News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Several people were honored Thursday as the chamber of commerce threw a bash to hand out community awards and celebrate its own 90th birthday, with cake. Gathered at the Siam Palace for the annual awards dinner, kudos went out for the Nonprofit of Year, the Business of the Year, the Start-Up of the Year, and the Legacy of the Year. It was that last one that had some eyes a little wet. The Legacy of the Year award was presented posthumously to Kachane Piturachsatit via his son, Mark, who now owns...
Lake Roosevelt Schools will lose at least six teachers, and up to eight, after this school year to a reduction in force (RIF) authorized by the school board Monday night following reports and deliberations on how the school district “got here” and what the way forward will be. Unlike the federal government, school districts must run on a balanced budget, so when revenue falls, so must expenses, most of which is in salaries and benefits mandated by the state, but not necessarily paid for by it. The deficit before adjustments are made is pro...
Area AA Meetings In Electric City, the New Hope group now holds its meetings Monday thru Friday @ 6 pm every night, at the Vets Center in Electric City. Wa. Need more info? Call Betty at 509-429-7817 . In Nespelem, the group Bound and Detemined holds its meetings Monday evening at 7 p.m. at the Catholic Church. Contact Myrna at 634-4921. Food Bank Hours The food bank regular hours are Fridays from, 1-3 p.m. Questions call Pastor Shawn at 633-2566. Attention Vets A Veterans Service Officer will be at the Electric City Post every 2nd Tuesday of...
Coulee Dam Police 3/16-3/22 - Reports filed without additional details related to: threatening or intimidation on Diamond Street in Electric City; harassment on Spruce Street in Coulee Dam; a traffic accident on Elmer City Access Road; theft at the gas station in Coulee Dam; a citizen assist on Crest Avenue in Electric City; assault at the elementary school; and a verbal disturbance at a Coulee City address. 3/17 - A school employee requested a welfare check on a young child who hadn’t been to school in 20 days. An officer went to the f...
An American bald eagle circles near three workers on top of Grand Coulee Dam Monday, where they are beginning to work on maintenance of the drum gates, the large, curved area behind the workers. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
First off, hello Grand Coulee and surrounding area; I would like to introduce myself. Tony Jaksa is my name and Safety/Environmental officer on a large project over at the Dam is my game. I’ve been working in this capacity for more years than I would like to admit but keeping workers healthy, injury free and alive is my Mission. The sad facts are that as hard as I and other safety folks work at an injury-free workplace, we still lose some 5,000 workers a year to incident fatality, for too many years. There is nothing more impactful and s...
Kachane Piturachsatit passed away February 15 at home surrounded by family. Born in Tha Lo, Thailand, to a poor family, Kachane came to Spokane in his 20s to pursue the American dream of opportunities. He first worked as a dishwasher at the Cathay Inn. In Spokane he met Cheryl Browning of Coulee Dam and they were married in May, 1973. Together they opened the Siam Palace in Grand Coulee in 1975. Over the years through hard work and dedication, Kachane built the restaurant into a local success wh... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 3/2 - An officer ran the plates of a vehicle getting gas across the street from the police station and saw that the registered owner had a suspended license. Police matched the photo of the driver on file with the person pumping gas, saw them pull out of the gas station, and pulled them over on Midway Avenue. The driver was cited for driving with the suspended license. The passenger took control of the vehicle. 3/4 - Police saw a vehicle spin its tires as it turned onto Midway Avenue from a side street. It had an expired reg...
Notice of Date Change for the GCDSD School Board Meeting Please be advised that the Grand Coulee Dam School District’s Board of Directors has moved their regularly scheduled meeting from Monday, March 23rd to Tuesday, March 24th. Monday, March 23rd the board will hold a Board Work Session at 5:30 p.m. at the Jr./Sr. High School Library. (Publish March 18, 2026) Public Notice Irrigation operations begin for the Columbia Basin Project In preparation for the 2026 irrigation season, the Bureau of Reclamation released water on March 2 at Dry F... Full story
One person visited with the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board on Monday regarding district plans for handling their budget emergency. "After reading some of the letters to the editor in The Star this week, I wanted to come and just kind of get an understanding from the board as to what cuts are being made and why," Sam Halvorsen said. Halvorsen visited on a day the board had just put off a discussion on an upcoming emergency budget resolution, opting to discuss it at a "workshop" on...
All four local towns are suing each other. You could be forgiven if you didn’t know this; the biggest beef between them involves the spectacularly uninteresting subjects of their shared sewage treatment plants, which are spectacularly expensive by your and my standards. Which is sad, because that’s who has to pay for them. That seems obviously unavoidable, as sewer plants are one thing we don’t want to do without. But making them even more expensive than they already are by deciding to sue each other over disagreements regarding them just rubs...
Clark was born in Portland, Oregon to Lola and Clark R Slattery Senior. His dad was in the construction business building logging roads in western Washington and Oregon. The job usually lasted a year and when the road job was completed, they moved to another area to build another road. The roads were usually logging roads. Because of this Clark went to a different school for the first eight grades. The family oved to Elmer City, Wash., where he attended the Nespelem High School for all 4 years.... Full story
Mosquito Districrt to Meet Grant County Mosquito District #2 will hold its monthly meeting this Thursday, March 12, 2026 at 5:00pm at 210 W. Coulee Blvd. in Electric City. Area AA Meetings In Electric City, the New Hope group now holds its meetings Monday thru Friday @ 6 pm every night, at the Vets Center in Electric City. Wa. Need more info? Call Betty at 509-429-7817 . In Nespelem, the group Bound and Detemined holds its meetings Monday evening at 7 p.m. at the Catholic Church. Contact Myrna at 634-4921. Wheelchairs, Crutches Available...
The geologist Nick Zentner "popped up" at Dry Falls State Park Visitor Center last Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m. in one of his "pop up" events, where the popular prof just shows up to talk with the geologically curious. That was a curiosity he piqued by putting forth a new old idea about the formation of the Grand Coulee. An estimated 120-plus people showed up to the cliff-top venue, where Zentner lectured with his back to the 400-foot chasm and promised not to step backward. Zentner, the "Science...
I’ve lived in many public school systems around the country and all of my nine children attended the public schools where my family lived. I can tell from talking to hundreds of people here in the Grand Coulee area, that the schools here are not high quality and are not meeting the needs of children or their parents. I lived in a similar school district in Texas and after trying to change the local school from within, I ultimately moved my family to get my children into a better school. I’ve met only a few people in this school district who...
Fire Dist. 14 to Meet Grant County Fire District #14 will hold its regular monthly meeting Monday, March 9, 2026, at 6:00pm at the Electric City Fire Station. Area AA Meetings In Electric City, the New Hope group now holds its meetings Monday thru Friday @ 6 pm every night, at the Vets Center in Electric City. Wa. Need more info? Call Betty at 509-429-7817 . In Nespelem, the group Bound and Detemined holds its meetings Monday evening at 7 p.m. at the Catholic Church. Contact Myrna at 634-4921. Wheelchairs, Crutches Available Through the Grand...
Coulee Dam Police 2/22 - Police responded to a report in Grand Coulee of a car possibly being stolen by a woman’s boyfriend. She explained she said she didn’t want to report the car stolen, but that she had said that to the dispatcher so her boyfriend wouldn’t take the car. This information was relayed to Grand Coulee Police who handled the rest of the call with the Coulee Dam officer as a backup. 2/23 - A driver was pulled over after turning left off the bridge in Coulee Dam onto Columbia Avenue, turning into another lane of travel in the p...
A proposed reduction in high school secretary hours has become a flash point in the Grand Coulee Dam School District’s broader struggle to close a mounting budget gap, with staff warning of strained student support and administrators describing a years-long squeeze of rising costs and falling enrollment. High school secretary Tammy Norris told the school board that trimming one secretary position from 9 to 7.5 hours a day is more than a simple line-item cut. “In a district our size, there is no extra, there is no cushion,” Norris said during th...
A pair of bald eagles on Saturday appear to be considering moving into a new home in west Coulee Dam. It's not clear what the osprey couple that have occupied the nest for many years might have to say about it when they make their annual return in a few weeks. The osprey pole was erected by the contractors that put up the large high voltage towers that convey the powerlines across the river to Grand Coulee Dam. The nest was originally on a smaller power tower that was replaced by Wilson...
Final Quilt Tying The Ladies of Zion and Friends are tying quilts thru February every Wednesday 9am to 1pm. For those wanting to help and learn how to tie a quilt, come and help. The finished quilts go to The Crisis Center and World Relief. Usually the group will tie 60 some quilts with another 20 done at home. It’s a good way to learn somthing new and a good thing helping some one in need. A few quilts will stay at the church for emegency. For information please call 509-633-0648 Area AA Meetings In Electric City, the New Hope group now h...
Grand Coulee Police 2/10 - 2/17 - Reports filed without additional information related to: a traffic accident on Grand Coulee Avenue; disorderly conduct on Dill Street; a family fight on F Street; a suspicious person on SR-155 near milepost 29; disorderly conduct at Four Corners; and a suspicious person on the Bridgeport Highway. 2/14 - Police spoke to a woman out of a relationship whose ex had taken the keys to a car registered to both of them. The officer said he would try to locate the man and ask for the key back, since he had two other...
Carol was born to Ernest and Lila (Peltonen) Korpi in Hibbing Village, Minnesota in 1937, the eldest of two children. In 1942, Ernest moved his family to Bremerton, WA, and then to Grand Coulee, WA, in 1945 to work on the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam. Carol attended Grand Coulee High School and was a drum majorette. As a young high schooler working her first job at the Grand Coulee movie theater, she met her future husband, Eugene Downing, of Lincoln, WA. Following high school... Full story
Coulee Dam Police 2/8 - Coulee Dam Police stood by for officer safety in a domestic situation in Nespelem while tribal police made an arrest. - Someone observed a woman looking over the side of the bridge in Coulee Dam and was concerned. Police looked over both sides of the bridge and didn’t see anyone who had fallen. - On Fir Street, some grandchildren had locked themselves inside of a running vehicle. Police, with permission from the owner of the vehicle, used a lock out kit to unlock the vehicle. Once the children were no longer stuck, p...
The educational leader who has led Nespelem School District since 2020 will resign at the end of the school year. Dr. Effie Dean, who took over in June of 2020 as the Covid pandemic was disrupting education and society in general, informed the district board of directors Jan. 30. Monday night, directors voted to begin the search for a new superintendent, engaging Northwest Leadership Associates, of Wenatchee, to begin the search and vetting process. Dean’s last official day is June 30. She told The Star on Tuesday that she is not certain of h...
Blue skies overcome banks of fog below Grand Coulee Dam over the Columbia River Tuesday morning, providing some relief from a week of overbearing low clouds and fog. Check out Bob's Weather Watcher Forecast on page 3 for what's next. - Scott Hunter photo...