News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1338 - 1362 of 6747
Voters in the Grand Coulee Dam School District will be asked next February to replace an expiring tax levy with a new one of the same rate in 2023. The board of directors voted Tuesday night to direct the superintendent to prepare language for a levy question on the coming ballot that would keep the current “enrichment” levy property tax rate at $2.50 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation. And they voted to seek a replacement of the district’s expiring capital facilities levy at $1.70 per thousand, the same rate as the current one. Super...
Electric City’s Planning Commission will hold a public workshop Thursday, October 28, at 6 p.m. at city hall or on Zoom (to be determined) to kick off a process to review and revise the city’s Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Code and other “implementing regulations,” the city said in a press release last week. The workshop will give an overview of the update process, existing plans and regulations, and will solicit comments from the public on land use issues. Commissioners hope to build a a “docket” of potential amendments to review during 2022...
Fall is a colorful time to hike Steamboat Rock, nearly as iconic an image to the area as the Grand Coulee Dam. Not only does the state park of the same name offer camping and beaches, but you can also climb to the top of this majestic basalt landmark that stands 800 feet above beautiful Banks Lake, which almost completely surrounds it. In Steamboat Rock State Park, which requires a Discover Pass to park, the trailhead starts in two separate places, both fairly close to each other, across the roa...
Having served on the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors since 2009, Ken “Butch” Stanger would like to serve one last term to see certain things get accomplished. Stanger, who lives in Belvedere, between Elmer City and Nespelem, graduated from Coulee Dam High School in 1961 after attending both Nespelem and Grand Coulee schools before that. Having grandkids, nieces, nephews, and lots of other relatives in the district, Stanger told The Star over the phone that “we all need to pay special attention to general education as it re...
Buffy Nicholson has a vested interest in being a Grand Coulee Dam School District director, having two daughters in the district, a son who will be, and other family members, as well. Nicholson is running for the School Director #2 position against incumbent Butch Stanger in the Nov. 2 election. The Elmer City woman has an eighth-grade daughter who attends Lake Roosevelt, Cora; a fifth grade daughter, Claire; and a son who will attend when school age as well, she told The Star in an email. She also has a large and extended family with many...
Grant County wants to hand out money. The Grant County Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) announced Monday that they are seeking grant applications for qualifying tourism-promotion campaigns, events and projects for 2022. The application period is open from Oct. 11-29. All grant applications must be received in the county commissioners office or postmarked no later than 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 29. Late applications won’t be accepted. The application can be found online at: https://wa-grantcounty.civicplus.com/905/2022-Lodgin...
In a move that will both ease monthly cash needs and add needed upgrades, Coulee Medical Center recently refinanced millions in debt it took on to build the new hospital. The original debt for a little over $23 million has been whittled down to a nearly $18.9 million loan, with $1 million of that tagged for upgrading equipment, including all new state-of-the-art patient beds. The move captures a better interest rate less than half of the previous financing package, according to Chief Financial...
Coulee Dam and its contractor on its new wastewater treatment facility are facing off through attorneys on who is at fault for numerous delays in the building of the multimillion-dollar plant. The city council met in special session online Tuesday morning to decide how to respond to the contractor’s answer to a letter from City Attorney Michael Howe informing them of the city’s deadline of Oct. 1, after which the city would finish the work and adjust the bill. Snohomish attorney Douglas Elston wrote back Sept. 27 on behalf of the con...
Twelve more COVID-19 deaths are confirmed in Grant County, including a woman from Grand Coulee who was in her 70s, county health officials announced last week. Grant County Health District confirmed the deaths in a Sept. 30 news release. The deaths also include two men in their 30s, two men in their 50s, a woman in her 50s, a woman in her 60s, two men in their 70s, and a man in his 90s, all from Moses Lake, as well as a man in his 80s and another in his 90s from Quincy. Eleven of the 12 who died had underlying health conditions, 11 were... Full story
Okanogan County Public Health released on Sept. 21 the first video in a series they are calling “Covid in the County.” The series will be “highlighting the people and organizations in Okanogan County who collaborate to provide healthcare to our community,” according to a notice from OCPH. The first video, titled “The Nurse,” shows Omak’s Mid-Valley Hospital’s acute care wing on a night during September, and shows staff and a patient during the current pandemic. The video is available to view on the Okanogan County Public Health YouTube page at...
Current Councilmember Donald Redfield, who brings with him experience in law enforcement and on various clubs and committees, wants to keep his seat on the Electric City council. After being appointed to a vacant seat in June, Donald Redfield wants to stay in Council Position #1, which is up for election in November. Redfield first lived in Electric City in 2002, then after some time in Grand Coulee, moved back to Electric City in 2013. His wife Lynette Redfield owns Changes Salon in Electric...
Birdie Hensley would like to be back on the Electric City council after just a couple of years being off it. Hensley has served six years total on the council, most recently finishing a four-year term in 2019, which she lost to Bob Rupe in that year's election. Having lived in Electric City for 22 years, Hensley said in an email to The Star that she believes, "If you do not take an active part in city council you do not have any idea what is going on in the community." She said she would like to...
Being that she is unopposed in the election for Grand Coulee Dam School District's Director #1 position, it looks like Shannon Claire Nicholson of Coulee Dam will fill the seat. Carla Marconi, who currently holds it, did not file for reelection. "As a school board member," Nicholson wrote in a candidate statement, "I intend to serve as an open and honest channel of communication between the school district and the community, ensuring that the decisions of the board reflect the diversity of our...
Crows might be afraid to fly through the Coulee - with a scarecrow contest coming to decorate local towns. The 2021 Scarecrow Trail is being held by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce and will place scarecrows made by locals at local businesses for people to see and choose their favorite. Those wanting to build a scarecrow have just until Oct. 11 to register with the chamber, and the scarecrows will be displayed from Oct. 16 until Nov. 7 at businesses in Electric City, Grand Coulee, a...
Vaccinations may have helped prevent roughly 3,400 new COVID-19 infections and 500 deaths among seniors in Washington state during the first five months of 2021, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The agency said in a release Tuesday that the study, conducted by researchers with HHS’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), also found that nationally vaccinations were linked to a reduction of approximately 265,000 COVID-19 infections, 107,000 hospitalizations, a... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 9/27 - Someone reported hearing gunfire near Osborn Bay. Police didn’t see anyone there or hear any shots. - Police observed an elderly man lying on the steps outside a Golf Avenue residence. He said he fell as he went outside to check the mail. Medics came and took him to the hospital. 9/28 - Police told a woman they would not force her husband to go to the hospital against his will. - Three subjects were said to have taken down a no-trespassing sign from a residence on Roosevelt Drive and thrown rocks at the r...
The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation said Tuesday that it must postpone its annual general membership meeting that had been scheduled for Friday, Oct. 1. The decision was made to keep families and employees safe during the Covid-19 emergency, a press release said. The tribes will seek to reschedule the annual meeting on a future date. The tribes reported Monday afternoon that there were 36 active cases of Covid-19 on the reservation, including 15 in Nespelem, five in Keller, three in Inchelium and 13 in Omak, all in quarantine....
Okanogan County Public Health on Tuesday reported nine COVID-19 related deaths in the county since just mid-September, bringing the total to 53. The deaths are of a woman in her 40s, two men in their 60s, three women in their 70s, and three men in their 70s. “Okanogan County Public Health would like to remind everyone of the importance of all public health precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic,” a Sept. 27 news release states. “Anyone can have COVID-19 and not know they are contagious. COVID-19 is easily spread to close contacts, frien... Full story
Housing developments in Elmer City and Keller are being built in the hopes of attracting health care professionals to the areas. On June 8, the Colville Business Council "voted to move forward with a commercial general contractor for the construction of two professional housing developments," Chairman Andrew Joseph Jr. said in an email. "Both sites will be completely developed, however we will only build seven houses on each site at this time," Joseph explained. Out of the seven houses on each...
Grand Coulee will be spending federal money towards a new waterline, a new ambulance, and more. The Grand Coulee City Council on Sept. 21 approved how they would spend about $292,500 in American Rescue Plan Act funds received from the federal government. The city has already received half of the funds, and will receive the other half in May of 2022. Included in the agenda packet for the meeting was an outline of how the money could be spent, which the council approved without much discussion. Trees at the wastewater treatment facility have...
Lake Roosevelt students have been spending Fridays focusing on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) projects. Junior/Senior High Principal Sara Kennedy shared several photos of students working on STEAM projects in her report to the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors on Monday. "Teachers have been doing lots of fun, creative lessons," she wrote in her report. "Students and teachers seem to be enjoying STEAM Fridays," she told The Star on Tuesday. "It...
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...
