News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

Articles from the June 17, 2020 edition


Sorted by date  Results 1 - 19 of 19

  • The show must go on: school during COVID next fall

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 17, 2020

    The institution of public school will look a lot different in the 2020-21 school year due to the COVID-19 health precautions that will still be in place, and schools are now beginning to grapple with freshly issued state guidelines that bring the challenges into focus. Last week, the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction released guidelines for how to resume school in the 2020-21 school year in keeping with Department of Health safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines anticipate a return to the... Full story

  • Casino closed after employee tests positive

    Scott Hunter|Jun 17, 2020

    The 12 Tribes Coulee Dam Casino said tonight that an employee had tested positive for COVID-19, so the casino has closed for three to 10 days for “extensive sanitizing.” The casino posted the announcement on its website and Facebook pages. The casino closed at 7 p.m. Thursday night, June 18. “We are working to do an extensive sanitizing of 12 Tribes Coulee Dam Casino and will remain closed at this time until further notice,” said Chief Executive Officer Kary Nichols in a statement on their website. “We thank our communities for their support a... Full story

  • Class of 2020 makes it through

    Scott Hunter|Jun 17, 2020

    Lake Roosevelt High School's class of 2020 made it through their final year, graduating Saturday night despite a year that seemed to conspire against them. With the last quarter-plus of the year disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the class that captured at least $191,000 in scholarships, according to the school's information, was denied many of the traditional gatherings of their last year, including spring sports. They adjusted to distance learning, isolation and a graduation ceremony in the a...

  • Local businesses might get relief grants through cities

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 17, 2020

    If you own a business in Electric City that was hurt financially by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, you should soon be able to apply for a grant with the city to receive relief funds for which the city is eligible. City Clerk Peggy Nevsimal addressed the city council on the topic at their June 9 meeting. Nevsimal said she has spoken with the Washington State Department of Commerce about setting up a grant program to distribute some of the $30,900 the city is eligible for as part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act p... Full story

  • Grand Coulee man sentenced to 10 years for drug trafficking

    Scott Hunter|Jun 17, 2020

    A federal judge Tuesday sentenced a Grand Coulee man to 10 years in federal prison for trafficking in drugs after a July 2019 region-wide bust involving multiple law enforcement agencies in and around Grant County. Randall Curtis Gross, 27, was sentenced after having pleaded guilty Feb 11 to conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, as well as heroin. Senior District Court Judge Wm. Fremming Nielsen sentenced Gross to 10 years in prison, to be followed by a five-year term of court supervision after he is released....

  • Koulee Kids Fest this Saturday

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 17, 2020

    Koulee Kids Fest will take place this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and one lucky child will win an iPad Mini and a pair of Beats headphones. Children of any age participating in Koulee Kids Fest will pick up a “passport,” then take it to area businesses where they will pick up kits, a treat, or take part in an activity that follows social distance guidelines. Each location will stamp their passport, and six stamps qualify a child to win the iPad Mini and Beats headphones grand prize by dropping their passport off at the Grand Coulee Dam...

  • Hospital going through masks

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 17, 2020

    Coulee Medical Center has been going through masks like hotcakes during the COVID-19 pandemic and would be grateful to receive more from local mask makers. “Our mask utilization has increased significantly since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” CMC Chief Nursing Officer Marlene Elliott told The Star in an email Monday. “We are currently requiring universal masking for all staff, as well as any patient or visitor who enters our facility. … Average mask utilization for staff is approximately 30 to 50 per day using conservation methods... Full story

  • Quarantine motivates people to clean

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 17, 2020

    People are evidently cleaning up, and so is the local dump. Increased business at the Delano Transfer Station has brought in enough extra money this spring to offset much of a projected loss, so rates will rise only slightly. Dump rates will be raised $2 a ton, a negligible amount for casual dumpers, while spring cleaning has led to an increase in dumping and extra cash for the transfer station. Originally, in October of 2019, the Regional Board of Mayors had voted to raise dump rates at the Delano Regional Transfer Station half a cent a pound,...

  • It's bound to happen

    Scott Hunter|Jun 17, 2020

    It may be easy to feel relatively insulated here from the coronavirus because of the relatively few cases we’ve had, but we’re just entering the period of time when it’s most likely to make its way here repeatedly. With this area’s lakes an annual destination for many during summer months, vectors to introduce it here point to the Coulee like the target lines to the bullseye on a dart board. And county health authorities report their cases are climbing fairly rapidly. Grant County has added nearly 30 percent of its cases in the last week, 9... Full story

  • Shutting down local access for no good reason

    Bob Hendrickson|Jun 17, 2020

    What do you think of the fact that the USBR has closed the parking area on the top of the dam? It is a wonderful place to park and look out at the lake and surrounding country. It is a great place to watch the moon rise and visit with friends and family or make new friends. I contacted them today (June 11) and asked why it needed to be closed 24/7. They use the area for checking temperatures of employees for maybe up to 60 minutes a day, four to five days a week. I asked why they couldn’t open it up for the community and tourists and was t...

  • I joined ITDF for $1

    Roger S Lucas|Jun 17, 2020

    Somewhere between Honolulu and Tokyo flying at 35,000 feet I became only the third member of the International Tap Dancers Federation. I was enroute to Vietnam and had the lucky or unlucky seat next to a guy by the name of Tom Chapman. After a brief exchange I told him I was on my way to Vietnam, and that followed with his telling me how wrong the war was. This was Feb. 7, 1969. Then he told me his plan to end all wars. That’s where the ITDF came in. He further explained that I could join for only a dollar, which I gave to him. Tom then went o...

  • China's push for high-tech dominance

    Don Brunell|Jun 17, 2020

    While the coronavirus pandemic and civil unrest are front page news, China’s unrelenting push to leap over our country in critical technology and hoarding of strategic metals should alarm us. Since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, there has been an unprecedented worldwide demand for personal protective equipment (PPE). Tensions between our countries fueled the widespread fear that Chinese imports would disappear. China provided 48 percent of our PPE imports in 2018, but Chinese exports of e...

  • Seventy-two years ago

    Jun 17, 2020

    Privately owned boats and docking facilities of the COulee Dam Yacht Club were damaged by the heavy winds of June 9, 1948, which drove driftwood across Lake Roosevelt into dock area. June 11, 1948...

  • Coulee Cops

    Jun 17, 2020

    Grand Coulee Police 6/8 - A man from another state working in Grand Coulee told police that a woman he sent personal pictures to on a dating app threatened to show the photos to his family if he didn’t give her $300. Screenshots between him and the online person were shared with the officer. The officer told him to contact the authorities in Eugene. 6/9 - A man reported that his Smith & Wesson semi-automatic rifle had been stolen from the trunk of his Honda Civic while he was camping near the dam. He wasn’t sure of what campground he’d been...

  • Ida May Tuthill Femling Webber Goldman Alling Brown

    Jun 17, 2020

    Ida May Brown passed away peacefully of natural causes on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. Born August 10, 1921, in San Saba, Texas, to Henry Garfield and Ida May Aylor Tuthill, She was 5th of 10 children. When Ida May was three, the family moved to Los Angeles, California, when she was 10, they moved to Klickitat County, Washington. Ida May enjoyed 98 years of a life filled with love, compassion and giving to others. At age 19, while working as a cook in a sheep camp, she married Art Femling. World War... Full story

  • Robert (Bob) John Abel

    Jun 17, 2020

    Robert (Bob) John Abel, 81, of Medical Lake, Washington, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, surrounded in love by his children. Bob spent his formative years in Spokane and attended St. Patrick Catholic School, where he met several of his lifelong friends who still gather once a month. He was a proud member of the Coast Guard before marrying Dorothy O'Connor in 1971. He worked for Diamond Drilling, which took him all over the Pacific Northwest, the Bureau of Reclamation at Grand... Full story

  • NCRL's next virtual author June 23

    Jun 17, 2020

    North Central Regional Library's next NCRL Reads Virtual Author Series for adults will be held at 4 p.m., Tuesday, June 23 with author Kristin Hannah. Kristin Hannah is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale, Winter Garden, Night Road, and Firefly Lane. Her novel, The Nightingale, has been published in 43 languages and is currently in movie production by TriStar Pictures, which also optioned her novel, The Great Alo...

  • Return-to-school conversation continues

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 17, 2020

    Schools are looking at how to successfully implement changes that will be put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new Star survey seeks the opinions of local parents, students, and staff members. Last week The Star reported on changes schools are facing for the 2020-21 school year after guidelines were released by the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Those guidelines include rules such as those requiring all students and staff to wear face coverings and maintain a distance from one another. Those rules ha... Full story

  • School boards meeting tonight

    Jun 17, 2020

    Schools are looking at how to successfully implement changes that will be put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new Star survey seeks the opinions of local parents, students, and staff members. Tonight's Grand Coulee Dam School District meeting can be attended on Zoom at https://gcdsd.zoom.us/j/677070515\ Tonight's Nespelem School meeting is at https://us04web.zoom.us/j/79112198202?pwd=dndzTERja0VNRXVSQUlOeHVtRVdQdz09... Full story