News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1947 - 1971 of 6735
A new multimillion-dollar hotel in Grand Coulee is being planned with optimism towards the area growing. Blackfly, LLC, owned by Bill Stevens, a farmer from Soap Lake, and Caleb McNamara, a contractor from Moses Lake, bought property along Midway Avenue that includes Pepper Jack's Bar and Grille, another nearby building, and surrounding lots. The property consists of three parcels of land along Midway Avenue purchased from Norman and Carlene Worsham for $285,000 and a fourth purchased from...
The cause of the wildfire that burned in Coulee Dam June 30 is still under investigation. That fire burned around 21 acres on the northern outskirts of town near 12th Street and Central Drive and up towards the sandhill, according to Debbie Caudell, lead dispatch at Mt. Tolman Fire Center. The fire was first reported to Mt. Tolman at about 7 p.m. and resources were called back in at about midnight. Those resources included four type-6 engines, two dozers, a hand crew, and more. Workers returned the next day to mop up the scene of the fire,...
Okanogan County Fair canceled The Okanogan County Board of Commissioners announced “with a heavy heart” Monday the cancelation of this fall’s county fair. The commissioners and the Fair Advisory Committee jointly explored all possible options to keep this yearly county tradition moving forward, they said, but could not find a way to do so safely under the governors “safe start” reopening restrictions. Despite the cancellation, the Fair Advisory Committee has established several sub- committees to explore how to hold a livestock auction a...
Fireworks caused one fire on Independence Day and another Monday afternoon. On the Fourth of July, a fire across from the Northrup Point boat launch burned about a tenth of an acre, Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ryan Fish told The Star in an email. That fire was put out by the Bureau of Land Management, which had had about 20 firefighters stationed near North Dam and ready to answer regional fire calls. The Bureau of Reclamation contracted with BLM last year to handle wildfires...
Don’t play with fire! Two agencies have issued restrictions on fires as of July 3. The Bureau of Land Management Spokane District has issued a fire restrictions order on public lands administered by the BLM and the Bureau of Reclamation with which the BLM has an agreement to assist with wildland fire suppression on USBR lands. And Okanogan County’s burn ban is in effect and will continue to be enforced until official notice is made rescinding it by the county commissioners. This burn ban is county-wide, affecting all private and county pro...
Grand Coulee Police 6/30 - Neighbors who share a driveway on Roosevelt Drive argued about garbage. One of the neighbors took pictures of the driveway and posted them on Facebook. Police told them to be civil to one another. 7/1 - Police responded to Northrup Canyon Road for a possible traffic accident. There was no accident, but someone had a medical issue and was taken to the hospital. - Police investigated a possible burglary at a vacant Dill Avenue house where doors were open, a ladder moved, and more. It turns out the owner had given...
Teachers, students, and parents from the community voiced their opinions on the upcoming school year in a Star survey, and the results are as diverse as the personalities of the respondents. Two weeks ago, The Star reported on changes schools are facing for the 2020-21 school year after guidelines were released by the state's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Those guidelines include rules such as those requiring all students and staff to wear face coverings and maintain a... Full story
Community and family worked together to make possible a day at the races on Saturday, when Ty Tipps competed in Monroe at the Evergreen Speedway, racing in a brand-new Chevy S-10 mini truck. Tipps competed in the Northwest Pro4 Truck series races held at the Evergreen Speedway on June 27 where he posted the best lap time in the B Heat qualifying race with a time of 20.7 seconds. The track was getting slick from rain. "We had to back it down a little bit or get stuck in the wall," Tipps told The...
A wind-driven brush fire threatened homes on the northern end of east Coulee Dam Tuesday night. Fire fighters from every nearby agency were on scene defending homes and working to try to prevent the fire's spread on the hillside above town. Nearly two hours later they were still working. No homes were lost as of 8:47 p.m. At about 7 p.m., the wind direction pushed the fire alongside the treed neighborhood that sits against the brushy edge of town, but not directly into houses and an apartment...
Raider sports, like all aspects of our lives now, will look a lot different in the new normal of COVID-19 pandemic life. Like seriously different. Like you can’t pass the basketball different. Like a kid playing tennis with the wall different. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, along with the National Federation of State High Schools Association and Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, has released guidelines for resuming high school sports. Those organizations “believe it is essential to the physical and mental well-being of... Full story
Grant County will award the bulk of a federal grant for coronavirus relief to small businesses and non-profit organizations, county commissioners announced Tuesday. A group of Grant County officials met last week to discuss and recommend a preliminary budget allocating $5.4 million awarded to the county in the Coronavirus Relief Funds Grant authorized by the CARES Act passed by Congress earlier this year, the county said in a press release. The plan was approved by the Board of County Commissioners Tuesday. The following allocation was the prod... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 6/23 - An elderly man was reported walking in a confused state near Taylor Street in Electric City. Someone had returned the man to his home prior to police arrival. 6/25 - A man was reported to have been pounding on the door of a trailer on Burdin Boulevard. Police found him passed out on the porch in his underwear. He was escorted nearby to the place where he was staying. - A woman on Jackson Avenue reported her screen door had been ripped off and thrown on the yard. She also said electronics were unplugged but weren’t t...
It's the Fourth of July weekend, and there's no fireworks show at the Grand Coulee Dam this year, and very few places to light them locally. - Fireworks are not allowed at North Dam Park due to no one applying for a permit from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. -The city of Grand Coulee allows no fireworks in city limits. -Electric City follows state law which allows fireworks to be lit within the city limits from noon to 11 p.m. from June 28 until July 4, when they’re allowed from noon to midnight. -The city of Coulee Dam forbids fireworks y... Full story
Schools are looking at how to successfully implement changes that will be put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a new Star survey seeks the opinions of local parents, students, and staff members. Last week The Star reported on changes schools are facing for the 2020-21 school year after guidelines were released by the state’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Those guidelines include rules such as those requiring all students and staff to wear face coverings and maintain a distance from one another. Those rules ha... Full story
A wind-driven brush fire threatened homes on the northern end of east Coulee Dam Tuesday night. Fire fighters from every nearby agency were on scene defending homes and working to try to prevent its spread on the hillside above town, and nearly two hours later were still working. No homes were lost as of this writing at 8:47 p.m. At about 7 p.m., the wind direction pushed the fire alongside the treed neighborhood that sits against the brushy edge of town, but not directly into houses and an... Full story
Kids got out of the house this past weekend to take part in the 2020 Koulee Kids Fest. "Koulee Kids Fest went FANTASTIC!" wrote Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachelle Haven in an email to The Star. "The turn-out was amazing, more than we ever expected." The festival included children going to local businesses to get take-home activity kits or take part in an activity. Coulee Wall Variety Store had close to 250 kids attend their "fishing pond" activity, Haven said,...
State authorities made wearing face coverings in public mandatory across the state Tuesday, following an outbreak in Yakima County they said threatened to overwhelm the health care system there. The order came the same afternoon that the 12 Tribes Coulee Dam Casino re-opened after shuttering the business at 7 p.m. five days earlier when a worker there tested positive for COVID-19. The state mandate, issued Tuesday afternoon from Sec. of Health John Weisman and Gov. Jay Inslee, takes effect Friday. “As necessary economic activity increases a... Full story
The Fourth of July fast approaching, but don’t plan on setting off fireworks from North Dam again this year; it’s still unavailable as a launching location. The chamber of commerce’s Festival of America event, typically held below the Grand Coulee Dam, with fireworks launched from it, also will not be held this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lighting of personal fireworks from North Dam, a popular spot for years, will not be available, as it was not last year. “Last year on July 4, fireworks were not allowed on top of North Dam bec... Full story
Dean is new principal at Nespelem School New Superintendent/Principal Effie Dean engaged the Nespelem School District Board of Directors in a broad discussion of coming issues Monday night, including a $4 million budget to be prepared with a 20-percent hedge against possible cuts in the 2020-21 school year; the state’s decision to definitely open schools this fall and include distance learning; upcoming bargaining sessions with labor unions; and a well that’s not pumping enough water. Dean will call people this week to set up a task force to wo...
Election results are in for the Colville Business Council general elections in which seven of the 14 positions for the governing body of the Colville Tribes were up for election. Three incumbents were reelected to their seats, while four new members were elected as well. Those elected will serve terms running from 2020-2022, and will be sworn in July 9th, when the Council will elect officers and appoint committee chairs. Absentee votes were counted on Thursday and added to the poll results for the final vote counts. In the Nespelem District Pos...
Anyone in the market for a Jeep? The Electric City council voted on June 9 to put the city’s 2018 Jeep Renegade Sports edition, which has only around 5,000 miles on it, up for bid. The city bought the Jeep just last year when the city had a completely different council, mayor, and city clerk. The minimum bid for the Jeep is $17,000. The council was in agreement that although the trade-in value for the vehicle was around $13,000, trade-in values are lower than the actual value, and that the vehicle’s low mileage made it worth more. The cou...
The Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, which includes Spring Canyon, is increasing recreational access and services, such as camping and vault restrooms, beginning July 1. The National Park Service, which manages the LRNRA, says it’s following guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local public health authorities in this increase of services. “Approximately 61% of our visitors come from Spokane, King, and Snohomish counties (410,000 people),” a June 22 press release states. “Whil... Full story
Grand Coulee 6/15 - Police checked on the well being of a Mead Avenue man on behalf of neighbors who hadn’t seen him in several days. Police found the man to be in good health. - A Grand Coulee woman went to the police station and said a man had hit her. The man said that she and her boyfriend were drinking and asked if he wanted to watch them have sex. The man said he declined that offer and at one point the woman poured his beer on him. The man’s hair and shirt smelled like beer, the police report says. 6/16 - A man at the Continental Hei...
The partial shutdown of Colville Tribal government currently in effect has been extended until midnight on July 12, 2020 by Resolution of the Colville Business Council. "All other COVID-19 related restrictions are also extended to midnight on July 12, 2020," a June 25 press release says. "These include the prohibition of public gatherings or camping in groups of ten or more people, the stay at home order for residents of the Colville Reservation, the prohibition on non-essential business activity on the Colville Reservation, and the closure of... Full story
The institution of public school will look a lot different in the 2020-21 school year due to the COVID-19 health precautions that will still be in place, and schools are now beginning to grapple with freshly issued state guidelines that bring the challenges into focus. Last week, the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction released guidelines for how to resume school in the 2020-21 school year in keeping with Department of Health safety precautions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The guidelines anticipate a return to the... Full story