News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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There are six positions in local fire districts up for election in November, according to current county records. Those interested must file their intention to run for office between May 17 and May 21 with their county election authority in the county auditor’s office. The positions are for: Grant County Fire District #14 — a two-year term for Position #1 (no incumbent listed); Okanogan County Fire District #2 — six-year terms for Position #1 (Lloyd Olbricht incumbent), Position #2 (Shelly Black incumbent), and Position #3 (no incumbent liste...
Grand Coulee Police 1/25 - Police checked on a woman on Second Street about whom friends were concerned. While checking a second day, police talked to the woman, who said she had been sick but was fine. 1/26 - Police spoke with a tribal officer who said he had helped push a car off the roadway near North Dam. The car had run out of gas. The driver said she needed to get gas money in Delano and would move the vehicle as soon as possible. 1/28 - A man on Boulder Avenue reported that two local numbers tried calling him to gain personal...
Washington high school students wrestling with remote learning programs cobbled together as COVID-19 gripped the state in 2020 and now struggling to meet graduation requirements may well get some help from lawmakers. The state House of Representatives on Jan. 27 passed a proposal that would allow school districts to waive requirements for students they feel deserve to graduate. The bill, HB 1121, won wide bipartisan support in the House and is on a fast track to the Senate. It includes an emergency provision, meaning it would take effect...
A popular beach at Steamboat Rock State Park, located northeast of the boat launch, is being closed permanently due to erosion, authorities say. "The Bureau of Reclamation in cooperation with Washington State Parks will permanently close a beach area located in Steamboat Rock State Park in order to provide resource protection," a legal notice published throughout December 2020 in the Columbia Basin Herald states. "The closure will take place on January 1, 2021. Washington State Parks will...
US 2 is closed in Pine Canyon, just above Orondo, due to a rock slide, Washington State Department of Transportation is warning. There is no detour available, and no time estimate for when the road will reopen. A rock slide in the same area closed the route to Wenatchee from Waterville several years ago for many weeks.... Full story
Superintendent Paul Turner told the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors on Monday that an investigative report should be ready later this week concerning an incident in which someone left religious/political propaganda on the desks of 11 teachers at Lake Roosevelt Elementary School. Sometime during the weekend of Jan. 5-6, someone left black-and-white copies featuring the writings of Kim Clement on the teachers’ desks. Clement’s prophecies are for sale in several books on Amazon.com, and a “House of Destiny” website offers,...
Lake Roosevelt Schools have continued in-school teaching even when local infection rates of COVID-19 crossed a threshold set by the school board, a teacher showed its directors Monday night. A committee that will be tasked with informing school staff and the public about the latest Covid developments in the area is one result from Monday's meeting of the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors. Teacher Pam Johnson, during the public comment period of the meeting, presented facts,... Full story
Seven more people have died of COVID-19 in Grant County, the public health district said Monday. A Coulee City woman in her 70s was among five who died who were not in a long-term care setting. Others were two men in their 60s, one from Moses Lake and the other from Soap Lake; and two Moses Lake men in their 70s. Two more confirmed dead from the virus had been residents at Lake Ridge Center in Moses Lake, which was hit with the illness in November. The woman in her 70s and the man in his 80s bring the total dead from that infection to 20. The C... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 1/19 - A woman returned home to her Hill Avenue apartment to find a note written in Crayon by a child that said, “shut yor dog up.” The woman’s dog had caused some damage inside the apartment, such as ripping up carpet and drapes. She believes the dog was being harassed by the child who left the note. 1/20 - Police were told of a patient at the hospital who was in a traffic accident at an unknown location. Police spoke to the patient who explained he was in a single-vehicle rollover somewhere between Grand Coulee and Bridg...
Just when residents of Washington will have access to a COVID-19 vaccine depends on how many doses the federal government delivers and how many the state can administer in a day. Currently, the state is receiving 100,000 doses per week and administering 14,000 doses per day, but Gov. Jay Inslee acknowledged Jan. 18 there have been major bumps in the road so far. "I have to be forthright with Washingtonians," Inslee said. "Patience is going to be one of the most important assets for us in the... Full story
Diane Kohout became the new mayor in Electric City just before the COVID-19 pandemic started, but that hasn’t stopped her from doing her mayoral duties. In speaking with The Star over the phone on Monday, she said her two biggest hopes for the city are for the pandemic to end, as well as to increase public input on projects and other citizen concerns, communication between the city and residents being an issue that she and new council members ran on when they were elected in 2019. Part of increasing public input, something made challenging b...
A young couple has made a fresh start with a new business, recognizing that health is more important than ever these days. Makenna Tipps grew up in Electric City and now has returned home along with fiancé Caleb Phillips. The two opened Lakeside Fitness on Coulee Boulevard in late December after the stars seemed to align to make that happen. The pair met in a gym at Central Washington University in 2015 and share an enthusiasm for fitness. Phillips said he really got into fitness during his...
All eight regions remain in phase one of the two-phase Healthy Washington — Roadmap to Recovery plan signed into effect by Gov. Jay Inslee Jan. 11 as the new approach to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The two phases vary in their restrictions for various aspects of life for Washington residents, businesses and schools. In order to move from phase one to Phase Two, which has less stringent restrictions, a region must meet four criteria: • at least a 10% decreasing trend in the two-week rate of COVID-19 cases per 100K population, • at le... Full story
Okanogan County’s computer and phone systems were attacked early Saturday morning and were still down Tuesday, leaving most county services open on a limited basis only. The county’s IT department was working with an outside company on restoring service, Emergency Management Director Maurice Goodall said just before noon Tuesday, while other departments were trying to catch up using the “old time way of doing things” without computers. Goodall didn’t know the nature of the attack, whether it was a “ransomware” attack or some other kind. S...
Grand Coulee Police 1/12 - Police checked on a Grand Avenue home where the security alarm was activated. An officer entered the back door and announced himself. The homeowner came and spoke with the officer and then called the alarm company. - Police checked on a Hill Avenue woman who hadn’t called her sister in a couple of weeks and is said to have health issues. The woman was home and said her cell phone ran out of minutes. She asked for an ambulance to take her to the hospital for back pain, although it wasn’t an emergency. The landlord sai...
Washington state legislative leaders on Monday, Jan. 11 took turns delivering upbeat messages that promised unity in taking swift action to relieve residents and businesses hit hard over the past 12 months by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both parties’ leaders in the House delivered messages of hope and unity in their speeches at the opening ceremonies of the House of Representatives legislative session. “Our job for every minute of the next 105 days is not just to keep hope alive for the people of our great state, but to make hope a reality,” said...
Hundreds of officers from the Washington State Patrol and the National Guard will continue to surround the Capitol Campus in Olympia through the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. WSP spokesperson Chris Loftis said the National Guard will provide up to 750 troops, and some will be armed. For security reasons, he would not specify how many would be armed. All WSP officers will be armed. "Significant" but temporary fencing will surround the restricted area of the West Campus, Loftis said....
The Colville Tribes has lifted the Covid-related curfew in Keller a week after it lifted the same restriction in Inchelium. The Keller 9 p.m. curfew was lifted as of tonight, Jan. 14. "Fortunately, the spike of COVID-19 cases seen in recent days in the Keller District has trended downward enough that the Business Council is able to lift the curfew at this time," explained tribal Chairman Rodney Cawston in a statement issued Thursday evening. "Thank you to all in the Keller community who have... Full story
Coulee Medical Center will host a drive-through vaccination event Friday, injecting arms to inoculate the first tier of people prioritized to get the shots. Friday’s event will inoculate people in the top 1A tier, including those who work in high-risk health care settings, first responders, residents and staff of nursing homes. People in the 1B category may not be inoculated Friday, Ramona Hicks, chief executive officer at CMC clarified Wednesday afternoon. The 1Bs include people who are generally at high to moderate risk, including anyone 7... Full story
High school sports traditionally played in the fall are scheduled to begin in February. Indoor winter sports were originally scheduled to be the first sports played this athletic school year, but the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Executive Board decided fall sports would be the new starting point according to a Jan. 6 announcement on their website. Fall sports include cross country, football, soccer, cheer, and volleyball. WIAA allows flexibility for leagues to schedule their seasons as they see fit. A tentative schedule...
A stapled packet of religious “propaganda” left in teachers’ rooms over the weekend has stirred security and other concerns at Lake Roosevelt Elementary. Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner emailed a letter out to the district Tuesday to say the incident is being investigated and lamenting that the issue had hit social media, “fueling the fire.” Just over 11 pages of black and white copies feature the writings of Kim Clement in “prophetic songs,” Turner said. Clement’s prophesies are for sale in several books on Amazon...
Measuring COVID rates by region rather than counties, and using other metrics, are part of a new recovery plan in Washington state. Gov. Jay Inslee announced the "Healthy Washington - Roadmap to Recovery" plan on Jan. 5, and signed the plan into effect on Jan. 11. The plan groups counties into regions, all starting in phase one of a two-phase (so far) approach to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The two phases vary in their restrictions for various aspects of life for Washington residents an... Full story
A free streaming service launched by North Central Washington Libraries, which includes the Grand Coulee Library, offers 30,000 movie titles, including hit movies, documentaries, and kids’ content. And it all only requires a library card to access. The streaming service, called Kanopy, was announced on the NCW LIbraries blog page on Dec. 21, 2020. Kanopy is accessible via computers, mobile and tablet apps for iPhone and Android, as well as SmartTV apps like Roku, Apple TV, and Fire Stick. Kids’ content is unlimited for viewers, and for other co...
Grand Coulee Police 1/5 - A man on Bay Area Drive was fine when police checked on his well being at the request of his sister. The man was surprised she sent the police to check on him. - A woman on Kelso Avenue reported a van parked in her driveway. The registered owner is her sister, she explained to an officer. The officer said he couldn’t tow off of private property, but did leave a voice message for the sister. 1/8 - Police checked on a vehicle parked at the Grand Coulee office for Grant County Mental Health. The vehicle was reported as s...
This might be the most accessible legislative session in history, thanks to online tools provided by the state. McKenna Troje, 22, a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle, participated in a one-person experiment last weekend to see how difficult registering to testify remotely on a bill would be during this year’s state legislative session, which launched Monday and will be run mostly online in accordance with the state’s COVID-19 public health guidelines. “That was pretty easy,” Troje said. Troje hasn’t attended...