News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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A 102-acre fire began and ended on Saturday in the Peter Dan Road area. Local fire crews from the Grand Coulee Dam area, the Mt. Tolman Fire Center, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation were assisted by Department of Natural Resources aircraft in extinguishing the fire, which was first reported at about 4 p.m. and declared contained around midnight. No structures were lost in the fire. Rick Paris, of Grand Coulee’s volunteer fire and ambulance department, said the blaze was human-caused and still under investigation, with Mt. Tolman doing the i...
After lab workers mysteriously got sick Tuesday, forcing an emergency closure, Coulee Medical Center will start a phased re-opening Friday morning, when it will "move forward cautiously," opening its emergency department first at 7 a.m. The decision to re-open was made mid Thursday afternoon after a meeting with state officials. It had been 20 hours with people in the building following that shut-down and subsequent investigations looking for a possible cause of the noxious odor that caused half... Full story
A number of community members who value North Dam Park are working to keep it afloat for the remainder of 2022. The park could close for lack of funding in August of this year, a result of the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District having been unable to renew a contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation before the end of 2021. The district is in the process of renewing their contract with the bureau for 2023, but in the meantime, is set to quit maintaining the park, including lawn care, water, power, and garbage services, in mid-August. Tha... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation is prohibiting fireworks on North Dam for the Independence Day holiday. Reclamation is taking precautionary measures to decrease the potential for wildland fire and is reminding the public that federal regulations prohibit the use of fireworks on Reclamation lands and water bodies, a press release Tuesday stated. The agency will allow the permitted fireworks display at Grand Coulee Dam to occur at the top of the dam for the Fourth of July festivities, the release said. “There is a low risk of fireworks reaching the s...
The Coulee Area Parks and Recreation District, which manages North Dam Park, is meeting tonight, June 22, at 6:30 p.m. at the former middle school in Grand Coulee in the former teachers’ lounge. The group is in a tough position as they haven’t secured funding from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which owns the land at North Dam, for 2022, which means they can’t fund maintenance at the park such as watering the grass, garbage service, powering the lights, and general yard work. Commissioner Kevin Portch told The Star last week that the group...
Grand Coulee Police 6/13 - Security footage at Coulee Gas didn’t show anything helpful for a man trying to find his wallet, with the gas station being the last place he remembered having it. 6/14 - A woman on School Avenue reported a white man in a black hoodie captured on security footage walking through her yard with a flashlight. Nothing was missing from her property, but she wanted to warn police about the man prowling the area. - Police spoke to a man who admitted to urinating in the open near Continental Heights. The man said he really h...
North Dam Park, which hosts numerous events in the area, including Colorama, markets, softball tournaments, and more, is in danger of no longer being maintained, but funding could still be secured for 2023. A special meeting is scheduled for the local park district in charge on June 22 at 6:30 p.m. at the former middle school in Grand Coulee in the former teachers’ lounge there, which the public is welcome to attend. Years ago, the city of Grand Coulee had responsibility for the park, but relinquished control to the US Bureau of Reclamation, w...
Officials for the barely funded public agency currently responsible for managing the park that holds major events in the area said Tuesday they may have to close it down. North Dam Park, which is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation but managed by the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District (CAPRD) is the venue for events like Colorama, Run the Dam, summer softball and baseball games, a skate park, the Gehrke Windmills display, countless private events, and more. But CAPRD commissioners Brian Warneke and Kevin Porch said Tuesday that USBR... Full story
The town council in Coulee Dam Wednesday night approved spending $3,020 to “move dirt” in an area just above the city hall, a residential neighborhood, and a motel so police can use it for a shooting range. Officer Josh Watkins introduced himself to the council as the firearms instructor for Coulee Dam’s two-officer police department and explained the need for such a space. Watkins said the biggest benefit would be the ability to get free training. Police have training requirements to keep up with, but scheduling time at the U.S. Bureau of Re... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation announced last Wednesday that the Grand Coulee Dam “One River, Many Voices” laser light show and the John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant public tours would come back on May 28, in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Tours were not allowed in 2020 or 2021 due to restrictions under the health emergency due to COVID-19, and the bureau warned that those could be re-imposed if necessary. The light show will run nightly at 10 p.m. Pacific Time through July 31. Beginning Aug. 1, the show will start at 9:30 p.m., and beg...
Electric City is making the correct move in considering whether it should plan for expansion to its south. Like the rest of the country, the local area is running short of housing, and that’s a major obstacle to progress for a better community. Local employers have trouble recruiting employees to the area when they can’t find a place to live. Our largest employers in the Grand Coulee Dam area — the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and Coulee Medical Center — run into the problem repeatedly. The hospital keeps eight rentals of its own just to have a...
You can see the world from a different perspective by flying a drone. Greg Behrens, a retired geologist from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, demonstrated his drone for The Star in April at his home east of Grand Coulee in the Spring Canyon area. Behrens got his drone in July of 2021 and his commercial license in October, but he didn't really need it; he just enjoyed the intellectual challenge of passing the test for certification and learning all there was to learn about it. "You have to...
The hulking shell of a construction project will be revived at some as-yet-unknown date, but a tangle of legal problems has been resolved to allow the Bureau of Reclamation's fire station project to move forward. The agency announced an agreement with the insurance company April 28. The bureau said in a press release that Berkley Insurance Company has selected J.S. Held LLC to coordinate the project with National Native American Construction, Inc. "The mobilization date is unknown but is...
Tours at Grand Coulee Dam should start at the end of May, following the end of masking and distancing requirements that made tours impossible last year. The Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center is currently open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Bureau of Reclamation plans to resume the “One River, Many Voices” laser light show and the return of the tours of the John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant public on May 28, the Saturday before Memorial Day, the traditional opening of the season. Masks are no longer required inside the Grand Coulee Vis...
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation workers on Grand Coulee Dam perform maintenance on the drum gates while the level of Lake Roosevelt is low Tuesday, an activity often scheduled in the spring when Reclamation operates the lake lower to make room for runoff. - Scott Hunter photo...
If you’re still venturing out onto the ice of Banks Lake, be careful, as it may not be as sturdy as it looks, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation warns as they begin pumping fresh water into the lake. The USBR begins operating outlet works at Banks Lake/Dry Falls Dam on March 3 in preparation for the 2022 irrigation season, a Feb. 23 press release states. Reclamation started operating Potholes Reservoir/O’Sullivan Dam outlet works on Monday. To prepare Banks Lake for the March 3 operation startup, Reclamation began pumping water from the John W....
A man who was unconscious in his burning car gets to continue to live with his family thanks to local heroism. Three Jess Ford employees saved the Ephrata man's life in December. Joshua Bessette, 46, of Ephrata, was on his way to work at the Grand Coulee Dam on Dec. 3 at about 7 a.m. He was driving north on SR-155 at about milepost eight between Coulee City and Grand Coulee near the Million Dollar Mile, when, according to a report from Washington State Patrol Trooper John Bryant, he left the...
Fences were built last week to close a popular beach at Steamboat Rock State Park a year after the decision was made to close it. In January of 2021, The Star reported that a stretch of beach, located near the main boat launch in the park, was being closed due to erosion and to protect resources, according to employees from the park as well as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Originally, a fence was going to be built from a point on the beach near the boat launch, up to an access road, around a...
Les Fossum 6/14/1932-11/18/2021 MaryAlice Fossum 6/21/1931-5/31/2014 Les and MaryAlice Fossum are back together after seven years of being apart. They were married July 10, 1958, at the Chapel of the Pines in Burien, Washington, and were together for 56 years prior to MaryAlice's passing in 2014. Les was born in Cheney, Washington, on June 14, 1932 to Lester and Grace (Swanson) Harr. Following the death of his father, his mother married George A.O. Fossum who adopted Les and his sister Joyce.... Full story
Helen Johnson, a long time resident of Electric City, died at home surrounded by family in Wenatchee on Jan. 22 2022. She was born in Sebeka, Minnesota, on Mar. 18, 1922. She was the third of five children born to Peter and Clara Ostlund and grew up on their farm near Sebeka. She had fond memories of growing up in a poor home with a supportive and loving family. She graduated from Sebeka High School in 1940 and attended a business school in Minneapolis for a year before taking a job at the Sebeka Post Office. Helen married Bert Johnson on May... Full story
Leonard (Len) Ralph Dumph, age 74, died suddenly on Monday, January 10, 2022, in Mesquite, Nevada. He was born November 8, 1947, in Gilman, Colorado, to Ivan Lon and Joy Mary Marfitano Dumph. He was the youngest of four children growing up in Red Cliff, Colorado, a small community in the mountains by Vail. When he was to enter the sixth grade the family moved to Grand Junction where he graduated from high school. On July 14, 1979, he married Sandra Kay Higginbotham in Hartline, Washington. He... Full story
After firefighters took care of hot spots inside Sunday night, some pull at siding material on the eaves outside as they work at venting smoke from a house at 705 Birch in Coulee Dam. A firefighter said it was described as a chimney fire. Much of the smoke in the photo actually may be steam in the frigid temperatures in the teens about 11:30 p.m. A young couple standing outside said they had help for the night. Firefighters were seen from the Bureau of Reclamation, Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam and...
Grand Coulee Police 12/24 - Police responded to Burdin Boulevard where a truck was reported being where two men were yelling at each other. Police found the truck, watched it drive a little then stop. They spoke to the driver, who had been drinking, sad that his girlfriend had broken up with him, the report states. He was arrested for driving under the influence, with breath samples showing an alcohol content as high as 0.225, well above the 0.08 limit. A friend of his had been standing nearby where the truck was, and explained that he left...
Pumped storage hydropower projects that are in planning for the Coulee, as well as for Halverson Canyon north of Creston, may be aided by recent federal legislation. The road to bringing Columbia Basin Hydropower’s $1.4 billion Banks Lake Pumped Storage Project to fruition may have just gotten a little smoother. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was passed by Congress in November 2021. The act authorizes almost a billion dollars for hydropower projects over five years “committing the federal government to supporting hydropower as part...
Bertha Ruth Isherwood passed away peacefully on Monday, December 20, at Yakima Memorial Hospital at the age of 99. She was born March 4, 1922, in a sod house in eastern Colorado to parents George and Susan Schreiber. Ruth grew up on a farm. She was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church. Ruth graduated from Woodrow High School in 1940 and enlisted and served two and a half years in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. She was stationed in several places in the United States and in New... Full story