Sorted by date Results 3803 - 3827 of 6735
Port changes meeting time Grant County Port District 7 is changing its meeting time, according to a vote of commissioners last Thursday. The Port District has been meeting at the airport at 5 p.m. the last Thursday of every month. Commissioners, by vote, changed the meeting time to 4 p.m., effective, Thursday, January 26. Brrr! With temperatures dropping as low as 0 in the next few days, don’t forget to leave water running about the width of a pencil in any sinks on an outside wall to help avoid costly pipe freezes and ruptures. The Grand C... Full story
Elmer City has a 2017 budget, but not without a bit of strife. It was all over a $2 an hour raise for city clerk Gary Benton. The raise and passage of the town’s $915,603 budget narrowly passed Dec. 8, with one council member, Jesse Tillman, voting against the budget because of the raise, and another, Councilmember Don Bonertz, abstaining. That left the vote 2-1, with Clara Carson and Larry Holford voting for the budget, including the raise for Benton, and Tillman voting no and Bonertz abstaining. Councilmember Joaquin Marchand was not at t... Full story

Grand Coulee Mayor Paul Townsend, right, welcomes the city's eighth police officer in a swearing-in ceremony held Monday at city hall. Mathew Ponusky, left, of Spokane, will attend a four-month academy training session in either Spokane or Seattle as soon as there is an opening. Ponusky replaces Sean Cook, who left the department two years ago. The police department has been operating one officer shy since that time. - Roger S. Lucas photo... Full story
You know who they are. They work in your church or volunteer at the school. Maybe he or she picks up litter every week along the highway, or is the one who can always be counted on to shovel a sidewalk when someone else can’t. Or maybe it’s someone who volunteers on a board or commission or city council, putting in countless hours on behalf of the community. The Star will honor the 2016 volunteer of the year in an upcoming issue and will publish your letters of nomination between now and then. We encourage you to think about those who give of... Full story
The Star newspaper reported last week that Carl Russell had resigned as president of POWER. He only had resigned as manager of the fish pens in Electric City. He is still president of POWER. The Star regrets the error.... Full story
There will be a two-hour delay to the start of Lake Roosevelt Schools this morning.... Full story
Grand Coulee is hiring an outside source to help the city reconcile its finances. The city council approved the hiring of an outside contractor to do the “reconciliation of city financial software system to city bank accounts to assure accuracy of financial data being reported to the council and State Auditor’s office,” according to a contract for services. Hired was Toni Nelson of Government Financial Services, at a cost to the city of $110 an hour. The estimated time period for the work is 25-30 hours, part of the time on-site and part away... Full story

Grant County Port District 7, which runs Banks Lake Golf Course, has cut down a number of cottonwood trees at the course. The decision was made earlier this year because roots from the trees were tearing up the asphalt cart paths and in some cases "roots were growing into some of the greens," port commissioner Jerry Sands stated. Sands said 13 trees were eliminated and several more cottonwood trees need to be cut down. "When they planted the cottonwoods, I understand," Sands said, "they only... Full story
The POWER program to feed game birds in the winter will soon end. Lack of “manpower” is finally catching up to the longtime program by POWER (Promoters of Wildlife and Environmental Resources). Carl Russell, longtime president of the organization, said that when the final sacks of feed are distributed, the program will end. Some 59 small backyard feeders are scattered around the community along with 15 large feeders, and have been a food refuge for quail and other game birds for over 20 years, Russell stated. Russell recently resigned as pre... Full story
The city of Grand Coulee is changing the way it pays for training for its volunteer fire department personnel. The council has agreed to pay the fire department a fixed monthly fee instead of payment on the number of members who show up for training sessions. The change was made a week ago, based on a request by fire department Chief Richard Paris. Paris said the change would satisfy concerns of auditors on the way training payments were paid by the city. The fire chief told the council that the former payment method had been in place for 36... Full story
School enrollment up The average enrollment at Lake Roosevelt Schools for December was 714, according to school officials. The district had budgeted for an average of 690 for this school year. Street carts still being considered The Grand Coulee City Council is still considering allowing golf carts, ATVs and ORVs to roll on city streets. Some council members are leery of allowing the carts because of highway traffic. The carts wouldn’t be allowed to drive on the highways, but could cross only at designated areas. Police Chief John Tufts told t... Full story

Here's a list of some of the major stories we've followed in 2016. Which ones were your favorites? January 6 An overhead covering that had shaded rodeo fans for decades at the Ridge Riders Rodeo Grounds collapsed under a heavy snow load, leading the organization to make extensive repairs of its wooden grandstands, but which has not so far included a new covering. January 13 Electric City calls a meeting on a trail that would reach from Sunbanks Lake Resort entrance to Grand Coulee and beyond.... Full story
The National Park Service, along with local groups, will hold a discussion of an Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail long-range interpretive plan here on Jan. 23. The meeting will take place at 1 p.m., at the Coulee Dam community room at town hall. Denise Bausch will make a 45-minute presentation of the Ice Age Floods Trail plan, followed by a question-and-answer period. Also making a presentation will be Russell Powers, deputy city clerk of Electric City, on what the city is doing on its Pathway & Trail plan. The city plans a recreation... Full story

An agreement a local contractor says he made with former mayor Ray Halsey got opposition from Electric City's mayor and council last Tuesday night. Wayne Snyder addressed the council and said that then-mayor Halsey had made a deal that if he annexed his property into Electric City, the city would put in roads and sidewalks within two years. Snyder told the council last Tuesday night that the city should honor its agreements. Snyder wants to short plat four lots on property he owns and are now wi... Full story

Christel Pitner's third-grade class performs with enthusiasm at Lake Roosevelt Schools' concert Dec. 14.... Full story

It had never been done here before, but by the time they pulled it off, about 250 hospital employees were trained in what to do if an "active shooter" ever enters Coulee Medical Center. No one knew exactly what scenario would play out or how long it would take Nov. 5, when the hospital's parking lot looked like a law enforcement/fire/EMS show of force. Multiple agencies from across the region wanted the chance to learn how to respond to such an event in a facility like a hospital, which cannot... Full story
Born locally, a national hero is dead A man who as a soldier faced down a rogue platoon of compatriots to help stop the slaughter of innocents in Vietnam in 1968, died Dec. 17. Larry Colburn, 67, was born in Coulee Dam in 1949. His father was a WWII veteran and civil engineer who worked on Grand Coulee Dam, the New York Times reported last week. Colburn, a door gunner in a helicopter, agreed to back up the pilot, who placed the aircraft between the remaining civilians at My Lai and the platoon that was killing them. Colburn agreed to fire an M-... Full story
Almira Coulee Dam Community Church Sat., Dec. 24, 6 p.m., Christmas Eve Service, Coulee Dam campus, 509 Central Drive Sun., Dec. 25, 9 a.m., Christmas Day Service, Almira campus, 101 S. 2nd St. Church of the Nazarene Sat., Dec. 24, 6 p.m., Christmas Eve Service Sun., Dec. 25, 9:30 a.m., Sunday School and 10:45 a.m., Worship Service Faith Community Church Sat., Dec. 24, 5 to 6 p.m. a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service will be held. Bring the whole family for Christmas Carols and reading the Bible’s account of the birth of Jesus. This gathering i... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District received a grant from the Washington State Library Dec. 13, to enhance reading material for Native American students. The grant will provide more than 80 books, with emphasis on Native Americans and their cultures. Of the book list, 55 volumes are new to the Lake Roosevelt libraries. Margo Piver, assistant elementary school principal, and Aaron Derr, elementary library literacy coordinator, worked on the grant application, which was sent on Dec. 9. Carolyn Peterson, from the WSL, announced winners of the... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 12/12 - Police were called to Coulee Vision Center, where a domestic dispute was going on in front of the building. The dispute was verbal only and police left the scene. - A burglary was pursued by police at a Goodfellow Avenue house. Someone had entered the house, unoccupied at the time, but nothing seemed to have been taken. - USBR Plant Protection advised police that a woman was screaming and acting strangely on a trail near Riley Point. Police talked with the woman who stated she didn’t need help. - A woman reported t... Full story
The Colville Tribes’ expanded Coulee Dam Casino will open in late February or March, Chief Operating Officer of Colville Gaming John MacClain said last week. The $3.2 million project was started about a year ago, and will include full dining service for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The new casino restaurant will also offer ”good weather” seating on a balcony that extends on two sides of the building. The balcony, according to the plans, will be 20 feet wide and allow summer diners a good view of Grand Coulee Dam. The operation will be 24/7,... Full story

A winter weather advisory from the National Weather Service advises that we should expect snow to imapct travel, starting late tonight. Here's their advisory: URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 322 AM PST MON DEC 19 2016 ...MODERATE SNOW IS EXPECTED TODAY...WITH MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW EXPECTED TONIGHT AND TUESDAY... .A PAIR OF WINTER STORM SYSTEMS WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION ON MONDAY...WITH A SECOND FOLLOWING CLOSE BEHIND LATE MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY. FORECAST...

We hope you find our guide to finding gifts in the coulee helpful, that you'll support local businesses when you can and that you don't have to travel through a lot of snow. Give our guide a look below. Click on the Full Screen icon at lower right to open it up on your screen....

Shane Proctor has done it again. This time Proctor picked up the 2016 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo "average championship" this past weekend after 10 days of competition in Las Vegas, a feat he didn't accomplish back in 2011, when he won the national bull riding championship. If his 2011 national title was the crown, then the "average championship" is the "jewel" in the crown. The event "average winner" Proctor soared to third from 15th in the final Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association world... Full story
Coulee Dam police and fire officials discovered last Thursday that a resident had possibly jumped an electrical meter that had been turned off after a Dec. 5 garage fire. Town officials had turned the meter off at 415 North Columbia and requested that a licensed electrician check the residence to see if it was safe to turn electricity back on. Three days later, town officials checked the house after lights were seen on in an upstairs room and in the kitchen area. Police officer Mike Sullivan, fire officials and a person from public works... Full story