News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Electric City is able to keep $278,979 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds it wasn’t sure how to spend. The city had planned a special city council meeting to decide last week, just before and application deadline, until a final ruling from the U.S. Treasury Department was distributed, clarifying how the money could be used by local governments. The $1.9 trillion plan passed by Congress was signed into law by President Joe Biden in March and includes $350 billion in funds for state, local, tribal and territorial governments in C...
It's Mother's Day weekend in May, which means it's also Colorama time. If you're new to the area, it's pronounced with the word "color" in it. Some people unfamiliar with our unusual spring festival name see it in a medical context, rendering a completely different connotation. So why is the festival called Colorama; what's so colorful? When local folks first decided to have a big spring hoot, they called it Western Days, a spirit that still lives on in Colorama with the popularity of the...
Below the surface of Puget Sound, disappearing kelp forests and eelgrass beds are threatening the stability of dependent species. The shrinking population is now drawing the attention of lawmakers, with a variety of approaches encouraging restoration of the building block of this aquatic ecosystem. A bill signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this year will provide the Department of Natural Resources with funding to create a plan to conserve 10,000 acres of kelp and eelgrass habitats by 2040. The department will work with partners and...
by Jacob Wagner The Grand Coulee Dam School District will offer $16,000 to a man who filed a lawsuit against them regarding a public records request, and who has reportedly made around a million dollars over the years with similar lawsuits against small school districts, towns, hospital districts and other such agencies. The GCDSD board of directors on Monday approved offering the settlement to Eric Hood, who filed suit in February of 2022 saying that the school district had not provided all documents related to a public records request he had...
A new picnic table accessible to people in wheelchairs will be available at the Colorama Rodeo May 6, donated by a local boy scout as his project for attaining the eagle rank. David Bordon, of BSA Troop 24, presented the big table made of Douglas fir last Saturday to Ridge Riders Saddle Club President George Kohout at their rodeo grounds in Delano. Borden said that he, one other scout, and his family helped with the effort, totaling over 200 hours and months of coordination on the project that...
Kiser Payne rounds the barrels at the Nespelem Junior Rodeo Sunday in 16.63 seconds. The rodeo includes events like goat undecorating and hay bail roping for the youngest contestants but works up to steer riding and barrels for the more seasoned athletes. Dorothy Palmer said they'd been worried their schedule might conflict with Tonasket's junior rodeo, which just changed to the same weekend this year, but the opposite effect was noticed. Attendance was up, with many of the same traveling rodeo...
Lake Roosevelt student Kaitlyn Nordine will be traveling to Chicago in June to compete in the national Future Business Leaders of America competition. Four LR students competed in the state competition in Spokane April 20-23, including Nordine, Sam Amarilla, Kailah Leadingham, and Noah Hunt. Nordine placed fourth in three categories: help desk, journalism and health care administration, qualifying her to compete in the national competition in Chicago, which takes place from June 29 through July...
You can sing your heart out and win $100 towards a local business at a karaoke contest at this year’s Colorama. The contest will be held at the beer tent at North Dam Park on Friday, May 6, at 7 p.m., and so will be limited to participants age 21 and over. Morgan Tillman, of Apothecary Salon, will be the master of ceremonies for the event, and said that if the contest goes well there could be more in the future, including for those under 21. “I was just trying to find an activity that is inexpensive and that I knew that our community would lik...
It may look different than past years, but there will be a Colorama festival this year, including a parade, a petting zoo, a rock climbing wall, a lot of giant inflatable things including a bounce house, a karaoke contest, helicopter rides, vendors, and more. Some of those features have come together in just the last month, one in the last week. Missing from the list is the carnival that people have come to know over the years, and there are other challenges, as well. "Coming into 2022, we are...
The Lake Roosevelt Booster Club held a successful and tasty fundraiser Saturday, serving 75 people trays of nine samples of competing homemade chilis from which they picked their favorite with a number on the bottom of the cup. Bobby Carlson and Micki BearCub Hudson took first and second place in the cookoff. Club Treasurer Tera Whitelaw said the event surpassed their expectations. Between the $15 tickets, a silent auction and more, the boosters cleared $5,000 in profit that will go to fund...
Toddlers in the youngest set of egg hunter at the Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt Saturday learn what they're looking for in the annual tradition the club put on again at the athletic field of the former middle school in Grand Coulee. The winners of the prizes in a few of the eggs are on page 2. - Scott Hunter photo...
The idea of consolidating Coulee area towns was discussed briefly at a recent meeting of area mayors, with the general opinion expressed being that it is complicated. During the April 6 Regional Board of Mayors meeting, the group discussed at some length how to pull off a spring-cleaning event, a frequent topic with the group. When asked by The Star if they felt consolidation would help simplify what seems to be a convoluted process by having one conversation instead of four between four different towns, a few spoke on the topic. Elmer City...
Four out of seven positions are up for election on the Colville Business Council that will go through the primary process to narrow down each race to just two candidates before the general election in June. The CBC is the governing body of the Colville Tribes with 14 positions total for the council, and seven up for re-election each year. There are four positions each in the Inchelium, Nespelem, and Omak districts, and two positions in the Keller district. This year, races going through the primary process include: Inchelium Position #2...
Queen Lelah Mason welcomes you to The Nespelem Junior Rodeo being held at the Nespelem Rodeo Grounds on Saturday and Sunday April 23 and 24, beginning at 10 a.m. both days. There will be 8 all-around saddles, 9 reserve all-around awards, handmade 1st place buckles, and all-around LP buckles. There will be payout to 4th place. This is a CTJRA points rodeo. No entries accepted after April 18. Admission will be $5, with ages 5 and under admitted free. Concessions will be available. For information and entries call Kayce 509.978.9292, Sindy...
A local driver ended up in the water last week when her vehicle veered into Banks Lake about 5:44 p.m. Thursday. Stacey Joe White, 46, of Coulee Dam got out of the car and swam to shore before the Toyota Highlander sank, according to Trooper John Bryant of the Washington State Patrol. The incident happened on SR-155 about five miles north of the junction with US 2 just north of Coulee City. White was reportedly alone in the car. She was taken to Coulee Medical Center with minor injuries. The...
The city of Grand Coulee has launched a new website that has some handy info for residents. The website, which went live in January, is a little hard to find on Google, but is at www.gccitywa.org. There, visitors to the site can find meeting agendas, look things up in the city’s code, find the email addresses for the mayor and council members, and find handy forms such as building permits, demolition permits, and dog license applications. Kristine Thiesfeld, who is the clerk for the Grand Coulee Police Department, put the website together u...
North Cascades Bank donated $2,500 Friday to help the Ridge Riders put on the Colorama Rodeo. The bank, said Branch Operations Manager Jerri Smith, sees the rodeo as "an important event for our local community. Not only does it give us something to look forward to each year, it's also an entertaining, family friendly event that benefits our community financially." Smith noted the bank has helped sponsor the rodeo for many years. This year, she said, "we are very excited to sponsor the...
by Scott Hunter School leaders seemed open to a proposal Monday to add two positions to the athletics department at Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High School proposed by Athletic Director Tim Rasmussen, one needed to take programs to the next step, another needed to catch up to evolving trends. Girls’ wrestling has gained popularity to the extent that the statewide organization that oversees school athletics tournaments put them in their own state tournament this year, Rasmussen told the Grand Coulee Dam School District directors at Monday’s board meeti...
The annual Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Triple Fish Challenge drew 50 anglers in 23 boats who caught a lot of fish over two days in highly variable spring weather. Saturday was windy and rough on Banks Lake, but after a day of sunshine Sunday, smiles were everywhere as they lined up for the final weigh-in at Coulee Playland. On day one, Jim Stanley caught the 3.38-pound smallmouth bass in the adult category. Derek Hilderbrand netted 7.97-pound walleye. No one caught a trout. Among...
by Scott Hunter Two people were arrested at the Lakeview Terrace trailer park April 5 and charged with burglary after a property manager reported he’d caught them straipping wiring from an unoccupied unit. The Star reported the development as it was in progress last Tuesday but had few details. Undersheriff Kelly Watkins said Thursday that one occupant of a mobile home had finally come out after initially declaring he would not. After deputies learned of the possibility of a rifle inside, Grant County sent a SWAT team at one point. Watkins s...
GCHD is reporting an influenza outbreak in an assisted living facility, increase of influenza in school-aged children and children under the age of five. The Grant County Health District has issued an advisory to the Grant County healthcare community and media: increased influenza activity in Grant County. Be aware of increasing influenza and influenza-like illness, (ILI) in Grant County and Washington state. GCHD is monitoring an influenza outbreak among residents in an assisted living facility. GCHD has provided outbreak mitigation...
Lake Roosevelt Schools’ proposed 2022-23 calendar went through its final reading by the Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors on April 11 and was approved. The Nespelem School Board approved that district’s calendar for the next school year March 31. The GCDSD calendar shows the first day of the next school year starting for students on Aug. 31, 2022 and the last day as June 16, 2023. When school gets out on Dec. 16, school will be out until Jan. 2, 2023 when school resumes. When school gets out on March 31, 2023. Spring break in...
What do you do in someone just says no? That they are not going to follow the law? That’s a policy issue the Electric City Council discussed Tuesday night after approving new forms the city’s code enforcer will use to inform people when they need to correct a “nuisance” code violation. But the subject of a rooster came up. Someone owns one who lives near Councilmember Brian Buche. The city allows chickens — up to six — but not roosters, which can be persistently noisy. Buche said a neighbor not far from the offending bird in his neighborhoo...
A fire burned 200 acres in trees and grass north of Nespelem on Monday. The Nespelem Creek Fire started at about noon on April 4 according to Public Information Officer Kathy Moses of the Mount Tolman Fire Center. She said gusts of wind knocked down a tree, which knocked down power lines, causing a power outage, sparking up dry grass and starting a wildfire in a field that threatened one home in the area. Wind gusts were at 27 miles per hour, pushing the wildfire through a field of tall grass....
A coalition of tribes has secured over $3 million in funding in the Washington State supplemental budget for salmon reintroduction in the upper Columbia River. The money will go to three member tribes (Colville, Spokane, and Coeur d’Alene) to invest in efforts they are leading to restore salmon, revitalize tribal culture, and strengthen the region’s economy by implementing salmon reintroduction activities in the Spokane and Columbia rivers and their tributaries, the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT) said in a statement Tuesday. The maj...