News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Coulee Medical Center expects to make 15-20 “accommodations” for employees who have requested to not be vaccinated against the coronavirus for medical or religious reasons, the top executive said Monday, but will likely deny two such requests. Chief Executive Officer Ramona Hicks reported to the hospital district board of directors at their meeting via Zoom on Monday night. Rural hospitals across the country have been familiar with staffing shortages for years, but with the latest delta variant-fueled wave of COVID-19, even larger hos... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 9/13 - A Pearl Avenue man reported his son’s blue Redline bicycle was stolen from his yard. Police told him to report suspicious individuals he might see. There has been a string of thefts on his street. 9/14 - Police went to Coulee Playland to tell a couple of campers they had to leave because they were past their checkout time. The couple was in the process of leaving. Police spoke to them. The couple paid for additional nights to camp. The man was cited for assault for a previous incident in August at Osborn Bay. 9/16 -...
Following a year of work, the friendly merger of Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union and STCU will culminate this weekend. All five CDFCU branches will be closed Friday, then reopen Monday as STCU, though it will take a while longer to change exterior signage, a credit union press release said Tuesday. Nearly all CDFCU employees have chosen to make the move to STCU, meaning credit union members will continue to see the same familiar faces at their favorite branch. The employees are maintaining...
The city of Coulee Dam ran out of patience with its wastewater treatment plant builder last week, instructing the city attorney to send McClure and Sons, Inc., a letter with an October 1 deadline. The Mill Creek, Washington-based company was awarded a $5.6 million contract to build the plant in 2017, finishing most of the work — but not all. The city’s engineers have expressed frustration but counseled patience, even though they said delays could not be attributed to shutdowns during the Covid pandemic, delays which mostly took place bef...
Elmer City has been awarded a grant to study a critical piece of its wastewater infrastructure, which, if it needs replacing, could tip the decision on building its own treatment plant and splitting from Coulee Dam’s service. Elmer City received a $30,000 Community Development Block Grant from the state Department of Commerce for an assessment and feasibility study of their “force main,” a pipe that carries sewage from Elmer City to the wastewater treatment plant in Coulee Dam, to see if it needs to be replaced. Town Public Works Direc...
Tanner Whitelaw takes off on the second horse in this Indian Relay Race at the Okanogan County Fair Sept. 11. He'd just ridden in to switch horses as brother Hunter took his mount while Tanner switched to the horse his dad, Jonah Whitelaw, had ready for him. Team Whitelaw won the day at the race. - Joshua Corsa photo...
A young Grand Coulee woman died Saturday after a one-car rollover crash about five miles south of Grand Coulee around 1 p.m. Tavian Beasley, 27, had been driving a 1997 Chevrolet Blazer south on SR-155 when the SUV drove onto the shoulder. She overcorrected, drove into the northbound lane, and overcorrected again, according to the Washington State Patrol. The car rolled at milepost 20 and Beasley was ejected. She had not been wearing a seatbelt, the WSP report indicated. Beasley was taken to Coulee Medical Center where she was later pronounced... Full story
Anyone needing answers about Covid vaccines can take advantage of an online meeting being arranged with a local doctor whose been taking note of people’s questions and is still listening. Dr. Jennifer Knox, a family practice and obstetrics physician at Coulee Medical Center, will appear in a live Zoom meeting next Tuesday evening to answer questions. The “AskVax Facts” meeting will be offered Sept. 28, at 6:30 p.m. In the meantime, anyone with a question may ask it through a simple online question site at cmccares.org/questions. The link to th... Full story
Games could be forfeited at high school sports events if fans don’t comply with mask requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic. Raider fans need to wear masks and wear them correctly at Raider indoor events, the school district superintendent says. A Sept. 15 notice from Superintendent Paul Turner addressed to “Raider Boosters” seeks to get everyone “on the same page” and asks them to adhere to the masks mandate. “During these unprecedented times, there are many inconveniences that we need to adhere to in order to keep school staff and student...
Coulee Dam Police 9/15 - A Central Drive man told police that security footage showed a man taking a bike from his front lawn. The man in the footage was thought to live in the 12th Street apartments, and police confirmed that the footage matched that man’s driver license. Police found that to be probable cause to arrest him for criminal trespass and theft. Police were unable to locate the bike at the apartments at that time. The next day, the same suspect was seen in a private yard looking at a truck and garage doors, leading someone to t...
Since last week, 15 additional cases total have been reported from Grand Coulee, Electric City, Coulee Dam, Elmer City, and Nespelem. The Grand Coulee and Electric City area of Grant County have seen a total of 128 cases, up by eight since last week. In Okanogan County, Coulee Dam has had a total of 96 cases, up two since last week. Elmer City has had a total of 33 cases, up by three, and Nespelem is up two cases for a total of 109. As of Sept. 21, Okanogan County has reported 503 cases in the past 14 days for an incidence rate of 1,166 cases... Full story
Local voters will decide whether to support at least one school levy in the spring of 2022 that would take effect in 2023. The Grand Coulee Dam School District currently has three levies, all expiring before 2023. Superintendent Paul Turner described them to the district board as an “original” levy which charges $1.50 per $100,000 of assessed property value for a person’s property taxes; a “supplemental” levy of $1 that supports it; and a “capital” levy of $1.70 that goes toward facility expenses. Turner said the school district board of dire...
Although transmission isn’t happening at Lake Roosevelt Schools, there are about 70 students quarantined because of either testing positive for COVID-19 or being exposed to it. Superintendent Paul Turner said Tuesday that roughly 15 students have tested positive for COVID-19, which has led to about 70 students being quarantined. He said the transmission isn’t happening at the school and that the schools’ screening process prior to entering the building has been successful. But that means students are still being exposed to Covid outside of th...
Sidewalk sections on Main Street and Federal Avenue in Grand Coulee are being replaced again after issues came up following the original 2015 installation. The 2015 project to install new sidewalks and gutters on Federal Avenue and Main Street cost $407,816.53. It was paid for with money from a state Transportation Improvement Board grant. Settlement issues causing the concrete to crack were noticed in November of 2016, and a few months later spalling on surfaces was also noted. Since then, comm...
The Colville Tribes announced Monday that they would be distributing $10,000-plus in COVID-19 relief funds to each tribal member over the next four months. “The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation will distribute disaster relief payments to offset the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic,” a Sept. 13 press release says. “All enrolled tribal members over the age of 18 as of September 9 will qualify for two payments, each in the amount of $5,005.00.” “In addition, guardians or payees of enrolled tribal member children...
Even as COVID-19 issues cause the local hospital to be short staffed at times, Dr. Jennifer Knox is preparing to answer questions from the community on COVID-19 vaccines later this month in coordination with the Rotary Club, Grant County Health District and Coulee Medical Center. Anyone with questions or curiosity about the vaccines and how they work, what they do or don’t do, is encouraged to join in. Dr. Knox will offer simple, factual answers. The Ask VaxFacts event will be held online, with a link for anyone to ask question beforehand at C... Full story
Lake Roosevelt students in sixth grade and up have the opportunity to go to the eastern United States and see cultural and historical sites in New York City and Washington D.C. The trip, taking place after school is out for the summer in June of 2022, isn’t technically a school function, but the school board on Monday voted to show their support for the trip, and to allow for advertising within the school for it. The trip would allow students to “explore the rich culture and heritage of our great nation,” a description provided to the schoo...
Five more COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Grant County while the Grand Coulee and Electric City area of Grant County have seen nine more cases. The deaths include three women from Moses Lake in their 30s, 50s, and 70s, as well as a man from Moses Lake in his 70s and a male in his 80s from the Quincy area. All had underlying health conditions and were unvaccinated, according to the Sept. 10 press release from Grant County Health District. The county has seen 155 total Covid deaths since the pandemic began 18 months ago, and 32 residents... Full story
After years of shepherding Coulee Dam’s wastewater treatment plant project along, the town council tonight (Wednesday) will consider authorizing the mayor to sign a letter to the contractor. Exactly what’s in the letter is not yet known, following a two-hour executive (closed) session of the council on Monday, which was an extension of its regular meeting last Wednesday. That meeting was “adjourned” again Monday to continue Wednesday “to take formal action regarding the Wastewater Treatment Plant Project,” a note in an emailed invitation...
A friendly merger that has been in the works for a year will culminate in one month when CDFCU and STCU are joined, giving CDFCU’s 14,400 members access to a broader suite of products and services. In preparation for the merger, Spokane-based STCU mailed information to CDFCU members in late August, outlining how their accounts will transition into STCU accounts, and other need-to-know information. More detailed information, specific to each member, will be provided prior to the merger, a press release from STCU said this week. Other recent m...
Grand Coulee 9/7 - A woman told police she would move her camper from Osborn Bay, where a person can only camp for four days, after a mechanical issue was solved in the camper. 9/8 - Police checked on a dog in a truck on McGovern Street that had been there overnight. The small dog did not appear in distress and a window was cracked. Police opened the door and left some water on the floorboard for the dog. A man said he would call police if the truck and dog were still there later that day. - Police responded to milepost 26 on SR-155 near...
We could all use a morale boost these days, and a little bit of kindness can go a long way. Rachelle Haven, executive director of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, has started a project called Coulee Kind that encourages people to perform “random acts of kindness.” “I started [Coulee Kind] because I had been hearing from business owners that they were struggling with morale within the community, whether it be employees, themselves, or customers,” Haven told The Star. “I know a lot of people are home right now due to the delta var...
Harvest Fest has been cancelled due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. The board of directors of the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce called a special meeting Sept. 1 to make the decision on the seasonal festival, originally planned for Sept. 18-19, Chamber Executive Director Rachelle Haven said. “The decision was not made lightly,” she said. “While we know that everyone wants to get back to business as usual and in person events again, we felt, with the surge of COVID cases in the community, it would not be responsible of us to host an ev...
When you drive across it on highway 2, you may not think of Moses Coulee as anyone's home, but once it was a place where people lived in villages, grew gardens and gathered what they needed to live. Previously undocumented rock feature sites in the Moses Coulee region, significant to local tribes, can now be recorded with help from National Park Service dollars. The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are one of 12 recipients of Tribal Heritage Grant money. Congress appropriated...
Northrup Point Boat Launch bustles Monday night as boaters pull out of Banks Lake at Steamboat Rock State Park at the end of the Labor Day holiday. Plenty of boats hit the water for what for many is a last summer outing, but hikers were curtailed if they planned on hiking in the super dry conditions. The park had placed signs at trailheads saying they were off limits due to extreme fire danger. That danger continues at least through today (Wednesday), the National Weather Service warned Monday....