News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The Nespelem Junior Rodeo drew kid contestants for the two day event last weekend eager to compete in events ranging from a "chicken scramble" to a bull ride and more types of events than you knew existed. Here are a few photos....
The Grand Coulee Dam School District's reduced education program is colliding headon with the people who run classrooms every day. Over the last two board meetings, staff and community members have spoken up to plead for preschool, career and technical education (CTE), athletics, and key administrative positions they say are holding the system together - even as district leaders stress that the math simply no longer works. "We're shrinking, we're going away" At the March 24 meeting, CTE...
No additional measles infections have been identified in connection with two Grant County cases reported in March, Grant County Health District reported. Six weeks have passed since those cases were confirmed, which is enough time for symptoms to have appeared in anyone who may have been exposed. “We are incredibly grateful that the children who were infected with measles last month are recovering well, and that no additional people became ill,” said Alexander Brzezny, Grant County Health Officer. “While our active response in Grant Count...
At Lake Roosevelt Elementary, students start many mornings not by quietly filing into classrooms, but by moving, reading and thinking all at once in a program staff say is helping focus and literacy: LitFit. Principal Lisa Lakin said the key to LitFit's success is that the school has committed real time to it, treating it as an essential part of the day rather than an add‑on. "We put dedicated time into our schedule for it, and it's like, non‑negotiable - we do it every day that we can," Lak...
Young students/actors fill the stage at the Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High School gym for a bow after their first performance Saturday of the Missoula Children's Theatre production of The Tortoise and the Hare. MCT comes to town on Monday, selects the cast after auditions that night, holds rehearsals all week, then puts on two shows on Saturday. - Scott Hunter photo...
Big fish like this one were caught repeatedly at the Funday Friday event last week before Reel Recreation's Triple Fish Challenge fishing tournament at Coulee Playland Resort. The group set up a net between docks that served to hold a horde of fish hauled in by Pacific Seafood, all for kids to catch for free. - Scott Hunter photo...
A lease was approved by the city council in Coulee Dam last week so that a couple who moved to town again last August can re-imagine what was the Village Cinema into something new. Ben and Naomi Dupris were set to sign the lease Wednesday. The couple envision an art-centered community space for all ages, one that will honor Ben's memory of, and hope for, the community he grew up in, meet the needs of its people today, and embody a business model emerging for such spaces. Ben is a 1992 graduate...
The Funday Friday that starts the Triple Fish Challenge is set for noon to 6 p.m. at Coulee Playland Resort and will feature more than a dozen different stations of free kids’ activities. “Outdoor fun for all ages,” as the poster promotes for Reel Recreation’s annual fishing derby on Banks Lake. This year, an animal processing demonstration will take place at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The Triple Fish Challenge is a “family-friendly fishing tournament like no other!” Reel Rec’s website says. “Anglers will compete to catch three different speci...
Washington's Department of Ecology announced a statewide drought emergency April 8, marking the fourth consecutive year that part or all of the state has been in a drought. "We declare drought when water supply drops below 75% of normal," said Casey Sixkiller, director of Ecology. "This year, every watershed in our state has met that threshold." Snowpack in the mountains is at about half of normal. The emergency declaration follows an above average wet winter where precipitation levels were...
Easter Egg hunts in the area....
The following notice came from the GCDSD office today: Notice of Date Change for the GCDSD School Board Meeting Please be informed that the Board of Directors of the Grand Coulee Dam School District has changed the date of their School Board Meeting from Monday April 13th to Wednesday April 15th. (The meeting will be held at the regular time and location; 5:30 p.m. at the Jr./Sr. High Library)...
It took the federal government months to properly serve attorneys for Washington in the Trump administration's litigation to force the state to turn over its voter rolls. But now the lawsuit filed in December can finally move forward. Secretary of State Steve Hobbs told the Trump administration last year that he would be willing to provide public information from voter records. But he wouldn't hand over dates of birth, driver's license numbers or the last four digits of social security numbers....
Protests against war have been added to the signs people carry on Midway Avenue to express disagreement with the Trump administration, which the WayFinders group did on Saturday. - Scott Hunter photo...
Around 70 people gathered to rally against the Trump Administration Saturday afternoon in Grand Coulee as part of the larger No Kings Movement, a protest mirrored across all 50 states and parts of Europe. Grand Coulee has been persistent, as demonstrators gather most Saturdays along highway 155, the main road through all local towns, centering across from the local Safeway in approximate groups of 20-30. Saturday's event was the third countrywide protest in the last 10 months. This time it...
Coulee Dam is preparing for what organizers say will be its biggest Festival of America yet, stretching to two and a half days and expected to draw between 20,000 and 25,000 visitors. Speaking to the Coulee Dam Town Council Wednesday, Chamber representative Krystal Fillis said last year’s oneday festival drew about 15,000 people. But with the Fourth of July falling on Saturday this year, the decision was made to expand after securing bigger-name entertainment and additional support. The festival will run Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, with T...
A group of volunteers organized by Reel Recreation responded Saturday to their call to help clean up the area around Osborn Bay, where garbage has been piling up over time. The effort resulted in several trailers full of junk picked up from the area. "Thank you to everyone who showed up and helped us clean up Osborn Bay - this is what community looks like," Reel Rec posted in a video on Facebook. President Nic Alexander noted the help and equipment use of Clay Hearne, Boutain Equipment Rentals,...
A local couple says they are nearly ready to sign a lease and begin work to reopen the former theater space in Coulee Dam as a combined movie house and creative media center. Appearing before the Coulee Dam Town Council, Ben and Naomi Dupris reported that they have “got our loans kind of taken care of” and have some key people on board to help in the venture. The Dupris have been interested in the theater for a long time, and had spoken at council a few months ago about their interest, saying they some things to work out before moving ahe...
Heartfelt gratitude to the people of our communities for their gracious donations on Saturday, March 28th to the WayFinders food drive for the local food bank. - The WayFinders...
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...
The job of taking care of North Dam Park was awarded to Vital Essentials last week. The Coulee Area Park and Recreation District received three bids on the job. Vital Essentials got the bid for $30,000 for 2026. The work will essentially last from mid-March to mid-November and includes mowing lawns, including on two softball fields, trimming grass and weeds, spraying for weeds, emptying trash cans, general cleanup, and prepping the area for festivals, and tree maintenance. The company is owned by John Carson, a local man who grew up in the...
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...
Char Hania, center background, talks with people arriving Saturday at the Gerkhe Windmills at North Dam Park in a Hania-led effort to start a restoration of the items with a kind of adoption program she initiated with the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District. People wanting to help can call Hania at 425-879-5835. - Scott Hunter photo...
Elmer City leaders Thursday heard their consulting engineer give a rough estimate of $8 million to build an evaporative lagoon system to treat their sewage instead of sending it to Coulee Dam's new facility. Nancy Wetch, of Gray and Osborn, estimated the overall cost at around $8 million, and the cost of all the planning involved could be as high as all the funding available to Elmer City through the state Public Works Board - $800,000, half of it in grant, half loan. A separate facility plan...
Boys’ basketball coach Ed Wolfe, left, gets a pie in his face, while Maddy Carman wipes some from hers, and Caden Portch, right, laughs at both of them. The losing team was supposed to suffer the cream in the Seniors vs Staff basketball game at Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High Thursday night, but you knew it wouldn’t end there. Wolfe got his from Ezekial Broadnax despite being on the winning team. More photos and details are on page 6. — Scott Hunter photo...
Electric City officials are waiting for a formal proposal from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation after an initial discussion about a possible interlocal agreement for permitting and inspections at the tribal golf course area. Mayor Blake Martin reported to the council March 10 that he and another city representative met with tribal officials at the golf course in early March. In that meeting, the Tribes expressed interest in an arrangement that would allow them to issue their own permits and conduct their own inspections for...