News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Elmer City residents may notice their city bill gets a boost next month. Effective March 1, each service will cost another $1, following the passage Thursday of an ordinance increasing the monthly fee for garbage, water and sewer service by a dollar each for the bill that comes due in April. The council also passed an ordinance instituting an ongoing, planned utility rate rise of 1.5% every year, beginning in 2026. Both the $1 rise this year and the future 1.5% annual increase starting next year were discussed during council budget discussions...
Citizens unhappy with the direction of the federal government under President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who heads up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, marched with signs Monday from noon to 1 p.m. along Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee. A week earlier, Sheri Edwards had walked the route alone. On Monday, President's Day, the number climbed to 13 like-minded people. Several said they were pleasantly surprised by positive responses, and no negative ones, from passersby honking horn...
The Raider boys took down La Salle's basketball team by 12 points Saturday at the District 5 tournament to get into the district championship for first or second place Feb. 22 in Moses Lake. The LaSalle Lightning came to play, keeping the margin low most of the game. But the Raiders' dogged determination refused to let up. LR won 69-57. Champ Louie started the scoring for the Raiders in style, hitting two treys back-to-back to establish a six-point lead that proved to be the advantage in much...
A tax levy to support local schools was passing by about a 5% margin Tuesday night. Proposition 1, the Grand Coulee Dam School District's proposal to replace its expiring levy with a new one at the end of this year, seeks to tax property owners $2.13 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. In the four counties the district serves, the proposal was passing by 422-383 votes Tuesday, that is, by about 52.42%. The measure needs a simple majority to pass. If it were up to Lincoln County voters, it would...
One woman walked through Grand Coulee Wednesday in solidarity with demonstrators in state capitals across the country decrying actions taken by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency over the last few weeks. Sheri Edwards, a retired schoolteacher (and this writer's wife) decided Monday that she would join the protests, but not at Olympia, here locally. Edwards carried a sign that said, "Love thy neighbor as thyself. You and I are neighbors" and, on the other...
They served pink cookies to go with their pink shirts Monday morning to help celebrate a big gift to Coulee Medical Center and the difference it will make in local detection of breast cancer. After a promotional blitz with a theme of "Now Screening" designed to look like a cinematic release, CMC officials officially cut the ribbon on a new 3D mammography machine. "Early detection is crucial in the fight against breast cancer, and this new equipment will provide higher-quality images, reduce...
How much do people pay to support their local schools? After a fundraising dinner cooked entirely by the school's culinary arts students, citizens in Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High's HUB Thursday took in those facts and more on the upcoming school levy election. Cory Plager, of D.A. Davidson, a bonding company involved in building schools across the state, shared information he gathered from officials in counties included in the Grand Coulee Dam School District and from the state. "This is no opinion... Full story
Problems always get talked about more than good news. That’s just a basic fact of society, one that applies to the way we view the institutions we all depend on, such as our local schools. That doesn’t mean good things aren’t happening too, or that we should stop supporting them. That’s what the current levy election is about. It seeks to replace the one that will expire this year, and it presents your opportunity to support your local schools. A change in approaches to leadership, professional development, and accountability is always likely... Full story
A person died in an early-morning fire Monday when a home at the corner of B Street and Second Street in Grand Coulee burned. Fire Chief Ryan Fish said the single-wide mobile home was fully engulfed the first time he saw it, and he lives across the street. Citizens called it in at 5:24 a.m. They also "took actions to save two dogs from the yard," a Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department press release states. Fish was at the scene at 5:29. Fish called for response from the U.S. Bureau of...
Superintendent Rod Broadnax’s contract with the Grand Coulee Dam School District he leads was just extended by his bosses — the elected school board directors. The board met in a closed session during part of Monday night’s regular meeting to evaluate their employee, then emerged to take a vote, which was unanimous among those present. Director Buffy Nicholson was absent. Broadnax’s three-year contract was extended one year ago, when he was given a pay increase to $160,000 a year, plus cost of living increases. Monday’s action extends i...
A new team of federal personnel attended the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District meeting at the old middle school Jan. 22, to meet with district commissioners and get a sense of how to move forward during a transition. Bill Dykes, Stefani Utter, Chloe Johnson and Lauriann Mountjoy, all with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation are the new resources group that will work with the district that currently oversees North Dam Park, which is owned by Reclamation. "We're here to see what are options and...
A state agency has raised the question with Electric City of whether it might consider re-annexing some of the land it de-annexed last year after annexing it several years ago. Mayor Diane Kohout told the city council last week that some of the land the city had been advised could not be developed into valuable real estate actually could be. Land owned by the state's Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, can be developed with local partners. In fact, the land on which Sunbanks Lake Resort...
Local voters will be asked to decide whether to approve continuing to tax themselves to support schools next month. The election date is Feb. 11. Mail-in ballots were to be mailed yesterday, Jan. 22, but the Post Office says to allow a week for your ballot to arrive. The Grand Coulee Dam School District is seeking a levy of about $2.13 per thousand dollars of assessed property value. That would replace the current levy, which expires at the end of 2025. The new one would bring in over $967,461 in 2026 and rise yearly if property values continue...
The Raiders beat back a brutal Bulldog offense at home Friday night, lost by their lowest score this season the next day at home to Freeman, but blasted Manson last night, more than doubling their score. All of that earns the Raiders the best overall and in-league win-loss records in the Central Washington 2B League (12-2, 4-0), and lists them in the top four teams in the state as of Tuesday night. Okanogan is a better team than Raider Head Coach Ed Wolfe had expected, he admitted after the...
The Lady Raiders lost by eight points twice last week, but won last night by 20. Facing Okanogan at home Friday, the LR girls lost a rough-and-tumble game that didn't get slowed down too much by foul calls. The Lady Bulldogs (3-0, 10-7) won 50-42. The next afternoon, LR's girlss hosted Freeman (4-1, 11-3) for another loss, 44-36. Freeman is at the top of their Northeast 2B-South League. The Lady Raiders (2-2, 7-8) beat Manson last night in a league game 42-22, putting LR in the middle of the...
If you notice a few 10th-graders in the greater downtown Coulee Dam area around lunchtime next week, they're not skipping school. The Grand Coulee Dam school board Monday voted to give the class of 2027 an off-campus priveleges trial period. The decision followed a presentation by the class officers asking for relief from a decision made about some earlier sophomore class that apparently had had discipline issues off campus. "We have never had a chance to go out and prove ourselves," Jaci Clark...
Elmer City leaders will consider a method of building in minimal annual raises on utility rates to keep from falling behind costs of providing the services. City Clerk/Treasurer Kelly Ross asked the town council Thursday to consider the step and hold a public hearing on it at the scheduled February meeting. The council approved a resolution for increasing the percentage of water and sewer service sales that is sent to the city’s reserve funds from 1.5% to 2.5%. Ross suggested a $1 annual increase on each rate for garbage collection, sewer, a...
The Raiders took down the 1-A Cascade Kodiaks by 50 points last night, highlighting a five-game winning streak away from home. Now 11-1, the Raiders left the Leavenworth team with a 2-9 record overall. The Raiders are ranked third in the Central Washington 2B League, but fourth among the 54 teams in the state at their 2B level, according to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. Columbia (13-1), at Burbank, and Colfax (11-1) are listed first and second, and Freeman (8-1) at...
The Lady Raider wrestlers took seven wrestlers to Connell Saturday, and they all placed. Lake Roosevelt took third place in the 31-team tournament with schools sizes ranging from 1B to 4A. LR’s 120.5 points earned their third place. Prosser took second with 132. Othello won it with 147 points. “It was a tough tournament for the girls but good prep for the state tournament,” Head Coach Victor Landeros said. “They are working hard every week, making small adjustments to fine tune their wrestling,” Landeros added. “All of us coaches like where...
With eight wrestlers, the Raider boys finished fourth among 20 teams at Northwest Christian’s Crusader Classic wrestling tourney last Saturday. “The team finished 4th overall with 8 wrestlers competing. “They finished as the second highest 2B team in the tournament,” Coach Casey Brewster noted. “They wrestled hard and continue to make progress every week, and it shows at every tournament.” Rodger Cate took first at the 113-pound bracket, earning 28 points for the Raiders. Collin Christman, at 106, took second for 16 points. Collin Chaney also...
When he approached the broken city hall front door from the inside late Saturday night, the suspect in widespread vandalism there saw the targeting dots on his chest from an officer's taser and immediately complied with an order to lie down. Coulee Dam's Officer Mathew Ponusky, driving by on patrol just before 11 p.m., had noticed the broken glass door on the front of the building and stopped to investigate. Ponusky could hear glass breaking at the southwest corner of the building, and, looking...
Accountability and words like it came up repeatedly during a special meeting of the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors Monday night as they hashed out their priorities among a list of recommendations for strengthening the district in a new report. The “Performance Audit Report” commissioned by Superintendent Rod Broadnax is barely 16 pages but intends to offer “a basis for discussion and a roadmap for the future.” The report by “Burns/ Van Fleet” of Houston, Texas, is based on a review of district policies and documents,...
Most of the boys' basketball game with Liberty Bell Friday night seemed to be going according to norms. Tight competition: it ended regular play going into overtime 46-46. And that is where the Mountain Lions apparently decided they would score no more. They kept their score at 46, even as Raiders racked up 60 points. It's not like Liberty Bell wasn't equal to the task, they just didn't do it. Worse, they continually fouled so LR would head to the free-throw line, racking up the Raider win...
Consultants working on a project to convert the old Center School into a senior living facility gave community a progress update last week, at a gathering Tuesday night at the Voltage Coffee House. Patti Westby, of Westby Associates, Inc., said a feasibility study is done after gathering input from a series of 84 interviews with "prioritized contacts," community members and stakeholders. They were gathering feedback and "estimating potential support" for what is likely a $15 million project to...
by Scott Hunter Emma Isaak is looking forward to a lifelong learning curve, so she's picked a good profession in financial management. The last year hasn't let her down. That's when she moved to Coulee City after growing up in Spokane, graduating high school at Northwest Christian, and getting her master's degree in business administration at Gonzaga following a bachelor's in psychology at Wheaton College, in Illinois. Quite a jump from psychology to financial management? "You know, you would...