News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Those of you who are still wondering where the big sculpted wood fish has gone, just be patient, it might soon be back. You will recall the big blow back in July 2012, when one of the region’s fiercest wind storms toppled a couple of evergreen trees in Mason City Park. The freak storm became an opportunity to create artwork for the town (now a city) as then-mayor Quincy Snow, himself an artist, convinced the council it would be a great idea to use some hotel/motel money and have someone carve figures on the two remaining stumps. Snow had s...
The Northwest Native Development Fund recently received a $32,000 grant to grow its arts program, the lending agency announced this week in a press release. The grant from the First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colorado, will support the efforts of the NNDF’s Plateau Native Arts Project. “We are really excited to receive this grant from FNDI. This will greatly help our already growing arts program,” said Ted Piccolo, NNDF executive director. “This will help us expand our annual Art Show, open an arts gallery for tourists, and pro...
A turkey problem in Electric City is more complicated that it seems. The council had invited wildlife agent Eric Braaten to its meeting Tuesday night to talk about wild turkeys and what the city could do about their ever-expanding numbers. If council members expected that Braaten represented some kind of Pied Piper that would lead the turkeys out of town, they were disappointed. Braaten lives in the city, on acreage, and often has them on his property. He explained that there was little the city can do about the growing number of turkeys, a...
A far-reaching package of laws aimed at clean water, orca whale protection, and phasing out fish farms in the Salish Sea could come before state legislators this year. Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island plans to introduce the Salish Sea Protection Act that would fund oil spill prevention, update response plans if an oil spill happens, establish rescue tug boat efforts, and coordinate emergency efforts with Canadian officials. His proposed Orca Whale Protection Act is threefold. The bills would focus on restoring the lack of salmon as a food...
Grand Coulee 12/18 - A Fortuyn Road woman reported to police that her bank card had been stolen and some $3,000 had been charged to it. She reported that her bank is working with her to determine who had used the card. 12/28 - The owner of Pepper Jack’s Bar & Grille reported to police that someone had been dumping their garbage in the restaurant’s dumpster. Police looked to see if the culprit could be identified through something that was discarded. The restaurant official said it wasn’t the first time this has occurred. 12/29 - A 20-fo...
Governor Jay Inslee rolled out his most recent proposal to tax carbon emissions across the state of Washington. The proposal he unveiled on Tuesday is sweeping: emissions generated by power plants and transportation fuels — with the exception of airplane jet fuel — would be taxed at $20 per ton, starting July 1, 2019. With annual increases of roughly 3 percent plus inflation, the governor’s office estimates that the proposal would generate roughly $3.3 billion over the next four years. The revenues from the tax would be channeled into a varie...
With the 2018 Washington state legislative session kicking off, a 2016 state Supreme Court decision on water continues to make waves in the House and Senate. The so-called Hirst decision in October 2016 set a precedent that compels local governments and landowners to take into account the availability of water before issuing permits to developers. The decision came after the court determined that Whatcom County had been issuing permit exemptions that violated instream flow rules designed to protect stream water levels. According to the...
A senate committee is considering a bill that could bring an end to some of Washington state’s largest salmon farms. Senate Bill 6086, heard in committee on Tuesday, Jan. 9, is sponsored by 11 Democratic senators and calls for a ban on the use of Atlantic salmon and other non-native fish in marine aquaculture. The bill was introduced by Sen. Kevin Ranker, D-Orcas Island, as part of his proposed Salish Sea Protection package, which also includes measures to protect orca whales and fund oil spill prevention. SB 6086 comes on the heels of an A...
With a prediction from the National Weather Service for up to 6 inches of snow today and at least one road closure so far, travel plans may be altered. SR 17 is closed due to a collision about halfway between Soap Lake and Coulee City, the Grant County Sheriff's Office said about 10 a.m. Thursday advising motorists to find an alternative route. The National Weather Service in Spokane issued a weather advisory in effect until 4 p.m. today that predicts precipitation will remain in the form of...
A Sammamish couple, and their daughter from Electric City, continue to face barriers as they try to locate a new variety store in the area. Doug and Mary Lou Lockard, and daughter, Launi Ritter, have a variety store on the ready, but no location. The Lockards have tried to lease the building the Variety Store occupied before it closed out late last fall. However, according to Lockard, owners Bill and Stacia Mattson only want to sell the building, at $349,000, not lease it. A realtor handling the property, Chad Blevins, confirmed this Tuesday....
Nespelem School District will start two hours late today, Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. The delay is due to dangerous road conditions.... Full story
Five women determined to start the year wide awake take a quick dip off Spring Canyon's snowy beach on New Year's Day. From left are: Diana Parrish, Tammy Norris, Susan Duclos, Donna Deckman and Gwen Hilson. Hilson said she thinks the event will be publicized next year in case any other like-minded people want to join in on the second annual Coulee Polar Plunge. - Brad Parrish photo...
The chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation said Tuesday that a “notice” published in The Star last week by Lola Campbell warning that she intends to take over a dwelling in Canada owned by the Arrow Lakes Aboriginal Society, has no legal force or effect. “This ‘notice’ is based on the false premise that the Society’s Vallican property in British Columbia was purchased for the Campbell family,” Chairman Michael E. Marchand said. “The fact is that the property was purchased for the benefit of all Sinixt people, and Ms....
Sworn in, but planning a re-do A new mayor and three new Coulee Dam council members swore their oaths of office before Clerk Stefani Bowden Thursday afternoon, Dec. 28, but a more formal and public ceremony is planned for next week. Mayor Larry Price had to be sworn in before the end of the year to avoid a void in city leadership as former mayor Greg Wilder’s term ended as 2017 did. Price said a re-do is planned so anyone who wants to attend, including friends and family of the new officeholders, could do so during the first council meeting o...
Arthur A. French, 39, of New Jersey, was crushed by a concrete block he was stripping in 1937 while working on the Grand Coulee Dam to help support his mother and siblings through the Great Depression. Between the 1930s and the 1980s, at least 82 workers died at the Grand Coulee Dam site, and are now getting more recognition, thanks in part to the efforts of Jacob Miller, who works at the Visitor Center, and Susan Dechant, a researcher for the Northeast Washington Genealogical Society. Miller, w...
The City of Grand Coulee has put off a decision to proceed on a "dangerous" building declaration until at least the end of January. The building once held the museum of Constantinos Vlachos, an inventor and colorful character that was best known for developing the Tri-Phibian automobile, which was powered by a "thermo-hydraulic" motor. Vlachos nearly lost his life when the vehicle caught fire during a Washington D.C. demonstration in 1935. The building in question has been declared "dangerous"...
Four locals paddle their kayaks on New Year's Day at Crescent Bay. It was their third year in a row for the stunt to show that they won't let the elements tell them they can't paddle when they want to. This was their first year at Crescent Bay; Coulee Playland's launch was frozen. Participants, from left, were Rod Harden, Bob and Sandy Hendrickson, and Ross Vordahl. "I try to kayak all year if I can; there's not a lot to do around here," Harden joked. "The secret is to dress really, really...
The annual Trees of Sharing event kicked off Nov. 1 and culminated with the delivery of Christmas gifts to 125 children in 45 families on a snowy Saturday, December 16. The Committee thanks each of the many people in our community who enthusiastically embrace this project and make it possible each year by purchasing gifts for needy children in the Coulee area. We extend special thanks to Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union, Coulee Family Medicine, Harvest Foods, North Cascades Bank, and Safeway Pharmacy for help with collecting children’s names a...
Coulee Dam Police 12/27 - A Tulip Street resident reported that someone had taken an appliance envelope containing a mechanical part off their porch. The report also stated that a Bible study guide was additionally taken from inside the screen door. - A driver whose vehicle crossed the centerline near the Bureau of Reclamation industrial area on SR-155 was given a warning by an officer. - A local officer and officers from the Grand Coulee Police Department responded to a report that someone heard a woman yelling for help. They traced the...
A bill to be introduced this session would eliminate the death penalty in Washington state and require people convicted of first degree murder to serve life sentences without the possibility of parole. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson requested Senate bill 6052 after Senate bills proposing the same legislation did not pass through a committee hearing last year. “I’m reasonably optimistic that this could be the year,” Ferguson said mentioning the bill’s bipartisan sponsorship. “The votes are there.” Despite other legislative...
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee expressed a defiant attitude last week toward U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who announced on Thursday the rescinding of Obama-era guidelines that assisted the legalization of non-medical marijuana in Washington, seven other states and the District of Columbia. Sessions’ announcement came via a memo to U.S. attorneys, in which he referenced the illegality of possessing and distributing marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act. The attorney general suggested that such legislation confirms that marijuana i...
Climate activists erected tents and teepees Monday in front of the Washington State Capitol building, on the opening day of the Legislature's 60-day session. "We are here today in prayer," member of Protectors of the Salish Sea Paul Che Oketen Wagner of the Saanich First Nation of Canada said. Wagner claims under the Medicine Creek treaty of 1854, the legislative grounds are native lands. He said the group hoped to occupy the space between the legislative building and the Washington State...
OLYMPIA, Wash. — While Democrats in the state Legislature have supported enacting a capital gains tax to fund public education in the past, they aren’t itching to pass one this legislative session now that they control both the statehouse and the governorship. At a Thursday morning news conference, Senate Majority Leader Sharon Nelson, D–Maury Island, said that while “everything will be on the table” she doesn’t see much momentum behind passing a capital gains tax assessed on profits derived from the sale of property or other assets this...
With a newfound majority in the Washington Senate, state Democrats have found an early target in firearm regulation as the 2018 legislative session gets set to begin. Senate Bill 6049 would regulate the ownership and manufacturing of large capacity magazines and make them all but illegal in most cases. “Large capacity” refers to any magazine that can hold more than 10 rounds. The bill was requested by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who cited a motivation in mass shootings across the country, including a 2016 shooting at a house party in...
A search for a location for a new variety store is currently underway, and with everything else in place, principals in the business are hopeful for an opening sometime in February. Negotiations are currently stalled on a lease of the Midway Avenue building that until last fall housed The Variety Store, but Launi Ritter said she is also looking for another suitable location for the business. The principal investors would be her parents, Douglas and Mary Lou Lockard, of Sammamish, Washington. Ritter said they are interested in leasing space are...