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  • Coulee Cops

    Jul 2, 2019

    Grand Coulee Police 6/27 - A burglary alarm at the Banks Lake Pub turned out to be a guy who was there to clean the taps. - Colville Tribal Natural Resources informed police about a vehicle that appeared to have been stripped and dumped on the reservation. Police were unable to contact the registered owners of the vehicle. Natural Resources said they would be towing the vehicle. - A Safeway employee said a bluetooth speaker, an MP3 player, and some CDs were stolen out of his car, which had been locked but with the windows down a bit because of...

  • Operation Dry Water targets boating under the influence July 5-7

    Jul 2, 2019

    OLYMPIA – June 20, 2019 – The Washington State Parks Boating Program, safety advocates and law enforcement agencies are asking boaters to help keep everyone safe on the water by not consuming alcohol or marijuana while when operating a boat or paddlecraft. As boaters prepare for the Fourth of July holiday, law enforcement agencies are preparing for Operation Dry Water — a nationally coordinated effort that focuses on boating-under-the-influence (BUI) awareness and enforcement. Boaters will notice an increase in patrols across Washington from...

  • No fireworks allowed at North Dam this July 4

    Jacob Wagner |Jun 26, 2019
    1

    Citing a dry landscape, federal officials this week put a halt to what has become something of a tradition in recent years at North Dam, where local families have set off fireworks on Independence Day. The Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Reclamation issued a fire restrictions order on public lands where BLM fights wildfires, which includes North Dam, according to a June 19 press release from BLM. A release from Reclamation Monday afternoon clarified that that includes the top of North Dam. “Dry, fire-prone vegetative conditions i...

  • Colville Business Council poll results are in, absentee votes to be counted Thursday

    Jun 26, 2019

    Poll results are in for the general election for the Colville Business Council, with the absentee ballot count to be held on Thursday. At the polls, incumbent Joel Boyd leads Larry Allen 89 votes to 47 for the Inchelium District’s Position 1. Roger Finley leads 95 votes to incumbent Elizabeth Allen’s 42 for Inchelium District Position 2. Incumbent Jack Ferguson leads 43 to 25 against challenger Edward Cohen in the Keller District Position 1 race. In the Nespelem District, incumbent and current Colville Tribal Chairman Rodney Cawston leads 82...

  • Fireworks law in local areas

    Jun 26, 2019

    • The city of Coulee Dam forbids fireworks year round. • No fireworks will be allowed in Grand Coulee this July 4 because of a federal ban on them in the only normally designated spot: North Dam. • Elmer City, being on the Colville Reservation, follows tribal code. The Elmer City Council June 24 discouraged any fireworks use. “Fire danger is high this year,” states a draft letter to their citizens that addresses fire danger and fireworks. • Last year, fireworks were only allowed on the reservation at East Side Park in Omak and Round Lake...

  • "Elmer City Fire" burns nearly 2,000 acres north of town

    Jun 26, 2019

    A fire about 4.7 miles North of Elmer City burned approximately 1,979 acres Sunday, calling out 100 firefighters and nine aircraft and prompting the evacuation of 250 residents. The fire around the Rebecca Lake area, the cause of which is still under investigation, started at about 3:47 p.m., according to a press release Monday from the Colville Tribes Department of Natural Resources. A fire map shows the point of origin close to SR-155 and indicates it was stopped at Buffalo Lake Road. "The...

  • Bureau employees are shown appreciation

    Jun 26, 2019

    The Bureau of Reclamation held an employee appreciation event June 19 that included a picnic, some games, and guest speaker Bill Sims, an author who spoke about safety and wrote a book called "Green Beans and Ice Cream" on the topic. Employees from the switchyard won the "Coulee Cup" in the barbecue competition. "It's a chance for people throughout the project to come together," Public Affairs Specialist Lynne Brougher said, mentioning employees who work inside and outside of the dam and adding...

  • Shooting buffer zone established near city

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 26, 2019

    A buffer zone between the residential neighborhoods of Electric City and Osborne Bay, where the discharge of firearms will not be allowed, was made official at the June 11 Electric City city council meeting. The 500-foot-wide, 7,281-foot-long buffer zone, required the cooperation of various entities to establish: the Bureau of Reclamation, the state’s departments of Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife, Sunbanks Lake Resort, and the city of Electric City. The zone is being established to create a safety zone for residents who don’t live far...

  • Ice Age Park could be done as soon as summer of 2020

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 26, 2019

    The Ice Age Park in Electric City may be done as soon as the late summer of 2020. The city council June 11 approved to have SPVV Landscape Architects, who designed the master plan for the park in 2018, move forward with specific designs for the park. The city applied for grant money from the Washington State Recreation & Conservation Office and is ranked 15th out of 91 applicants to get a grant in the amount of $257,649, which the city must match, for a total project cost of $515,298. Jena Jauchius of SPVV said the park will be Electric...

  • Coulee Cops

    Jun 26, 2019

    Grand Coulee Police 6/20 - A man was reportedly walking his pitbull on a leash near Coulee Boulevard when a “weiner dog” came running out of a garage toward him and his dog. The dogs fought, and the man was bitten on his hands by both dogs, he said. He wasn’t seeking treatment. The man who owns the weiner dog has been warned in the past about his dog being at large and aggressive. The police report recommends the Electric City Council declare the dog potentially dangerous. 6/21 - Responding to a report of a suspicious person at the entra...

  • City will apply for Ferry sidewalk grant

    Scott Hunter|Jun 26, 2019

    Coulee Dam will move ahead with applying for a grant to fix the sidewalks on Ferry Avenue, several portions of which have been heaving several inches as tree roots underneath push up the concrete. Councilmember Fred Netzel and the city’s consulting engineer Kurt Holland, of Varela Engineering, pulled together a grant application just in time to submit to the state’s Transportation Improvement Board to replace all 1,200 feet of walkways along each side of the street. Coulee Dam is asking for some $103,600 in grant funding. If the state gra...

  • Short term rentals ban made official in Electric City

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 26, 2019

    The Electric City council voted unanimously to not allow short-term rentals anywhere in the city. Short-term rentals are instances in which a home owner who doesn’t live in a residence rents that residence out to someone for less than 30 days. Residents Mark Jenson, Jim Bailey, and Nancy Brown attended the June 11 council meeting to speak against short-term rentals. “I don’t believe they are compatible with residential zones,” Jenson said. Brown said that the primary concerns with short-term rentals were “commercializing and destroyin...

  • Fireworks display had more spectacle than planned

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 19, 2019

    A fire burned a patch of land near the canal near North Dam on Saturday night. A fireworks show put on by the Northwest Pyrotechnics Association went awry when a fire erupted and burned between two and three acres. The permitted event had fire personnel standing by for such an occurrence, with four trucks on standby. A press release from Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department Chief Rick Paris said that the fire started at 10:30 p.m. and that Grand Coulee and Electric City Volunteer Fire Departments were called in to assist Bureau of...

  • Paddlers for cause launch canoes for Kettle Falls

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 19, 2019

    Several canoes launched from the Crescent Bay boat launch near the Grand Coulee Dam Friday on an eight-day journey toward Kettle Falls. The Inchelium Language and Culture Association, in association with River Warriors and the Upper Columbia United Tribes (UCUT), organized the event for the third year in a row. A film crew from KSPS was present at the event, which included speakers from these various groups, the singing of a traditional song, and mingling between the paddlers and well-wishers...

  • State attorney general visits Grand Coulee

    Scott Hunter|Jun 19, 2019

    The man who leads the state's legal bureaucracy, basically the state's own law firm, told an audience in Grand Coulee last week that the smaller part of their work gets the most headlines, but costs taxpayers nothing. That's because that part of the Attorney General's Office that takes others to court - actually sues other agencies or private companies - is in essence a state-owned law firm that operates off the settlements or judgments from those suits. But the vast majority of their work is...

  • City Administrator position created in Electric City

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 19, 2019

    The city council approved the creation of the position of “city administrator” and to have current clerk Russ Powers fill the position. The council discussed the need for the position and the justification for the added pay that comes with it for Powers at their June 11 meeting. “So the idea here,” Councilmember Aaron Derr asked, “is we’d have someone at city hall that can make more decisions, given that our mayor will typically have a full-time job and can’t be here on a day-to-day basis?” “Correct,” Mayor John Nordine said. “It makes sen...

  • To Cambodia and back again

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 19, 2019

    Imagine how traveling to another country can change your perspective on life. Local cosmetologist Aly Van Geystel doesn t have to imagine, having returned from a month-long trip to Cambodia, where she taught the trade of cosmetology to former victims of sex trafficking so they can start their own careers. She found out about the Justice and Soul Foundation last year, and decided she wanted to be involved in what they do. A lot of the time," Van Geystel told The Star before leaving, former...

  • Sign idea quashed following citizen input in Electric City

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 19, 2019

    The Electric City council last week obliviated the idea of building a $40,000-plus entrance sign to the city. The city conducted a poll at city hall and online of citizens on the idea. Results showed that out of 81 citizens, 62 (77 percent) didn’t want a sign, and 19 citizens did. Citizens running for council or mayor in the upcoming November election, including Diane Kohout, Brian Buche, Cate Slater, Bob Rupe and Cheryl Hoffman, conducted a survey of their own, collecting signatures and asking Electric City residents if they were for or agains...

  • Coulee Cops

    Jun 19, 2019

    Grand Coulee Police 6/10 - Electric City Hall reported a bottle of drugs they found in their trash. Police took the bottle to the station for disposal. - A woman evicted tenants from a house she owns on Dill Avenue. She said she had given them 30 days notice and had said she would be there on the 10th. She locked the door and wouldn’t let them gather the rest of their belongings, but told an officer she would put the items on the street for them to gather. The officer told her to make sure to go through the proper channels for eviction, and t...

  • Consolidation committee discusses next steps

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 12, 2019

    So what's going on with the effort to consolidate local towns into one? A group of local business owners and residents who have that goal met Thursday at the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce to discuss the logistics of the ambitious task. The Coulee Area Consolidation Committee consists of people from Electric City, Grand Coulee, Coulee Dam and some outlying areas, and those present discussed wanting to bring in someone from Elmer City for the committee as well. The group discussed...

  • Twelve years in the making

    Jun 12, 2019

    Family and friends record the moment with cell phones as the Lake Roosevelt High School Class of 2019, led by Class President Olivia Ludwig, move their tassles to the graduated side of their mortar boards Saturday. For more graduation news, see page 5. - Scott Hunter photo...

  • Beach parking banned at Geezer Beach by USBR

    Jacob Wagner|Jun 12, 2019

    Despite overwhelming public opinion against the idea, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has chosen to ban vehicles from parking on Geezer Beach, located behind the Third Powerhouse of the Grand Coulee Dam. A press release Monday from the bureau announced the decision, emphasizing "safety" as their reason for banning vehicles from the beach popularly fished by elderly anglers who have heretofore appreciated the easy access to the beach. "The Bureau of Reclamation will continue to allow fishing,...

  • Newsbriefs

    Jun 12, 2019

    Canoes to Kettle will launch Friday About 80 people will leave in canoes from Crescent Bay, heading toward Kettle Falls on Friday, June 14. A brief ceremony will take place from 9 a.m. until the paddlers leave at 11 or possibly earlier, according to an organizer of the event. Traditional Native American singing may take place, and speakers will be at the launching of the canoes. The paddlers are heading toward Kettle Falls, a traditional fishing spot of local Native American tribes that is now under water. The trip is largely to bring...

  • Koulee Kids Fest and Millpond Days this weekend

    Scott Hunter|Jun 12, 2019

    Kids and their parents in the region will have plenty to do this weekend, with the local chamber of commerce’s Koulee Kids Fest offering activities all over town and Nespelem’s Millpond Days offering activities there. The chamber event for kids starts at 10 a.m. Saturday and offers 14 different activities around the community, from touring a fire truck to mini-golf, planting a flower, painting a piggy bank to free ice cream to building a dam. Those locations and more are detailed on a map on page 8 in an advertisement. Parents can pick and cho...

  • Coulee Cops

    Jun 12, 2019

    Grand Coulee Police 6/4 - Two people were banned from a residence in Grand Coulee after the rightful owner of the property, who resides in California, learned they were there without permission. 6/5 - A man reported damage to his father’s E Street home. Damage to a window appeared to be from a BB gun, and there was also damage to a front-door screen window. 6/6 - A man known to an officer to be wanted on a warrant was sitting in a car in the Safeway parking lot. An officer knocked on the car and the man didn’t exit the vehicle. The officer ope...

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