literally, to keep kids entertained and not overheated. So, you might want your kids to go p...