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Articles from the July 27, 2016 edition


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  • New dean and AD hired for LR

    Roger S Lucas|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    The Grand Coulee Dam School District hired a dean of students and a new athletic director at Monday night’s board meeting. Dean of students at Lake Roosevelt High School for the next school term will be Charles Pierce, from Soap Lake. Pierce will be in his final year for his principal certification at Whitworth College during the 2016-17 term. A person well known to hoop sports fans here, Levi Seekins, will take over as Lake Roosevelt’s athletic director, replacing Richard Black, who will retire in August. Black was nam...

  • Football coach's resignation accepted

    Roger S Lucas|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    The school board accepted the resignation of Geary Oliver as head football coach at Lake Roosevelt High School at its meeting Monday night. The district has stated that it was exercising its long-established practice of awarding head coaching positions to sitting teachers, if they are qualified for the job. Advertisements for candidates to fill the position will soon be underway, and it is expected that Loren Endsley, Lake Roosevelt’s physical education teacher who acted as Oliver’s assistant last year, will apply. Oli...

  • Meetings and Notices

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Chamber This Week The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce will be meeting at noon this Thursday, July 28, at the Siam Palace in Grand Coulee. Grant County Prosecuting Attorney Garth Dano will be the guest speaker. Local AA Meetings Confused in the Coulee AA meetings are held on Mondays and Fridays at 6 p.m. at the Vets Center in Electric City. Call Paul at 633-3377 days or 633-3345 evenings. New Hope Group meetings are held Wednesdays at 6 p.m. at the Vets Center. These are open and non-smoking. In Nespelem, the group...

  • Grand Coulee all-school reunion set

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Anyone who ever went to, or worked at, Grand Coulee Schools is invited to an “All School Reunion” Friday and Saturday, August 12-13. At 7 p.m. Friday, alumni will get together at North Dam Park for visiting and for renewing old friendships, bringing their own drinks, snacks, and chairs. On Saturday at 9 a.m., the old high school gym will be open, and at 10 a.m., the new high school will be open for tours. At noon, the group will gather at North Dam for a potluck and a relaxing day of visiting. At 8 p.m., a band furnished by...

  • Puppeteers coming to the library Aug. 8

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    On Monday, August 8, North Central Regional Library Puppeteers will be visiting the Grand Coulee Library beginning at 10:30 a.m. with all new skits. Also a reminder that a craft class is held every Wednesday. Visit Grand Coulee Library on Facebook for additional updates, times and events or call the library 509-633-0972....

  • Aaron Boyd Galbraith completes residency

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Larry and Gerry Boyd, of Coulee Dam, are proud to announce their grandson, Aaron Boyd Galbraith, completed his three-year residency in internal medicine and will be joining a Kaiser Permanente Primary Care Clinic in Arvada, Colorado, this month. Galbraith, the son of Allan Galbraith and Lorena Boyd, of Wenatchee, Wash., graduated from Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, in 2008, with a degree in Biology. While at LCSC, he ran cross country and track, and was an...

  • Fixing up the stone church in Coulee Dam

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Two workers do some repairs on the stone church in Coulee Dam. The church was recently gifted to Almira Community Church by the Presbyterian Church. Workers Don Rivera, left, and Steven Ferris caulked and painted last Friday. The Almira church group hopes to begin services in October. - Roger S. Lucas photo...

  • Deedigail Louise Johnson

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Deedigail Louise Johnson of Spokane Valley, Washington, passed away on Saturday, June 11, 2016. She was born in Grand Coulee, Washington, on September 26, 1969, to Charlie and Norma Johnson. Deedi was the second oldest of six children. Deedi graduated from Lake Roosevelt High School in 1987. On June 3, 1991, Deedi gave birth to her pride and joy, her daughter, Brittany. They lived in the Tri-City area for a while, but her and her daughter settled in the Spokane area in 1998. D...

  • Albert Melvin Desautel Jr.

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Albert Melvin Desautel Jr., 82, of Nespelem, Washington, passed away Friday, July 15, 2016, in his home. Albert was born June 20, 1934, into the Nespelem home of Albert and Myrtle Peone-Desautel Sr. This is where a remarkable life began. On September 22, 1951, Albert married the one and only love of his life – Violet Ann Sandanie. You can't mention Junior without mentioning Violet. Known to many who knew him as "Junior Desautel" or "Grandpa Junior," he was a member of the C...

  • Seventy-seven years ago

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Camp Keller, a 375-man W.P.A. camp, located about 21 miles up river from the dam. – July 25, 1939...

  • Our values are most important

    Jesse Utz|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    My wife and I were recently involved in some training that is taking us one step closer to what God is obviously calling us to do. More on that some other time; I want to talk to you about a little hands-on assignment we had to do in the class. The demonstration was simple enough in the beginning. The instructor talked about the 10 building blocks needed for every person to survive. Things like significant others, values, information, groups, personal identification, jobs, places of significance, your history, and so on. We...

  • Parks and pathways plan could come in August

    Roger S Lucas|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    A full report on Electric City’s proposed Pathway and Revitalization project could come by late August, city Deputy Clerk Russell Powers said last week. The Washington State University Rural Communities Design Initiative team will be finishing up its report and then it will be reviewed by Electric City’s community committee. The city council then will review it and it eventually will become part of the city’s comprehensive plan. The WSU team, made up of Assistant Professor Kathleen Ryan and three students, was in Elect...

  • Blooming artist

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    At the second annual Plateau Native Art Show in Grand Coulee, put on Saturday by Northwest Native Development Fund, artist Nevin Pfaltzgraff, of Coulee Dam, left, chats with patrons as Bill Stevens takes in Pfaltzgraff's first-place winning painting of a dahlia. Jeannie Jerred took second with her white moccasins beaded with roses, and ledger art by Cheryl Grunlose took third. - Scott Hunter photo...

  • Treasurer, auditor explain county's cash flow problem

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    We would like to take this opportunity to explain the budget “Cash flow” issues Okanogan County encountered earlier this year. The way revenues flow in the early months of any year can cause “cash flow” issues for the County. In January, February, and March, revenues received by counties are usually lower than in other months throughout the year. In order for the County to meet its obligations and expenditures for the Current Expense Fund, which supports 27 different departments, plus other funds and agencies such as Public...

  • Council ignoring people's wishes on pathway

    Myrna and Orie Francis|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    This letter is to voice our comments, once again, on the Electric City pathway project. We did read the newspaper article regarding the most recent meeting and were pleased that the citizens are standing up for their rights. The people have a right to be angry because they are not being heard. The meeting we attended was a joke – they only wanted discussion about the “vision” of parks and not the pathway. The council members have their minds made up – and yes, they think it is carved in stone! They are obviously not conside...

  • County finances held surprises in 2016

    Stuart Gillespie|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Dear Editor, This spring the (Okanogan) county commissioners found themselves with a big problem. They did not have enough money to pay 3-4 months of normal expenses until April property tax receipts arrived in the county’s account in mid-summer. Leah Cormack, County Treasurer of 10 years, reported at the commissioners' meeting in early April that she had never seen during her years as Treasurer as dire a revenue shortfall as had occurred. How did this happen? Aren’t two of the incumbent commissioners campaigning on suc...

  • Town is better off with new treatment plan package

    Greg Wilder|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Given the current squabble about the Town’s Wastewater Treatment Facility, I suppose I should contribute my view. To begin with, this is a “simple” process and simple project: all of our Coulee Dam sewage is “domestic”… we don’t process or treat industrial wastes, we don’t process or treat commercial fruit canning. Virtually all we do is process and treat domestic wastes… it can’t be any simpler than this! And, virtually our population hasn’t changed for decades. In 1990 our population was 1,100 AND today it still is 1,1...

  • Man jailed after gun incident

    Roger S Lucas|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Police arrested a man for allegedly pointing a rifle at and threatening a woman and her child Sunday. An occupant of the Hill Avenue Apartments, Levi A. Redd, 29, was arrested Sunday, and taken to Grant County Jail, charged with first-degree assault and third-degree assault. A woman in the apartment complex told police that Redd had a rifle, “something with a banana clip,” and had pointed the rifle at her and “scared her and her son.” She told police officers Chris McClanahan and Dan Holland that the man was wearing a long,...

  • School district passes $11 million budget

    Roger S Lucas|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    The Grand Coulee Dam School District board adopted a $11,017,937 general fund budget for the 2016-17 school year at its Monday night meeting. The budget is about $500,000 higher than the previous budget and was described by Superintendent Paul Turner as austere. “We will have to tighten our belt this year,” Turner said. Turner noted that school districts are subject to decisions made by the Legislature and it isn’t always predictable what decisions might be made that affect school financing. In other funds, besides the gener...

  • Newsbriefs

    Updated Jul 27, 2016

    Volunteers answer fire and ambulance calls Grand Coulee’s volunteer fire department had three fire calls in June and 34 ambulance calls, Chief Richard Paris reported to the council last Tuesday night. Six of the calls for ambulance service were from Coulee Dam. The fire calls included one vehicle fire and one structure fire. Help for housing for veterans Veterans needing housing assistance can attend a meeting Aug. 9, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at the Zion Lutheran Church, 348 Mead In Grand Coulee. John Tamngin, a Housing & U...

  • These kids are the reason for Moose Lodge

    Scott Hunter|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    The Moose Lodge in Grand Coulee Saturday hosted 10 girls for dinner who are the organization's reason for raising funds. The girls, from 8 to 12 years old, live on a 1,000-plus acre campus outside Chicago, Illinois, and benefit from the Grand Coulee lodge's fundraising efforts every month. "Mooseheart" is about a third of the national Moose organization's reason for existence. It's called "The Child City ... a home for children and teens in need, from infancy through high...

  • Air gun incident gets teen arrested

    Roger S Lucas|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    A 17-year-old was arrested and taken to Grant County Jail last Friday charged with attempted first-degree robbery after allegedly pulling a clear, plastic, air gun on a store clerk. The Auburn, Washington juvenile, only five days short of his 18th birthday, allegedly had entered Jack’s Four Corner Service, along with two other youths, and, after walking around the store, asked the clerk for a “swisher” (a cigar). The clerk asked for some ID and then refused the sale of a cigar, a police report states. Some words were exchange...

  • Mosquitos reported as less severe after new treatment

    Roger S Lucas|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    If you are finding it more enjoyable sitting outside on the patio this summer, there’s a reason. Mosquitos! Or really, the lack of them. Grant County Mosquito District 2 officials used a new granular product this year in an aerial treatment around the shore of Banks Lake. The application came in May, and mosquito officials reported last week that it was “very effective.” Officials had planned for a second aerial application this season, if needed, but it appears that this might not be necessary. District Secretary Carl Russel...

  • Senate candidate visits Grand Coulee

    Scott Hunter|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    A candidate running for Sen. Linda Evans Parlette's 12th District seat in the Washington State Legislature visited Grand Coulee Thursday, speaking to members of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. Jon Wyss, who has been a Gebbers Farms executive for 11 years, said he visits Grand Coulee often from Brewster to get his vehicle's oil changed at Jess Ford. He's running in the primary against Brad Hawkins, who has represented the 12th District in the state House of...

  • New CEO excited to move here

    Scott Hunter|Updated Jul 27, 2016

    The soon-to-be newest chief executive officer of Coulee Medical Center attended Monday night's public hospital district commissioner's meeting, saying he and his family are excited to be moving here. Jonathan Owens and family will be moving to the community on Friday, but Monday was the first of two votes of the commission required under state law to seat him as the man to replace current CEO Debbie Bigelow, who is retiring. "We're thrilled to death to be here," he said. "We...

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