News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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An important institution celebrated its 90th anniversary Saturday, when the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department members gathered at the fire station on Spokane Way, which was built in the 1970s. The modern fire department was consolidated from two earlier, separate departments for the different parts of the city, Rick Paris recounted as people gathered at the station for food and drink, and to honor the department's work and role in the community. Before there was a city or an ordinance to...
Even in an election year when most races were for often uncontested local offices, several were too close to call last night when county election offices stopped counting ballots after 8 p.m. In Grand Coulee, Mayor Ruth Dalton wasn’t getting too nervous yet about barely trailing by 52-48, Chantel Crowe, the city’s deputy clerk who decided to run for the mayor’s office. Neither was Crowe, reached on her way back from a leadership class in Ephrata. She also said it was too close to call. “As of now, I’m excited and I’m certainly honored,” she sai...
Trunk or Treat held on Main Street Grand Coulee Halloween turned out to be a great success. The event was organized by the chamber of commerce with support from local businesses....
Walkers on Midway Avenue Saturday protest policies of the Trump Administration. The Wayfinders group is continuing their weekly Saturday walks on the sidewalk into the winter but changing the hours to noon to 1 p.m. Nov. 8 they'll have a theme of Signs of Fascism. - Scott Hunter photo...
by Scott Hunter The Care and Share Food Bank, like many others, is getting ready to meet the needs of people who will be caught in the midst of the fight in Congress that has shut down much of the nation’s federal government, including food assistance. “Thanks to our government budget, local support and prudent management, we will be able to support all those in need with basic food support,” Shawn Neider wrote in a note to The Star about what the local food bank expects. “We may have to spread our food thinner but nobody needs to starve.” Neid...
by Scott Hunter It wasn’t for a far-off cause that people gathered to walk through brilliant fall foliage on a perfect afternoon last Thursday. It was to help local women get a mammogram, a screening that can detect breast cancer early and thereby save lives. It was Walking Together for Mammograms. Kelly Buche said she is “a survivor, nine years strong, nine years grateful and nine years blessed” because she had good health insurance. “But I was lucky,” said the local accountant just before aw...
Kids decorate pumpkins at Lake Roosevelt's Harvest Festival Wednesday night in the high school gym, where tables and stations were set up for activities, promotions and sales (need a stick horse?) Pumpkin decorating was a featured inside, carving outside. Cornhole games dominated the center space, but a photo booth for posed Polaroids, or a table to learn about horse breeds, and another for making your own bookmarks, were available too. Ashley Atkins, the staffer in charge told the school board...
The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce is partnering with Billups Sub Co. on Main Street to put on “a fun and festive” Trunk or Treat event from 4-6:30 p.m. on Halloween. People are encouraged to bring the kids in costume for a safe and family-friendly evening of trick-or-treating from decorated trunks, local businesses, and community members. It’s a way to celebrate Halloween, connect with neighbors, and enjoy Main Street together, the chamber says. Drive by Lake Roosevelt High School from 4-6 p.m. on Friday and you can pick up India...
Jenna Engleland, a third-grade teacher at Lake Roosevelt Elementary School, receives some kudos and a framed certificate Monday night at the school board meeting for "hard work and dedication to the children of Grand Coulee Dam School District and helping to build the future of public education Washington." Superintendent Rod Broadnax told the second-year teacher that he was "very impressed with work you're doing." That includes launching the Bite to Go program, which provides nutritious food...
As over 7 million people reportedly took part in No Kings demonstration around the United States Saturday, a group of about 100 of them walked on Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee, waving signs and chatting, dancing to music, and wearing inflatable suits. The crowd was several times the size of what has become the usual 20-35 on a weekly basis in downtown Grand Coulee each Saturday. Started by a single person, Sheri Edwards (my wife) who decided last February she had to do something to speak up...
County elections offices throughout Washington have mailed ballots to all voters for the Nov. 4 general election More than 5 million voters will receive a ballot to decide on a statewide constitutional amendment along with local offices and measures. Voters participating in the election must return their ballot by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Ballots can be returned by mail, placed in an official ballot drop box, or hand delivered to a county voting center. Ballots returned by mail must be postmarked by Election Day to be accepted; the U.S. Posta...
OCTOBER 17, 2025 1:51 PM WASHINGTON — As the federal government shutdown extends to day 17, and with congressional leaders nowhere near negotiating, state officials are beginning to raise concerns of potential cuts to nutrition assistance benefits that feed millions if the government isn’t reopened. Minnesota has already halted new enrollments in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. And officials in Kansas, New Hampshire and New Mexico have warned their residents could miss their food assistance payments for November. More th... Full story
The Grant County Board of Commissioners announced recently that they are looking for an interested citizen, residing in District 1 of Grant County to serve a three-year term on the Grant County Tourism Advisory Committee. District 1 includes the northern part of Grant County, east of Moses Lake, which includes but is not limited to Ephrata, Soap Lake, Wilson Creek and the Grand Coulee/Electric City area. The ideal candidate works in or has experience with the tourism industry. There is no compensation for serving on the volunteer committee,...
Friday was homecoming for the Lake Roosevelt Raider football team. The homecoming week royalty was announced at halftime. They are, from left, Senior King Pharaoh Hudson, Senior Queen Abby Rockwell, Junior Prince Stihl Miller, Junior Princess Cadence Holt, Sophomore Prince DC Atkins, Sophomore Princess Elliyana Trevino, Freshman Prince Sylas Johnson, Freshman Princess Claire Nicholson....
An elementary school teacher was arrested Monday on a charge of “Communication with a Minor for Immoral Purposes.” Kittitas County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Ross Ashenfelter, a fourth-grade teacher at Lake Roosevelt Elementary School at 11:55 a.m. Ashenfelter, 42, of Coulee Dam, was arrested at the school, where he was doing some administrative work while the school was closed for the holiday, the sheriff’s department said in a statement. The sheriff’s office said the arrest resulted from investigations by detectives with the Washington taskf...
In a land of high voltage lines, firefighters fight a wildfire that probably started about 6 a.m. Thursday in a field of sagebrush along SR-174. But they had to wait to fight the flames directly under the wires until the Bonneville Power Administration could shut down the lines. The fire, on Bureau of Reclamation land just north of Grand Coulee near the 230 Kv Switchyard (at right), drew mutual aid support from several local departments. Firefighters walking the ground during mop-up discovered...
Chris Bulger was sworn in to a vacant seat on the Coulee Dam Town Council Wednesday. Bulger works at the Grand Coulee Dam, where he was hired as an employee in 2014 after first working there as a contractor in 2000, he said in his letter of interest to the city, which he sent in May. Bulger and his wife, Melissa, live on Columbia Avenue. She is the town clerk in Wilbur, and was encouraging Chris to volunteer for the town they live in. "So I was like, yeah, I don't mind helping out the town,"...
The Trump Administration on Friday reportedly fired the entire staff of an office in the Treasury Department that runs a broadly popular program that helps local loan funds in places that are typically underserved by banks, including Native American reservations. The Community Development Financial Institutions that get the funds loan them out to small businesses to help develop local economies, often for higher rates than a bank might charge if they were interested. Those CDFIs include the... Full story
Coulee Dam will not be providing a school resource officer for Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High School this year as was earlier expected. Mayor Bob Poch said at the Oct. 8 town council meeting that the town didn’t have enough police officers to cover the duties at this point. The town just swore in a new officer last week. Police Chief Paul Bowden said there was not enough time to get everything done before sending an officer to that duty. Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Rod Broadnax said the delay actually helps the district with a b...
Volunteers staff a food giveaway last week where STCU volunteers (in purple shirts) helped 190 families through the Second Harvest Mobile Market in Grand Coulee and stocked the food bank's shelves with extra fresh produce to support even more families in our community. "We're proud to be part of a community that always shows up for one another," they said on Facebook of the effort. - STCU photo on Facebook...
Trump floats plan to deny back pay to furloughed federal workers after shutdown by Jennifer Shutt, Washington State Standard October 7, 2025 This report has been updated. WASHINGTON — The Trump administration may try to interpret a law enacted during his first term in office differently than it did following the last government shutdown, potentially denying back pay to hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers. The change in stance, outlined in a memo from the Office of Management and Budget that was first reported by Axios on T... Full story
by Scott Hunter Nespelem School District ceremonially broke ground on construction of their new CTE building Monday morning as the whole school looked on. Nespelem's high school closed in 1956 as the state consolidated schools, sending local students to high school in Coulee Dam. The district's board of directors has long expressed their current dissatisfaction with the arrangement, thinking some of their students were not thriving in the neighboring system. Board President Jolene Marchand said...
The city of Grand Coulee will be able to fix a lot of dilapidated sewer lines with funding from the state of Washington’s Public Works Board for $4 million, the board said in a press release Monday. The city’s sewer improvements project will replace or rehabilitate approximately 10,200 linear feet of deteriorating sewer mains and manholes, PWB said. Planning for the project has already been started while the city engineer has been working with city leaders on updating its wastewater treatment plant, a job that will cost more than $10 mil...
STCU reaches 50- branch milestone Columbia Center Branch opens in Richland branch opens today; celebration to follow In a year of significant milestones, STCU is poised to reach another. The Spokane-based credit union will open its 50th branch location on Oct. 8. Many financial institutions are closing branches, particularly in rural communities and underserved neighborhoods. So far this decade, banks nationwide have closed more than 7,000 branch locations. In that same period, STCU has more than doubled its branch network. Every day, tens of...
A Department of Transportation crew works at dampening the impact of exposed pavement expansion joints in the Columbia River Bridge in Coulee Dam Monday. The state commission that directs the DOT will hold public meetings online this month, including on its maintenance backlog. - Scott Hunter photo...
