News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1419 - 1443 of 1807
The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce singled out members to honor at its annual banquet last Thursday night at Pepper Jack's Bar and Grille. The Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union was voted business of the year by the membership. The credit union had what President Kerry Higgins said was probably its best year ever, despite the challenges of a year filled with news of identity theft fraud across the country and in their own market. And they've been great supporters of the chamber, said... Full story
The dream of a community swimming pool and wellness center is due for a visible rendering, which architects started to get a feel for Tuesday morning in a field of weeds. In January, the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District awarded the job of helping the community see what could be to NAC Architecture of Spokane. NAC's Keith Comes and Ryan Palmquist met with district commissioners Bob Valen and Phil Hansen Tuesday. They toured two possible sites for a "wellness center" - the old Grand... Full story
Several bills before the Legislature this session all seek to weaken in some way the state’s model Public Records Act, and therefore, the entire state. One of the most egregious, HB 1349, is scheduled for a hearing Thursday afternoon before the House of Representatives’ State Government Committee, on which 12th District Rep. Brad Hawkins sits. The bill purportedly seeks to protect corrections workers, but does so in a way that would basically make the state’s Public Records Act ineffective for many legitimate and beneficial uses, inclu... Full story
A 39-year-old Omak man was taken to Coulee Medical Center today after he swerved to miss a deer on SR 17 and hit a telephone pole. Jason Reise was headed north in a 2005 Dodge Caravan 13.4 miles north of Coulee City when he had to swerve to miss a deer about 7:45 a.m., the Washington State Patrol reported. The van left the roadway to the left and hit the pole. Reise, who was wearing a seatbelt, was taken to Coulee Medical Center. The van was towed to Jack’s 4 Corners in Grand Coulee....
It seemed to be pumping through the veins of people all over the community last week, but there couldn't have been more concrete evidence of the Pacific Northwest's support of the Seattle Seahawks for their bid to repeat last year's Superbowl victory than a big 12 emblazened on the great Grand Coulee Dam. Friday night, as workers doing maintenance work on the largest nightly laser light show in the country tuned the lasers on the Grand Coulee Dam, they made a 300-foot tall blue and green "12"... Full story
“I don’t have kids in school,” she said, “why should I have to pay taxes for schools?” Someone paid when you were a kid in need of an education, I said. “But I didn’t live here then,” she said. Wherever you were in this country, I said, somebody paid for your education. What goes around, comes around. And if it ever stops, we’re all done. Think about that in relation to the school levy currently sought by the Grand Coulee Dam School District. It’s fundamental to our nation that a good school system must be in place to educate our youth,... Full story
There couldn't be more concrete evidence of the Pacific Northwest's support of the Seattle Seahawks for their bid to repeat last year's Superbowl victory tomorrow, than a big 12 emblazened on the great Grand Coulee Dam. Friday night, as workers doing maintenance work on the largest nightly laser light show in the country tuned the lasers at Grand Coulee Dam 90 miles east of Spokane, Wash., they made a 300-foot tall blue and green "12" light up the spillway on the face of the dam, presumably to... Full story
Local school district patrons this year have been given a huge, remarkable gift the benefits of which we are still discovering. And we will still have the privilege of maintaining it for a long time to come. Renewing the tax levy that helps do that is a must. Seeking a lower rate than the last four-year levy, school district leaders demonstrate admirable restraint and sensitivity to taxpayers. The slight increase in the total amount the district will take in comes from increased value across the district. Some property owners will likely pay... Full story
People apparently pleased with the mayor's selection of a consultant who has been helping the Coulee Dam Fire Department were not happy with the mayor's refusal last week to commit to hiring him longterm. Brought in to assess the fire department and work with member firefighters in the wake of resignations and investigations, Michael Green told The Star after a well-attended town council meeting Jan. 14, that the department's problems would not be hard to fix. Wilder asked Michael Green to tell... Full story
Perhaps there would be nothing wrong with holding onto money collected for another purpose, if just holding onto it did no harm. But it does, and it is wrong. Specifically, money collected under a state law designed to promote tourism and create jobs has been doing neither — for decades. Instead, the funds collected by Electric City from those who use motels and campgrounds within the city have lain fallow, earning next to no interest, instead of being used for their purpose laid out so clearly in statute by the Washington State Legislature. I... Full story
Readers have until next Wednesday, Jan. 21, to make their wishes known on choosing the person to be honored as the 2014 Volunteer of the Year. All letters nominating eligible volunteers are published in this week’s Star, starting on page 3. The letters are also online here. In all, nine people were nominated this year. Two other writers named persons who had already received the honor in years past, which makes them ineligible to receive it this year. Readers can make their preference known through an online poll, which will be linked in t... Full story
If you've ever found yourself wondering if it might be more efficient to have one city instead of four to govern the local area, you're not alone. The local chamber of commerce offered Monday to head up efforts to look at the question of consolidating at least two local cities. Their overture met with encouraging words from the mayors of both cities - Chris Christopherson, of Grand Coulee and Jerry Sands, of Electric City. "I'm encouraged by this," Christopherson said. "I think it would work,"... Full story
The park district that struggles to find ways to pay for maintaining North Dam Park will have an easier time financing the effort with a new grant from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Coulee Area Park and Recreation District commissioners learned Monday night the district will get a five-year matching grant from the USBR, totaling up to $149,703. “We can spend as much as we can match,” Commissioner and Treasurer Phil Hansen told the commissioners. Maintaining the park costs about $30,000 a year, Hansen said. The grant will help pay for tha... Full story
Readers have until Jan. 12, next Monday, to send in their nominations for the annual volunteer of the year honor to be decided by community poll. The initiative will choose a worthy volunteer to be honored as an example of selfless service to others. Any community member who has not been given the honor before is eligible. Many people give of their time and talents throughout the year to help one or many members of the community, whether through unsung efforts to help a neighbor or in much publicized widespread efforts to tackle a bigger... Full story
Readers have until Jan. 12 to send in their nominations for the annual volunteer of the year honor to be decided by community poll. The Star initiative picks a worthy volunteer to be honored as an example of selfless service to others. Many people give of their time and talents throughout the year to help one or many members of the community, whether through unsung efforts to help a neighbor or in much publicized widespread efforts to tackle a bigger problem. The Star will publish the annual volunteer of the year award in January again this... Full story
by Scott Hunter Following a shakeup in the Coulee Dam Fire Department that came to a head two weeks ago, town leaders last week stated their confidence that citizens are safe and that calls for emergency services will be met. “In terms of providing protection, we’re safe,” Mayor Greg Wilder said in an interview Wednesday, but he said there are definitely longterm issues that are being addressed. Within the week, Wilder had received three resignations of longtime fire department and ambulance personnel. First, the fire chief, Robert Jacks... Full story
Damon Eric Harrell and his wife Kymberly will usher in the New Year at midnight twice next week, if they can pull it off, and they will post to The Star’s Facebook page as they go. The Harrells (he is the son of Melvin Harrell Sr. of Grand Coulee) plan to fly to Auckland, New Zealand to watch the midnight fireworks from the 1,076-foot Sky Tower, then head across the International Dateline to catch the New Year’s Eve celebration in Honolulu, Hawaii. They plan to leave Auckland the morning of Jan. 1, 2015, taking an eight-hour flight scheduled to... Full story
Following a shakeup in the Coulee Dam Fire Department that came to a head last week, town leaders this week have stated their confidence that citizens are safe and that calls for emergency services will be met. “In terms of providing protection, we’re safe,” Mayor Greg Wilder said in an interview Wednesday, but there are definitely longterm issues that are being addressed. Within the last week, Wilder has received three resignations of longtime fire department and ambulance personnel. First, the fire chief, Robert Jackson resigned. Then Ben A... Full story
Evidently, we need a little more time to think. Each year, The Star solicits nominations from readers for Volunteer of the Year award, and each year, we receive multiple letters nominating between five and 10 individuals, any of whom deserve special recognition for the unselfish work they do in the community. But something about the timing, or mood, or perhaps just the exceptional business of this season, has limited the nominations to just three, only one of which is eligible. The other two have been awarded the honor previously, and the commu... Full story
With the Lake Roosevelt gym in the midst of getting a new roof, it hasn’t taken much over the last two weeks to send sports schedules into disarray, with schedules changing sometimes daily. The reconstruction of the leaky roof couldn’t be started until after the school district knew it would have money left over in its construction funds and has led to leaky conditions during a rainy November and December, cancelling, altering and postponing basketball games and wrestling matches. Senior high games have been moved to the old middle school gym... Full story
Below is a slideshow of 170 photos of the community taken since September, many that have not been published. You can go to Our Photo Site to see them larger, download them or share them on social media. You can even embed the slide show on your Facebook page if you like. These photos will be free to download until Dec. 31, and I plan to add more to this gallery. The password to download is Merry Christmas....
As Coulee Medical Center works to build up its business to a sustainable level, it’s finding success with a homegrown approach to recruiting talent, Chief of Staff Dr. Andrew Castrodale said Monday, and it needs to. The feasibility study that underpinned the decision to build a new hospital several years ago called for staffing the facility and its clinic with four physicians by this time, plus a variety of “mid-level” health care providers. It’s been kept open by just two staff physicians, one of whom just left town on a one-year sabbati... Full story
Remember that 911 outage last spring when the entire state had no emergency phone service? You would if you’d tried to place an emergency call that wouldn’t go through. The staff at the state’s Utilities and Transportation Commission remembers, and they are recommending penalty against Centurylink of more than $2.9 million. A UTC investigation found that some 5,840 emergency calls failed to go through in that six-hour period April 9-10, the agency said in a press release. All 6.9 million people living in Washington lost 911 service durin... Full story
Here's a quick video to give you a flavor of the event happening now....
Last week, the Grand Coulee City Council reversed its earlier decision that had kept the chief of police job under the protection of the city’s civil service commission. That reversal should be reconsidered. No matter how much faith council members may have in the current mayor, who pushed for the change, such far-reaching policy changes should not be based on the dominant personalities of the moment. That can be a difficult point to defend when every-one currently involved seems to have the best interests of the community at heart. But c... Full story