News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 6531
Ice fishers and other recreators are urged to stay off the ice on Banks Lake, which will soon become unstable if it isn't already. The Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam will begin pumping water into Banks Lake, beginning Saturday, Feb. 22, at 10 p.m. This influx of water may result in unstable ice conditions that present serious safety risks to all ice fishers and recreationists, Reclamation announced this week. The change in operation will conclude on Monday, Feb. 24, at 6 a.m.... Full story
Olivia gets a gentle send off by her mom at North Dam Park Sunday evening. The 5-year-old was undeterred by the increasing presence of grass amid the snow that had been several inches thick earlier in the day. From Thursday on, we're heading into a warming trend in the next week. Check the weather prediction on page 3. - Scott Hunter photo...
Results of the school levy election last week remain nearly unchanged since election night with the levy passing with a 5.26% margin, 574-517. Proposition 1, the Grand Coulee Dam School District’s proposal to replace its expiring levy with a new one at the end of this year, will tax property owners about $2.13 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. County canvassing boards must certify the election on Friday, Feb. 21....
Elmer City residents may notice their city bill gets a boost next month. Effective March 1, each service will cost another $1, following the passage Thursday of an ordinance increasing the monthly fee for garbage, water and sewer service by a dollar each for the bill that comes due in April. The council also passed an ordinance instituting an ongoing, planned utility rate rise of 1.5% every year, beginning in 2026. Both the $1 rise this year and the future 1.5% annual increase starting next year were discussed during council budget discussions...
The Washington State Patrol will soon have a new tool to catch drivers speeding through highway work zones. Starting in a few weeks, a speed camera mounted on an orange trailer will rotate through work zones across Washington in a bid to keep workers safe on state highways. State officials showed off the new technology in a press conference Wednesday. The camera will look for cars going over the speed limit and take pictures of the vehicle and its license plate. You don’t have to smile; the photos won’t capture faces. Captured information will... Full story
Citizens unhappy with the direction of the federal government under President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who heads up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, marched with signs Monday from noon to 1 p.m. along Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee. A week earlier, Sheri Edwards had walked the route alone. On Monday, President's Day, the number climbed to 13 like-minded people. Several said they were pleasantly surprised by positive responses, and no negative ones, from passersby honking horn...
Seven people were involved in a two-car crash Saturday near the top of Grand Coulee Dam on SR-155. Three were injured and taken to Coulee Medical Center. According to a Washington State Patrol press memo, a 2007 Black BMW driven by Aidan Palmanteer, 18, Grand Coulee, was headed south at 4:51 p.m. when it crossed the center line into the northbound lane, striking a 2004 Nissan Armada. Both cars were totaled. The Nissan, driven by Jesus Llamas, 48, Grand Coulee, was also carrying four passengers: a 10-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl, a...
February 21, 1942, only 76 days following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Julius Otto Kuehn was found guilty of spying and sentenced to be executed. In November 1941, Kuehn had offered to sell intelligence on U.S. warship movement in the area of Hawaiian to the Japanese. Kuehn was a member of the Nazi party and arrived in Hawaii in 1935. The FBI was suspicious of him and his contacts with Germans and Japanese. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the FBI raided the Japanese Consulate and found officials burning reams of paper. Those...
A tax levy to support local schools was passing by about a 5% margin Tuesday night. Proposition 1, the Grand Coulee Dam School District's proposal to replace its expiring levy with a new one at the end of this year, seeks to tax property owners $2.13 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. In the four counties the district serves, the proposal was passing by 422-383 votes Tuesday, that is, by about 52.42%. The measure needs a simple majority to pass. If it were up to Lincoln County voters, it would...
About 1,500 protesters swarmed the Capitol in Olympia Feb. 5 to protest Trump administration policies on immigration, LGBTQ+ rights and plans laid out in Project 2025, a conservative playbook for slashing the size of government. The protest was part of a nationwide effort to stage rallies in every state capital on the same day. Most attendees said they learned of the planned protest through social media and word of mouth. Olympia resident Rita Homan said her daughter told her and decided to...
One woman walked through Grand Coulee Wednesday in solidarity with demonstrators in state capitals across the country decrying actions taken by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency over the last few weeks. Sheri Edwards, a retired schoolteacher (and this writer's wife) decided Monday that she would join the protests, but not at Olympia, here locally. Edwards carried a sign that said, "Love thy neighbor as thyself. You and I are neighbors" and, on the other...
They served pink cookies to go with their pink shirts Monday morning to help celebrate a big gift to Coulee Medical Center and the difference it will make in local detection of breast cancer. After a promotional blitz with a theme of "Now Screening" designed to look like a cinematic release, CMC officials officially cut the ribbon on a new 3D mammography machine. "Early detection is crucial in the fight against breast cancer, and this new equipment will provide higher-quality images, reduce...
How much do people pay to support their local schools? After a fundraising dinner cooked entirely by the school's culinary arts students, citizens in Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High's HUB Thursday took in those facts and more on the upcoming school levy election. Cory Plager, of D.A. Davidson, a bonding company involved in building schools across the state, shared information he gathered from officials in counties included in the Grand Coulee Dam School District and from the state. "This is no opinion... Full story
Some far-off rodent in another state indicated this week that we'd have six more weeks of winter when he saw his shadow on Feb. 2. Oh, well, not so bad if we can occasionally take in a view like this sunset over Steamboat Rock, is it? - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
Students, parents, educators and activists with the advocacy group Billion Dollar Bake Sale gathered outside the Legislative Building in Olympia Jan. 30 to demand more money for public schools. "Fund our schools, no more crumbs," students chanted as they expressed frustrations over current school funding. The group wants an additional $3 billion for education, well above the $1.3 billion in the proposed budget of former Gov. Jay Inslee. Huda Hamed, a seventh grader in the Seattle Public School...
A person died in an early-morning fire Monday when a home at the corner of B Street and Second Street in Grand Coulee burned. Fire Chief Ryan Fish said the single-wide mobile home was fully engulfed the first time he saw it, and he lives across the street. Citizens called it in at 5:24 a.m. They also "took actions to save two dogs from the yard," a Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department press release states. Fish was at the scene at 5:29. Fish called for response from the U.S. Bureau of...
Superintendent Rod Broadnax’s contract with the Grand Coulee Dam School District he leads was just extended by his bosses — the elected school board directors. The board met in a closed session during part of Monday night’s regular meeting to evaluate their employee, then emerged to take a vote, which was unanimous among those present. Director Buffy Nicholson was absent. Broadnax’s three-year contract was extended one year ago, when he was given a pay increase to $160,000 a year, plus cost of living increases. Monday’s action extends i...
During the coldest months of the year, home heating equipment kicks into high gear, and space heaters are most often responsible for home heating equipment fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The NFPA reports that an average of 45,800 home heating fires occurred each year between 2015 and 2019, resulting in 480 civilian deaths, 1,350 civilian injuries, and $1 billion in property damage. In Washington state, fires started by home heating are the third leading...
The Lake Roosevelt Culinary Arts program will offer a pork chili verde fundraiser at 5 p.m. Jan. 30, which will be followed by the Levy Town Hall meeting at 6 p.m., where people can learn and discuss the proposed school levy. They will be both be in the Hub at Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High School....
A new team of federal personnel attended the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District meeting at the old middle school Jan. 22, to meet with district commissioners and get a sense of how to move forward during a transition. Bill Dykes, Stefani Utter, Chloe Johnson and Lauriann Mountjoy, all with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation are the new resources group that will work with the district that currently oversees North Dam Park, which is owned by Reclamation. "We're here to see what are options and...
A state agency has raised the question with Electric City of whether it might consider re-annexing some of the land it de-annexed last year after annexing it several years ago. Mayor Diane Kohout told the city council last week that some of the land the city had been advised could not be developed into valuable real estate actually could be. Land owned by the state's Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, can be developed with local partners. In fact, the land on which Sunbanks Lake Resort...
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Legislators are considering financially supporting police departments large and small as they try to hire new officers in the name of boosting public safety. Speaking at a hearing in the Senate Law and Justice Committee Tuesday morning, State Senator Jeff Holy (R-Cheney) said Seattle police had one of their best recruiting years in 2024, drawing in 84 new officers. However, he said a large number of existing officers left, ultimately adding two or three officers on net. "...
Local voters will be asked to decide whether to approve continuing to tax themselves to support schools next month. The election date is Feb. 11. Mail-in ballots were to be mailed yesterday, Jan. 22, but the Post Office says to allow a week for your ballot to arrive. The Grand Coulee Dam School District is seeking a levy of about $2.13 per thousand dollars of assessed property value. That would replace the current levy, which expires at the end of 2025. The new one would bring in over $967,461 in 2026 and rise yearly if property values continue...
The Yes Committee will be meeting Wednesday, January 22nd at 3:45 PM at Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High School in room C105 in support of the replacement levy vote. To get involved, email josephtynan3@gmail.com or just show up ready to support our schools!...
Early morning sun Tuesday gives the top of Grand Coulee Dam a warm, deceptive glow that gives little hint of 13 degrees. For local weather expectations, see weather on thi page.. - Gwen Hilson photo...