News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Grand Coulee Dam School District has hired a new athletic director this year. Levi Seekins, 32, brings with him experience both as an athlete and as a coach, and he sees athletics as "just a different classroom" that's part of a larger goal. At 6 feet, 6 inches tall, Levi Seekins is hard to miss when you see him at the games or towering in the halls of Lake Roosevelt Junior Senior High School. Growing up in the area, Seekins played sports here all his life. In high school Seekins played Lake... Full story
City of Electric City Small Works/Vendor Roster The City of Electric City is accepting applications from interested contractors and vendors wishing to be placed on the Small Works Roster and Vendor Roster. Whenever the city seeks to construct any public work or improvement with an estimated cost of $200,000 or less the small works roster may be utilized. The Vendor Roster may be utilized when purchasing materials, supplies or equipment not connected to a public works project with an estimated cost of $15,000 or less. All interested contractors... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board approved construction of a heavy-gauge chain link fence at the district's bus complex to protect its fleet from fuel thieves. At a meeting Thursday, board members received a rundown on incidents when thieves have emptied fuel tanks, stolen tires and batteries, and even taken extension cords. Just recently, bus personnel have had to contend with thieves cutting fuel hoses on three Head Start buses. The cost of replacing hoses on those buses runs about $1... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board last Thursday evening made a number of hires and accepted five resignations. Hired were Madisyn Byam as 2016 SHARP Kids program leader; Melanie Herndon as LAP paraprofessional; and Jeremy Crollard as assistant boy’s basketball coach. Resignations accepted were Paul Braun, seventh grade junior high football coach; Barbara Mooney, bus driver; Joy McClure, bus driver; Ashley Landeros, first- through third-grade co-leader for SHARP Kids; and Donna Totman, family consumer science teacher... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District is “seriously” short of bus drivers. Recruiting bus drivers hasn’t worked, and “advertising for them the past few years has failed to replace retiring drivers,” bus manager Bill Kemble said this week. Former bus manager George Davis, who is now the district’s chief mechanic, explained that it’s just the “situation” the district is in. Although a driver has to work only 17.5 hours a week to qualify for benefits, only a couple drivers currently work that many hours. Part of the “hours” problem was caused af... Full story
Daniel Robert Williams, 47, of Grand Coulee, Washington, passed away suddenly on Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, at 11:11 a.m. at Mid Valley Hospital in Okanogan, Washington. He was born October 6, 1968, in Chicago, Illinois, at St. Ann's Hospital to Barbara and Daniel Williams. They moved to the Grand Coulee area when Danny was two years old. He attended school in the Grand Coulee Dam School District his whole school age. He was very well known through the school and to all his classmates as... Full story
The school board has set four main goals as the Grand Coulee Dam School District heads into the new school year. Superintendent Paul Turner and members of the board met in a long evening retreat to discuss school affairs and to set some specific goals a few weeks ago. The four major goals are: • Improve student attendance and how attendance relates to a good education. • Address specific facility issues. • Improve communications and promotion of Lake Roosevelt. • Fine tune the budget process. On the attendance issue, the board is considering a... Full story
Thieves hit the school district's bus operation again last weekend. This time they siphoned gas from one bus and stole two batteries from the district's boom truck. Bus officials stated early Tuesday that they called the Coulee Dam police department Monday after the thefts were discovered, but still hadn't seen an officer come to the bus area to investigate. Moments later, a police officer did show up to take a small baggie of crystals from bus personnel, suspected to be methamphetamines, and st... Full story
Two wildfires burned separately Sunday afternoon and threatened Elmer City, Coulee Dam and Grand Coulee, while residents watched as flames lit up the hillsides on both sides of the Columbia River. Local fire fighting agencies responded quickly during "red flag" conditions for which the National Weather Service had issued warnings, due to low humidity and high winds. Highways 174 and 155 were both closed sporadically as the fires came close over the next two days, and residents were warned they s... Full story
Candidates forum set for Coulee Dam Okanogan County voters can hear their candidates for county commission seats address the issues at a special forum in October in Coulee Dam being arranged by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. The forum, set for Oct. 13 at a cafeteria at Lake Roosevelt Schools, will include two candidates for each of two commission seats up for election. Young Life to meet in Elmer City Jeremiah Seekins received permission from the Elmer City council to use a basement room at town hall for Young Life meetings.... Full story
No Chamber This Week The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce will not be meeting this Thursday due to setting up for this weekend’s Harvest Festival. Come enjoy the festivities. (See our ad on page 10 of this week’s Star.) Pressure Canning Workshop Coming Up A pressure canning of meats workshop will be held Tuesday, Sept. 27, from 5 – 7 p.m. at the Omak Senior Meal Site and Thursday, Sept. 29 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at the Keller Community Center. These workshops are sponsored by the Colville Reservation Washington State University Extensi... Full story
The school board is being pushed to make decisions on overcrowding at the new school. Could a portable classroom be in the district’s future? It’s a possibility, says Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner. The most critical grade level is the second grade, with the fifth grade also being pushed. The two second grade classes are maxed out now and quite possibly will turn away new students. “The optimum class size for grades 1-6 is 24, with the maximum size at 28,” Turner stated. The district, according to Turner, has a p... Full story
Volunteer department responses reported Volunteer fire Chief Richard Paris reported to the Grand Coulee City Council last Tuesday that his department made eight fire calls and responded to 34 ambulance calls during the month of July. The fire calls included two in Grand Coulee as standby for fireworks, mutual aid for other departments, one in Grant County Fire District 14 responding to smoke, and two to Lincoln County Fire District 9 on fireworks and smoke investigation. In ambulance runs, seven were in the Coulee Dam area, 22 in Grand Coulee,... Full story
The Coulee Dam All Class Reunion Committee and I would like to thank the Grand Coulee Dam area businesses and residents for hosting our reunion Aug. 5-7. Something very special and almost magical happened that weekend as 500 former classmates and teachers visited your small-town high school gym, where many memories were made growing up as young children and teenagers. I saw many tears of joy, many hugs from the heart, and many unending smiles from our classmates as they greeted their fellow classmates, many not having been seen in 40, 50, and... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board hired personnel to cover six vacant positions at a special meeting Monday. The special meeting also was a training session for members of the board. Hired were Alissa Mansker, as a second grade teacher; Misty Krohn, a kindergarten teacher; Tera Remington, a reading specialist; Cole Seaver, junior high science teacher and LRHS assistant JV football coach; and Barbara Mooney, 21st Century community learning center site coordinator.... Full story
Willard F. Rinker, 86, passed away following a brave battle with A.L.S. (Lou Gehrig's Disease), early Thursday morning, August 11, 2016, at Coulee Medical Center, in Grand Coulee, Washington. Born, April 18, 1930, into the Del Rio, Washington, home of Wesley and Garnet Taylor-Rinker, Willard remained a lifelong resident of Douglas County. Following graduation from high school, he began his adult life as a rancher and farmer on his family's homestead. Saturday, June 18, 1949, Willard wed his wife... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District approved the contracts of two new coaches at Lake Roosevelt High School and a fourth grade teacher for the elementary school. Approved Monday, during a special meeting, were Casey Moore, for girls’ soccer, and Loren Endsley as head football coach. Moore, who works for the Colville Tribes, recently convinced the school board to offer girls’ soccer this fall for Lake Roosevelt athletes. The board approved the proposal and found some $21,500 to begin the program. Turnouts begin Aug. 22. Six schools in the North... Full story
Remember that old song from our younger days, which we would just keep singing and singing as we rode the bus to school or on a field trip? I was reminded of that song at a Public School Employees (PSE) Conference over the weekend. I sat at a table with a few drivers from the Wenatchee area who knew my Aunt Mickey, a now-retired bus driver, as we listened to how the whole state has a driver shortage. That got me thinking a little bit about the importance and the impact of the driver of the yellow bus that took us to and from school. First off,... Full story
Long-retired former Grand Coulee Dam School District superintendent Jim Keene and new superintendent Paul Turner putt Thursday evening at Banks Lake Golf Course during a Rotary Club best-ball scramble. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
Big reunion starts Friday The 2016 Grand Coulee All- School Reunion is here this week. All former Grand Coulee School District students, teachers and employees are invited to gather at North Dam Park at 7 p.m., Friday night, to renew old friendships. On Saturday the group is invited to tour the old high school (most recently the middle school) and the new Lake Roosevelt School. The Saturday potluck will be at noon Saturday at North Dam Park, and music is scheduled at 8 p.m. that evening at Electric City Bar and Grill. Horse equipment needed A... Full story
The former Center Elementary School in Grand Coulee was broken into for the third time last week, with hundreds of dollars of damage done and questions about the building's future looming unanswered. In addition to damage from the break-in on or about July 25, the building and grounds show windows and doors boarded up, many windows broken, and the grassy areas covered with weeds. Police stated that some youth had broken through a plywood sheet covering a door and gone inside, throwing paint... Full story
The eventual degradation of an empty building is nothing new, totally expected. Which is why leadership at the Grand Coulee Dam School District and an economic development committee of the chamber of commerce began working, before the new Lake Roosevelt Schools building was completed, on a transition plan for Center School. Like many other aspects of this community, it was complicated. The building and property were not owned by the school district; it had been provisionally deeded to the district decades ago, but only so long as it remained a... Full story
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 school." Its residents... Full story
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 general fund, the board... Full story
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 Jim Truax will pla... Full story
