News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 2014 - 2038 of 6598
Fewer businesses will be asked to foot the bill for higher education programs after Gov. Jay Inslee signed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6492 on Monday. The bill will restructure the business and occupation tax and surcharges put in place by legislation passed last year to fund investments in public colleges as well as to provide grants that increase access for low and medium-income students. "We are going to make massive investments in public higher ed," said Sen. Jamie Pedersen, D-Seattle....
Octavio Alejandre was a state wrestling champion for the Lake Roosevelt Raiders in 2015, and is now wrestling at Grays Harbor College, where he has been conference champion twice and became an All-American. While wrestling for LR, Alejandre placed fourth at state as a sophomore, third as a junior, and was state champ in the 285-pound heavyweight division his senior year. "What inspired me to succeed in wrestling was my high school coach, Steve Hood," Alejandre told The Star in an email....
Christian Kennedy grew up in the Coulee, went to the big city of Las Vegas, and returned last year with his wife Sara to settle down and help take over the family business. Having graduated in 2002, Kennedy met his wife at Eastern Washington University, and from there they migrated to Las Vegas, Nevada where they found work within Clark County School District, the fifth largest school district in the nation, where Christian worked in information technology as a programmer. Sara taught English...
Vehicles line up behind a crash on SR-174 just northwest of Grand Coulee Wednesday where a driver of a westbound 2010 Ford Fusion failed to make the curve and collided with a semi headed the other direction, about a mile from where this photo was taken, just before 1 p.m. The USBR fire department helped extract her from the seriously damage car and she was taken to Coulee Medical Center with what the Washington State Patrol said were minor injuries. She was cited for driving too fast for...
Grand Coulee Police 2/4 - A Dill Avenue resident reported a man on his porch, dancing, yelling, and pounding on the glass door. An officer told him to go home and that the resident didn’t want him there. The man did so without incident. - A Spokane Way homeowner said her maintenance person told her a sliding glass door was broken and wanted the incident documented. Police noted there was nothing inside to be stolen. 2/5 - Police responded to an accident on SR-174 near Crown Point Road where a semi truck and a Ford Fusion had collided. There w...
The ability of the school or a parent to be able to communicate with a bus driver for one reason or another is an important one, and the Grand Coulee Dam School District directors discussed the topic at their Jan. 27 meeting. Former board director Brenda Covington spoke with the school board, following up on the topic she had also addressed at their Dec. 9 meeting when she was still on the board. Back in December, Covington had mentioned a woman who was unable to reach a bus driver, and that the bus barn didn’t have phone numbers for the bus dr...
After a week of weather that saw temperatures range from lows in the teens to highs in 50s, a snowplow scrapes Midway Avenue amid heavy snowfall about 1 p.m. Tuesday, when at least 2.5 inches fell at The Star. See the local forecast on page 8. - Scott Hunter photo...
Those interested in the local airport for one reason or another, especially those representing organizations, can anticipate a meeting in April to discuss the Grand Coulee Dam Airport’s draft master plan. At their Jan. 30 meeting, Grant County Port District 7 commissioners discussed wanting to bring in people from various entities, such as the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Bonneville Power Administration, the Colville Tribes, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Army Corps of Engineers, the hospital, local cities, and more, to participate in a...
Lincoln County jail stats noted Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers reported Friday that the county jail held 755 inmates in 2019, which, classified by crime, included: • Dept. of Corrections Detainer — 45% • Pre-Sentence Felon —13% • Pre-Sentence Criminal Misdemeanor — 12% • Pre-Sentence Traffic Misdemeanor — 9% • Other holds, including non-DOC Contract Agencies 9% • Pre-Sentence DUI — 7% • Post-Sentence Felon — 6% • Post-Sentence Traffic Misdemeanor — 4% • Post-Sentence Criminal Misdemeanor — 4% • Post-Sentence DUI — 3%. The jail is...
Roughly 100 gun-rights activists marched on the State Capitol on Friday and rallied in opposition to recently proposed gun regulation bills. Matt Marshall, leader of the Washington Three Percent gun rights advocacy group, spoke to an excited crowd after announcing earlier this month he would run for the seat of House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox, R-Yelm, after criticizing Wilcox's leadership regarding issues surrounding Rep. Matt Shea, R-Spokane. Shea was expelled from the House Republican Caucus...
People unable to care for themselves due to mental illnesses could be subject to receiving treatment, even without their consent, if Washington state legislators pass a law to establish executorships for people who are incapacitated. “Our mental health and addiction system of care is failing, in my view, the most vulnerable,” said the proposed bill’s primary sponsor, Sen. Steve O’Ban, R-Pierce County. If passed, Senate Bill 6109 will initiate a four-year pilot program in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, effective Jan. 1, 2021. Each county...
Attention geology nerds! There's some cool stuff happening regarding local geology including a podcast available now and a presentation coming in March. Geologist Bruce Bjornstad will be coming to the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center auditorium on March 28 to show some of his drone footage from the area from the past few years. Similar videos on Youtube show birds-eye views of places in the Grand Coulee region, including the Dry Falls, the Great Blade, the Potholes area, and much more, as well as...
The Colville Tribes now have a member on Washington state's Recreation and Conservation Funding Board, which awards about $250 million in grants every two years. Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Okanogan resident Henry Hix, who is the chief of natural resource enforcement for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, a Jan. 23 press release from the state's Recreation and Conservation Office states. Hix "previously managed the Tribes' Parks and Recreation Program and served in the Tribes'...
Grand Coulee Police 1/28 - A woman told police she hung up on a telemarketer from CenturyLink before they could make a sales pitch. The woman thought it was possibly a fraud. 1/29 - A Goodfellow Avenue man said another man keeps taking pictures of him and calls him a druggy. He was wondering if that man was breaking any laws. An officer told him that pictures are allowed to be taken in public settings. The man said he may get a no-contact order if it continues. 1/30 - A 911 hangup call on Dill Avenue was probably a baby playing with its...
New inductees into the National Honor Society hold candles in a ceremony with prescribed traditions to mark the special nature of the occasion at Lake Roosevelt Schools Jan. 22. With President Ellie Hansen at right, new honorees Reniff Herndon, left, and Alonzo Adams, right are facing the camera. The entire group photo, with about a tenth of the student body, is on page five. - Scott Hunter photo...
The city of Grand Coulee wants to renegotiate a contract under which city police provide law enforcement services to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for nearly $600,000 a year. The city is currently operating on a six-month extension on a contract that expired in November of 2019, a contract in which the city’s police provide additional security at the Grand Coulee Dam. That contract adds four additional officers to the Grand Coulee Police Department, which serves Grand Coulee and Electric City, for a total of eight officers, plus a reserve o...
The recent story of a Colville tribal member winning hunting rights on traditional lands in Canada is being told in a 30-minute documentary that will premiere in Spokane next month. A Jan. 17 press release from the Colville Tribes details the documentary and the story that it tells. "'Older Than The Crown' follows the trial of Sinixt tribal member and retired Fish & Wildlife Officer, Rick Desautel, who in 2010 was charged with hunting as a non-resident and without a license in Canada," the...
A proposed law to require school districts to implement a comprehensive sexual education curriculum emphasizing healthy relationships and consent was passed after a 28-21 vote by the state Senate last week. If signed into law, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5395 would require every public school to offer evidence-informed, medically accurate, and age-appropriate sex education as an integral part of the curriculum for kindergarten through 12th grade by Sept 1, 2021. The bill was first introduced in 2019 and drew vocal opposition from parents...
More than half the power outages in the city of Coulee Dam last year were caused by wild turkeys that roam the town freely. Last year the town, which operates its own electric utility, suffered nine power outages, the last five all because of the big birds, said Mike Steffens, the city superintendent who gets to deal with such emergencies. Each time, that takes a minimum of two employees spending a couple hours walking the lines, arranging for upstream power to be shut off, then reconnected, and...
Gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition would be outlawed under a proposed law moving through the state Senate. Supporters cite safety concerns, while opponents argue the measure, which cleared the Senate Committee on Law and Justice Jan. 23, would place new restrictions on Washington residents' right to bear arms. SB 6077, sponsored by 14 Democratic senators, would make it illegal to possess what the bill would define as a high-capacity magazine in most instances. Under the...
Grand Coulee Police 1/20 - An officer spoke to the owner of a barking dog on Dill Avenue. The owner said the dog was just a puppy and she would bring it inside. 1/21 - Coulee Gas reported a 20-something woman had stolen some sunglasses then gotten into a green truck. The truck was found at Jack’s 4-Corners gas station. The owner of Coulee Gas told police a passenger was the woman who stole the sunglasses. The sunglasses were returned and she was banned from Coulee Gas. - An officer assisted Coulee Dam police in attempting to locate a stolen w...
The Colville Tribes have banned single-use plastic bags from stores on the reservation, and the state is looking at doing the same. A resolution passed by the Colville Business Council went into effect Jan. 1 that bans single-use plastic bags from stores within the boundaries of the Colville Reservation, the Tribal Tribune reported Jan. 10. The state of Washington is considering enacting a similar ban, with the state Senate passing a bill last week. The Senate had also passed Senate Bill 5323 last year, but it died in the House of...
Jeff and Malaya Piturachsatit find enough snow left at North Dam Park for a fun outing Sunday afternoon. To check out the chance of snow in the next week, see our Weather Watcher Forecast on page 8. - Scott Hunter photo...
Change is afoot in Electric City with the last remaining councilmember from the old regime resigning and the fire chief reinstated after being fired last year. Electric City Councilmember Aaron Derr resigned from his position in a letter dated Jan. 14. “At this time in my personal life I feel that I cannot commit to the dedication necessary to fully and properly represent my constituents,” Derr wrote in the letter. “Perhaps in the future, when family health and personal business allow, I may once again represent the people of this city....
Those excited for a park in Electric City will have to wait a while longer before park details and construction details are finalized. The Electric City council chose not to accept a bid on the proposed Ice Age Park at their Jan. 14 meeting, hoping to get construction costs down. The lowest bid for the project came in at approximately $465,000 from Spokane-based Terrabella, Inc., roughly $80,000 over the city’s proposed 2020 budget for the park. The project is to be paid, in part, with some of the $257,500 in grant money from the Washington S...