News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1135 - 1159 of 1807
Members of two Grand Coulee Dam School District unions responding to recent internal surveys outlined a number of complaints dealing with discipline, communication and training issues. The survey responses provide a glimpse into a district, many of whose workers are disillusioned enough that union leaders felt compelled to ask questions of the membership. While the survey respondents collectively fell short of painting a no-confidence opinion, several within the two unions stated that they...
A 20-foot-wide, 346-foot-long load weighing about a million pounds made it to its destination after a two-day trip from Coulee City to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's 230-kilovolt Switchyard early Thursday morning. The big rig carrying an electrical transformer had to be driven in the middle of the night in order to block as little traffic as possible and stopped at a pullout along SR-155 across from Steamboat Rock on Wednesday. The sight and a post on the state Department of Transportation...
For some time, The Star has published just about all of its stories online as well as in print. That practice will continue, but by the end of this month, online access will not be free. Why? Because we can’t afford to lose you, and we are starting to. Across the country, newspapers have increasingly turned to charging for online access to the work of their journalists. It’s time The Star followed that course, and many seem to expect and understand that move. We hope our loyal readers will keep reading us wherever they prefer, in print or onl...
Some 66 anglers caught and released 461 walleye over the course of the Gordon Steinmetz Memorial Spring Walleye Classic at Coulee Playland last weekend, but the biggest catch was likely the tournament, itself. Bill and Robin Harrison ranked highest with a total two-day haul of 36.42 pounds of walleye, a total helped considerably by the biggest fish of the event at 9.5 pounds. The tournament brought in those 66 teams, 132 anglers, plus others in their entourages, a number that likely produced a l...
A million-pound load of equipment will slow traffic on local highways from Coulee City to Grand Coulee next week as it creeps to its destination just north of Grand Coulee, with delays expected of up to 90 minutes at a time. Drivers probably should not plan to travel on SR-155 late Tuesday night, May 30, nor early Thursday morning, June 1, when a huge piece of equipment will be blocking traffic for up to an hour and a half. An Oregon company will be moving a million pounds along the route from Coulee City to Grand Coulee, then up SR-174 on...
Nancy Armstrong-Montes was honored with the Friends of Children award by the North Central Washington Educational Service District at a banquet in Wenatchee. Armstrong-Montes, who retired from teaching in Nespelem a few years ago, now volunteers on the school board, in the kitchen, the classroom, administration office and just about anywhere else there is a need, commented Superintendent Rich Stewart, who nominated her. "Rarely have I ever come across anybody that is so selfless," Stewart said,...
[Update] The company planning the move of the big transformer has delayed the move after "discrepancies" were noted during a "weigh and measure" session with the state Department of Transportation, the company said. No word yet on a new schedule. Original story: Drivers probably should not plan to travel on SR 155 late Monday night/Tuesday morning, nor early Wednesday morning when a huge piece of equipment will be blocking traffic up to 90 minutes at a time. An Oregon company will be moving a million pounds along the route from Coulee City to...
The horrific scene was only revealed after five buses of students and staff from Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School arrived and had lined up behind yellow police tape to witness a disturbing mock scenario. When Colville Tribal Police staff lowered the black plastic, students saw the aftermath of an accident caused by a driver who had been texting. For several minutes, a crying Olivia Arnold wandered in a daze amid the carnage she had caused, while another victim screamed obscenities,...
Students who witnessed a mock crash scene last Friday may not realize it, but they were given an important advantage that we hope they don’t squander. As horrific as the actors and organizers of the mock accident scene made it, the impact of any such impression naturally fades over time. But at least the students of Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School were subjected to the event organized by Colville Tribal Police in the first place. Now comes the tricky part. The mock crash depicted the scene of a two-car collision with multiple deaths a...
Several local educators in two districts were honored last month, chosen for accolades in front of their counterparts from district all over this part of the state. Their own union members voted to send them to ceremonies of the North Central Washington Educational Service District, after nominations by colleagues. From the Grand Coulee Dam School District, Jess Utz was chosen from the classified educator staff for the Excellence in Education award. Jeff Piturachsatit got the award from the...
This coming weekend is typically one that is packed full for many local folks, in a good way. This year it promises much the same, weather holding. With Mother’s Day, the Colorama festivities, the big rodeo, and the old-home week atmosphere at local gathering places, there’s no excuse for boredom. The chamber of commerce never stops working at improving Colorama, a multi-faceted, complex enterprise, the successful completion of which will leave many revelers pleasantly exhausted, but not more so than its organizers. The Colorama Rodeo, the con...
Coulee Dam's town hall will end up with an almost entirely newly refurbished police department, community ballroom, kitchen and more after repairs to damage done last winter from a variety of causes. The work will likely cost more than $100,000, with the bill paid, for the most part, through insurance, says Mayor Greg Wilder. Last December a hot water heater in the kitchen off the facility's ballroom blew its top, flooding water went undetected for some period of time while no one was in the tow...
Man, you’d think we’d just come out of a long winter and every part of the community was now straining with fresh green shoots of progress at the first rays of sunshine. The buds are everywhere: a rebuild at Coulee Dam’s town hall, plans for patching in Electric City, a needed new crosswalk in Grand Coulee, a new building for mosquito district equipment, kids performing in a musical and a junior rodeo. And those are only the buds we had room for this week. News is fun when it’s full of good stuff. We’ll have more next week, having to do with o...
An article in last week’s Star, written on an event that occurred at deadline, accurately reported the event on which we had limited information available — except for one word. “Vandalism” was the wrong choice in the headline of “Daylight vandalism” over the photo caption that relayed our reporter’s eyewitness account of a pickup truck crashing through the fence at the Lake Roosevelt High School athletic field, then spinning in circles, throwing up turf and damaging the grounds before taking off up the road and getting stopped by a police o...
A high speed chase ended on Peter Dan Road when two vehicles, a car and a truck, both crashed into the landslide that spans the road. A woman, apparently a nearby resident, told The Star that two suspects then took off on foot, and that police were going to houses looking for them. The resident also said that a SWAT team was on the scene in full uniform with guns drawn. No further info is yet available. A witness in Coulee Dam said a car speeding down the hill at Grand Coulee Dam hit the bottom...
Coulee Dam’s new wastewater treatment facility got big push ahead last week as the town council approved interim financing to get the project started, then approved the bid to build it for more than expected, but with more cost-saving features. The council awarded the construction bid Wednesday to McClure and Sons Construction of Spokane, which bid $5,609,399.07. That award was contingent on the approval of supplemental funding from the US Dept. of Agriculture for extra work engineers deemed prudent to lower long-term operating costs. The t...
The Bureau of Reclamation is asking for comments from interested parties on a planned overhaul of 18 generators in the left and right powherhouses of Grand Coulee Dam. The generators have been in service for some 70 years and need repair, the bureau has said. Doing the work would keep them making electricity for another 30 years. In a draft environmental analysis, the bureau lays out its preferred of three alternatives: Do the upgrades on two generators at a time and complete the work between 2018 and 2029. Another alternative would extend the...
The local PTA is looking for support to continue filling in an important gap in the curricula offered by local school districts. Each year the group funds or sponsors a variety of worthwhile events, the latest being the science fair at Lake Roosevelt Schools. Next up, it will bring the Missoula Children’s Theater to town so local students can get a taste of a subject not offered here — drama. In a world focused on what is viewed as practical — science, math, engineering — it’s important to remember that those critical disciplines focus on...
The little shop on Main Street that opened with coffee, knickknacks and T-shirts three years ago now plans to expand its restaurant offerings outside. Junkers, which began offering subs and wrap-style sandwiches in January 2016, will add outdoor seating within a month, say owners Richard and Mandi Button. That seating will be offered under a shade canopy Richard has built and will install in the grassy area he leveled and built up at the corner of Main and Spokane Streets in Grand Coulee, about a block off Midway Avenue. With the canopy,...
Okanogan County commissioners declared a state of emergency Monday, due to threat of flooding and debris problems on county roads. Commissioners passed the resolution after county roads suffered damage from heavy precipitation recently. They acknowledged the continued threat of heavy rain has created a danger to public health and the safety of those using county roads. The Charlton Complex and other wildfires stripped vegetation from hills in the county, resulting in flash floods with mud and debris being swept over roadways. Commissioners...
At one point it seemed that for several years, the local community slipped by without a home burning down. That was unusual, a local fire chief and I agreed, hoping the trend would continue. It didn’t. Although home fires are reportedly less common in recent years than in the decades earlier, they still happen too often. Families in this community have suffered three in the last few months, including one on the front page of this issue. Firefighters remind us to keep batteries in smoke alarms, and change them about every six months. Figuring ou...
After years of court dates and a life put on hold, a former Lake Roosevelt High School Spanish teacher had a burden lifted by Okanogan County Superior Court Monday, when it dismissed charges of identity theft and forgery. After receiving a call from a woman in California four years ago, Coulee Dam police checked the Social Security number Guillermo Guzman-Romo had used to apply for the Spanish teacher job at Lake Roosevelt High School. It was the same number he'd used as he worked to put...
Leaders at Coulee Medical Center will submit to its federal funding agency by the end of the week a plan to turn the facility around financially. That plan will show a reduction in wage and benefit costs of $2.1 million a year following decisions made by Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Owens to cut staff in non-patient care positions. “People understood that we needed to adjust where our focus was in the facility,” Owens said of the general reaction in the hospital, which has employed as many as 225. “If it wasn’t a direct patient care positio...
Some 34 injured veterans and 20 host boat captains made a day of fishing on Banks Lake Sunday, the first of what organizers said they hope is an annual event. The Fallen Outdoors organization takes veterans on outdoor excursions and says its mission is to "film and show real-life American soldiers balancing duty for their country and passion for the outdoors." Eastern Washington Team Leader David Atteberry said the event had been planned for March 10 but was postponed because the lake was...