News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 993 - 1017 of 1806
Okanogan County Fire District 8 firefighter Brett Read, 38, was injured while fighting the Grass Valley Fire in Douglas County Saturday. Read and another firefighter were attempting to leave their work area when the fire behavior unexpectedly intensified, Fire District 8 Chief Ed Townsend said in a statement. Read became separated from the engine he was working on and suffered burns during the incident. The second firefighter on Read’s engine was not injured. Read was taken to Coulee Medical Center in Grand Coulee, and later airlifted to Harbor... Full story
Whipped by wind, a fire that started near the turn to Mansfield Saturday morning sped over grass, sage and stubble, burning one firefighter and threatening homes and property, on its 20-mile race to menacing Grand Coulee and Coulee Dam, parts of which were ordered to evacuate. Eventually, 247 firefighters would respond from across the state, but the initial attack was up to local volunteers. Douglas County Fire Districts 3 and 5 were dispatched to a mile east and a mile south of Sim's Corner, th...
With many cities, counties, fire districts and multiple jurisdictions of every kind coming together in the Grand Coulee Dam community, it can leave many newcomers scratching their heads, but firefighters on the Grass Valley Fire reported seeing a remarkably close community. At a meeting called Monday to give the community information on the Grass Valley Fire, Public Information Officer Ben Shearer, from the Southeast Washington Incident Management Team, said he has been fighting fires for 28 years, but had to give credit to the Grand Coulee...
Despite an amicable meeting of leaders, two local towns could be about to square off in court over disputed costs of just $30,000, if conversations at their respective council meetings are an indication. Coulee Dam Town Council members talked at length last Wednesday night about the major dispute that has Coulee Dam and Elmer City disagreeing about who is responsible for paying for new equipment to lift Elmer City's sewage another 20 feet higher as it's pumped to Coulee Dam's new treatment...
New air-quality monitors are working in the Grand Coulee Dam area with results accessible by anyone online, thanks to an initiative of the Grand Coulee Dam Rotary Club. Using sensors purchased from PurpleAir, the club has so far put up one sensor, which complements another that member Bob Valen bought for his own home last winter. At least one more is planned for the area. Valen, who writes The Star's monthly weather column, found several years ago that the state's Dept. of Ecology air quality...
The evac levels for the Grass Valley Fire were set to level 1 Monday night, just as a community meeting at Lake Roosevelt High School was about to start (more on that in tomorrow's paper). Level 1 means we need to be aware of the possible danger, but there is no imminent threat. Weather today is predicted to be sunny and very hot, with very low humidity in the afternoon and winds up to 4-5 miles per hour. The National Weather Service has issued an air quality alert covering 13 counties in... Full story
GRAND COULEE 8-11-18 — A fire that started about noon near the Sims Corner Junction on highway 17 has closed highway 174 and all residents on both sides of 174 from Road P east to Grand Coulee are urged to leave immediately. Douglas County Sheriff Chief Criminal Deputy Steve Grossclose said at 6:10 p.m. that the fire is currently past Road Y NE and the Barker Canyon Road on both side of SR-174 and headed northeast driven by strong winds. Evacuations have been ordered along both side of 174 a... Full story
It's 9:30 Saturday morning, and if you don't absolutely have to go outside in the Grand Coulee area right now, you should wait. Smoke is currently making the air "very unhealthy" to breath. Local air quality monitors are reading in the 270-300 range, which is at the upper end of the "very unhealthy" range. Ad advisory issued by the Grant County Health District this week offered this advice about that kind of air: "Everyone should stay indoors, do only light activities, and keep windows closed... Full story
Dawn Lovelace had none of the risk factors for breast cancer. She got it anyway. “I’m a woman … that’s my risk factor,” she said in a recent interview. The nurse and midwife, who basically founded the obstetrics program at Coulee Medical Center 23 years ago, took her own medical advice and went in to CMC for a screening mammogram in January of 2017. “Unreality,” she said of the news. “The sinking in was very hard.” By the following September, Lovelace had had four surgeries. “I’m fine. I’m cancer free,” she said in July. She decided to “emb...
A capital improvements levy to support the Grand Coulee Dam School District appears to have passed in Tuesday’s election with more than 55 percent of the vote. The levy will enable safety, technology and facilities improvements in the district and then let it pay for some items that otherwise would have come from its general fund as the transition is made to the new system of financing basic education in the state. In other contested primary elections, 4th District incumbent Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse led Democrat Christine Brown 6...
Evacuation levels on the Grass Valley Fire have not changed since last night, officials say. Although milder conditions have allowed the fire behavior to settle down today, that could change, and hot areas still close to towns flare up with a new wind. I would expect a new assessment in the near future, after firefighters get a better overall look at the total fire from the air. SR-174 is still closed from Leahy Junction to Grand Coulee. SR-155 is open, as is SR-17. Businesses are open in the...
The owner of a popular restaurant was arrested on domestic violence charges last week and remains in jail. Juan Moreno, the owner of The Melody restaurant in Coulee Dam, was arrested by Grand Coulee Police July 23 after his estranged wife and her boyfriend told police he threatened them with a knife and baseball bat, abducted her and tried to run over him. An Elmer City woman, who had called 911 about a disturbance next door to where she was visiting in Electric City, told police details that backed up what the two alleged victims had said....
A young Nespelem man died early Wednesday morning when the motorcycle he was riding went off the highway five miles north of Coulee Dam. Patrick J. Morin, 18, was riding a 2017 Yamaha FZ-09 south on SR-155 when he entered a curve too fast, lost control and struck a tree, according to the Washington State Patrol. The patrol report stated the July 25 crash occurred at 4:21 a.m. at milepost 35.7. That is in the area known as Belvedere. It was not known whether drugs or alcohol were involved, the report stated. Morin did not have a motorcycle...
It will take nearly 44 percent of Nespelem School District’s reserve funds to keep it in the black over the coming school year, a budget passed by the school board Monday night indicates. The district will take in more than $4.2 million in revenue from all sources, including $67,274 in local taxes, but that’s $348,986 short of what it will spend, according to the budget. The district will spend $4,486,171 to operate. That includes $1,118,974 on support services, the rest on instructional programs. Reserves will shrink from $800,000 to $45...
Coulee Dam seemed likely to follow a path already pursued by Electric City and Grand Coulee last week, when the town council heard nothing but favorable remarks during a public hearing on allowing people to drive four-wheelers on city streets. About a dozen people attended the hearing Wednesday night, not all of them from Coulee Dam. "It's a cheap way to get around," commented a man named Wes, who Councilmember Keith St. Jeor said was from Wenatchee. "It's a boon to the city." Coulee Dam is...
Healthcare professionals at the local hospital were alarmed last week at a big spike in people who had died by suicide. In the space of as many days, seven people took their own lives and one also took the life of another, hospital officials said. Suicide often happens in conjunction with taking alcohol or drugs, which can lead to deeper depression at the same time decision-making capabilities are impaired. If you are someone who is thinking about it, there is help available, if even just by phone through a hotline or by merely calling 911. If...
A young Nespelem man died early Wednesday morning when the motorcycle he was riding went off the highway five miles north of Coulee Dam. Patrick J. Morin, 18, was riding a 2017 Yamaha FZ-09 south on SR-155 when he entered a curve too fast, lost control and struck a tree, according to the Washington State Patrol. The patrol report stated the July 25 crash occurred at 4:21 a.m. at milepost 35.7. That is in the area known as Belvedere. It was not known whether drugs or alcohol were involved, the report stated. Morin did not have a motorcycle... Full story
Summer heat seems to make us a little surly at times, but we’re better off keeping our cool. Like when you come across road maintenance work. In the heat. When you’re in a hurry. Time for a deep breath, often needed when traveling out of town, but this summer, locals may be in for patience-testing even close to home. You know about that if you live in east Coulee Dam, where crews are building improved sidewalks and curbs in spots lined out in a Transportation Improvement Board-funded project in much of the area around the school buildings. Pat...
A weekly market at North Dam Park will now include activities for kids, a feature added by the sponsoring Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. The Wednesday evening markets, running from 4 to 7 p.m., will feature a new activity each week will be sponsored by local businesses. Tonight at 6 p.m., kids get to “slip and slide” and enjoy water balloons in an appropriately cool activity, sponsored by the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center. That plan seemed popular on the chamber’s Facebook page. Upcoming activities include a bubble station, makin...
Voters should keep local schools at the same level of tax support voters have been used to for some time. Local school patrons, staff and others have made clear their concerns about local schools. But concerns about discipline issues at the forefront are an entirely separate problem than the one school leaders are hoping to address with the proposed capital projects levy on which voters will decide Aug. 7. That levy would address maintenance and safety issues and swap a burden that has fallen in the past on the general budget to levy dollars,... Full story
Paul Turner has a goal: to make Lake Roosevelt Schools a bit of a worry to neighboring school districts because it’s where students want to be. But a kink got thrown into the plans to keep the Grand Coulee Dam School District, of which Turner is superintendent, moving forward financially, he told groups in public meetings last week, seeking to explain the proposed fix. When the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in a case known as “McCleary” that the Legislature wasn’t fully funding basic education as required by the state’s constitut...
There’s more to decide than just the local school levy in the upcoming primary election Aug. 7. With local voters tasked with making choices between some 70 candidates seeking nine offices in the upcoming primary, The Star has reached out to all candidates, asking them to tell readers why they deserve your vote. Voters looking for a reason to pick one candidate over another may look for their responses in our Aug. 1 issue, in which we will publish their paid advertisements submitted in response. Local voters, split up into many different d...
A guy who had brightly colored hair in his youth, but wears a tie to work now, would like to see the local skateboarding scene grow to include more features at the park, local competitions, and more, and would like all the support he can get from local skaters. Ben Hughes, a commissioner on the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District since February, has a background in skateboarding himself. "I started skating in 1985 on a bright orange banana board (now called Penny boards)," Hughes says, and...
At 18, Silas Sherbourne wasn't sure what to do with the rest of his life, so he left home the day he graduated from high school and hit the road - on one wheel. Sherbourne is unicycling 4,000 miles across the country to Savannah, Georgia, for a cause and for some clarity. "I concluded that the best action for me was to spend some time after graduation meditating on what really matters to me, in order to figure out what I should do," Sherbourne wrote on his gofundme page, hoping to raise $2,000...
The idea of building a community wellness center has not died. Coulee Area Park and Recreation District commissioners talked Monday night about reviving the topic for further pursuit after a couple years of its stagnation. “We could maybe get that thing back on the table in a discussion mode,” Commissioner Bob Valen said. “I would like to see it resurrected again.” Although still enthusiastic, Valen said he was not optimistic, knowing the cost of such a project. He said when CAPRD explored the idea a few years ago, architects gave a rough e...