News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1501 - 1525 of 1807
A special meeting of the commissioners that govern Coulee Medical Center will occur this afternoon, but will not take any action other than adjournment following a closed session, according to revised agenda the hospital district published Sunday morning. Below is that notice and agenda: PUBLIC NOTICE There will be a special Board Meeting of the Commissioners of Douglas, Grant, Lincoln, & Okanogan Counties Public Hospital District No. 6 on Tuesday, May 27, 2014, 4:00 PM in the Education Conference Room, located at 411 Fortuyn Road, Grand... Full story
An airplane accident has killed a man on Banks Lake near Steamboat Rock. Kenneth A. Berger, 60, of Monroe, Wash. had already put down his Searay amphibious plane at about 5 p.m., witnesses said. They said he apparently was trying to take off again, when the plane flipped over forward into the water, witnesses said. Nearby boaters got to the craft, and two women at the Northrup Point boat launch said they had been approaching to offer CPR but were turned back by men who had recovered the pilot... Full story
The American Legion Post in Electric City will cook breakfast during this holiday for any who would like to help support local veterans while having a nice meal in a community setting. Saturday, the group will serve a breakfast of pancakes, eggs, ham, sausage, coffee and milk from 6:30 to 11 a.m., and Monday from 6:30 to 10 a.m. The breakfast costs $6. The hour shorter period on Monday will allow people to get to the Isle of Flags Memorial at Spring Canyon, which starts at 11... Full story
Coulee Medical Center staff pulled together a recruitment booth for a medical conference in Spokane last month where Dr. Andrew Castrodale was a featured speaker. Chief Executive Officer Debbie Bigelow told hospital commissioners Monday night that staff members displayed beautiful photographs of the area and the hospital and wrote articles about “what a great place this is to live and work.” Recruiting physicians to rural areas is not easy, but CMC’s previous CEO was content to use traditional recruitment firms for the task. Castrodale has purs... Full story
In 1964, the average annual salary in the United States was $5,880. It cost 5 cents to mail a letter. You could buy a fine house for $20,000 and a brand new Ford Mustang cost a whopping $2,400. And when Merv Schmidt came to run a gas station in Coulee Dam, the price of gas in Spokane was 34.9 cents a gallon. Locally, it was 39.9 cents. That nickel difference seemed like a lot to Merv, but people bought the gas, even though it was 14 percent more than in Spokane. When I got here in 1988, there were six local gas stations. All of them were much... Full story
As you enjoy Colorama this week, be thankful for the place where much of it comes together — North Dam Park and Event Center — and think about the sand dunes that would replace it if ceases to exist, which it could. This community asset is just one of the potential casualties of irrational stinginess on the part of some city council members who think the only funds they currently spend on the park just shouldn’t be spent that way. A very large cache of those funds, from hotel/motel taxes that are supposed to support tourism, sit doing nothi... Full story
One of several traits that I owe overwhelmingly to my mother is a little understood love of argument. In that way, my mother touches you today. Mom was a very intelligent woman, who instilled in me the unshakeable feeling that every side of a discussion must be heard and argued. I also married a woman with whom I share an understanding that debate and argument is sport. So you may understand when I publish an editorial in the coming issue of The Star that most of you will dislike and some will... Full story
Until 6 p.m. today, anyone taking a test drive can get Ford Motor Co. to send $20 to the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District, plus your name gets entered into a drawing for a barbecue grill. Three Jess Ford workers are ready to let you test drive one of several brand new vehicles at the North Dam Park Skate Park right now....
State Sen. Linda Evans Parlette said she is still looking for ways to get federal help with Grand Coulee Dam school construction needs, and she has just two years to get it done. Speaking at the Grand Coulee Dam Rotary Club April 23, Parlette said she's still trying to connect with Sec. of Interior Sally Jewel, but she may have a new ally to call on in the U.S. Senate. Parlette's leadership, said Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Dennis Carlson, was the crucial factor in getting... Full story
A video has been posted on Youtube of a man being arrested after fishing in a restricted area below Grand Coulee Dam and allegedly resisting arrest. The Wilbur man's arrest was the subject of a police reports brief in the April 30 Coulee Cops. Taken from a distance April 24, the video is nearly 20 minutes long and includes language many may find offensive from people in the background. It also includes audio early on of a man apparently warning the subject of the arrest, possibly by radio of cell phone, that the approaching officer was about... Full story
I've uploaded three weeks worth of photos on our photo site today. Enjoy!... Full story
A group of friends trying to scratch their own itch for faster Internet connections have been almost forced into opening a new business to answer the same growing need for the local community. Coulee Internet Services Company is adding connections every week with wireless-to-fiber technology that extends the reach of faster Internet speeds to places too remote for fast access wires to reach. And their plans include adding even areas now served by fiber optic and DSL connections. Living in Elmer... Full story
The Nespelem School District Board set the school’s calendar for the next school year and changed the date of their regular monthly meetings last Wednesday. School will start next fall on Wednesday, Sept. 3 and end June 16, 2015, a Tuesday. Board meetings were changed from the fourth Wednesday of the month to the first Monday. They start at 5:30 p.m. in the staff break room. In addition to other holidays and staff training days, students will get a Winter Break set from an early release on Friday, Dec. 19 until Jan. 5. The board also kept in p... Full story
Coulee Medical Center's chief executive tendered his resignation with a required 90-day notice last Thursday, offering to stay on until the end of that time but stating his intention to seek "liability claims." J. Scott Graham's resignation letter was delivered by Chief Operating Officer Alan Wagner to the hospital commission during its meeting Monday night, but President Jerry Kennedy had received the letter in an email from Graham on Thursday. "The Board of Directors, in concert with the hospi... Full story
The statewide 911 outage has reportedly been mostly corrected. The problem reportedly occurred in Sheridan, Ore. but affected 911 centers across Washington. Officials will be looking into the reason no backup systems kicked in. --- The State E911 Office has reported a major nearly total 911 outage in the State of Washington occurred just after 1 a.m. on April 10. The State E911 Office is actively engaged with CenturyLink on this problem. There is no estimated time frame for restoring 911 services at this time. Grant County citizens can call...
Grand Coulee is gaining a reputation among University of Washington students interested in rural medicine. Coulee Medical Center is among the smallest of a handful of facilities used by the university in its five-state area for a set of programs designed to introduce medical students to rural medicine. "This is true rural medicine, where the doctors do it all," said Tara Olson last week at a Rotary Club luncheon. The third-year medical student has spent plenty of time at CMC, working her way... Full story
A young father and son drowned March 30 in an accident in the canal above Summer Falls, and the father's body still hasn't been found. This morning, Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones issued a media advisory on the matter. In 25 years of journalism, no press release has brought tears to my eyes, until this one. Below, in its entirety, is the sheriff's message, including some details of the accident and a plea for compassion: A message from Sheriff Tom Jones regarding the investigation of the Mar. 30 incident near Summer Falls: The past eight days... Full story
"Are you fed up?" asked Dave Wilson of chamber of commerce members last Thursday. "I'm still waiting to meet the first person that's not fed up" with "the disfunction in Congress." Wilson hopes to defeat incumbent Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington's Fifth District representative to Congress and a rising star in Republican politics. "I'm not insane," he said. Wilson says McMorris Rodgers is at the center of gridlock politics in the nation's capitol, where a group of about 30 ultra right... Full story
A room full of teachers and staffers addressed the Nespelem School Board last week, declaring that Principal Superintendent John Adkins is doing a very good job. Board Member Pat Morin said it was the biggest crowd he’s seen in five years. Teacher Tracy White said she has worked under eight superintendents at the school over the last 24 years. Adkins, she said, is positive with students and staff. “Since he has been here, he has made all of us better teachers,” she said. “When he’s walking up and down the hall … he’s always got a big high five... Full story
A corner was likely turned this week in the months-long hospital controversy that saw Coulee Medical Center’s healthcare providers and other employees pitted against administration. Public Hospital District 6 commissioners Friday afternoon accepted the resignation of Commissioner Greg Behrens, who had sought to quell the troubled waters around Chief Executive Officer J. Scott Graham, whose ouster was demanded by doctors and many patrons. Tuesday, commissioners of the hospital district in Brewster unanimously voted to offer Graham the top a... Full story
The chief of staff at Coulee Medical Center was given a statewide award at the annual Washington Rural Health Association’s Northwest Regional Health Conference in Spokane Wednesday. Dr. Andrew Castrodale was awarded the Dr. John Anderson Memorial Award for Outstanding Rural Health Practitioner. The award is given to healthcare providers who have demonstrated a dedication to healthcare in rural communities and provided leadership and outstanding service to the community and region. For years, Castrodale has worked with a University of W... Full story
Public Hospital District 6 commissioners will gather in a special meeting Friday at 3 p.m. to consider the tendered resignation of Commissioner Greg Behrens. Commission President Jerry Kennedy confirmed that Behrens had given his letter of resignation March 20. Determining the process to appoint a new commissioner is the second order of business on the agenda, followed by a closed session to consider legal and personnel matters. Behrens has been on one side of a split in the commission in recent months over a controversy between administration... Full story
The local chamber of commerce will offer three runs and a walk on Colorama Saturday, all featuring a route over the Grand Coulee Dam. The Run The Dam will take place the Saturday of Colorama weekend, May 10. It will feature 5-kilometer, 10K and half marathon runs, plus a “Walk the Dam — Build a Gym” fundraiser for the local school district. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber is promoting the run as part of the Colorama Festival. Formerly known as The Over the Dam Run and last year as That Dam Run, the new event will be managed by chamber membe... Full story
Voters in the Colville Tribes’ Omak District Sunday voted in a longtime member to fill a vacancy on the Colville Business Council, seating him next to his son, whom they had voted in for another vacancy March 1. Mel Tonasket, a one-time chair of the CBC, garnered 79 of 172 votes, according to a tribal press release issued Tuesday. His son, Richard Tonasket was chosen earlier for the first of two seats recently vacated as one member resigned and the council expelled another. The elder Tonasket is to be sworn into office today (March 19), r... Full story
For nearly three decades, Coulee Dam has benefited from the reliably calm and deliberate approach taken by Councilmember Bob Poch, who announced his resignation last week. While it’s understandable that after 28 years he’s decided to step away, he will not leave an easy vacancy to fill. Poch’s nearly unflappable public presence has often served to calm a brewing storm when the council meeting room filled with unhappy citizens. And anyone diligent enough to keep up with the sometimes arcane details needed to navigate municipal government for d... Full story