News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Coulee Dam is moving ahead with an “alternatives analysis” of its plan for revisions to its wastewater treatment plant. The council voted funds, not to exceed $104,572, to move forward and to determine the scope of work, and best location for, the town’s proposed wastewater treatment plant overhaul. The town had earlier selected the engineering firm Varela & Associates, a Spokane business, to do the analysis. That selection was made with participation of Elmer City, the Colville Tribes, and representatives from councils and staff. Varela was a...
Three newcomers have won their way onto the 14-member Colville Business Council as a result of the Colville Tribes’ general election tally last Thursday. The newcomers are Marvin Joseph Kheel, and brothers Edwin and Michael E. Marchand. Kheel won over Yvonne Swan 284-158 in the Inchelium Position 2 race. Edwin Marchand won over John E. Gorr, 286-179, for Position 1 in the Omak District. Michael E. Marchand won Position 2 over Duane E. Hall, Sr., 267-198. In other races, Jim Boyd was re-elected from Inchelium District Position 1, over Gerald R...
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Planning Department Pete Palmer, Land Use/Shoreline Administrator P.O. Box 150, Nespelem, WA 99155 509-634-2577 PUBLIC NOTICE The Colville Tribes Land Use Review Board will be holding a public hearing to make a ruling on the following land use and development permit: 1. Jimmy Jackson, representing the Colville Tribes Information Technology department has submitted a land use and development permit application to install 10,000’ feet of 24-strand single mode aerial fiber on existing Nespelem V...
The polling results from last Saturday’s Colville Business Council election are in, and absentee ballots will still be the deciding factor in several of the races. In Nespelem District Position 1 race, incumbent Billy Nicholson trails his challenger, Amelia (Moses) Marchand, 106-100. In Nespelem District Position 2, incumbent Nancy Cawston Johnson led challenger Harvey Moses, Jr., 108-97. In Inchelium District Position 2, Marvin Joseph Kheel had a commanding lead over Yvonne Swan, 169-59. In Inchelium District Position 1, incumbent Jim Boyd i...
More management changes at CMC Coulee Medical Center announced last week that three people will be leaving the management team. Chief Human Resources Officer Julie Bjorklund, Dietary Manager Grace Heaton and Director of Continuous Improvement Melanie Neddo will all be leaving at the end of the month or early in July. Bjorklund’s work will be absorbed by other HR office staff, Interim Chief Executive Officer Debbie Bigelow said in CMC’s email newsletter. And Chief Nursing Officer Ramona Hicks will inherit the administration of the dietary depart...
Colville Tribal Business Council Chairman Michael O. Finley was defeated in the primary election, certified last Thursday. Finley represents Position 2 in the Inchelium District and that general election race will see Marvin Joseph Kheel (97 votes) go against Yvonne Swan (96 votes). Finley came in third with 74 votes. Others in that race were Martin R. Simpson (37 votes) and Pat Laramie-Brooks (28 votes). In Omak District’s Position 1 race, Edwin L. Marchand led with 169 votes to John E. Gorr’s 91. Shirley K. Charley came in third with 83 vot...
Colville Business Council Chairman Michael O. Finley is behind two challengers in Saturday’s poll votes for the tribal leadership election. Finley currently holds Position 2 in the Inchelium District and chairs the 14-member council. Both Marvin Joseph Kheel (61 votes) and Yvonne Swan (52 votes) garnered more poll votes than Finley’s 45. Polling was certified Monday. Others in that race include Marlin R. Simpson (30 votes) and Pat Laramie-Brooks (15 votes). Absentee ballots have yet to be counted and will be certified May 8. The top two can...
Twenty-two candidates have filed for office in the Colville Business Council primary election scheduled for May 3. In the Nespelem District Position 1 race, incumbent William “Billy” Nicholson is being challenged by Shawnee N. BearCub and Amelia (Moses) Marchand. In Nespelem Position 2 race, incumbent Nancy Cawston Johnson is being challenged by Charlene BearCub, Brian J. Nissen and Harvey Moses, Jr. In the Inchelium District’s Position 2 race, incumbent and current Chairman Michael O. Finley is being challenged by four tribal members: Pat L...
Riverview Lanes is in the process of being sold. Pat and Sara Zlateff said this week that Sherry Moore, an Electric City resident, will become owner of the eight-lane alley on May 1. Moore still has to work her way through a lease arrangement with the town of Coulee Dam. She said Tuesday that she is working on “a lease similar to the one that Zlateff’s have.” The Zlateffs have owned the alley for the past seven years and essentially got into the business so that it wouldn’t close. “My parents had the bowling alley here years ago, and I didn’t...
Ten Years Ago Concerned about the effect a new sidewalk would have on the parking and safety of his building, a Grand Coulee businessman disputed the city’s plan to repair Burdin Boulevard. Milt Snyder does not want a sidewalk placed in front of the alley that runs beside and behind the west end of his building. The council said they would give it another look. A proposed curriculum plan at Grand Coulee Dam School District may affect athletic eligibility. Unless some kids raise their reading and math levels in the next couple of years they may...
Voters in the Colville Tribes’ Omak District Sunday voted in a longtime member to fill a vacancy on the Colville Business Council, seating him next to his son, whom they had voted in for another vacancy March 1. Mel Tonasket, a one-time chair of the CBC, garnered 79 of 172 votes, according to a tribal press release issued Tuesday. His son, Richard Tonasket was chosen earlier for the first of two seats recently vacated as one member resigned and the council expelled another. The elder Tonasket is to be sworn into office today (March 19), r...
Following several months of investigation and meetings of the Tribal Government Committee’s Rules Committee, the Colville Business Council voted March 6 to expel Benjamin Marchand, Jr. from their ranks, a tribal press release stated. Marchand served from the Omak District. His term was set to expire in July of 2015. The action stems from an ethics complaint filed against Marchand for misuse of his tribal credit card. The complaint was filed by Jack Ferguson, a council representative from the Keller District and member of the council’s Exe...
Thank you for accepting this letter; our Colville Tribal Tribune has been censoring us for a solid year now, so we have no other choice but to write through other sources. Our tribal leaders across the reservation are ethically and criminally challenged. We members know that, but like maybe a battered wife making excuses for her husband or boyfriend sexually assaulting children, some of our members are making excuses for these criminals on the Colville Business Council. Thanks to the Christian missionaries and state and federal policies trying...
[Note: This story contains corrected copy after the CCT administration issued a corrected press release correcting an error in the vote count and adding additional facts about the referenced ethics complaint.] NESPELEM, WA – Following several months of investigation and meetings of the Tribal Government Committee’s Rules Committee, the Colville Business Council (Council) voted today to expel Benjamin Marchand, Jr. from their ranks. Mr. Marchand served from the Omak District. His term was set...
Meeting last Saturday, members of the Colville Tribes’ Omak District selected a replacement Colville Business Council (CBC) member for a position vacated when Ernest “Sneena” Brooks resigned last month. Richard Tonasket, of Omak, was chosen by attendees. Tonasket has been appointed by the CBC by resolution to serve the remainder of the vacated term, set to expire in 2015. Tonasket, 53, is the son of former Colville Business Council chairman Mel Tonasket and Nancy Tonasket. He is the grandson of Leonard and Gerry Tonasket and Dave Jane. Tonasket...
I have rarely aired my opinion in the newspapers regarding the events of the Colville Confederated Tribes. I’ve always felt that “we” needed to take care of and keep our own house clean. However, some very serious occurrences have happened recently that show we need to speak up and address the issues now, however we can. Since any “letter to the editor” in our own Tribal Tribune (the newspaper developed to serve the Tribal membership) is not being accepted for reasons unknown; our local newspapers, social media outlets, and our personal/...
Meeting last Friday, the Colville Business Council unanimously decided to give the voting members of the Omak District two weeks to work on developing recommendations to present to the Council for filling the recently vacated Council position in that district, the Colville Tribes announced Tuesday. “The membership came forward with ideas, and was heard. The (Colville Business) Council fully supports the desire of the District to thoughtfully deliberate the best way to fill the vacant position in a way that suits and honors the voting members o...
This in direct reference to the Butch Stanger letter of 2-12-2014. I was surprised that he found it necessary to answer my initial letter to the editor. Not only was my letter to Colville Tribal Council, but also, he usurps council authority through his bullying tactics AND circumvents council in projecting and over-stepping his own limited Board of Directors/CTFC authority. Further, Mr. Stanger accused me/my info as false. Sorry sir, my info and input came directly from then-in-office council, Tribal Tribune council resolution reports and...
Ten Years Ago The Colville Business Council sent out a news release detailing their outrage with Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Dennis Chambers, in connection with the special room at A.E. Wright Elementary used to confine a 7-year old “special needs” child. Kerry Green and Bronson Kiser placed at the State Wrestling Tournament last week in their final matches as high schoolers for Lake Roosevelt High School. Green placed 4th at 130 pounds and Kiser took 7th at 215. Lake Roosevelt Boys basketball advanced to regionals beating O...
This is very short reply to the recent letter to the editor authorized by Mr. Truman Covington. First of all, the information referenced in your fourth paragraph is entirely inaccurate. Colville Tribal Federal Corporation – CTFC has completed Fiscal Year 2013 with the following benchmarks: • Completed FY 2013 highly profitable for the third consecutive year. CTFC operates from October 1st through September 30 each fiscal year. • CTFC was selected as “Minority Enterprise of the Year” by the Washington State Minority Business Council for the oper...
Colville Members for Justice will meet Saturday morning in Elmer City to discuss the status and updates on their effort to sue the Colville Business Council over decisions on how much of a $193 million settlement with the United States government to distribute directly to tribal members. Their civil complaint was dismissed in tribal court, but the groups has filed for an appeal. A hearing on that is set for Feb. 21. “We still do not have legal counsel and plan to discuss this and other measures available to us,” said Yvonne Swan, who is spearhe...
Ten Years Ago The Grand Columbian Triathlon is being organized by Jonathan Hopkins. He recently met with the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce to go over the event details and description. Organizers foresee over 500 athletes participating. Lake Roosevelt Boys’ Basketball began Caribou League play last week with a 62-32 win at Tonasket and a 52-41 home loss to state-ranked Brewster. Coach Brad Wilson said the player of the game for Tonasket was Nick Barnaby who only turned the ball over one time, very impressive for a point guard at t...
A Nespelem man has been indicted by federal authorities for setting a wildfire off SR-155, between Elmer City and Belvedere last July 8. An enrolled Colville Tribal member, Mylan Williams, 35, is being held in the Colville Tribal Correctional facility near Nespelem. A press release from Colville Business Council Chairman Michael Finley said the fire had been investigated by Tribal Police. The fire consumed about 250 acres of brush land but threatened a number of homes in the area and scrambled a number of local firefighters to the scene. “As t...
January: • The Nez Perce Longhouse burned in a fire in Nespelem the day after Christmas. An electrical malfunction was the initial cause reported. The longhouse had been a part of the community since 1975 when it was built as part of a bicentennial project. • Grand Coulee’s Council settled pay issues with Police Chief Mel Hunt by buying his 787 compensatory hours for $42,922.50. • The public was invited to view the final plans for the new K-12 school complex. • Elmer City was divided about what to do regarding Coulee Dam’s proposed wastewater...
The Colville Tribal Federal Corporation was named the William D. Bradford Minority Business of the Year on Thursday night at the 2013 UW Minority Business of the Year Awards ceremony. “We are honored to receive this prestigious award that speaks to the significant turnaround of our organization over the last couple years,” CEO Joe Pakootas said in a company press release. “We’ve worked hard to focus on tribal businesses both large and small that can create additional revenue for the Tribe and community. We have a vision for the future of grea...