News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1286 - 1310 of 1807
The arrest last week of a popular educator is an emotionally wrenching trauma for a significant portion of the community, not just for him and his family. If he’s guilty of what the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force say he is, they’ve either stopped a budding deviant or just a mid-life crisis that strayed far afield from the norm, ruined his future and hampered the futures of many others. Whatever the case, the community in general will need to rebound from severe disappointment. The good news is, it will. Part of that rebound wil... Full story
Facing a foe who had beaten them by more than 20 points at their last meeting, Lake Roosevelt's Lady Raiders prevailed with a one-point lead in the final seconds of a district tournament game against Waterville Wednesday night in Wenatchee. LR had the 17-15 edge at the half, but Waterville had gained the upper hand at the end of three, 25-23. With 3.3 seconds left in the game, Joceyln Moore drew a foul under the basket with her LR team down by one. Moore sunk both free throws for a thrilling...
A popular educator and rising young school administrator was taken from Lake Roosevelt Schools in handcuffs today, after a Seattle-based task force on internet crimes served warrants to search his home and office. Nate Piturachsatit was arrested at the school today after law enforcement officers from several agencies, all part of the regional task force, arrived with a warrant to search his office and computer. When they left, they didn’t take the computer with them, but they did take his cell phone. Piturachsatit is the vice principal of L... Full story
Voters will decide Feb. 9 whether to continue property tax support of Nespelem Elementary School by paying only about a tenth of the amount of money the levy actually would bring to the school. The school teaches about 120 students in pre-school through eighth grades. That count is up from last year, says Rich Stewart, superintendent of the district, whose board of directors budgeted for only about 100 students this school year. "We are hoping this trend continues as our program has made... Full story
The town council last week narrowly repealed a vote it took in December to remove two town-owned trees along the 300 block of Stevens Avenue after one council member said he felt deceived and embarrassed. Coulee Dam Councilmember David Schmidt said a letter he had signed as a member of the Parks and Natural Resources Board had the wrong addresses on it, not the addresses where two trees they’d inspected needed to be removed. “We didn’t look at either one of those trees,” Schmidt said. “We never would have approved their removal because t... Full story
Bonuses given out in 2014 to hospital executives prior to a turnover in leadership will likely result in a “finding” from the State Auditor’s Office, Coulee Medical Center’s top executive told her board Monday night. “The auditor has alerted me that we could very possibly receive a ‘finding,’” CEO Debbie Bigelow said. “We may not have been that administration, but we are that hospital.” An auditor’s “finding” is the strongest criticism possible. Bigelow said bonuses given to executives in early 2014 for work performed in 2013 caught the audito... Full story
The woman who took the helm of the troubled hospital she’s spent most of her career at will not renew her contract, opting instead for some time with grandchildren, she reiterated to commissioners Monday. Debbie Bigelow had sent a letter to commissioners in December to that effect, encouraging them to get started finding a replacement soon. Bigelow underscored that point at the Hospital District 6 Commission meeting Monday, but said she will stay on long enough for an orderly transition. She took over as an “interim” chief executive offic... Full story
Nespelem area voters should have ballots in hand soon for deciding on a school levy that would turn some $34,000 of their tax dollars into an additional $318,000 in state funds. Nespelem School District Superintendent Rich Stewart said the rate of tax on private property would come to about $2.49 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. The owner of a $100,000 house would pay $249 a year to support the local school, which serves about 120 students. The levy would replace the current levy, which nets the district $32,000 at $2.14 per thousand... Full story
Grand Coulee’s mayor is right when he says in a front-page article this week (“New twist could bring towns’ functions together”) that his city has “a lot to offer” other municipalities in considering how the four in the Grand Coulee Dam area might benefit by combining efforts. That’s basically because working together is usually a better way to solve problems among people of good will: problems such as how to pay for police services, firefighting and ambulance service; water, sewer and street maintenance, and the education of our children. Tha... Full story
The demise of the Alcoa aluminum plant in Wenatchee has led to a change in the location of the union lodge for machinists and a Bureau of Reclamation worker is now president. Wallace "Peewee" Pleasants was appointed president Thursday night, Jan. 8, of the Grand Coulee local lodge of International Association of Machinists. "We're all nervous, but at the same time, it's exciting," said Pleasants, a hydromechanic at Grand Coulee Dam. The development could spur more participation locally on the pa... Full story
A story that starts on page 2 this week comes through The Star’s association with the state association that works with colleges in the state to encourage and support journalism education. “Governor, DNR 2016 budget proposals seek wildfire fighting, recovery funds” was written by a student through a special arrangement between The Washington Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation and the University of Washington’s journalism education program. You’ll likely see more coverage from the state’s capital again this winter as The Star uses stori... Full story
The overhead covering that has shaded rodeo fans for decades collapsed sometime Sunday night or Monday morning, presumably a victim of a heavy snow load and its age. Much of it is lying in a heap on the seating area it used to cover, or hanging tenuously just above it, and will until the snow melts. "I figured it would be there forever, but I was wrong," said George Kohout, president of the Ridge Riders Saddle Club, which owns the rodeo grounds. It was built in the late 1950s or early '60s,... Full story
Patients checking in at Coulee Medical Center can now verify their identities with a state-of-the-art fingerprint scanner. The "SafeChx" system not only guards against identity theft, but also instantly links all of a patient's records when at check-in. The system guards against misidentifying patients who have the same name and will find multiple accounts opened for a single patient, making check-in faster and records administration more efficient. The first patient JoAnn Ehlers checked in... Full story
Catching up after the holidays, our photos taken from 12-22-15 to 1-5-16 are online. Here's a presentation and link: http://coulee.photoshelter.com/gallery/1-6-16-Star/G0000BnqmGDxBbNA...
Members of the Coulee Dam Community Church and others gathered for its last service Sunday, offering a worship service that included bittersweet remembrances by those attending and a final fellowship afterward. The church has been a welcoming and open influence in the community that provided a great place for worship, community events, music and much more, members said. "Everyone wanted their wedding to be in this church," said Diane Babler, who married her husband Bob in the stone church at... Full story
Can tribal courts hear tort cases against non-Indians? This case worked its way up to the Supreme Court, which heard it this month. Here is an interesting "Amicus" podcast on the subject, with background and an interview with a lawyer on the yes side.... Full story
The trees owned by the town of Coulee Dam are worth an estimated $3 million dollars, a recent inventory report funded by the Washington Department of Natural Resources states. The study, produced by Community Forestry Consultants, was produced under DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program. Most, but not all, of the town’s trees were counted and mapped using special software and the Geographic Information System. The type of tree, its condition, size and estimated value were signed to each of 680 trees at 296 planting sites. Trees owned pri... Full story
The run up to the holidays is always a time during which it is challenging to fit everything in the schedule. And at a weekly newspaper, the schedule is really messed up during the season when regular meetings are canceled or moved, new events pop up and a lot of issues and events deserve community attention. "Hectic" can describe it, but so can a sigh of wonder. The latter description comes to mind after many events involving children. If you have some, consider yourselves lucky, even if you... Full story
Nespelem Elementary School got a Christmas present Thursday night when electric utility representatives presented a big check at the school's annual Christmas Program. Nespelem Valley Electric Cooperative President Ralph Rise and Manager Dan Simpson attended the event and surprised the crowd with the announcement just before children started singing. They presented a check to Superintendent Rich Stewart for $56,895.83. Rise said the funds, from the Bonneville Power Administration, were for... Full story
Grand Coulee's newest postmaster has worked at the national level for the U.S. Post Office, but wanted to get back to small- town life. Amy Glover took charge of the Grand Coulee office Dec. 8. That night, the distribution facility in Spokane that sorts most of the mail in eastern Washington flooded, stopping the flow of mail. Glover, whose assignment includes oversight of Coulee Dam and Elmer City post offices, said that they temporarily stopped sending local mail to Spokane for sorting.... Full story
A state preservation official Thursday dispelled myths and disclosed some little-known facts about what happens when property is declared "historic" and entered on a registry. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Coulee Dam had invited Michael Houser, of the Department of Archaeology & Historic Preservation, to speak about the registry issue at a joint noon meeting last Thursday held in the community room at town hall. There was interest in the town to see if some of... Full story
This community has not done a good job of preserving its own history. Until recently, the home of the largest dam and largest powerplant in North America, and of one of the most important public works projects in the country’s history, hasn’t even had a museum; and even the one that’s struggling to survive is an underfunded all-volunteer effort. Now would be a good time to reverse this trend. When Mom’s Tavern, the last of the old buildings on the famous B Street in Grand Coulee, was demolished decades ago, the last authentic remnant of that... Full story
Local mail carriers and post office workers will be working this Saturday and Sunday to catch up on delayed mail delivery, following storm damage to the U.S. Post Office’s distribution center in Spokane, which was flooded Tuesday night. That was the day Grand Coulee’s newest postmaster started on her new job. Postmaster Amy Glover seemed unfazed Friday afternoon at the prospect of handling a double delivery Saturday after three days of local mail backing up in Spokane and Seattle. Glover said the Grand Coulee Post Office will be open both Sat...
A concert, complete with a visit from Santa is in the planning stage for the Grand Theatre on Grand Coulee's Main Street, the operator says. Theater operator Cody Wilson, who took over the venue this year and has been offering a variety of events, said the "A Very Merry Christmas Concert" is offered a "donation preferred" basis, but they also want anyone who can't pay to "come in and enjoy everything. ... It is a great way to share the Christmas spirit too." The concert is set for two nights,... Full story
Coulee Medical Center officials were hoping to break even for 2015, but probably won’t make it, Chief Financial Officer Paul Babcock told Hospital District 6 commissioners Monday night. CMC and its clinics lost nearly $125,000 in October, about 7 percent of its net operating revenue of almost $1.8 million. The low month brings CMC’s year-to-date losses to about $418,975, which compares favorably to a loss of more than $2.5 million for the same time frame a year ago. Even a good November and December are unlikely to be good enough for a bre... Full story