News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1317 - 1341 of 1807
A group of Tilmus Street residents in Coulee Dam asked the town council for better care of the sycamore trees lining the street. They said the trees, which once were taken care of regularly by the town, have become overgrown and possibly dangerous. “They’re the worst I’ve seen them since I’ve lived on Tilmus … since 1966,” said Merv Schmidt, a former town council member. “Why we got out of the plan of taking care of our trees on an annual basis, I’d like to know.” Mayor Greg Wilder said the town’s volunteer board dedicated to tree issues has... Full story
A training program at Lake Roosevelt Schools has inspired dozens of teenagers to get up early to work out before school every day, for no credit. "We bring a culture," said former professional football player Nathan Overbay, now a key trainer with Advanced Performance X-Train, or APX. The company that began in 2007 is in 60 high schools, clubs and sports programs, offering training and nutrition programs. "It's probably the top training facility in the Pacific Northwest right now," said Loren... Full story
When the mayor of Coulee Dam told the town council last week that consolidating police services might not go anywhere for years, they asserted it was worth pushing for anyway. Mayor Greg Wilder filled the council in on talks he’d had with Grant County and Okanogan County officials concerning the details of police dispatch if Coulee Dam Police were to serve Electric City. The two municipalities have emergency services dispatched from different county centers, creating technical issues and possibly long delays on some calls. He wanted to e... Full story
We've got some good shots from this weeks's football and volleyball games. Which ones do you think should make into Wednesday's paper? Click the i in the slide show below to get the image number. Let us know what you think: - star@grandcoulee.com - www.facebook.com/GrandCouleeStar - @culestar - or in the comments below. You can also click on the Find Your Photos ad at right to search our archives....
The family of a woman killed while fighting a local wildfire 25 years ago is hoping a new fire station planned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation could be named after her. Toni Godsil died Aug. 6, 1990, while fighting a wildland fire in Douglas County with the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department when wind shifted and the flames caught up to her. “She was the first female firefighter to be hired by the government into a program to be a 24-hour firefighter,” said her daughter, Danielle Townsend. “I just think that she really deserves some... Full story
When small talk between two guys outside a sports event can be interpreted as a terrorist threat, you know we’re not living in our fathers’ time. No, we live in an age that seems to be increasingly dominated by both fear and the unwavering conviction that we all have the absolute right to be kept safe from every threat, two conditions that often seem to rub up against each other hard enough to cause sparks. While the perception that we have a constitutional right to be kept safe, even from our own stupidity, has been fertilized by the cou... Full story
Susan Canaday and her husband have been storing good household items for years, but realize now that there may be victims of recent wildland fires who could use them. They’re getting on in years, however; and when a large box fell on their heads in a storage unit recently, she said, they realized they could use some help sorting through what they’ve stored in order to give it away. Canaday said she lost many belongings in a fire at Lakeview Terrace last May, but has since let go of the loss and doesn’t miss them. “So, this is therapy for me,... Full story
An effort to keep an American flag flying in an unlikely spot saw success last week as the stars and strips were hoisted proudly above Delano Friday. Anyone traveling between Delano and Electric City can see it to the south of the highway. It's easily the highest flag in the area. Jay Kemble and Mike Rounds made the trek to the top of the large rocky hill that separates the Delano neighborhood from Electric City and raised the flag on a pole fashioned long ago by long-dead patriot Wade... Full story
Wade Burnside’s DNA may remain in his apple trees. Burnside was a determined sort who loved deeply and acted on it, not necessarily in ways that were easily understood. But last Friday, standing amidst his legacy high above Delano, a glimmer of his spirit came through. There, on top of a high, rocky hill, stood his flagpole, newly adorned with a fresh American flag, flying higher than any other around, just the way he intended, a symbol of his love for the nation. Nearby, a less obvious symbol struggles for life, and even less obviously, s... Full story
Rotary Club members and friends gathered Wednesday, Sept. 23, to remember Donna Hamilton, in whose memory the club erected a plaque at the handicapped-accessible fishing pier the club installed at Steamboat Rock State Park. The gathering took place a year and a day after her unexpected death. Hamilton, who had worked for the state of Oregon on behalf of seniors, was the instigator of the club's 10-year drive to provide the first such facility in north central Washington, noting that they were... Full story
In a press release sent about 5 p.m. Monday, Okanogan County Public Works said one bridge near Nespelem will be closed and another restricted on Tuesday. The agency said it is closing Bridge B-3 at milepost 5.08 on Park City Loop Rd, and will post a 5-ton weight restriction on Bridge B-15 at milepost 2.15 on Joe Moses Road. “Your patience during these short delays is greatly appreciated," the press release said. “We apologize for any inconvenience you may encounter during the construction.” It did not specify the purpose of the bridge restr...
Kids at Nespelem Elementary know what a spleem is. It's what you're not supposed to do. A pax, on the other hand, is what you are supposed to do. Those two concepts, and those labels, are part of a new game at the school that is changing not just classrooms, but migrating into the larger community, too, some say. And it's giving students a new tool to help with school and life. The PAX Good Behavior Game is making a difference in the school, helping kids learn how to behave appropriately and... Full story
Nothing is more important than our children. They are the future, so providing for them strengthens us all and the society in which they live, in which we all live, inseparable, whether we acknowledge it or not. That’s why the top story this week is about a good program at Nespelem’s school, which has seen a decline in student behavior over several decades. If the PAX program is successful, it could reverse that decline, leading to better lives for all the community’s children, in both the Nespelem and Grand Coulee Dam school districts. Teach... Full story
It’s not often the stars align in such a way as to guide the steps of our local leaders, but right now might be a good time for them to look up. In an area that can benefit from every scrap of efficiency it can find, it might seem obvious that similar services two miles apart could benefit by joining forces. Now think about the local police departments. Coulee Dam has one; so does Grand Coulee. Electric City does not, but Coulee Dam recently learned their police would be servicing that city on the other side of Grand Coulee via a bid that was m... Full story
Nearly a dozen agencies presented possibilities for long-term help to about 50 people affected by the fires on the Colville Indian Reservation, but none of them will be quick or easy. The Tunk Block and North Star fires have burned about 600 square miles of forage and forest. Imagine a mile-wide strip of charred ground stretching from Omak to Grants Pass near the southern edge of Oregon. Within that area are cattle, miles of disappeared fences, and millions of board feet of charred timber, all... Full story
Nespelem Valley Electric Cooperative, Inc., is getting ready for its annual meeting in a year full of challenges. The utility, which delivers electric power to rural areas on the Colville Indian Reservation and in Okanogan and Ferry counties, lost many poles and miles of line in the current wildfires that have burned large swaths of its service area and its customers’ assets; it had explored, but later decided against, a merger with another utility; and it just hired a new general manager who started on the job Sept. 8. Members can meet him a... Full story
Steven Flowers' touchdown with 42 seconds left in the game kept the Raiders from a scoreless loss against Soap Lake Friday night. Flowers ran the ball in from 58 yards out, and the kick was good to give Lake Roosevelt seven points to the Eagles' 34....
"Rehab" is beginning even as firefighters have a tough time on the eastern edge of the massive North Star fire, where Interior Dept. Secretary Sally Jewell appeared Monday to visit state and tribal leaders during a push to educate Congress on a need for a different funding model for such fires. The scale of the fires that have burned across about 20 percent of the Colville Indian Reservation made a good backdrop for Jewell to make her case that fighting such catastrophic fires ought to be funded... Full story
We’ve had long, hot fires in this area before, but none that afforded us such an opportunity to get to know how the machinery of firefighting works in this country. As the season heated up and it became obvious resources were in far too short supply, watching what fires demanded the most and how they were used became necessary to grasping the complexity of the decision-making process. Firefighting teams move about the country to fires where their particular skills are needed, which changes constantly. Teams are supposed to work in 14-day s... Full story
[UPDATE 5:20 p.m. 9/2] As of this morning, the closest point between the North Star and Tunk Block fires was on the southern end of the fire. It was about 2.5 miles apart on the south end along the highway 155 corridor. On the north end, near the Aeneas Valley, the fires are about 10 miles apart, said Stan Hinatsu, the lead public information officer for North Star and Tunk Block Fires. He said the break in weather had allowed crews to build a fireline closer to the actual fire perimeter with the goal of protecting structures and minimizing... Full story
Fire crews are gaining on the fires with help from the weather and more resources, including troops, who were visited by a four-star general this week. On Monday, Interior Dept. Secretary Sally Jewel will visit the North Star Fire as the administration proposes changes to the way wildland fire fighting is funded in the nation. "Fire seasons are becoming longer and more intense," Interior stated in a press release announcing the visit. "The Obama Administration has called for a new funding...
At 150,000 acres, the North Star Fire is still threatening Nespelem and, now, Republic. More resources to fight the fire are being added each day to fight the fire, occurring in what Incident Commander Rich Nieto called “epic conditions, historical conditions” at a community meeting Saturday at Lake Roosevelt Schools. But it’s been slow getting the resources that would normally be added quickly, only because of the hundreds of fires throughout the dry West. Officials said the fire was the larges single fire burning now. That doesn’t include... Full story
A Coulee Dam-based effort to help out firefighters on the North Star Fire is catching on like wildfire. It started with a GoFundMe effort to raise money for a continuing effort to supply baked goods and other small items that fire- fighters might need. But it has expanded to include minor medical supplies to the growing force based at the Nespelem Community Center and to other fire-fighting centers, said Glo Carroll, who with her husband Rob started the site and organize deliveries. A small... Full story
Mona Berland is in a red zone, ordered to leave, just like everyone else at Owhi Lake. She’s not going to, but she’s convincing her neighbors they must in advance of a day firefighters are saying could go badly. On Thursday, wind in the Nespelem area was blowing from the south, holding the then-75,000-acre North Star Fire at bay. But since then, the fire has grown to more than 150,000 acres, and the town of Nespelem is still in danger. And Berland’s home east of town is still in the immediate evacuation zone. Hurting from fibromyalgia at 64 ye... Full story
In the midst of smoke and flame, a rising beam of hope shows a promising path, one that will need our focus in the months to come: the desire good people have to help. That desire is striking in the experience of Rob and Glo Carroll, whose own desire to help led them to set up a GoFundMe page to which donations have been coming in steadily for a week. Their effort supplies normally self-sufficient firefighting organizations with items they need but find hard to get amid the massive, thinly-stretched firefighting efforts across the West. They... Full story