News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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With a recent wildfire started by a ricocheted bullet adding to safety and noise issues, target shooting at Osborn Bay is a concern for some, and the federal agency that owns the area says it is illegal to target shoot on their lands. In response to the June 5 fire at Osborn Bay, Electric City resident Jerry Kennedy submitted a public comment in an email that was read at Electric City’s June 8 city council meeting. The area lies within city boundaries. Kennedy lives less than a mile north of a common, unofficial shooting range there where a s...
At least three areas in the surrounding countryside are used locally as shooting ranges, possibly all illegally. That may offer an opportunity to improve. Last week, a firefighter friend in Ephrata noted he and his fellow firefighters had been listening to their scanners expecting to be called by Electric City to help fight the Osborn Bay fire. He was surprised to learn it had started from the spark of a ricochet in an outdoor, unofficial, make-do shooting area. “Around here, we shoot at the (real) shooting range,” he said. Washington Fla...
Richard "Dick" Beery age 86, of Coulee Dam, Washington, passed away peacefully on May 23 2021, at Coulee Medical Center. Dick was born April 29, 1935, at Mason City Hospital (Coulee Dam) to Carlisle "Bill" and Elizabeth Beery. He married Jeanie Rauch on July 21 1962, in Grand Coulee, Washington. He was proceeded in death by his wife Jeanie of 43 years. Together they raised two children. He is survived by his daughter Lisa Ray (Todd) and their daughter Sierra Ray; son Mark Beery (Denise) and... Full story
A fire at Osborn Bay in high winds Saturday forced two people there to stay in the water for hours as flames came near enough at times that they could feel the heat. The fire near Osborn Bay, south of Electric City burned approximately 30 acres of sagebrush, dry grass, trees, and other vegetation in high winds on Saturday after a bullet ricocheted and started the fire. Electric City Fire Chief Mark Payne said the fire started at approximately 12:55 p.m. when a man shooting in the area reported...
Hotter and drier summers seem to be the trend in climate changes locally as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released the new U.S. Climate Normals for 1991-2020. The NOAA is part of the Department of Commerce and updates the climate normals every 10 years using a 30-year range of data. Comparing the 1991-2020 data to the previous 1981-2010 data shows that the Spokane area, like much of the western U.S., is experiencing hotter and drier summers. Including here. "Vegetation drie...
A fire near Osborne Bay south of Electric City is burning sage brush and other vegetation in high winds. Helicopters from the Department of Natural Resources and the Bureau of Land Management are helping fight the fire along with fire fighters from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the departments from Electric City, Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam, Elmer City, and Lincoln County. Electric City Fire Chief Mark Payne said the fire started at approximately 12:55 p.m. and is suspected to have started... Full story
The City of Grand Coulee would like a couple of questions addressed before extending their B Street closure agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. One end of B Street has been blocked off near the bureau’s fire station construction site since 2017, and numerous delays in that construction project have kept the road closed. B Street connects to SR-155 through the bureau-owned Industrial Road, with the area between B Street and SR-155 being closed off. At their May 18 council meeting, the council discussed wanting emergency access t...
The Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center and laser light show will begin on Saturday in time for Memorial Day weekend. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced the re-opening for the visitor center and the "One River, Many Voices" laser light show in a statement May 19. "To safely re-open the visitor center and return the laser light show, Reclamation will be following the recommended guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," the release states. "Fully vaccinated visitors are...
A Senate Democrat and a House Republican have teamed up to introduce a bill that would benefit a local push to build a new energy plant in Grand Coulee. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse (R, WA-04) reintroduced legislation this week to improve permitting for pumped storage hydroelectric projects and protect tribal interests in the process. The bill will also help increase renewable energy production, storage, and job growth in the...
Although there will be no tours of the Grand Coulee Dam this year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is working on a plan for the return of the Laser Light Show and for opening its visitor center. USBR Public Affairs Specialist for the Columbia-Pacific Northwest Region Erika A. Lopez told The Star that tours will not be conducted this year at Grand Coulee Dam “because of CDC–recommended COVID-19 restrictions.” “Visitors will be unable to safely maintain social distancing of six feet on the tour buses and dam elevator,” she said. Lopez also said...
The continued closure of a city emergency route during a long-stalled federal construction project is worrying the city council in Grand Coulee. During their April 20 meeting, the Grand Coulee City Council discussed the continued closure of B Street during construction of the US Bureau of Reclamation’s fire station located along SR-155. The bureau awarded the $13.6 million construction contract in 2016. Construction began in April of 2017 and was originally scheduled to be complete in the first half of 2018. Numerous delays, including c...
The Colorama parade will be held like normal along it’s Midway Avenue route, but button raffles will be held online with multiple prize drawings held over multiple days. “The parade is on!” Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachel Haven told The Star in an email. Haven received official word that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will be opening B Street, which runs near the fire station they are constructing, as an alternate route which allows Midway Avenue to be used for the parade. Colorama buttons are also out and f...
Vendors are being selected for the Colorama festival, and the usual parade looks likely. Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachelle Haven told The Star in an email that roughly 20 food and market vendors are being selected, and that the chamber is still receiving applications. The parade is still being finalized but looks like it will happen as it has traditionally. "We have applied for all the proper permitting and worked with the Grant County Health Department to...
Things look pretty bad right now for the people of Burma. In my visit to Burma, I found the people of a peaceful nature, but governed by military men who at the time stayed in the background. Since that time, there was a peaceful transfer of power to an elected government. That didn’t last long. Power grabs people and doesn’t let go. We have seen the evidence of this here in our own country. While there, I observed uniformed men carrying rifles on most street corners. They weren’t threatening, but their presence was unsettling. While everything...
The need for a community basketball court was discussed at a parks district meeting last week. Commissioners for the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District met on March 10 via Zoom for the first time since December. Commissioners discussed pursuing grants for projects in North Dam Park, such as for new playground equipment, which was a top priority for respondents to a poll The Star conducted in December. Respondents to that poll also expressed wanting a full-size basketball court, with the current single basketball hoop at the park, on a...
It’s on again! Here’s the good news: the Bureau of Reclamation plans on restarting its fire station project. The bad news is that no one has any confidence the bureau will ever finish the project. This project has had more starts than the fleas on a hound dog. You can tell it’s a government job because it’s going to take deep pockets to pull this out. Now the bureau is going to find another contractor for the restart. It seems the contractors are only part of the problem. The rest lies with inspecting the work that is being done. The bureau...
The Bureau of Reclamation has canceled a contract to build its new fire station for the second time, it announced, but construction is expected to restart sometime this spring with a new contractor doing the work, perhaps even while lawsuits among the parties persist, if court records are an indication. The government originally awarded the contract in 2016 to build the 22,000-square-foot fire station, with completion expected in April 2018. Innovative Construction and Design (ICD), a small...
Will the Laser Light Show and Visitor Center at the Grand Coulee Dam, which saw nearly 200,000 people in 2019, open this spring? The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation didn’t answer the question from The Star with a straight yes or no, but did answer. “At this time, the laser light show and Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center will remain temporarily closed in support of the recommended guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” said Public Affairs Specialist Erika Lopez, who works in Boise, Idaho, in an email. Lopez said that the G...
The Banks Lake Pumped Storage Project, which would bring an estimated 1,000-2,000 workers to the area during construction and add an extra 500 megawatts of hydropower electricity per hour, is still in the works, if a little Covid delayed. Secretary Manager Darvin Fales of Columbia Basin Hydropower spoke to The Star on the phone Tuesday, with an update on the project for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The gravity-feed system would power two 250-megawatt generating units, or...
Newly elected Grant County Commissioner Danny Stone spoke with the Grand Coulee City Council during their Feb. 16 meeting held via Zoom. Stone is the first county commissioner from the northern part of the county in recent memory, possibly since Fred Ludolph in the 1940s. Stone introduced himself and told the council that he was available to talk with them. "If you need something," Stone said, "I can't tell you I can always fix or help, but I can sure be a part of the discussion and be...
In response to the shocking news about the sandy beach area at Steamboat Rock State Park being permanently closed due to a government mystery: oh Ya and EROSION, I’m thinking why stop there? Shut the entire Banks Lake and Lake Roosevelt down. Certainly, the rise and fall of water levels and tourist enjoyment has and will cause more erosion. If that’s the case, then I also feel I’m in danger while driving through the Coulee Walls and beside any natural hillside or formation caused by erosion. I hate to be the bearer of bad news people, but t...
The closing of Steamboat Rock Park’s Boat Camp and access due to erosion doesn’t make sense. The fact that there is reluctance to identify the reason more succinctly leads one to suspect there is more to the story than reported by the Bureau of Reclamation and State Parks. The lack of information from the Bureau of Reclamation, at least, gives me a chance to guess on the reason. In the early part of this century, the grave of a Native American was found in that general area. It did not appear to be a part of a burial ground, but one has to won...
Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union is seeking approval of regulators to merge with Spokane-based STCU, a joining that would rebrand the local institution but retain jobs and offer more services, both credit unions say. The move, approved by both institutions' boards of directors in December, will require the approval of state and federal regulators - and a majority of CDFCU's members. It's a change following dominant industry patterns, as smaller banks and credit unions find it increasingly challen...
An addition to the local airport that would make it safer and more usable is on the horizon and may land if a major grant comes through to pay for it. A new Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) at the Grand Coulee Dam Airport would offer various aviation advantages, specifically by increasing safety and ease of landing. The estimated $274,000 AWOS project should be paid for in part with a 90% Federal Aviation Administration grant, and a 5% Washington Department of Transportation Aviation...
A popular beach at Steamboat Rock State Park, located northeast of the boat launch, is being closed permanently due to erosion, authorities say. "The Bureau of Reclamation in cooperation with Washington State Parks will permanently close a beach area located in Steamboat Rock State Park in order to provide resource protection," a legal notice published throughout December 2020 in the Columbia Basin Herald states. "The closure will take place on January 1, 2021. Washington State Parks will...