News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The superintendent of the Grand Coulee Dam School District will answer your questions related to reopening school for the 2020-21 school year during the COVID-19 pandemic in weekly question-and-answer sessions held online. Superintendent Paul Turner sent an email on July 22 to parents, staff, and community members detailing the meetings. “In light of all the COVID-19 uncertainty about school reopening, I would like to schedule weekly Q&A sessions online,” Turner said. “At this point the district has developed some re-opening strategies with mor...
Even cities have to deal with electronics becoming obsolete. The cities of Grand Coulee and Electric City need to buy a new computer for their arsenic treatment plant, which treats the water that comes from Electric City wells and is used by both cities. Both city councils discussed the issue at their respective council meetings held earlier this month. The computer is not your average at-home computer. It may cost in the vicinity of $20,000, unless a cheaper option is found. Electric City Mayor Diane Kohout threw some numbers out to the Electr...
A Grand Coulee woman died last week when the car she was driving crashed in Douglas County. Maureen K. Horrobin, 63, was found deceased at the scene of the collision when local emergency personnel responded to a reported injury accident on Pendell Road, about seven tenths of a mile off Crown Point Vista Road. Her vehicle had rolled about 200 yards off the roadway, Douglas County Undersheriff Tyler I. Caille reported. The crash occurred about 8:19 p.m. July 21. The preliminary investigation showed speed was a contributing factor to the...
Grant County Health District has seen 168 new cases of Covid-19 since July 21. The county as a whole has had 1,177 people get the illness, 10 of whom have died. The Grand Coulee area of Grant County has six confirmed cases. State Secretary of Health John Wiesman updated his statewide Face Covering Order Friday to include anytime you leave your home. “If you are leaving your living space, even temporary living spaces, you should be wearing a face covering to protect those around you!” Grant County Health District explained on its website. Acc... Full story
Grand Coulee residents can now rent out their homes for a weekend if they want to. The Grand Coulee City Council approved an ordinance July 21 allowing short term rentals in residential zones within the city. The ordinance says that short-term rentals will “allow for increased tourist accommodations,” and that there is a need for that in the city. Short-term rentals are defined as rentals for less than 30 days and are also referred to as “vacation rentals,” or “nightly rentals.” The council discussed that Electric City doesn’t allow short-t...
A fire in the "Wilbur Hill" area, called the Neal Canyon fire, burned about 70 acres of grass brush and light timber on July 24. The fire, the cause of which is still under investigation, started on a hill near milepost 27 on SR- 174 at roughly 11 a.m. on July 24 and had "high spread potential," according to Veronica Randall, public information officer for the Colville-based Northeast Washington InterAgency Communication Center. The fire had been moving toward wheat fields above the hill, where...
Grand Coulee Police 7/18 - A man reported that someone had spun “brodies” in the parking lot of his Coulee Boulevard storage units, leaving marks in the gravel. - A 21-year-old man was reported to be overdosing at Coulee Playland, and CPR was being performed on him. The man was said to have possibly taken Percocet mixed with Fentynal. An officer administered two doses of Narcan, which brought back a pulse to the man and helped him start breathing again. Emergency medical services arrived to take the man to the hospital. -While looking into ano...
A family of kayakers paddles past the beach at Steamboat Rock State Park. This is Washington State Parks' "Paddle Safe Week," emphasizing safe practices in paddle sports, which are growing rapidly in popularity - especially kayaking and stand-up paddling. Only 23% of kayakers and 31% of stand-up paddlers have considered taking formal training to further their skills, something State Parks strongly recommends. - Gwen Hilson photo...
A wildfire burning in the "Wilbur Hill" area, near mile post 27.5 on SR-174, is mostly contained, fire fighters say. The fire, which started roughly at 11 a.m. today, July 24, had been moving towards wheat fields above the hill, where firefighters concentrated their efforts. The fire is also approaching the highway, and firefighters are keeping an eye on it, with traffic being stopped and one lane of travel being allowed at a time. Grand Coulee Fire Chief Ryan Fish, serving as incident command... Full story
Update 3 p.m. 7/24/20: Level 3 evacuations have been lifted in the Nespelem-to-agency area today, but Level 2 Evacuation has been issued for the area north of Nespelem from the Catholic Cemetery to the Jackson Ranch off SR-155. People in that area are warned of “significant danger” and asked to “consider voluntarily relocating to a shelter or with family/friends outside of the affected area.” There’s a Red Flag Warning for fire weather today until 8 p.m. for gusty winds and low relative humidity...
The Grand Coulee Dam area has had an additional three cases of COVID-19 confirmed in the past few days. A July 20 update from the Grant County Health District said they received an additional 59 cases between the evening of July 17 and 5 p.m. on July 20, including one in the Grand Coulee area of Grant County. “There is widespread community spread in Grant County,” the district wrote in its daily report online Monday. “It is not limited to one employer, community or household.” They then received another 20 cases by 5 p.m. July 21, including ano... Full story
The upcoming school year will be a hybrid mix of online and in-school learning for most students, if plans in development at Grand Coulee Dam School District come to fruition amidst current uncertainties about timing and COVID-19. That was the topic of discussion at a Zoom school board meeting Monday night, which was well attended by staff, parents, and more. The superintendent and board of directors met in the library at Lake Roosevelt Junior/Senior High, passing a health screening before entering the building, wearing masks, keeping a... Full story
High school football, volleyball, and soccer will be played in the spring, rather than the fall. The executive board of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association made the decision July 21 in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The school year will break down into four WIAA seasons, with lower-risk sports able to occur earlier in the year, and higher risk sports starting later in the hopes that Washington counties by then will have moved into later phases in the Washington State Safe Start Recovery Plan. Depending on what phas... Full story
More local events that have become traditions have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Run the Dam running event, as well as the Harvest Festival, have both been canceled this past week. Both were originally scheduled for the third week in September. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce announced on July 17 the cancellation of what would have been the ninth Harvest Festival on their Facebook page. Their board of directors "have explored all possible options to keep this... Full story
Two proposals for drive-through coffee stands are being considered by the town council in Coulee Dam, each by different would-be entrepreneurs who must navigate the murky waters of city and tribal regulations and interests. Dan Moomaw and Casey Garvin each attended a call-in city council meeting July 8 and may again be at tonight’s 6 p.m. call-in meeting (July 22). Moomaw has attended several this year, expressing frustration at not being able to meet in person and lay out plans for discussion. Garvin last week pulled out a 2018 business p...
With local fires sometimes taking place across a lake, should a fire department have a boat ready to take firefighters there? At Electric City’s July 14 council meeting, Public Works Director Jarred Armstrong brought up the idea that the Electric City Volunteer Fire Department should have a boat. While discussing the Fourth of July weekend, Armstrong mentioned a boating accident that took place, as well as fires that burned near SunBanks Resort and as Barker Canyon, incidents requiring responses via boat. Armstrong commended Fire Chief Mark P...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District has sent a survey to parents and students asking for their input on distance learning, which has taken the place of traditional, in-school learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are two separate surveys, one for parents and one for students, available on the homepage of the district website at https://www.gcdsd.org/. The surveys asks parents and students alike about their experiences so far with distance learning, what works and what doesn’t, and how engaged they were with the process. The survey a... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 7/11 - Someone smashed a windshield of a motorhome parked on Dill Avenue. A white SUV was seen driving away, but police were unable to locate the vehicle, and there are no suspects. 7/13 - A man found a pellet pistol near the rodeo grounds and turned it into police. 7/14 - An officer went to a Washington Place residence where two men had been arguing. The homeowner came out of the house and began yelling at the other man and the officer. The other man said there was no need for police, and he and the officer left. - Police w...
Two local counties reported two more deaths this week amid a surge of COVID-19 cases in their counties, in the state and in many parts of the nation. Okanogan County Public Health reported that 71 new cases of COVID-19 emerged in the county on Monday and Tuesday alone, with over half its cases all year breaking out within the last two weeks - 147 of its total of 263. Those include the county's third death, which OCPH learned of yesterday. The victim was an agricultural worker from Mexico in his... Full story
CHELAN COUNTY — A Chelan waterpark has been ordered to close immediately to prevent workers from being exposed to coronavirus (COVID-19). This action comes after a similar order from the state Department of Health last week. Today, the state Department of Labor & Industries delivered an “Order and Notice of Immediate Restraint” directing the waterpark to cease operations until the business is approved to operate under the Governor’s Stay Home Stay Healthy Order. In addition to the order and notice, after completing an inspection earlier... Full story
Small businesses in Electric City can apply for up to $5,000 in coronavirus relief funds from the city, and all Grant County small businesses can apply for up to $10,000. Electric City small business owners have until July 31 to fill out and submit a one page application to receive the funds. City Clerk Peggy Nevsimal said the city set up the grant program in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Commerce, something the city council approved in June. The funds businesses can receive would come from the $30,900 the city is eligib... Full story
Ballots for Washington’s primary elections must be mailed out by county election offices by Friday, and local voters will have options from which to choose no matter which county or district they live in. In the Grant County Commissioner District #1 race, the candidates are: Danny Stone, of Hartline; Mark S. Wanke, of Ephrata; and Earl Romig, of Moses Lake. All candidates are listed as Republicans. In the Grant County Commissioner District #2 race, the candidates are Rob Jones and Tom Taylor, both Republicans from Moses Lake. In Okanogan C...
The Colville Tribes responded Monday to inquiries regarding continuing layoffs at the tribes, as well as the use of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act money towards a new rehabilitation center being built in Keller. In April, the CBC announced in a letter that the Colville Tribes as well as the Colville Tribal Federal Corporation had temporarily laid off nearly 600 employees as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Some employees were posting further layoff notices on social media last week. Regarding the... Full story
The Colville Business Council, the governing body of the Colville Tribes, swore in four newly elected candidates and three incumbents July 9 in a quiet ceremony that has previously been a much larger occasion. Seven of the CBC’s 14 positions came up for election this year for two-year terms. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Tribal Tribune reported, a minimum number of people attended the swearing in at the Lucy F. Covington Government Center on the Colville Tribal Agency near Nespelem. Attendees maintained six-foot distances from each o...
A fire that broke out Saturday afternoon in dry, windy conditions threatened Mansfield, some of whose residents were on a Level 2 evacuation alert. The Road 11 Fire, which started just before 1 p.m. west of SR-172 as it turns south toward Withrow, burned 9,633 acres but was expected to be completely contained by today, Southeast Washington Interagency Incident Management Team Incident Commander Bob Gear said Tuesday in a press release. Several structures, including one home, were damaged. The fire’s cause is under investigation. Initially, t...