News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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What an experience it must be to learn bull riding from professionals, including one who is from the same area you are. Local legend Shane Proctor is hosting his 11th annual bull and steer riding school at the Nespelem Rodeo Grounds this week, where 44 kids between the ages of 12 and 18 are learning the ropes, literally. Proctor is a former Grand Coulee resident, Lake Roosevelt High School graduate, and the 2011 National Finals Rodeo World Champion Bull Rider. Proctor is joined by a number of ot...
Some people are cat people. Some people are dog people. Others might be pig or goat people. The Grand Coulee City Council March 19 discussed lifting a ban on hooved animals, such as pigs and goats, within the city limits. “These miniature goats have become a big deal,” Councilmember Tammara Byers said. “I think some people are interested in them for lawn maintenance and a few other things.” Pigs are another animal some people like to keep as pets. “Small pigs,” Byers said, “not the full-sized porker you’re going to slice up and have for dinner...
Shift sewer line maintenance to residents? The Coulee Dam City Council Wednesday discussed an idea its insurance company would dearly love to see take effect: shift maintenance of all “lateral” sewer lines to homeowners. The city spends about $12,000 a year for city employees to unplug lines that go from the city’s mainline to homes, city Superintendent Mike Steffens told the council last Wednesday. Most cities don’t do that, but Coulee Dam doesn’t have a clear demarcation of where its line begins and the homeowner’s ends. Council members wer...
A school board last week discussed the idea of seeking student input on issues related to the school that students attend. At their March 25 meeting, directors of the Grand Coulee Dam School District tossed around the idea of having a representative from the Associated Student Body attend school board meetings to bring thoughts and concerns from the student body to the board, and to take information back to the student body from the meetings. Superintendent Paul Turner cited Manson School District as having an ASB representative attend their...
Aly Van Geystel, a cosmetologist at Main Street Salon in Grand Coulee, will be traveling to Cambodia for the month of May to help teach the trade of cosmetology to former victims of human trafficking. The Grand Coulee Eagles Lodge helped raise funds for the cause at a March 30 spaghetti dinner, which included a silent auction of items. The spaghetti feed, combined with a yard sale Van Geystel held, raised about $2,500 she said. "A huge thanks to the Eagles," said Van Geystel, who said community...
Electric City is being awarded $300,000 from the state Transportation Improvement Board's Complete Streets Program. The city will use the money to add curb, gutter and sidewalks along Coulee Boulevard, also known as SR-155, from Western Avenue to Electric Blvd. The city was nominated for the award by the Department of Health. TIB chose 47 cities and two counties to receive $17 million total in awards. City Clerk Russ Powers said he thinks the city was nominated because they worked with the...
Rep. Alex Ybarra describes his time so far in the Washington State Legislature as a whirlwind. Ybarra was appointed to the Washington House of Representatives in January to fill the vacancy in District 13 left by the resignation of former Rep. Matt Manweller. Just a few hours after his appointment, Ybarra was on the house floor in Olympia experiencing his first day as a legislator. District 13 includes Lincoln County and most of Grant County, including Coulee City. Without much notice, Ybarra...
Grand Coulee Police 3/24 - A woman showed an officer a video of a neighbor shooting a bb gun at something, reportedly birds. The officer told the neighbor not to shoot within the city limits, and the neighbor said he would comply. - A woman reported that her daughter had left for a trip to Canada with a friend two days prior and hadn’t returned. Soon after reporting her daughter missing, the daughter’s grandmother called and said she was on her way home. - The Grant County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance with a domestic issue on Cardi...
OLYMPIA – April 2, 2019 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission invites the public to celebrate the spring season and Earth Day with two free days at state parks in April. On free days, visitors do not need a Discover Pass for day-use parking. The first free day is Saturday, April 20 — a springtime free day. The next free day is Monday, April 22, in honor of Earth Day. The free days are in keeping with legislation that created the Discover Pass. The pass costs $30 for an annual pass or $10 for a one-day permit. It is requi...
Fire Chief Mark Payne doesn't think Electric City should get rid of the Western Avenue branch of the Y-shaped intersection near city hall that currently branches into Western and Stevens Avenue. Part of Electric City's projects to build sidewalks and improve streets in the city involve building a sidewalk that wraps around the front of city hall and would eliminate the Western branch of the "Y" incorporating that space into city hall's parking space in what is visualized as being a city center,...
Grand Coulee wants more government bodies in the state of Washington to stick up for gun rights in response to Initiative 1639, which passed in November 2018, and has been taking effect in stages since the new year. I-1639 took effect on Jan. 1, and raises the age limit for buying semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21. Beginning July 1, it requires purchasers to pass an enhanced background check, show proof of firearms training, and wait 10 days before getting the gun. The new law also makes gun owners guilty of “community endangerment” if the...
Delivering a sure sign of spring, finally, Hunter Piccinini, 5, points out a buttercup March 18 while hiking with his mom and dad behind the water tower above Banks Lake in Electric City. — Rose Piccinini photo...
A valve deep in the Third Powerhouse at Grand Coulee Dam was opened last week, partially flooding an elevator shaft and an elevator control room, authorities said. Police Chief John Tufts, of the Grand Coulee Police Department, was called to the Third Powerhouse at about 4 p.m. March 19, his written report states. Tufts was told that sometime between noon and 3 p.m. someone had opened a water valve on the “919 level,” that is, 919 feet above sea level, and that the valve was left open for about three hours, partially flooding the inside of an...
There could be complications this summer if you’re planning to use a paved parking lot at Spring Canyon or any other Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area facility, including campgrounds with pavement and boat launches with paved parking lots. The National Park Service will stop taking reservations for this summer for its facilities in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and will offer refunds to those who’ve already reserved their campsites, the NPS announced Tuesday. A project to repave every bit of asphalt in the park this yea...
Anyone who has had problems with dangerous dogs in their neighborhoods may have a new reason to hope for improvement. Although it may not be financially practical for local cities to set up their own animal control facility, it’s possible the cities could contract with the Colville Tribes for those services. “The Regional Board of Mayors talked about having the cities basically get together and possibly contract [for animal control],” Grand Coulee Mayor Paul Townsend said at the March 19 city council meeting. “They were proposing to find so...
A bull-riding champion will be teaching kids the daredevil sport of bull riding in Nespelem next week. Local legend Shane Proctor — former Grand Coulee resident, Lake Roosevelt High School graduate, and the 2011 National Finals Rodeo World Champion Bull Rider — is hosting his 10th annual bull- and steer-riding school at the Nespelem Rodeo Grounds next Tuesday and Wednesday, April 2-3. The bull-riding school starts at 9 a.m. A barrel-racing school follows April 4-5. The bull-riding school is all booked up, but is free to watch. Proctor will be...
Wouldn’t it be nice to get to dump anything for free during the annual free spring clean up dump week? It won’t happen this year, but it may happen next year. March 30 to April 6 is the week when area residents can take their yard waste for free to the transfer station. The Grand Coulee City Council, mayor, and city clerk discussed allowing residents to be able to throw away anything for free, not just yard waste, during that week, at their March 19 meeting. “My thing is, we have an opportunity to utilize this to get some of these homes that we...
Wouldn’t it be nice to get to dump anything for free during the annual free spring clean up dump week? It won’t happen this year, but it may happen next year. March 30 to April 6 is the week when area residents can take their yard waste for free to the transfer station. The Grand Coulee City Council, mayor, and city clerk discussed allowing residents to be able to throw away anything for free, not just yard waste, during that week, at their March 19 meeting. “My thing is, we have an opportunity to utilize this to get some of these homes that we...
Grand Coulee 3/19 - At Grand Coulee Dam’s Third Powerhouse, between 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., someone reportedly opened a water valve that was left open for about three hours, causing some flooding inside an elevator shaft and elevator control room. An officer was unable to lift fingerprints from the valve. A note that was taped to the wall is being sent to the state crime lab to try to lift prints from it. The police report states that the valve will be secured in a way that only authorized employees of the dam can open it. 3/20 - Washington State P...
Evelyn Russell doesn't know how many people are involved in an annual effort to put together dozens of quilts for the benefit of people in need, around the world and at a nearby crisis shelter. "We've got a box in the back," Russell said, standing inside the sanctuary of Zion Lutheran Church in Grand Coulee Saturday, with 91 colorful quilts covering every available surface, anointed by sunlight coming through the colored glass. The box collects pieces that quilters finish at home. The tops and...
A $13.6 million fire station being built for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation along SR-155 has faced numerous delays, and a bigger delay now with the termination of the contract between the bureau and the construction company. The contract for the project was awarded to Post Falls, Idaho-based Innovative Construction & Design Ltd. in 2016, with construction beginning in April of 2017. The building was originally scheduled to be complete in April 2018, according to a bureau press release issued in...
Those who drive around Electric City regularly may be surprised this summer to find that the Y-shaped intersection near city hall will be losing the Western Avenue branch off that intersection that currently forks into Western and Stevens Avenue. Electric City is building some sidewalks along Coulee Boulevard, which is also highway 155, as well as along Grand Avenue this summer. Included in these projects is a sidewalk that will wrap around the front of city hall and eliminate the portion of...
One has devoted her career to the success of a local institution, the other just started a new business last year to fill a local need and fulfill a longtime ambition. Solveig Chaffee's Voltage Coffee House was named business of the year, and hospital CEO Ramona Hicks was honored as achiever of the year at the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce annual awards banquet Thursday at Pepper Jack's Bar and Grille. "Thank you for bringing a new business to the community ... putting in your own...
Electric City needs to upgrade a critical piece of infrastructure that every person in the city depends on, and for which the city will need to arrange several hundred thousand dollars in financing. Electric City’s 1960s-era sewage lift station, which pumps sewage to the wastewater treatment facility in Grand Coulee, needs to be upgraded soon. The facility at the southern end of Grand Avenue has two pumps, one that is about 60 years old and no longer works, the other just a few years old. The Electric City council discussed the issue at t...
OLYMPIA--Washington residents could vote to make daylight saving time year-round under a bill state senators passed on Tuesday, March 12. Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5139 was approved in a 46-3 vote, just two days after clocks were set forward. The measure is co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of five senators and was introduced by Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside. This is the third year in a row Honeyford has pitched the daylight saving bill. “With the time change, we find there’s more auto accidents, more heart attacks, more strokes and...