News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Grand Coulee Police 8/1 - A gas station attendant at Jack’s Four Corners turned in a brown paper bag found in the parking lot by a customer. The paper bag had a plastic bag and a small condiment container inside, both containing crystal-like substances. One substance tested negative for methamphetamine, and resembled sugar. The other substance tested positive for methamphetamine. Everything was destroyed as per department policy. - A man gave a pistol he deemed unsafe to police, wanting it to be disposed of property. The weapon was cleared, r...
Two fires were started early Tuesday by suspected arson in the Osborne Bay area near the gravel pit on the east side of SR-155 on July 30. Electric City Fire Chief Mark Payne said there were two fires started about a quarter mile apart in the area. Outbuildings and recreational vehicles in the area were threatened, he said. A man camping there told police he smelled smoke half an hour after a vehicle, possibly a Jeep, had driven through his camp early in the morning, according to Officer Adam Florenzen of the Grand Coulee Police Department....
A wave boarder gets up to speed on Banks Lake Monday afternoon in not-too-hot conditions. Check the mostly sunny weather forecast on page 8. - Scott Hunter photo...
The school district will draw on reserves to run Lake Roosevelt Schools for the next couple years, a budget approved last week shows, but financial losses are projected in later years, an issue the superintendent hopes to solve. Grand Coulee Dam School District directors at a July 22 meeting approved a 2019-20 school year budget of approximately $12.9 million in expenditures, up from $12 million last year. With an anticipated enrollment in kindergarten through 12th grades of 701 students, that makes for an average of $18,400 per student. Much...
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced a bill in Congress last week that would rename the Third Power Plant at Grand Coulee Dam as the “Nathaniel ‘Nat’ Washington Power Plant.” “The designation recognizes the work of Nathaniel “Nat” Washington, Sr., and his son, Nat Washington, Jr., who were instrumental in the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam and in harnessing hydropower as a renewable energy source for the Pacific Northwest,” a press release from Newhouse’s office states. Introduced on July 23, H.R. 3937 recognizes lif...
Planning the future of the Grand Coulee Dam Airport was the topic of discussion at a July 29 Grant County Port District 7 meeting, where commissioners were joined by citizens, the airport manager and members of J-U-B Engineers, the consultants working on the airport master plan. The master plan is in the works, and members of J-U-B explained where they were in the process, what the next steps are, and took comments from those present. Ideas discussed for the future of the airport include making fuel available at the airport, installing...
A paraglider comes down from the sky into a field on Strahl Canyon Road just north of SR-174 in Douglas County, after taking off from Chelan Butte July 13, the final day of the US Open of Paragliding. - Chelan 2019. The seven-day event tested the skills of about 170 participants. Seventy of them made their goals on this Saturday. Other tasks on earlier days included flights from Chelan to Omak, Wilbur, Brewster and elsewhere. "Really good day, a lot of happy people," said Matt Senior, organizer... Full story
Coulee Dam's wastewater customers will shoulder an additional $2 a month on their sewer bills after the city council solved two big problems with one vote last Wednesday. The council voted 3-1 to accept an additional $1.2 million in loan and grant money to pay for two new lift stations for pumping sewage to the new wastewater treatment facility. The additional $304,000 in a 40-year loan and $909,000 in grant money, with an additional $39,000 from the town budget, brings the total project cost to...
Every two years, the Washington State Legislature’s House Healthcare and Wellness Committee takes a tour of facilities in rural areas, but they’ve never been to Grand Coulee. That will change Sept. 23, when the committee led by Rep. Eileen Cody ends a tour here with a “robust” meeting at the end of the day. Cody’s staff asked if Coulee Medical Center would be willing to participate, Chief Executive Officer Ramona Hicks told the commissioners of Hospital District 6 Monday. “They’re bringing 20 people in a bus,” Hicks said. In other business at t...
Grand Coulee Police 7/22 - A man on Federal Avenue requested police assistance debugging his truck, which he said his parents bugged. Police told the man they don’t do such tasks and suggested he find a private business to do so. - Police were told a man was driving a power scooter drunk and throwing beers at people. Police were unable to locate him. 7/24 - A syringe was found near the pumps at a gas station on Grand Coulee Avenue. Police collected it to be destroyed. 7/25 - The panic alarm at the credit union’s ATM machine on Midway Ave...
A wildfire in the Hellgate Game Preserve on the Colville Reservation has burned about 2,500 acres, pitting firefighters against steep, rocky terrain, and rattlesnakes. About 45 firefighters are working on the Williams Flats fire some 7 miles southeast of Keller. A press release from the Colville Tribes Dept. of Natural Resources Friday afternoon said one evacuation had been ordered and that one home was threatened in the remote area north of Lake Roosevelt. Tribal officials are asking boaters...
A house in Delano was raided July 16 as part of a larger drug bust in Eastern Washington involving hundreds of officers of multiple law enforcement agencies that served 19 search warrants in three counties. A federal search warrant was issued and executed on a house on Lake View Boulevard on the morning of July 16, confirmed Jodie Underwood, a public information officer at the Drug Enforcement Administration in Seattle. Underwood was unable to say if anyone was arrested at the Delano residence. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and...
A young cowboy rides a bucking bull at the Ridge Rider's Junior Rodeo July 19. The two-day event featured bucking bulls, bucking broncs, barrel racing, and much more for the young competitors. See the results on page 5. - Jacob Wagner photo... Full story
Grant Coulee turned down the idea of turning over a stretch of B Street to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation near where USBR’s new fire station is being built. The idea came up in May at the city’s council meeting with possible benefits including not having to maintain the road and putting the dollar savings towards other streets. B Street is currently closed from where it intersects Division Street to SR-155 because of construction on the USBR fire station being built along SR-155. The street is also used as an alternative route through and aro...
Grant PUD’s credit rating just increased, somewhat easing an area of concern fanned during last fall’s election season. The utility’s debt had become a political issue during last year’s campaigns for PUD commissioner spots, with those winning having been critical of the level of debt carried and others saying it was appropriate, sustainable and better than drastically raising rates. S&P Global Ratings last month upgraded from AA to AA+ the credit rating of Grant PUD’s electric system, citing strong, sustained finances and risk managemen...
Lake Roosevelt Schools' SHARP Kids program, which includes academic as well as hands-on activities, will continue for another five years after receiving a grant that will fund the program with approximately $270,000 a year via the 21st Century grant. "Through the efforts of a substantial number of people in our school and community, and outside of our community (including grant writer Joyce Garrett out of Wenatchee), we were awarded the 21st Century Community Learning Center grant," said Nancy...
It's not easy swimming to the ocean and back. The Grand Coulee Library hosted a presentation titled "Swimming with the Salmon: The Epic Survival Game" June 17, in which children learned "about the life cycle of salmon, as well as efforts river partners throughout the region take to help salmon overcome the obstacles they encounter on their epic journey," according to a press release from Grant PUD which presented the program. "Everyone will get a better appreciation of salmon and their...
Grand Coulee Police 7/17 - People on King Street said they would pick up any wood that fell out of their red pickup truck near the “old Grand Coulee highway,” as was reported. A woman wanted on warrants was hiding in a clothes dryer at a King Street residence police were allowed to search. The woman was arrested and taken to jail. A man known to be wanted on a warrant was spotted at the 4-Corners gas station, arrested, and taken to jail. 7/17-18 - An intoxicated man at apartments near Lakeview Avenue in Electric City “was not having a good...
Working with lavender is some of the most pleasant smelling work a person can do. Mary Jo Monteith, who lives on 38 acres out along SR-174 in the general area of Spring Canyon, grows about 1,400 lavender plants on her property that looks like a big patch of purple from the highway. She's grown lavender there for a dozen years or so, originally to just help suppress the weeds, and has made soap and sold a few lavender plants over the years. This year, a new and different opportunity arrived....
Despite criticism from their fire chief, the postmaster and a businessperson who says she’ll lose two-thirds of her parking, the Electric City council last week accepted a $1.1 million bid from Wheeler Excavation for street and sidewalk work that could begin as soon as August. Some of the projects have come under criticism from citizens in recent months. A sidewalk project — along Coulee Boulevard from Taylor Avenue to Western Avenue, and from Western to Grand Avenue near city hall — has stirred controversy. With the stretch of Western Avenu...
The city of Coulee Dam may get a big loan and grant package to pay for added improvements to the sewage handling system, including paying for two new “lift stations” to pump the material to the new wastewater filtration plant. The city council Wednesday authorized the mayor to sign an application for “wastewater subsequent funding” from the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development office. The funding package would provide a $304,000 loan and a $909,000 grant to pay for lift stations on both the west and east sides of town. The curre...
Citizens in Electric City could find their future July 4 plans for explosives thwarted if the city council adopts a new law banning fireworks. The Electric City council discussed adopting such an ordinance at their July 9 council meeting. Councilmember Rich McGuire brought the idea up, citing Coulee Dam’s similar code banning fireworks in that city. Councilmember Lonna Bussert described fireworks debris being left behind in the triangle-shaped parking area outside city hall. A man in the audience added that the fireworks went on for over t...
The Colville Business Council, the main governing body of the Colville Confederated Tribes, selected officers and committee chairs Thursday, following the recent election for seven of the 14 seats on the council. Rodney Cawston, of the Nespelem District, will continue to serve as chairman of the CBC, elected by acclamation on June 11, according to a press release from the tribes. Jack Ferguson, of the Keller District, was elected vice-chairman; and Joel Boyd, of Inchelium, was selected as...
The gate for access to Marina Way on the east side of Grand Coulee Dam and Lake Roosevelt will close at 7:30 p.m. each day through Sept. 1, instead of access being open from dawn until dusk. “The decision for closing access to Marina Way in the evening is not a result of funding, but rather a desire to more efficiently use the Security Response Force staff at Grand Coulee Dam,” Public Affairs Specialist for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Lynne Brougher told The Star in an email. Brougher said that security personnel are looking into opt...
Grand Coulee Police 6/28 - A man reportedly punched out the window of his girlfriend’s PT Cruiser during an argument in which she said she was breaking up with him because she wants him to stop smoking meth. The man was wanted on a felony warrant out of Seattle. About two blocks away, an officer contacted the man along SR-174. The man didn’t cooperate with police who told him he was under arrest, and he fled up a steep hill along the highway. Officers were unable to reach him. Officers from Grant County, the National Parks Service, as well as...