News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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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....
COVID-19 cases in the Coulee are still rampant as there have been more cases in the past month than all previous months since the pandemic began. In the Grand Coulee and Electric City area of Grant County, total cases have surpassed 100, at 111 as of Sept. 7, up 13 since last week, according to Grant County Health District. Additional cases were reported on Sept. 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7. There have been 150 total covid deaths in the county. The 14-day incidence rate in the county is at 1,221 cases per 100,000 population. A rate lower than 200 used... Full story
"Music is part of human nature," according to new Lake Roosevelt Music Teacher Gabriel James, who moved to Coulee Dam recently for the gig. James, who grew up in Spokane, received his undergraduate degree in jazz performance from Whitworth University, then a master's degree in teaching in June of this year. Saxophone is his main instrument, and he also plays flute and clarinet. While in high school, James played in the Spokane Area Wind Ensemble, and Spokane Area Jazz Ensemble, both of which...
Grand Coulee Police 8/31 - A hospital employee told police that someone had cut the fence to gain entry to “the bull pen,” a fenced in parking area, and taken the catalytic converters off two vehicles. Police photographed the scene, including where the converters were cut off. They are estimated to be worth $700 to $1,500 apiece, but Jess Ford estimated the cost to fix the vehicles at about $5,000. Police also left a message at Coulee Recycling asking if any converters had been brought in. The next day, Jess Ford reported converters cut off...
Firefighters converged with speed and coordination on a hillside blaze just above Banks Avenue in Grand Coulee Sunday night, saving several residences just below the city water tanks. Dispatched to the wildfire at 100 Banks Avenue at 8:40 p.m., Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Dept. called for mutual aid from departments at Electric City, Coulee Dam Elmer City and Lincoln County. Before long, 38 firefighters, two EMTs, two Grand Coulee Police officers and 14 fire engines had responded. Three...
The Banks Lake Golf Course's Club Championship and Senior Club Championship is happening this Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4-5, not beginning Friday. An advertisement in The Star indicated the wrong day of the week for a start, but the correct date. Tee time is at 9 a.m. Saturday. Entrants must have designated the course as their home club and have dues paid in full. Entry fee is $50. The 36-hole tournament follows last month's Rattler Open, which was a "great tournament" with "super turnout,"...
A 1,000%-plus surge in demand for covid testing, brought on by burgeoning cases nearby and across the country, is forcing the local hospital to adapt its operations. Before the more-contagious Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus led to outbreaks of COVID-19 at various regional outdoor events, Coulee Medical Center had been testing one or two patients a day for the virus. Now they’re testing 30-40, Ramona Hicks, CMCs chief executive officer, said Friday, and a local surge of covid is testing CMC’s capacity to handle them. The hospital original... Full story
Cases of COVID-19 have doubled in less than a month in the cities of Electric City and Grand Coulee. Since Aug. 4, local cases in Grant County have doubled to 98 total cases, up by 13 in the last week. Grant County Health District Tuesday reported 286 additional cases countywide since Friday, with 17 patients currently hospitalized for covid, ranging in age from their 20s to their 70s. The 14-day incidence rate in the county is at 1,143 cases per 100,000 population. Earlier this month, that... Full story
The idea of lowering the speed limit from 45 to 30 miles per hour on SR-155 between Electric City and Grand Coulee is a vastly unpopular idea, a Star survey reveals, with 88% of people being against it. However, it may be necessary to lower the limit if a pathway project is to be built at all. Last week, The Star reported on the possibility of the speed limit being lowered by the Washington State Department of Transportation after a pedestrian pathway is built connecting Coulee Playland to Banks Lake Park between the highway and Banks Lake, on...
Reversing an earlier decision, the Colville Tribes will now allow previously canceled stick games and a powwow to go one, but only vaccinated people can attend. The Star received an email announcing the decision late Wednesday morning, after the printing this week's issue. The decision was made by 2 p.m. Tuesday. Below is the new press release: The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation has decided to let the powwow and stick games set for September proceed, provided that each event will require all participants to show proof of...
You may notice some greenery missing from the drive along SR-155 near the north end of Grand Coulee in the future. About 30 pine trees near Grand Coulee’s wastewater treatment facility on the north side of the road will be removed due to issues caused by the trees for the facility. The trees pose a risk of damage to the facility if they or their limbs fall onto equipment. Already, tree debris such as needles and cones have fallen into the facility and clogged up pipes and the like. According to Assistant Treatment Plant Operator Travis Irwin i...