News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Tim Lynch was honored by the American Legion Department of Washington as Humanitarian of the year at their annual convention July 18. Last year Lynch was out walking when he noticed heavy black smoke pouring from an attached garage. It appeared the fire was entering the house. He called 911. He knocked on the front door. As he was still on the phone, an air conditioning unit was pushed out of a window. He grabbed a toddler that was passed through the opening. A second person, a young teen, came...
Nespelem School District’s new superintendent, Linda McKay, has spent much of her first month on the job managing wildfire fallout instead of easing into the role. In a report to the school board July 27, McKay said her first 27 days were “a month unlike any other,” shaped by the Kaiser Canyon fire, evacuations and smoke damage to the school. McKay has been at the LR shelter or otherwise involved in fire response on roughly 12 of the last 15 days, working closely with tribal emergency management officials Brian Quill and Andrea Carden. At one p...
Summer is the perfect time to discover something new. Join the Summer Library Program, attend free family events, explore books and movies, and find programs happening across North Central Washington. Celebrate 250 Years of American History Explore America’s history through books, films, and conversations that invite curiosity, reflection, and learning. This month’s programs and collections highlight both inspiring achievements and the complex stories that have shaped our nation. There’s Still Time to Join Summer Reading There’s still plenty...
Homes were lost in minutes, animals raced for refuge, people fled ahead of flames as the Kaiser Canyon Fire grew relentlessly this week from a few acres on the morning of July 16 to more than 68,000 Tuesday. Firefighters and volunteers managed to save Nespelem proper. Several people credited the Palmer family with working tirelessly on bulldozers to create fire breaks around outlying homes that could have burned without that protection. On Monday, a drive through the area, still closed off on th...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District board will meet in a special online meeting via Zoom Thursday, July 30, at noon for the purpose of passing the 2026-27 school year budget, discussed Monday night in a public hearing. Approval of Budget Resolution 26-27/01 is the only thing on the agenda, along with public comment after that approval. No other items can be discussed. The Zoom link can be found at the bottom of the district's homepage at gcdsd.org, or here: https://gcdsd.zoo... Full story
Electric City's new Ray Halsey Memorial Park opened this week with applause, laughter and memories of the longtime mayor who "always wanted a park for the people." The park, years in the making, was celebrated as a model of volunteerism and partnership between the city, local nonprofits and businesses. Speakers praised the committee that planned and built the project, the city's public works crew that rushed to finish details, and the late Mayor Ray Halsey, whose legacy now bears the park's name...
Neighbors frustrated by growing disorder on Dill Avenue pressed Grand Coulee City Council members Tuesday night to crack down on what they described as dangerous and unsanitary conditions on two nearby properties. Resident Mike Coffee, who lives on Dill Avenue, told the council he has dealt with repeated thefts, suspected illegal power hookups, and human waste being dumped on the ground outside a neighboring trailer. Coffee said one man living in the trailer was caught on his security cameras cutting wires from the front of his boat. Coffee...
Washington State Standard July 21, 2026 A Washington judge has ordered the state to pay roughly $120 million to thousands of public school teachers for withholding interest on pension contributions they made more than two decades ago. But those more than 26,000 teachers will need to wait for payments, as the state is now appealing the decision. Washington’s Department of Retirement Systems concedes it’s liable in some form, but disagrees on the magnitude of the penalty. The agency declined to... Full story
Electric City will begin shopping around for possible providers of police services, voting Tuesday night to send out a request for proposals to nearby agencies, including other cities’ departments and county sheriff’s offices. The RFP seeks a comprehensive, turnkey law enforcement package. The selected agency would be responsible for: 24/7 response to all 911 calls originating in Electric City Routine patrols by vehicle and on foot, including park patrols, business checks, residential vacation checks and traffic enforcement Criminal inv...
Elmer City is working on handling a parking problem in town by enforcing an ordinance that says cars not in compliance can be towed after seven days, with notice. Town Clerk Kelly Ross said she would have a revised ordinance ready for the council to consider next month that aligns with current reality. The current ordinance was passed in 1950, and assigns the job of tagging non-compliant parked rigs to the town marshal, which the town hasn’t had for decades. The 1950 ordinance, number 28, states the offender can be made to pay the cost of a...
Dance competitions at the the 2026 Nespelem July Celebration Powwow....
July 14, 2026 High school seniors in Washington would need to complete student aid paperwork to graduate, under a proposal Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Monday. If students didn't want to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, they could sign an agreement to opt out. Ferguson will press for lawmakers to approve the requirement during the next legislative session, which begins in January. Around half of Washington families qualify for higher education financial aid, according to...
When it gets underway, repairs to the bridge deck over the Columbia River in Coulee Dam on SR 155 will take weeks. The work was scheduled to start Monday, July 13 and end about Aug. 21, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. with one-lane traffic. About halfway through the project, the bridge will close at night and open once each hour. - Scott Hunter photo...
Firefighters are responding to a wildfire above Lake Roosevelt in Lincoln County about a mile upstream from Spring Canyon.... Full story
A few words of thanks and a ribbon cutting opened up a long-hidden part of the Grand Coulee Dam Project Thursday, as Bureau of Reclamation officials beamed to share a smaller but very interesting engineering feat, an old model of the Grand Coulee Dam at 1:60 scale. The model, most of which was hidden from view after it last operated as a tool for hydrologic research in 1952, was built to give engineers a way to test different water flow scenarios, measuring the results in the included scale...
Many recounted great times had over the Independence Day weekend at The Festival of America, until the finale on America's 250th birthday celebration. That's when, as everyone looked up, a few fireworks haltingly shot toward the sky from the top of Grand Coulee Dam, until they just stopped a few minutes after starting, later igniting fireworks of a different kind on Facebook. A technical problem with the fireworks had led to a fire. That had to be dealt with quickly, then technicians had to...
Bridge repairs originally planned to start July 6 will now start a week later, on Monday, July 13 and are scheduled to conclude Aug. 21with this "emergency" fix. Travelers will encounter slowdowns, lane closures and delays, a Washington State Department of Transportation release stated. For this "temporary" repair, contractor crews next week will start repair of the bridge's expansion joints. They will remove existing asphalt and install steel plates to hold the bridge deck panels in place and...
Electric City's new park will officially open and be named for longtime Mayor Ray Halsey June 16 at 5 p.m. That's the date set for the city's annual Electric City Community BBQ in the lawn area behind city hall, and the park committee has been aiming to get the park open by that date. Several volunteers, including Mayor Blake Martin, Councilmembers Cheryl Hoffman and Robbin Boyce and more were laying sod one week earlier on Thursday morning. The park will feature two sets of playground...
As the nation celebrates 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Grand Coulee Dam area is celebrating too, and at the Festival of America that means three days with kids' games, fun, a beer garden, and vendors, and two afternoons and evenings with live music, then the culmination of the festival with fireworks off the top of Grand Coulee Dam on July 4th. See our guide to the festival in this issue's second section. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, which... Full story
The SR-155 bridge over the Columbia River in Coulee Dam will be getting some "emergency repairs" starting next Monday. The Washington State Department of Transportation issued a maintenance alert Monday. Expect alternating one-lane and two-lane traffic, reduced speed limits, and flaggers at milepost 28 until Aug. 17 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. while crews perform emergency repairs on the bridge deck. Above, a look at the type of problems that have been developing and local drivers have been concerned... Full story
Town council members last week turned down a request from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to amend their fiber optics franchise with Coulee Dam, with the mayor arguing the change would interfere with a longplanned power line replacement project. At the June 24 council meeting, Mayor Bob Poch said the proposed fiber easement would run in the same narrow corridor where the town and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation have been working for 15 to 17 years to replace electrical feeders 1 and 3 coming down the hill into town. The...
Federal grants will help four communities expand broadband access in underserved and unserved areas of the state, including the Colville Tribes, Communities in Island, Kitsap and Okanogan counties will receive a combined $5.1 million for four broadband projects to enhance online education, telehealth, public safety and local economic development opportunities, while extending reliable, high-speed broadband access to unserved or underserved households and businesses, a release from the state Department of Commerce stated this week. The funding...
A man walks on the sidewalk along highway 155 approaching Grand Coulee Dam, where the Bureau of Reclamation adorned fences and walls with patriotic buntings and American flags on light poles amidst a community contest those planned inspired. - Scott Hunter photo...
After a commissioner work session at 8:30 a.m. Monday morning, the Board of County Commissioners chose not to ban the sales or discharge of fireworks for unincorporated Grant County (outside city limits). The open public meeting included a statement from the fire marshal, discussion with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, and public comments, a press release from the commissioners stated. They urge the public to use fireworks safely during the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The fire marshal has determined that extreme fire danger exists based...
Kids and parents spent a fun and possibly exhausting, in a good way, day Saturday as local businesses rallied to provide lots to do the day before Father's Day. Led by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, they've been doling out that fun at the Koulee Kids Fest apparently since 2004. It's not all altruism. The initial thought back then was that such an event would encourage people to step into local businesses, look around a little and maybe come back. In the meantime, families would b...
