News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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More than 50 people gathered at the Wine Bar in Grand Coulee Thursday to discuss the idea of consolidating some or all local towns into one. SCJ Alliance, a consulting firm for municipal planning, engineering, transportation and landscape architecture, sent four representatives to attend and lead the discussion, which was organized by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. The firm's Dan Penrose led most of the discussion and passed out an illustration of the "Path to Consolidation"...
"I need some new socks." That is a common experience among human beings in the 21st century. But with the closing of The Variety Store last year, where does a Coulee-ite buy something as basic as socks? Local area residents seem to all make regular trips to Spokane, Moses Lake, or Omak to purchase things they can't buy in the area. Either they buy those things in another city, or they order them online from a business such as Amazon. Those The Star asked all said they make regular trips to one... Full story
The city of Grand Coulee was presented with a plaque commemorating perfect compliance in regard to their wastewater treatment plant. The award was presented Sept. 18 before the city council by Kim Prisock of the Department of Ecology, the fourth year in a row Grand Coulee has won the award. “As far as our region goes,” Prisock said, “you’re one of the few that has achieved perfect compliance, which means there were no violations, you operated within your permit limits the entire time, and that you didn’t miss a single sample.” Prisock est...
Emergency responders work to extract a Selland Construction worker from a scraper on Peter Dan Road Sept. 19, where the company was doing construction. "We had an operator error, the machine shut down, and he lost control of it, ended up down the hill," said Michael Hoven of Selland Construction. "The operator is fine, no injuries except a slight swelling in his bicep." - Ralph Rise photo...
Grant PUD commissioners will host three budget hearings before adopting the utility’s 2019 budget. The budget hearings are held in locations throughout the county, the utility said in a press release Monday. The hearings will include a presentation about planned expenses and revenues for 2019, as well as an opportunity for the public to provide comment. The budget reflects how the utility plans to continue serving customers “with affordable and reliable energy,” it said. The commissioners will formally adopt the 2019 budget before the end o...
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that a victim of theft is offering a $5,000 reward. The victim of the theft of construction equipment from a worksite near 4th St. S.E. and S. Kansas Ave. in East Wenatchee, between Sept. 5 and Sept. 10, is offering a $5,000 reward for the recovery of all stolen equipment and the arrest and successful prosecution of those responsible. The stolen equipment includes several different models of Trimble GPS units inside Pelican cases, a Stihl saw, Kubota RTV, and Prototek Line Finder. “This is a ver...
Grand Coulee Police 9/25 - A man was booked into Grant County Jail on charges of domestic violence and intimidating a public servant after after a police officer reported seeing a female subject being to the ground. - A 911 hangup call turned out to be a Coulee Gas employee trying to report a drunken driver leaving in a car. Grand Coulee police informed Coulee Dam police about the possible DUI. - A woman’s car was towed after she was pulled over near the overlook area just above Grand Coulee Dam for having an expired registration. The driver d...
The topic of local area towns consolidating into one will be discussed at the Wine Bar on Main Street in Grand Coulee on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend the informal meeting, described as a social event. The open discussion will be attended by representatives from SCJ Alliance, a company that was involved in the consolidation of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a combination of Army and Air Force bases south of Tacoma, and who will be able to answer questions concerning the logistics of such an ambitious idea. A survey on...
If you're thinking of driving to Elmer City to take a look at the fire, don't. The road is blocked. High winds threw the fire across the highway 155 tonight after a fire started in the trailer court below the highway. Details are sketchy now, but one person with a radio said at least three mobile homes had burned, and from a vantage point a couple miles away the fire apparently had burned up a ravine that skirts the town to its south, threatening houses on the hillside. A fire truck drove up to... Full story
The Grand Coulee city council voted to extend the closure of B Street through October 2019 while the United States Bureau of Reclamation continues to build their fire station off of Highway 155. "We would like to think that they're going to bring the road to a better condition than it was," said Mayor Paul Townsend. Construction on the building began in April 2017, and the council laughed about the length of time construction seems to be taking. The bureau awarded the $13.6 million construction...
A literal power struggle is going on in Grant County, and an electric utility commissioner explained Grant PUD's policies to chamber of commerce members last week. Commissioner Terry Brewer said the county's irrigators don't like the path the PUD commissioners set when they decided that the utility's core customers, including irrigators, would always get cheaper power made at the PUD's Priest Rapids Dam. That policy also puts the utility on a course to lessen the subsidy that keeps rates for...
When his head isn't buried in an engineering textbook, Scott Abrahamson spends his time jumping from one bareback horse to another in races. The 2016 Lake Roosevelt salutatorian, Abrahamson continues to excel at academics, pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering at Eastern Washington University, where he recently pulled a 3.8 grade-point average. "All through school, he was pulling 4.0s," his mother, Gina Palmer said. "He's always been super smart. He was in the advanced classes."...
The Bureau of Reclamation was fined $115,500 by the Environmental Protection Agency for hazardous waste handling violations at the Grand Coulee Dam. The EPA said in a press release Tuesday that the action was taken at the request of the state of Washington’s Department of Ecology. “We conducted this inspection at the Dam at the Department of Ecology’s request and found some areas of non-compliance,” said Chris Hladick, EPA Regional Administrator in Seattle. “Proper handling and management of hazardous waste is a serious responsibility that prot...
Grand Coulee is still considering an ordinance addressing the problem of drug houses. Councilmember Tom Poplawski updated the council on the endeavor the city started looking at earlier this year. A nuisance or drug house, with a history of crimes occuring there, or of people being charged with crimes while staying there, could be boarded up for a year. In such an instance, the city would report the house, and a Grant County Superior Court judge would look at the case to approve or deny the seizure of the property. Poplawski said he has...
A Nespelem man was airlifted to Sacred Heart hospital in Spokane Friday night after a police chase ended in a wreck in a ravine. At 9:53 p.m. Sept. 21, Jeremiah Wippel, 41, was allegedly attempting to elude Coulee Dam police officer Michael Sullivan when high speeds led Wippel to strike a guardrail on a turn near milepost 31, north of Elmer City. The car Wippel was driving came to a rest on its top in a ravine near the rock cut. Officer Sullivan had attempted to pull Wippel over after seeing Wippel speeding 39 miles per hour in a 20 mph zone...
A private water association that provides water services to residents in the Delano area is maxed out in its ability to provide water to people and expressed interest in Grand Coulee taking it over. The New Columbia Water Association buys water from Grand Coulee, then provides it to their clients. Wayne Fowler, who has developed property within the association’s boundary lines, has requested water service, which the association approved. But their equipment — pipes, pumps, and meters — are is essentially at their limits as far as provi...
Grand Coulee Police 9/13 - A man pulled over on 2nd St. was cited with driving without insurance and failure to use his turn signal. - A woman was cited for speeding, going 45 mph in the 30 mph zone near Pole Park. - A man driving a U-Haul was cited with going 40 mph in the 30-mph zone near Pole Park. He was also cited for not having a valid license. 9/14 - A person requested a welfare check on a man who lives at the Continental Heights apartments. The subject wasn’t home, but a neighbor said he was visiting his friend in Moses Lake. - An o...
Figuring out how to combine needed upgrades on two old school buildings is expected to save money, so the firm McKinstry is currently performing an “audit” of the former middle school, and on the former high school, referred to now as the Career Technical Education building. McKinstry, a “design, build, operate and maintain firm,” will identify things that can be fixed in these buildings, such as lighting, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, roofing, windows, doors and more, and to use that information to create big projects on which t...
A study of the Bureau of Reclamation’s problems in attracting qualified employees to the area is leading to broader avenues of local communication and could even result in the privatization of some federal land. “In all the places I’ve worked in the United States, I’ve never seen this situation,” Jeffrey Simons, of Stantec, told the local Rotary club last Wednesday. “Not only do you have four communities, but you have multiple counties and the tribes.” Simons, who also spoke to the chamber of commerce’s Economic Development Committee the n...
Chickenpox in county Grant County Health District is warning it has identified cases of chickenpox in county schools. “Chickenpox is a contagious, vaccine-preventable disease that can have serious complications (including death), especially for those who are immune compromised or have other health conditions,” a press release from the district states. Park Orchard Elementary, North Elementary and Longview Elementary have “confirmed and probable” cases, and the spread to other schools is highly likely. There was also an exposure on Sept. 7...
Runners and walkers finish up their Run the Dam routes on Saturday at the south end of Banks Lake Park. With a cool day that only hinted at rain, the run and the chamber of commerce's Harvest Festival were busy with people, vendors and the Pacific Northwest's top competitors in a barbecue competition. - Scott Hunter photo...
The topic of consolidating local area towns will be discussed in a social setting at the Wine Bar in Grand Coulee Sept. 27 at 5:30 p.m. and the public is invited to attend. Attending will be three representatives from SCJ Alliance, a company that specializes in land use, engineering, outreach, and facility planning and which was involved in the consolidation of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, a combination of Army and Air Force bases south of Tacoma. The representatives will be able to answer questions about the topic. Consolidating towns is not a...
Are recreational vehicles taking up city lots that could be used for houses? That’s a concern officials at Electric City have. At the Sept. 11 city council meeting, City Clerk Russ Powers brought an emerging issue to the council’s attention to see if they wanted to leave things alone, or take some form of action. Currently, people can buy a lot and park multiple RVs on it, often just for a summer spot for people who like to fish or vacation in the area. “Instead of buying a house or building a house, they’ll just create a lot with an RV on i...
Jason Bauer, whose Warpig BBQ won the grand champion prize at the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce's Harvest Festival competition, displays his trophy and winnings envelope Sunday after getting the award from chamber President Kerry Higgins, right. Bauer took home $2,000 from the event. - Scott Hunter photo...
In a legal victory for the Colville Tribes against international mining giant Teck Metals Ltd., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Friday affirmed lower court rulings holding Teck responsible for cleaning up its releases of hazardous substances in the upper Columbia River. “The Colville Tribes is very pleased that the Ninth Circuit agrees that Teck has polluted our river for decades and that the company is responsible for the costs of cleanup,” Colville Business Council Chairman Rodney Cawston said Friday in a news release. “This has been...