News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1674 - 1698 of 1807
An 88-year-old Omak man was found dead Feb. 9, and police are investigating his death as a homicide. On the Colville Indian Reservation just outside Omak, the vicitm was found by his daughter who called police just after 9 a.m. Saturday. Below is a press release from the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office. 02-10-13 HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION On 02-09-13 at around 9:10 PM Okanogan County Deputies along with Omak Police Department and Colville Tribal Police responded to 33 Brooks Tracts, just outside o...
And some of the rest of the photos from this week ... 2-6-13 Star - Images by Scott Hunter... Full story
The civil discussion at the Coulee Dam council meeting was a welcome relief from the tension building over the wastewater treatment plant issue. More than that, it was a model of how a town council meeting should be run. Kudos to all involved. Concerns about cleanliness and snakes notwithstanding, one has to wonder about our misgivings about chickens in town, when reportedly they can exist unknown to neighbors until a fence blows down. We’ve seen enough government audits to know when one would disapprove of not depositing government-held c... Full story
Two days earlier, people on opposite sides of a contentious issue hadn’t gotten along so well, but the regular meeting of the Coulee Dam Town Council Wednesday progressed with civility remarkable by contrast. The town council accepted without comment a 275-signature petition by citizens to submit plans for a wastewater treatment facility upgrade to third-party engineers for “value engineering,” a formal process performed on many projects by engineers who do nothing else but look for ways to save money in such proposals. The petition also said... Full story
When citizens come into conflict with elected leaders or officials, it’s easy to forget the most important position the other holds: that of a human being. Passions can flare when one knows one is right, or when one feels under attack. But cooler heads should prevail at just such a point, remembering that it’s likely everyone has the same ultimate goal in mind, even if the path to it appears different. Truly, everyone who wants the best for a cause or a community is on the same side, eventually. Coming to that realization and ultimate agr... Full story
A blood collection drive scheduled for today (Monday, Jan. 28) has been cancelled. The collection was cancelled after Inland Northwest Blood Center personnel arrived at Coulee Medical Center’s Professional Building A (the former clinic building) and found it not ready. “They chose to go back to Spokane and hopefully return in a couple of days in one of their coaches,” local drive coordinator volunteer Bonnie Femling said. “Please hang on to your blood and come to donate it when they return!” Coulee Medical Center spokesman Steve Becker sa...
For Rayne Rabe, a distinct connection exists between belting out a tune and barreling through your opposition. Practicing one has given her the ability to do the other. Before moving to Coulee Dam in July, Rabe had earned a reputation by another name, “Chick Norris, Derby Rayne-ger.” That was in Orange County, Calif., where she rolled with the Orange County Roller Girls roller derby team. Now she can’t wait to start a team here. Demonstrating her moves last week at the skate park in Grand Coule... Full story
Several coulee area residents competed in last weekend’s outhouse races in Conconully, getting nixed in the end by a team from Japan. Ian Waltermeyer, Dylan Tipps and Guy Payne, the Coulee Crapper team, won their first two heats in the “Bucket Race,” attaining the quarter finals before falling to Team Fartacus, from Bothell. In the Family category, Guy Payne and Guy R. Payne teamed up with Adam Lange of Wenatchee to take first place, defeating Omak’s Geobel Septic in the opening heat and crushing the Chronicle CanDoo team in the semi-fi... Full story
Multiple and prolonged critiques of Coulee Dam’s proposed upgrade of its decades-old wastewater treatment plant; reasonable doubt cast by a seemingly less expensive, yet comparable, plant at Rock Island; possible funding partners who would like another study; and now a citizens’ petition asking the council take another look at the plans all seem to suggest strongly that the town council do just that. Surely no one thoughtful enough to serve fellow citizens by taking a seat at any town council post would turn away from ways to save citizens sig... Full story
Coulee Dam’s town council will meet in a special meeting Monday at 2 p.m. with one item on the agenda, the wastewater treatment plant, according to a notice delivered late Friday. A notice faxed to The Star Friday afternoon did not elaborate or offer a reason for calling a town council meeting in mid-afternoon on a federal holiday. Monday is Martin Luther King Day. Controversy over the planned upgrade of the plant, and associated costs, and the town’s contract with Elmer City are at the heart of a petition circulating in the town asking the...
A killing in Connell resulted in a lockdown in Grand Coulee Dam School District schools Friday after police notified the district that the suspect could be in the local area. Authorities in Connell were reportedly looking for 40-year-old Julio Cesar Hernandez after a 30-year-old hispanic man was shot to death Thursday night in Connell. Police “pinged” his cell phone, and believed he was in Electric City. Grand Coulee Police were notified of the suspect’s possible presence. They notified the school district, said Superintendent Dennis Carls...
A petition asking Coulee Dam’s town council to reconsider it current course to upgrade the town’s wastewater treatment plant is being presented door to door by a half dozen people. Greg Wilder, a resident who has been skeptical of the proposed design and critical of the town’s process in the matter, said the group hopes to present signatures from 90 percent of the town’s households to the council at its Jan. 23 meeting. Monday afternoon, he said, some 200 signatures were in hand. The petition drive was started by Kathy and Tom Skordas, he said... Full story
A couple years after it burned the first time, firefighters had to answer another fire call to what is arguably Grand Coulee’s biggest eyesore Monday night, one that shouldn’t be there at all. The little green house at Van Tyne and Spokane Way has been just a shell after burning the first time. It should have been torn down long ago. Not tearing it down leaves not just an eyesore but what insurance carriers call an attractive nuisance, one that could cause injury. And it probably leaves someone, possibly the city of Grand Coulee, in a pos... Full story
The Star newspaper has launched a new Community Calendar of events that will make schedule coordination across the community easier. Cities, churches, ball clubs, service organizations and more can all add their upcoming events to the calendar, which can be accessed by anyone, anytime online and at least once a month in the newspaper. It’s on page 8 today. To see the calendar online, go to The Star Online at grandcoulee.com. Just under the date at the top of the home page, click on Calendar in the green menu bar. The GCD Community Calendar w... Full story
by Scott Hunter A Tonasket man, impressed with the behavior of Lake Roosevelt’s students at a restaurant, asked the principal to find and thank one of them for his honesty. Randy Middleton wrote to Principal Brad Wilson this week, asking him to find the young man who had stopped Middleton from leaving the restaurant without his dropped credit card, then politely refused any monetary reward. “I’m a great believer in what I call the HICK mentality, which stands for Honesty, Integrity, Courteousness and Knowledge,” Middleton wrote. “This y... Full story
After just completing the compilation of “A look back at the year that was 2012” on page 2 and looking back through a year of front-page stories, I have to say it was a year of great highs and real lows, both of which could forecast our future as a community. The high side was peaked by the unexpected news that the state would provide the funds needed to build most of a new school complex, thanks to the leadership of Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, R-Wenatchee. $31 million in a budget year when the final passage came in a second special session of... Full story
Ceth, Charlene and Craig Leonard, along with their St. Bernard Crystal, stand in front of their Aspen Street home in Coulee Dam Wednesday night. “I really wanted to do it for the kids,” said Ceth, who remembers the lighting tradition making a much bigger local impact during his childhood....
Update: WSDOT issued this statement after 4 p.m. Christmas Eve: With dozens of snow-laden trees still slumped over the highway, the Washington State Department of Transportation is keeping US Highway 2 closed from Stevens Pass to the west end of Leavenworth. Skiers can still get to the summit from the west side, but cannot continue east toward Leavenworth. Through traffic must detour via US 97 Blewett Pass and Interstate 90 Snoqualmie Pass. “At least four more large trees crashed to the r...
The holidays and accompanying scheduling conflicts seem to throw off normal schedules for every organization in town. The same goes for the newspaper, especially with Christmas falling on our normal Tuesday deadline day. So here’s what’s happening with our publication schedule. You’re holding the Nov. 19 issue. On Friday of this week, you can pick up the Nov. 26 issue. That’s when we’ll get it in the mail. That issue will include the community’s choice for The Star volunteer of the year, Christmas cards by third-graders and more. We’ll be ba... Full story
Eight candidates have been nominated for The Star’s annual volunteer of the year award. The nomination deadline was Monday night. Voting will cease on Dec. 18 at 6 p.m. The honoree will be announced in the following week’s newspaper. Nominees are: Hillary Carriere, Carol Estrada, Fern Blaylock, Earl Cole, Bob Hendrickson, George Kohout, Eloise Bowman and Andy Trader. All nomination letters are included below. To make your preference known, do one of the following: • Take the online poll at bo... Full story
A group that has been studying the feasibility of building a community/wellness center in the area decided Thursday to push ahead with the effort, citing a very favorable feasibility study and a growing need in the area. Full disclosure: Readers should know I’ve been a member of that group since its inception and have been one of many considering the idea since long before that. After deciding by consensus to move ahead, the steering committee for the effort decided where it should be located and gave it a temporary name. The Coulee Regional We... Full story
The Coulee Area Park and Recreation District commissioners passed a budget for 2013 Monday night totaling $73,000. It includes revenues of $36,500 from a Bureau of Reclamation grant, and $6,000 from each of three local cities that collect hotel/motel taxes. The budget anticipates spending $18,000 on a master plan for North Dam Park and $50,500 on operations, maintenance and construction in the park.... Full story
The same day tribal members submitted a 2,600-signature petition, the Colville Business Council rejected the petitioners’ plea to pay out all of a $193 million settlement with the U.S. government. The council will stand by an October resolution on the use of the half of the settlment that remains after already having put $96.5 million into the hands of some 9,600 members. The Qwam Qwmpt’ Plan was adopted by unanimous resolution Oct. 5, a statement from the tribes said Monday. It “allocates the remaining 50% of the settlement money for activ... Full story
Colville Tribal officials on Friday unveiled a new solar array to power the Fish and Wildlife Program building near Omak and the Hearts Gathered immersive Salish language school. Located on the campus of buildings behind the Paschal Sherman Indian School at St. Mary’s Mission, the group of five towers each hold two panels that turn sunlight directly to electricity and feed it into Okanogan County PUD’s grid, when they’re actually producing. Friday’s snowy weather didn’t make for much of a demo... Full story
Two months after running out of food and cutting back on days open, the Care and Share Food Bank is back up to speed, thanks to an overwhelming response from the community, said manager Fern Blaylock. “I am so happy,” she said Monday, wiping a tear on her cheek after receiving two checks from Charlie Long, who presented them on behalf of Zion Lutheran Church members and friends, and Thrivent Financial For Lutherans. The checks for a total of $2,285 were the latest in a continuing series of res... Full story