News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Elmer City leaders Thursday heard their consulting engineer give a rough estimate of $8 million to build an evaporative lagoon system to treat their sewage instead of sending it to Coulee Dam's new facility. Nancy Wetch, of Gray and Osborn, estimated the overall cost at around $8 million, and the cost of all the planning involved could be as high as all the funding available to Elmer City through the state Public Works Board - $800,000, half of it in grant, half loan. A separate facility plan...
Boys’ basketball coach Ed Wolfe, left, gets a pie in his face, while Maddy Carman wipes some from hers, and Caden Portch, right, laughs at both of them. The losing team was supposed to suffer the cream in the Seniors vs Staff basketball game at Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High Thursday night, but you knew it wouldn’t end there. Wolfe got his from Ezekial Broadnax despite being on the winning team. More photos and details are on page 6. — Scott Hunter photo...
Electric City officials are waiting for a formal proposal from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation after an initial discussion about a possible interlocal agreement for permitting and inspections at the tribal golf course area. Mayor Blake Martin reported to the council March 10 that he and another city representative met with tribal officials at the golf course in early March. In that meeting, the Tribes expressed interest in an arrangement that would allow them to issue their own permits and conduct their own inspections for...
An American bald eagle circles near three workers on top of Grand Coulee Dam Monday, where they are beginning to work on maintenance of the drum gates, the large, curved area behind the workers. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
Solveigh Chaffee has been trying to buy the dilapidated building next to her Voltage Coffee House for 10 years. Tuesday night she asked Grand Coulee's City Council to reject a bid to tear it down that would cost much more than it's worth, likely leading to more liens against it. Instead, Chaffee said she would like to bid on the property at auction when the county puts it up for sale for overdue taxes. It was once a little museum that showed people the work of Constantine Vlachos, a local invent...
One person visited with the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board on Monday regarding district plans for handling their budget emergency. "After reading some of the letters to the editor in The Star this week, I wanted to come and just kind of get an understanding from the board as to what cuts are being made and why," Sam Halvorsen said. Halvorsen visited on a day the board had just put off a discussion on an upcoming emergency budget resolution, opting to discuss it at a "workshop" on...
The non-profit organization that puts on events to help get kids into outdoor activities is planning a cleanup of the Osborn Bay area this month. Reel Recreation is planning a push to clean up the area Friday, March 27, starting at 10 a.m. President Nic Alexander told the Electric City Council Tuesday that he took a look at the area and estimated that four 14-foot trailers could be filled. People wanting to get in on the action should show gather at the Little Osborn boat launch, just off the highway at 10 a.m. with gloves and good footwear....
by Scott Hunter Grand Coulee officials are disputing charges Electric City billed them for water-related charges. Mayor Blake Martin said he, City Clerk Peggy Nevsimal and Public Works Director Travis Irwin had met with Grand Coulee officials Feb. 25 to discuss an old balance Grand Coulee was disputing on bills for water systems maintenance items from 2024 and 2025. One item for removal of sludge from a tank for $3,126 was disputed as “not related to treatment, operation or maintenance, in the opinion of Grand Coulee, and we would need to do i...
An area-wide cleanup will be aided once again by extra effort and low or no cost dumping, the Regional Board of Mayors agreed at their last meeting March 4. April 20-May 1 will be the official Spring Cleanup days, with each local city participating in ways that best serve their own citizens. Cities will advertise those specifics with inserts in utility bills, in text alerts via Text My Gov, and an advertisement in The Star to remind people of the basics. In other business, the RBOM also: • a...
WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee Tuesday filed a lawsuit in federal court aiming to force the Trump administration to admit if it plans to send armed federal law enforcement or U.S. troops to polling locations in the upcoming midterm elections. The suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia charges that 11 Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, requests submitted to the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense by the DNC in October have gone unanswered, a violation of p...
Protesters on Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee hold signs and collect food for the food bank Saturday while showing their opposition to Trump administration policies. - Scott Hunter photo...
The geologist Nick Zentner "popped up" at Dry Falls State Park Visitor Center last Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m. in one of his "pop up" events, where the popular prof just shows up to talk with the geologically curious. That was a curiosity he piqued by putting forth a new old idea about the formation of the Grand Coulee. An estimated 120-plus people showed up to the cliff-top venue, where Zentner lectured with his back to the 400-foot chasm and promised not to step backward. Zentner, the "Science...
Washington State Standard March 4, 2026 The votes weren't there yet late Wednesday for Democrats' income tax bill in the Washington state House. Democratic members are withholding support for the proposed income tax on millionaires, saying they want to see if a new version of the controversial legislation, possibly due out Thursday, will satisfy their concerns. Holdouts reportedly number around a dozen and include lawmakers who've publicly opposed the bill and ones who cast themselves as... Full story
Coulee Dam is hoping to finally get the grant funding it applied for to replace over 30 old maple trees removed during a sidewalk replacement project in 2023. The city applied for a grant, which was awarded in February of 2024 for over $71,000 to do the work. The money comes through the state Dept. of Natural Resources with federal funds awarded to the state-managed program. City Clerk Stefani Bowden told the city council Feb. 26 that a federal funding freeze in February of 2025 kept the project from moving forward. as funding was held up kept...
The Lady Raider varsity basketball team leaves the Lake Roosevelt gym after an assembly Tuesday held to send them off to the state tournament in Spokane. Coverage of their victory at the opening round of state in Wenatchee last Saturday is on page 8. - Scott Hunter photo...
Smoke curls off the top of a house at 412 Roosevelt Drive Feb. 26 where firefighters were called about 12:30 p.m. They doused a front porch fire, then found more flames under the house. Crews from Grand Coulee, Electric City, the Bureau of Reclamation, Grand Coulee EMS and Grand Coulee Police responded, had the fire out, and left the scene by 1:54 p.m. - Jacob Wagner photo...
A proposed reduction in high school secretary hours has become a flash point in the Grand Coulee Dam School District’s broader struggle to close a mounting budget gap, with staff warning of strained student support and administrators describing a years-long squeeze of rising costs and falling enrollment. High school secretary Tammy Norris told the school board that trimming one secretary position from 9 to 7.5 hours a day is more than a simple line-item cut. “In a district our size, there is no extra, there is no cushion,” Norris said during th...
The geologist Nick Zentner will be at Dry Falls State Park Visitor Center this coming Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m. in one of his "pop up" events, where the popular prof just shows up to talk with the geologically curious. If you're me, that sounds like a perfect Sunday afternoon. (If you're new here, this is one of the most interesting geological areas on the planet.) Zentner, the "Science Outreach and Education Coordinator" at Central Washington University, shares his knowledge in entertaining... Full story
A pair of bald eagles on Saturday appear to be considering moving into a new home in west Coulee Dam. It's not clear what the osprey couple that have occupied the nest for many years might have to say about it when they make their annual return in a few weeks. The osprey pole was erected by the contractors that put up the large high voltage towers that convey the powerlines across the river to Grand Coulee Dam. The nest was originally on a smaller power tower that was replaced by Wilson...
Grand Coulee’s recently adopted Ordinance 1105 is headed back to committee after city officials concluded they need clearer direction on how to enforce it and how quickly property owners must comply. The council briefly revisited the ordinance near the end of its Feb. 17 meeting, focusing not on whether to keep it, but how to implement it. ClerkTreasurer Lorna Pearce told council members that as staff prepared notification letters to business and property owners, several unanswered questions emerged. Chief among them: Who is the designated o...
OLYMPIA – Sens. Marko Liias, D-Edmonds, and Curtis King, R-Yakima, rolled out their bipartisan supplemental transportation budget Feb. 23, emphasizing its focus on preservation and maintenance, job creation and safety. Liias, the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, said the supplemental budget prioritizes the preservation and maintenance of the state's highways, bridges and ferries, as well as responding to infrastructure damages caused by the December 2025 flood. The proposal introduc...
Five Lady Raiders ended their season at the Tacoma Dome in the 2026 WIAA State Wrestling Mat Classic Feb. 19-Feb. 21, scoring 59 points as a team and placing 20th out of 73 teams. Senior Sienna Atchison finished the season with a 33–16 record and placed fourth at the state tournament. After an early loss, she battled back with four consecutive wins before falling in the medal round. She contributed 20 team points. Senior AJ Cannon finished her season with a 22–19 record and was just one win awa...
If you’ve ever dealt with a construction project, you may realize the near certainty of finding more problems than you planned for. Now apply that concept to an industrial plant built decades ago. The Grand Coulee City Council on Feb. 17 approved a significant electrical upgrade at the city’s wastewater treatment plant and advanced several related engineering agreements with Gray & Osborne, Inc., moves aimed at improving safety, reliability, and longterm compliance at the regional facility. The most expensive of the actions was a roughly $24...
Facing a steep jump in sewer treatment costs, the Elmer City Council voted last week to shift its utility rates, raising sewer charges while cutting water rates in an effort to limit the impact on residents. During a public hearing on Ordinance 393, ClerkTreasurer Kelly Ross laid out the numbers now confronting the town. Under an injunction stemming from a legal dispute with Coulee Dam, Elmer City is being billed $98.98 per household per month for sewer treatment and plant loan repayment alone. That does not include the town’s own sewer c...
If you have an old American Flag that's tattered and torn, official protocol calls for a proper disposal. That involves retiring the nation's symbol with respect, not a trash bag. That's where Addison "AJ" Cannon comes in. Cannon, almost 18, is working on getting her Eagle Scout rank, which involves an ambitious project to supply the local area with flag retirement boxes for used flags. She has been working with American Legion Post 157, which will have a key to the boxes. She presented one...