News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1511 - 1535 of 1807
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
Revelations and rancor dominated a two-and-a-half-hour hospital commission meeting that culminated with steps taken toward the possible ouster of Coulee Medical Center's CEO and for an independent evaluation of physician pay. The meeting, held in Coulee Dam's town hall Monday night because of the anticipated size of the crowd, offered a nearly steady stream of news about internal hospital business and public disaffection of it. About 90 people attended. It started with a discussion of $180,000... Full story
Here is an interesting video that highlights a technology that will soon begin to impact our community, our lives: 3D Printing. Someday, you'll "print" the sweater you plan to wear the next day. Or, finding that you need a new part to repair your kitchen sink, you'll download a recipe for it and print it out. This could have enormous implications for rural communities. Currently, 3D printing is used by hobbyists to make trinkets and small objects, but the people in the video below are beginning... Full story
An accident and resulting fire that put the John W. Keys III Pump Generating Plant at Grand Coulee Dam out of commission last fall has cost the Bureau of Reclamation $990,000 for cleanup, fire response and incident investigation alone, and will lead to a “corrective action plan” by April. An investigative team issued its report last week on the cause of the incident that left one worker severely burned in the Nov. 18, 2013 incident and facing a lengthy recovery. Actual repair costs for damaged are still unknown. But of 12 units that can pum... Full story
An investigation, or lack thereof, of missing public records and a town computer has been to Olympia and back via Waterville, where it may soon end up anyway. Coulee Dam Mayor F. Gregory Wilder, finding nothing but a brand new, unused computer in the mayor’s office on his first day on the job, asked Douglas County Sheriff Harvey Gjesdal for an investigation into the disappearance of the former mayor’s computer, along with all the public records it contained, including emails. That computer, he had learned, had been unplugged and stored in a r... Full story
Hospital District 6 commissioners will meet tonight at 7 p.m. at the Coulee Dam Town Hall, a new venue picked because meeting rooms available at the hospital were expected to be too small to accomodate all those wishing to attend. Two executive sessions are listed, one early in the meeting. Below is the agenda for tonight:... Full story
A health care provider of nearly 20 years at Coulee Medical Center is resigning from her full-time position, citing adverse health affects from working with what she calls an incompetent and hostile administration. Dawn Lovelace, a nurse practitioner and nurse midwife who has delivered about half the babies at the hospital for two decades, tendered her letter of resignation Monday. Her departure will increase the pressure on the two remaining doctors who deliver babies, Andrew Castrodale and Jacob Chaffee. That responsibility and their... Full story
Whether he believes he’s making all the right decisions as a manager or not, Coulee Medical Center’s CEO should resign if he cares at all for the community asset he’s tried to lead since 2009. Events in recent months, including the resignation of a key health care provider on Monday, similar threats from others and the recent unionization of much of the staff, give an unfortunate answer to a question asked at a hospital commission meeting: What evidence is there to suggest he hasn’t done what he was hired to do — lead and guide the hospital?... Full story
The chamber of commerce named two of its own to awards last Thursday night as the "Achiever of the Year," and "Business of the Year." The awards are made by the vote of members of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. Named "Achiever of the Year" was Bob Valen, the chamber's own vice president and a retired National Park Service employee. Valen served over 35 years with the NPS, and in retirement has been as busy as ever. He also now serves as chairman of the Coulee Area Park &... Full story
Large groups wanting to use North Dam Park will be charged according to a new fee schedule approved recently by the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District Commission. Individual users and small family groups will not be charged, but organizations planning to dominate one or more areas of the park will. Arranged by area and length of time, a fee schedule grid lays out fees that range from $150 for a fill day of using the picnic shelter and lawn area to $10 for use of an “Electric Plug-In.” A refundable damage deposit of $200 will also be col... Full story
Both the girls’ and the boys’ Raider basketball teams will play Saturday in loser-out games for a shot at second-place in the league championship. They each beat their opponents in Wenatchee Wednesday to earn that chance. The Lady Raiders will play Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Wenatchee High School against Oroville. The Raider boys play at 11 a.m. in the same venue against Liberty Bell.... Full story