News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Unofficial results of the Aug. 3 primary election for Grand Coulee City Council position 1 were posted late Monday at results.vote.wa.gov. Ben Hughes garnered 101 votes for 65.16%. He will face Tracy Justice Wright in the November general election. Wright got 17.42% of the votes with 27. Not far behind, Frank Jones garnered 22 votes. Five ballots were cast for write-ins. The next vote count and certification will take place Aug. 18. Voter turnout countywide was 27.75% across 45 precincts and...
The Colville Tribes filed a lawsuit last week against the United States, seeking damages related to the massive wildfires that burned more than 240,000 acres on the Colville Reservation in 2015. “The Tribes alleged that the United States failed to maintain adequate forest health, through measures such as prescribed burning, which led to fires of unprecedented size and intensity,” a press release from the tribes explains. In August 2015 the North Star and Tunk Block fires burned more than 590 square miles and 800 million board feet of tim...
In a win-win situation, you can support Raider football AND eat hotdogs tonight, Wednesday, in front of the Lake Roosevelt High School offices. The drive-through hot dog feed football fundraiser runs tonight, Aug. 11, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., when you can drive up, and pick up your meal. For $8 you get a hotdog, chips, a cookie and a drink, plus a second hotdog for $2 more. The Raider Athletic Booster Club hotdog feed coincides with sports physical night, which also runs from 5-7 p.m. and costs $35, cash only. Another sports physical night is...
Grand Coulee Police 7/29 - Police were unable to find a gold Nissan Pathfinder reported to have been speeding and passing cars on double yellow lines on SR-174 heading into Grand Coulee. - A wallet with an ID, credit cards, and about $100 was found at the Grand Coulee Dam Visitors Center after the laser light show and turned into police. Police were able to find contact info for the Idaho man, who retrieved his wallet. 7/31 - Police told people who had been shooting at Osborn Bay about burn restrictions that restrict target shooting in the...
A loud US Army training exercise on a hillside above town drew a different kind of fire at Coulee Dam’s city council meeting July 28, a small-caliber complaint compared to the big guns that alarmed citizens late at night July 22. Bob Hendrickson told the council he was disappointed that people had not been given any notice that a training was about to happen that might sound like a terrorist attack against Grand Coulee Dam. He said that he and many other people he talked to had worried about that as they listened to automatic weapons and w...
The Whitmore Fire is located on the Colville Reservation south of Omak Lake and west of Nespelem, WA. The Incident Command Post at Nespelem Community Center is closed to all but essential personnel to help ensure the health and safety of firefighters and community members. Operations Yesterday, fire fighters took advantage of cooler temperatures, higher moisture levels, and less active fire behavior to secure stretches of fireline. The southwest to southeast borders of the fire along Columbia...
Inchelium, Wa. – The cold front that moved into the area yesterday brought measurable rain to the Summit Trail Fire, Upper Lime Creek Fire, and Chuweah Creek Fire. This moisture gives firefighters the opportunity to build direct fire line, while fire behavior is still moderate. Even though this moisture is helpful, the fire is not yet out. A drying trend will start today and continue with warmer temperatures throughout the week which will increase fire activity. Firefighters will hit the fire hard today with more direct attack in areas where p...
A Level 2 notice to evacuate, meaning be ready, has been issued for the SR-155 corridor from the Colville Agency at the Columbia River Road to Nespelem to the Mission turnoff. The notice was issued at 9:18 p.m. Saturday due to the advance of the Whitmore Fire north and east from the Kartar Valley. In addition, the Washington State Patrol reported at 9:34 p.m. that SR-21 is closed at Keller due to wildfire, from MP 117 to MP123.5. WSP said residents are being evacuated immediately (level 3) by...
Several new fires have started on the Colville Reservation following a lightning storm Tuesday night, and evacuations are in effect, with the largest of the fires already estimated at 2,000 acres. Residents from Kartar Valley, Goose Flats East to the net pens on the Columbia River Road and everything north of that road have been notified of a Level 3 Evacuation, meaning leave immediately, the Mt. Tolman Fire Center said in a release Thursday afternoon. Kartar Road is closed. Residents south of C...
Everyone who enters Lake Roosevelt Schools’ indoor areas this year should expect to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status, including staff, students, and visitors. Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner told The Star on Monday that he intends to follow the masks-for-all guidelines from the Washington State Department of Health and State Superintendent Chris Reykdal. The DOH guidelines state that “all staff and students must continue to wear face coverings/masks, regardless of vaccination status.” A letter from Reykd...
"If you smell smoke, you're breathing smoke," a smoke outlook report from fires.airfire.org says. Today, Wednesday, Grand Coulee is projected to have air that is "unhealthy for sensitive groups," according to the report, and those sensitive groups should avoid physical activity outdoors. Fires producing smoke in the air include the Summit Trail Fire near Inchelium, which on Tuesday morning was at 22,305 acres and 15% contained; and the Cheweah Fire, which is holding at 36,752 acres and is 90%...
At their July 28 meeting, the Coulee Dam City Council accepted a bid of $102,200 from Tomer Construction for a seal coat project on Roosevelt, Mead, Central and Crest Avenues in 2022. The cost will be paid for with grant money from the Washington State Transportation Improvement Board....
Grand Coulee has decided to allow local property owner Sam Hsieh to continue to display multiple advertising signs along his lot located on Main Street called “Coulee Plaza.” “I would like to thank the mayor and the city council for working together with me through this,” Hsieh told The Star on Tuesday. “I’m excited to see Coulee Plaza continuing to serve the community!” The issue has been ongoing since October of 2020 when the city council had initially voted against allowing the signs to stay. Hsieh was told by the city following a c...
There have only been a few cases of Covid locally in the past month. Since June 30, when The Star last reported local covid numbers, there have been zero cases reported from Grant County Public Health for the Grand Coulee and Electric City area of the county, with a total of 48 in those cities since the pandemic began. According to Okanogan Public Health, Coulee Dam has seen 68 total cases, up one since June 30, and Nespelem has seen three new cases since that date for a total of 83. Elmer City has stayed at a total of 20 cases. OPH breaks...
Grand Coulee Police 7/27 - A Cheney man crashed his convertible into a parked car outside of the ice cream shop on Midway Avenue. The second vehicle moved approximately 50 feet, hitting another parked car. The driver was the only one hurt. He said his head hurt and was taken to the hospital. The owners of the other two cars were in the ice cream shop at the time of the accident. There was no sign of the driver being intoxicated, and he didn’t know what had happened. It appeared to officers he wasn’t paying attention. The 22-year-old driver was...
Gov. Jay Inslee met with tribal leaders and people affected by wildfire in Nespelem last week, characterizing the area as perhaps "the epicenter of climate change." He met with the Colville Business Council as well as with incident command staff from recent reservation fires in a closed meeting inside the Lucy Covington Government Center, the Tribal Tribune reported. "These are such difficult days dealing with COVID and these fires," Inslee is reported as saying in the July 21 meeting. "No...
Grant County Public Health issued a public health advisory today which includes advice for those who are vaccinated and unvaccinated, including to wear a mask indoors and avoid contact with at-risk individuals. "Due to rapidly increasing spread of COVID-19 in Washington state driven by the Delta variant, Region 7 public health officers are recommending a change to masking practices," the health advisory reads. "All residents are advised to wear a mask in indoor public places and practice...
A fire that started along the highway along Banks Lake Thursday evening quickly turned into a threat to a local landmark canyon and to farms above the coulee wall. The Northrup Fire that scorched the canyon its named for started about 5 p.m. July 22 at milepost 18 on SR-155. Logan Braaten caught an image of the fresh fire on the coulee wall side of the highway and posted it on Facebook. Local firefighters responded quickly, but the intensity of the fire's approach during initial attack took at l...
Firefighters work up an appetite saving homes and lands, and they have to eat, often in a small town with no notice of a big need for food. The Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center served 500 meals this past weekend to firefighters who fought the Northrup Fire that started on Thursday. The senior center had helped feed firefighters on the Grass Valley Fire a few years ago, and they appreciated it so much they asked if the senior center could help feed them again. On Friday, a dinner was provided, on...
Grand Coulee getting new electronic speed signs The Grand Coulee City Council approved on July 20 the purchase of two electronic, solar-powered, speed limit signs estimated to cost between $5,000 and $6,000 total. The signs will be placed somewhere on the east end and west end of the city limits on SR-174 for drivers coming into the city, and will show their speed compared to the speed limit. Grand Coulee supports sheriff The Grand Coulee City Council passed a symbolic motion of support for Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones, president of the...
Loud gunfire that woke and frightened Coulee Dam residents Thursday night was part of a “routine military training,” a US Army spokesman said. The repeating racket that started about 10:30 sounded to some former military men like 50-caliber automatic weapons. Flashes from multiple gun barrels could be seen on the hillside above the Third Powerhouse on the east side of Grand Coulee Dam. And one caller reported seeing flames at the top of the north end of the powerhouse. The weapons fire, which continued until after midnight, woke at least one...
If you are one of many with questions you’d like answered before deciding whether to get vaccinated against the SARS Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, take note: you may get your questions answered at an upcoming forum on the topic hosted by Coulee Medical Center on Zoom. Dr. Jennifer Knox, a family practice physician at CMC, will present information and discuss with anyone attending what’s true and known about the disease and the vaccines being used to fight its spread worldwide. Knox met the hospital’s staff Monday to present the same...
Local cities will be able to spend money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, with a combined total of about a million dollars, on things like infrastructure and helping residents. The cities receive money based on their estimated 2019 populations. A list of distributions to cities from the Department of Treasury shows that Electric City, with a population of 1,002, qualifies for $279,706; Grand Coulee, population 1,048, qualifies for $292,547; Coulee Dam, population 1,080, qualifies for $301,480; Elmer City, population 248, qualifies...
Here are a few things to remember about you ballot. The ballot envelope must be signed. If you mail your ballot, postage is paid. Check with your local Post Office for cutoff times to get you ballot postmarked properly. The Auditors Office, 149 3rd Ave N, Okanogan, is open Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM and on Election Day only from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM for the following services. Drop box locations open for the August 3rd, 2021 Primary Election locally include: Nespelem- Tribal Agency- 21 Colville St.; Coulee Dam- 300 Lincoln Ave, City H...
Grand Coulee Police 7/19 - Police responded to Burdin Boulevard on a report that a white pitbull had a fawn in its mouth. The reporting party told police that the dog dropped the fawn when approached and the fawn ran off. They were also told the dog was chasing a cat at 4 a.m. as well, and frequently gets out and causes problems. Police went to the house belonging to the dog owner. The dog was inside and growled at the officers from inside the house. Police were unable to contact the owner. The dog is unregistered with the city, according to...