News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 2616 - 2640 of 6735
A group of protesters gathered outside the Colville Business Council's meeting chambers Friday as part of the council debated a move that would lead to expelling one of their own members. Ethics charges had been filed, dropped and apparently filed again on Councilmember Andrea George, who won a seat at the council last summer to represent the Nespelem District. Amid chants and drumming outside the tribal headquarters Friday, cars and pickups drove by on SR-155 and honked in support of those...
Legislation proposed on the last day of January would largely exempt state legislators from the Public Records Act, according to the attorney who led the fight against a similar bill last year. That bill was passed in a last-minute move after a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled in January 2018 that the Legislature was subject to the Public Records Act and had not been in compliance for years. Both sides appealed the decision and litigation still continues in the Washington Supreme Court. A public outcry over last year’s bill led to the...
OLYMPIA — Lawmakers are pushing for a bill to allow year-round observation of daylight saving time in the state of Washington, with the intention of the practice spreading throughout the country. House Bill 1196 was co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 14 representatives and introduced by Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane. “I want to ditch the switch,” said Riccelli at a public hearing. “We’re already on daylight saving time eight months of the year.” According to the bill, the state and all of its political subdivisions would follow Paci...
It caused a great uproar in the news media and with those living in parts of Canada and the U.S. The Upper Midwest felt the effects of the ever-present Polar Vortex. TV news reporters stood outside showing viewers just how cold the air was — frozen things were displayed for all to see. People shot video of themselves holding frozen shirts, pants or their wet, frozen hair. More importantly, the TV reports and newspaper articles addressed the health consequences of truly cold air. Add some wind t...
Grand Coulee 1/29 - A Burdin Boulevard woman said she watched a man and woman walk past her car. The man allegedly pushed her mirror out of position, the woman put her hands “all over the car,” and the complainant yelled at them to stop. - A man thought to be wanted on a warrant and to recently have run from police was spotted slouched down in a truck on Lakeview Boulevard. Two officers detained the man, who was cleared on the warrant and taken to the police station to be cited and released on charges of resisting arrest and obstructing an offi...
The Colville Tribes responded with a press release last week regarding a controversial decision to approve a contract to round up approximately 1,250 horses from the reservation. The nearly $500,000 contract awarded to Sun J Livestock was approved on Jan. 24. “The Colville Business Council responsibly addressed the need to better protect our lands, water, wildlife and native plants on the reservation with these decisions,” Colville Business Council Chairman Rodney Cawston said in the release, dated Jan. 29. “These decisions also provide a plan... Full story
Good luck to the Lake Roosevelt basketball teams and their fans in Richland today; win or lose (just saw that the girls won 46-43) , they may all have to take a long way home. Washington State Department of Transportation is showing I-82 closed between Yakima and Ellensburg, as well as minor state highways SR-24 and SR-241 through rural areas between here and there. SR 17 closed from Othello north, SR 21 is closed at Washtucna. That might leave US395 to Spokane and US 2 the only way home. But... Full story
Lake Roosevelt Schools will start two hours late Monday, Feb. 11, the school district said Sunday night. The delay is due to expected weather expected to bring several inches of snow overnight....
Hunters and fishers wanting to head to local tribal lands will have to look online to buy their licenses, not at local stores. The Colville Confederated Tribes have launched a website for buying fishing and hunting permits on their reservation and eliminated the service from third-party sellers, such as Coulee Playland. “We have transitioned to an online system,” said Natural Resources Director Cody Desautel in an email to The Star. “Customers can come to [Fish & Wildlife] office buildings and get permits, which is still through the onlin...
Legislation proposed Thursday morning would define how the Public Records Act would apply to members of the Legislature after a 2018 court ruling that the state’s governing body is not exempt from the law. The bill would not satisfy that ruling, according to the lawyer who represented 10 news organizations before a Thurston County Superior Court judge who ruled in January 2018 that the Legislature must comply with the state Public Records Act and had not been in compliance for years. Both sides appealed the decisions and litigation is still ong...
Gary Darnold, who coached cross country for Lake Roosevelt for 40 years, including 38 state meet appearances, was inducted into the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association's Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame on Friday in a ceremony held in Tacoma. Darnold coached the sport from 1977 until 2016, and in that time there has been at least one runner at state 38 times, 21 times the team has gone to state including 185 athletes, and had 15 individual finishes in the top eight at state. "He...
NPS re-opens recreation area after shutdown Following an agreement between Congress and the President last Friday, the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area has “resumed regular winter operations,” a press release from LRNRA stated Monday. “Staff will be out inspecting facilities and making necessary repairs throughout the park,” the release stated. “With reduced winter staffing, this will take time. Please visit www.nps.gov/laro for updated information about the park. “Lake Roosevelt’s employees thank you for your patience and are happy to b...
The Grand Coulee Dam School District is contesting the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s claim in a draft Environmental Assessment concerning the minimal impact it says a project will have on the district. The USBR is planning on a 10-year project to update three generators, G19-21, in the Third Powerhouse starting in 2023, similar to the ongoing project of updating G22-24 that started in 2010, and is estimated to cost $100 million. The USBR’s Environmental Assessment for the proposed G19-21 update, states that the project would have at most 103...
The lights on the Coulee Dam bridge over the Columbia River will enter the 21st Century in the coming spring, when they will be updated from incandescent to LED lights. "We're replacing all the wires that exist on the bridge, and the electrical service, so that the lights will function," said Robert Stull, the transportation engineer and electrical designer for the Washington State Department of Transportation office in Wenatchee. "And we're updating the lights to LED that should have a sort of...
The Colville Business Council took a series of actions on Jan. 24 related to feral horses on the reservation, including changing a law to allow machines such as helicopters to be used in the capture of feral horses, approving a contract to do so, and raising the bounty tribal members receive for removing the horses themselves. The contract with Sun J Livestock is for $478,750 and is for the removal of approximately 1,250 horses. The Tribal Tribune reported the amount but not the name of the contractor. Sun J Livestock removed about 420 horses...
The Nespelem School District has been awarded $2.86 million under a Washington state grant to help small, rural school districts modernize. The award was announced at the district's Monday night school board meeting. Apollo Solutions helped the Nespelem School District apply for the grant. Transportation & Maintenance Supervisor Dave Cirk wrote the grant with help from Jack Horne, Principal Marcy Horne's husband. Cirk said the money will be used to update the electrical system in the school, to...
OLYMPIA — Two lawmakers have proposed a bill to create a state domestic violence offender registry to save lives. Tina Stewart, 30, was beaten to death by her boyfriend on Nov. 24, 2017 at her home in Newman Lake. The police report indicates that she had been kicked and punched repeatedly over her body, as depicted from bruising on Stewart’s face, chest and stomach, explained her uncle, Don Estes. “I read the autopsy report,” said Estes in a testimony about his niece. “It was horrific.” House Bill 1080 is co-sponsored by Rep. Brad Klippert, R...
A proposed bill would double the fine for motorists caught using a cellphone in a school, playground or crosswalk speed zone to up to $234 per infraction, or up to $468 for repeat offenders. Washington’s first law to address texting-while-driving went into effect two years ago, which also prohibited eating and applying makeup. “One of the primary crosswalks I sit at is Mill Creek Elementary,” said Christine White, a patrol officer with the Mill Creek Police Department. “I have seen people on their cell phones talking, texting, reading, doing o...
Grand Coulee Police 1/23 - A man in a wheelchair was reportedly yelling at the manager and tenants at apartments on Continental Street. While an officer spoke with the manager, the man was reportedly yelling about the illuminati, freemasons, ghosts, the Bible, and more. A tenant said she felt threatened by him, and that this has happened before. A few hours later, the same man called police to say some ninjas had been in his home and replaced his old radio with a new one, and that some people had shared top-secret government intelligence with...
Chamber This Week Chamber will meet this Thursday, January 31, at Siam Palace beginning at noon. Chay Heilman will be speaking about the Senior Center’s meals program. Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter of Ice Age Floods Institute to Meet Wenatchee Valley Erratics Chapter of the Ice Age Floods Institute will meet at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the Wenatchee Valley Museum, 127 South Mission, Wenatchee. The speaker is Nick Zentner, the very animated and gifted teacher/geologist from CWU. His topic: Super volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest Why is...
Local residents can ring in the new year with 10 free flowering trees by joining the Arbor Day Foundation anytime during January 2019. By becoming a part of the nonprofit Arbor Day Foundation, new members will receive 10 free flowering trees or five crapemyrtles. The flowering trees include: two Sargent crabapples, three American redbuds, two Washington hawthorns and three white flowering dogwoods. “These stunning trees will beautify your home with lovely flowers of pink, yellow and white colors,” said Matt Harris, chief executive of the Arb...
Tribal leaders reportedly discussed the issue of feral horses on the reservation in a meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 22, and declared a state of emergency, with a proposed law change to be addressed at a Jan. 24 meeting. The tribal Colville Business Council had declined a bid Jan. 8 from Utah-based Sun J Ranch to remove over 1,000 horses from the reservation. The growing population of feral horses are said to have adverse effects on the environment, and overgraze the land which affects wildlife and livestock. But Charlene McCraigie, a tribal member,...
Dakota Green goes airborne over a small jump at North Dam Park Thursday after a quick snow provided the sledding opportunity. Although not much in the way of snow is predicted through Tuesday, some pretty scenes could be coming as freezing fog in the mornings gives way to afternoon sunshine Friday through Sunday, with temperatures ranging from the high 20s to low 40s. See the Weather Watcher Forecast on page 4. - Jacob Wagner photo...
Parking on public streets is allowed, but what happens when it becomes a nuisance? The city of Grand Coulee is trying to find a solution to prevent people from parking in places that are inconvenient for others, such as in front of others' homes, businesses, or churches. The topic came up at the Grand Coulee council meeting on Jan. 15. "A person has multiple vehicles parked pretty much throughout town, taking up on-street parking for residents," City Clerk Lorna Pearce said. "We're constantly...
Musical openings Music & Beyond Ribbon Cutting on Thursday, open-mic Saturday at 7 p.m. A ribbon cutting for the reopening of the Grand Theatre on Main St. in Grand Coulee, now managed by Music & Beyond, will be held Jan. 24 at 1:15 p.m. An open-mic show will be held there on Saturday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m. The event, featuring a variety of entertainment, will cost $5 admission for adults 18 and older, $3 for ages 12-17, and $18 for a family of four. Children ages 11 and under will be granted free admission....