Articles written by Scott Hunter
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Upgrades planned in Coulee Dam
The Coulee Dam Town Council voted Aug. 14 to accept two grants from the state’s Transportation Improvement Board totalling nearly $900,000 for street and sidewalk repairs. The agency granted $120,000 for new sidewalks on Ferry Avenue, rather than...
Everything to gain
Watching even the “cultural” reintroduction of salmon to local waters denied to them for eight decades can inspire wonder, grief, admiration, joy, hope, questions, and anticipation. Over the last couple weeks, as the Colville Tribes and a...
Colville Tribes hail first salmon back to upper Columbia River
After decades of absence, the "chief of all of the rest of the fish" returned to the upper Columbia River Friday when a tribal elder slipped an adult salmon into the water of Lake Rufus Woods,...
Grooming a passion for dogs
Jill Fraser has been passionate about dogs her whole life, grooming her first one at age 10 when she decided her aunt's cocker spaniel could use an upgrade. Since then, she's pursued a career around d...
Give us your ideas on One of Us
In this week’s Star, we offer a short feature on a person relatively new to the area under the heading One of Us. We’d like to do more of this kind of story, those that help bring a new face to the community, or just tell us something many might...
Paragliders come down gently (includes video)
A paraglider comes down from the sky into a field on Strahl Canyon Road just north of SR-174 in Douglas County, after taking off from Chelan Butte July 13, the final day of the US Open of... Full story
Welcoming a new local history column
In this issue we welcome back the latest iteration of Them Dam Writers, a group that has sought to provide local history to local people for decades. The column in the lower right corner of this page will, several times a month, present you with a...
CMC will host legislators' tour
Every two years, the Washington State Legislature’s House Healthcare and Wellness Committee takes a tour of facilities in rural areas, but they’ve never been to Grand Coulee. That will change Sept. 23, when the committee led by Rep. Eileen Cody e...
Dozens fighting reservation wildfire
A wildfire in the Hellgate Game Preserve on the Colville Reservation has burned about 2,500 acres, pitting firefighters against steep, rocky terrain, and rattlesnakes. About 45 firefighters are...
Multi-county drug raid hits house in Delano
A house in Delano was raided July 16 as part of a larger drug bust in Eastern Washington involving hundreds of officers of multiple law enforcement agencies that served 19 search warrants in three counties. A federal search warrant was issued and...
City offered major funding for wastewater add-ons
The city of Coulee Dam may get a big loan and grant package to pay for added improvements to the sewage handling system, including paying for two new “lift stations” to pump the material to the new wastewater filtration plant. The city council...
Time for Coulee Dam to pay up
You can only milk a cow, or an asset, for so long before you have to put something back in. Cities and towns, whose elected officials feel the pain of their tax- and rate-payers, eventually get forced to deal with that problem. Local cities are no...
Fireworks "best ever"
In the park below the Visitor Center July 4, people watch the fireworks off Grand Coulee Dam, put on by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber reported receiving praise for this... Full story
CDHS Beavers' fighting spirit plaque unveiled
More than 40 Beavers gathered in front of Lake Roosevelt Schools July 4. The Beavers, alumni of Coulee Dam High School, attended the unveiling of a plaque commemorating their alma mater and mascot as...
Decorated junior ranger notches Lake Roosevelt
Three weeks into her latest foray and seven years after starting this adventure, the self-proclaimed most-decorated National Park Service junior ranger made it to Coulee Dam on Monday. Aida Frey, 17,...
City will apply for Ferry sidewalk grant
Coulee Dam will move ahead with applying for a grant to fix the sidewalks on Ferry Avenue, several portions of which have been heaving several inches as tree roots underneath push up the concrete. Councilmember Fred Netzel and the city’s...
State attorney general visits Grand Coulee
The man who leads the state's legal bureaucracy, basically the state's own law firm, told an audience in Grand Coulee last week that the smaller part of their work gets the most headlines, but costs...
Koulee Kids Fest and Millpond Days this weekend
Kids and their parents in the region will have plenty to do this weekend, with the local chamber of commerce’s Koulee Kids Fest offering activities all over town and Nespelem’s Millpond Days offering activities there. The chamber event for kids...
Government got the geezers
One of the least threatening places you can go is a beach in late afternoon where a couple of old anglers are quietly staring at the water, waiting for a line to move. If anybody understands the unwritten rule, the need for common courtesy, the...
Graduating 44, Class of '19 honors far more
On a day for celebrating their accomplishments, the Lake Roosevelt High School class of 2019 seemed to take as much joy in giving awards as getting them Saturday, as they took part in the annual...
Child and dad finding time to bicycle across U.S.
At 40, he thought he'd left his cross-country bicycling days in his 20s. Then his 6-year-old shared a dream. James Colver and his son Shepherd, now 7, are bicycling across the country, from...
Rodeo gets a boost from Jess Ford
The Ridge Riders Saddle Club and their annual rodeos got a boost Monday as Jess Ford principal Garrett Jess handed a check to Ridge Rider President George Kohout to cover the cost of a new piece of...
City looking at new sidewalks on Ferry
Coulee Dam’s sidewalks on Ferry Avenue are heaving, with some uplifted by tree roots by several inches. Councilmember Fred Netzel said he recently walked the street with an engineer, who said the whole 1,200-feet of sidewalks on the street should...
Mayor: some stepping up to restart fire department
The town of Coulee Dam doesn’t have a functional fire department currently, relying heavily on mutual aid agreements with other local departments. Mayor Bob Poch said Wednesday that several people are interested in stepping up to fill that void,...
City building needs whole new roof
Coulee Dam’s “Community Building,” the one that houses The Melody Restaurant, Riverview Bowl and the currently unused theater space, has a bigger problem than the city’s budget can currently fix: it needs a new roof. Not a patch job on the...
