News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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A new, free, home COVID testing program in several counties is intended to help slow the spread of COVID-19 and test the idea that it can. The Say Yes! COVID Test At-Home Testing Challenge provides households with access to free, rapid COVID-19 test kits that they can self-administer and are now available in Okanogan County. The program encourages residents to use the tests to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and keep the community healthy. Okanogan County residents can order testing kits online fo... Full story
Coulee Dam plans to offer a $1,500 bonus to employees who have been vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, a reversal of its direction two weeks ago when its council was leaning toward a mandate. The city council, meeting online Monday night, took up a proposal by Councilmember Keith St. Jeor to use some of the federal funds the town will get for Covid relief as an enticement for some reluctant employees. “We should probably reward those that are wanting to follow the rules and mandates,” St. Jeor said, contending that the move would qua...
Grand Coulee Police 11/23 - A report of a woman yelling in the Hill Avenue area may have been a howling coyote, police surmised, after responding to the area and not hearing anything else. 11/24 - A damaged street/stop sign at Coulee Boulevard and Miller Avenue may have been caused by a pedestrian, police thought after looking at it and determining it hadn’t been struck by a vehicle. 11/25 - Responding to the situation of a deer stuck in the canal, police attempted to chase it up the canal walls near the SR-174 bridge. The animal instead ran so...
After serving 14 years on the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors, Carla Marconi will be leaving the board after not filing for reelection this year. At their Nov. 22 meeting, Superintendent Paul Turner, Alternative Learning Environment Principal Mark Herndon, and Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High School Principal Sara Kennedy all thanked Marconi for her service to the district. Colville Business Council Chairman Andy Joseph, Jr., as well as CBC Member Jarred-Michael Erickson,...
City council members and officials expressed views at their last meeting on a proposal to require Coulee Dam’s employees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. After the council’s third discussion on the subject in a month Nov. 10, not much clarity seemed to emerge. The city’s legal research on the subject shows it can require employees to follow such a rule, but the city must offer “feasible and reasonable” accommodations for qualified medical or religious reasons, Clerk Stefani Bowden said. “To me, the hardest par...
Hackers disrupted the Grand Coulee Dam School District’s board meeting Monday night as “trolls” who logged onto the Zoom meeting. Superintendent Paul Turner, along with the district’s board of directors, held the meeting in the school library while others attended via ZOOM. While Board Director Carla Marconi, who is leaving her position, was saying thank you to those who had just honored her at the meeting, a person logged on with the name “Taylor Duffy” and began playing a clip on a loop from the rap song “Wishing Well” by artist Juice WR...
There have been 22 new cases of COVID-19 reported for local towns by local counties since last week’s update from The Star, with 16 of those new cases in Nespelem. According to Grant County Health District data last updated Nov. 22, the Grand Coulee and Electric City area of the county has seen 161 total cases since the pandemic began, up by six in the past two weeks, with new cases reported on Nov. 17, 22, and 23. Ranging in age from their 50s to 80s, 11 people are currently hospitalized in Grant County with Covid, down by five since two w... Full story
It costs a pretty penny to throw garbage away, and not everyone wants to spend it. The Regional Board of Mayors is proposing a 33% increase in rates at the Delano Regional Transfer Station, which is on track to lose up to $150,000 a year, but the city of Grand Coulee doesn’t want to raise rates that much. All the local city councils must approve a raise before it can take effect. The county landfill in Ephrata, to where the garbage from Delano currently ships, hadn’t raised its rates in 13 years, but did this year. That 71.28% jump from $28...
If you love the season but not the prep, winning an already-decorated Christmas tree might be just what you need. If so, the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center is aiming its next fundraiser squarely at you, and hoping you'll stop by for lunch too. The center has a variety of "tastefully decorated" trees on hand for viewing before it raffles them off Dec. Trees have been on display since Monday and will remain until Dec. 4, with a "Making Memories Bright" event set for Saturday, Nov. 27 from 10 a.m....
Going once! Going twice! Sold! To the lady in the ugly sweater! A virtual auction, a collaborative dinner provided by local restaurants, an ugly sweater contest, wine and beer? What’s not to like? The Vintners and Brewers Auction, hosted by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, will take place on Saturday, Dec. 4, with dinner pickups from 12-2 p.m. at PK’s Culinary on Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee. The virtual auction will be held online from 6 to 8 p.m. The dinner includes loaded potato soup from the Hi-Dam Bar & Grill, smashed map...
Grand Coulee Police 11/16 - A driver was pulled over on Second Street because his taillights weren’t working, and he didn’t have a license plate. He turned out to be wanted on a felony warrant out of Okanogan County for robbery. He was taken to Okanogan County Jail. - Police placed a 24-hour tow notice on a motorhome at a Yakima Street residence where someone has lived for about two years, with the limit being 14 days. - Police looked around the Spring Canyon Apartments where someone reported hearing window screens being moved around. Pol...
From left, local veterans Arnie Holt, Pat Zlateff, Ed Cawston, Bugs Shear, Ray Spackman, Alan Murray, Doug Marconi, Dave Tonasket and Jim Smith march out with the colors at the end of the traditional Veteran's Day Assembly at Lake Roosevelt High School Gym, which wasn't held a year ago due to the still pre-vaccine pandemic. This year, the crowd and veterans wore masks for the event, which included a slide show of many local veterans, music from a member of the high school band, a member of the...
What if Lake Roosevelt baseball and softball were played at the same place? What if there were two gyms? What if there was a track around the football field? After abandoning the costly, $50 million idea of locating all sports courts, gyms and fields at the main LR campus in Coulee Dam, the district’s board of directors spoke with architects about the idea of locating baseball and softball fields at the former middle school in Grand Coulee and building a track around the football field in Coulee Dam. The current tennis court would remain. T...
Local scouts collected about 1,200 pounds of food for the local food bank this past week. "The food bank is now very well stocked," said Carol Nordine, manager of the Care and Share Food Bank. Nordine said the collection was lower than normal. The drives usually bring in around 2,500 to 3,000 pound of food, Nordine said, but she also noted that there were two drives this year. She also expressed gratitude for cash donations of about $120 that she said are being used to purchase meat from...
People living near the cryptocurrency mining building on Coulee Boulevard in Electric City might have a point when they complain about the noise. Decibel meter readings performed by the city seem to justify the claim made in multiple complaints that the noise from exhaust fans on top of the building is too loud. The building manager’s own readings are lower, however, although he says he’ll do what’s necessary to keep the city happy. People have reported having difficulty sleeping because of the noise, Mayor Diane Kohout told The Star previously...
For Betty Davis, a day on the golf course isn't about keeping score, it's about getting to a place free of cares. "When I'm out here, I think of nothing behind me," she said recently beside a tee at Banks Lake Golf Club. "I mean, my house could be burning when I left and I probably wouldn't even think about it." At 96, Davis still golfs three times a week through most of the year with a group of friends, and there are stories. There's the one about she and Sally McDowell herding cows off the...
There have been 21 new cases of COVID-19 reported for local towns by local counties since The Star’s last update two weeks ago on Nov. 3, with 12 of those new cases being located in Nespelem. According to Grant County Health District data last updated Nov. 16, the Grand Coulee and Electric City area of the county has seen 155 total cases since the pandemic began, up by five in the past two weeks, with new cases reported on Nov. 8, 9, 10, 12, and 16. Ranging in age from their 30s to 90s, 16 people are hospitalized in Grant County with Covid, d... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 11/9 - A Lincoln Avenue man reported finding his cat in his neighbor’s trap. The neighbor was confrontational when the reporting party confronted him about it. The neighbor told police that neighborhood cats spray where he parks his boat and RV. Police told the neighbor that what he was doing wasn’t illegal, but he should use caution as his neighbors do have pets. - A man was reported as staring inside the Lakeside Fitness gym windows, in one instance displaying a knife. The man was banned from the gym. 11/10 - Police loo...
District Music Director Gabriel James leads middle school students in a class and practice last week as they prepare, along with high school students, for an assembly to honor veterans this Friday, Nov. 12, at 8:45 a.m. in the high school gym. The assembly is open to all. - Scott Hunter photo...
The National Weather Service in Spokane has increased the urgency of its language regarding this current wind event, warning "winds will blow down trees and power lines" (emphasis ours) and that "widespread power outages are expected." A "wind advisory" from the National Weather Service, originally set to expire at 8 p.m. Monday, was extended then until midnight. Gusts up to 70 mph are expected among 30-40 mph winds. Keller Ferry is out of service again because of the winds. In 2013, with wind... Full story
High winds have prompted the closing of Keller Ferry on Sunday until further notice. The Washington state department of transportation issued a notice just after 11 am Sunday that the ferry was closed: "The Keller Ferry that crosses the Columbia River is temporarily out-of-service due to high wind on SR 21 at milepost 106.5 just North of Wilbur, beginning at 11:06 am on November 14, 2021 until further notice." The National Weather Service out of Spokane issued a wind advisory through 7 pm... Full story
With an estimated 300 ballots left to count before another vote count update Monday, incumbents in local elections still appear to be keeping their seats, according to Grant County’s website, which also states that 38.41% of the county’s voters turned out. In the race for Grand Coulee Council Position #1, Ben Hughes leads 92 votes to 58 over Tracey Wright, with there additionally being 40 votes for write-in candidates. For Grand Coulee Council Position #2, incumbent Tom Poplawski leads 133 votes to 52 over challenger Cameron Whitney, with the...
Local veteran Fred Long served in Okinawa, Japan, among other places, during World War II, and has stories from his time there that you can read. And he shared more with us last week. Long, who last Saturday turned 99 years of age, wrote a series of short stories in 1999 that are still on the internet. He had been approached by J.A. Hitchcock, a woman whose father had also been in Okinawa. She wanted to honor him and asked Long to contribute a story from there. One story turned into more, and...
Two levies with a combined tax rate of $4.20 per thousand dollars of assessed property value will be on the ballot in February to replace expiring levies of the same combined rate. On Monday, the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors approved two resolutions containing the language of the levies for the upcoming ballot. Together, the levies are expected to raise between $1.4 million and $1.7 million annually from 2023 through 2026. The Educational Programs and Operations Levy seeks an estimated $2.50 per thousand dollars of assess...
Coulee Dam’s city council will consider a proposed vaccine mandate for employees tonight as part of its regular meeting at 6 p.m. in a meeting open via phone or an online service only. The issue was raised a council meeting a month ago and discussed again two weeks later. Tonight (Wednesday) the council has a drafted resolution to pass, reject or alter. The city of just over 1,000 must grapple with some of the same possibilities other agencies have: that requiring vaccination against the coronavirus, which has been made into a political hot top...