News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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If you see people at Crescent Bay looking up at the sky on Oct. 28, don’t be alarmed; it’s not an invasion from outer space, it’s “International Observe the Moon Night.” The event is sponsored by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission and partners. The National Park Service will be present to guide a 6-9 p.m. study of the moon. The “International Observe the Moon Night” is an annual worldwide event that encourages observation, appreciation and understanding of the moon and its connection to NASA planetary science and exploration. Th...
Last week The Star reported in error that Electric City Council named Ken Anderson to fill a vacant spot on the board of Grant County Mosquito District 2. Electric City is requesting that persons interested in serving on the district submit a letter of interest to city hall. It is the same procedure used to fill a vacated city council seat. The position is open until filled by vote of the city council....
Chelan, WA – October 11, 2017 – North Cascades Bank, a division of Glacier Bank, is pleased to announce the appointment of Charles ("Charlie") Guildner as President and Chief Executive Officer. Guildner joins North Cascades Bank from People's Bank in Bellingham, Washington, where he held several leadership positions, most recently Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer. Guildner began his banking career at Cascade Bank in Everett, Washington, where he became a top producing len...
OLYMPIA – Oct. 18, 2017 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission announced today that Sno-Park permits will be available for purchase online and through various vendors statewide beginning midnight Wednesday, Nov. 1. Sno-Park permits allow visitors to park in specially cleared, designated parking lots with access to areas for cross-country skiing, skijoring, snowmobiling, dog sledding, snowshoeing, tubing and more throughout the state. Online and in-person purchase of the Sno-Park permit is available Nov. 1 through April 30. Reven...
Coulee Dam Councilmember Gayle Swagerty says Coulee Dam is making a lot of good progress and she has the most experience to carry it forward as mayor after current Mayor Greg Wilder steps down at the end of his term in January. "I really care for this town," she said last week. "I know how to take the town forward in the future." Swagerty, who was elected to the town council and began serving in 2014 along with Wilder, points to her increased involvement with oversight of some important...
The coulee area is a long ways from Chicago, Illinois. That's where Grand Coulee Dam School District Director Richard Black was born. But there's been a lot of life in between. The bulk of his growing-up time was spent near Los Angeles, California, and most of the rest was courtesy of the U.S. Navy. Captain Richard Black (Navy retired) is seeking a four-year term for Position 5 on the school board, the seat he now holds. Black was named to the school board about 15 months ago while still a...
Larry Price thinks people in Coulee Dam aren't happy with the tone of their current government, and he wants to change that. Price is running for mayor against Gayle Swagerty, whom he considers to be a "clone" of Mayor Greg Wilder. Price notes he doesn't go to town council meetings much. "I do not like the agression; I do not like the anger," he said. "I see it from the mayor; I see it from some of the council people." He said he sees people being bullied. "That's no way to run a city. ... I...
Kelly Steffens is running for Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors Position 5. She and her husband, Mike, have two elementary age girls, 11 and 9, in the district, and have lived in both the Grand Coulee and now Smith Lake Road areas. "I am from a large school district when I lived in Portland, and had 400 students in my class. I have always wanted to live in a small city where everyone knows one another," Steffens said. "I am concerned with bullying and that discipline be...
Bruce Bartoo doesn't like the direction the town of Coulee Dam has headed the last four years. "Except for the wastewater treatment plant, it seems like everything that's been happening has involved trees in one form or another," said Bartoo, a retired powerplant operator. But the town has other problems that need to be addressed: the fire department has been downgraded, the ambulance service doesn't exist, and he'd like to see more fiscal responsibility. Although he said he's never looked at...
Carla Marconi has strong ties to the Grand Coulee Dam School District, and she is seeking her third term on the school board. "I graduated from Lake Roosevelt High School in 1973, and all four of my children are also graduates from LRHS," Marconi stated this week. She has been on the board for nine years, having filled out a year of someone's term before she ran and won an election on her own. "I started attending school board meetings because I believed that there needed to be more...
Marcia Warnecke has lived in Coulee Dam for 45 years and now she’d like to help the town by serving on the town council. “I think I can offer some objective, new ideas and help,” she said. “It’s important to be able to listen and hear every side and make your own decisions.” Keeping the construction of the new wastewater treatment plant on track is important to her, she said. “We need to take care of our city,” she said. “If somebody doesn’t get involved and help, it can’t be done alone.” With her lengthy and in-depth local experience, Warne...
Tammy James-Pino's life is centered around education. Currently, she is director of employment and education for the Colville Confederated Tribes and is running for the Position 1 seat on the Grand Coulee Dam School District board of directors. Her roots in education can be traced back to her earlier years, when she was a student at Lake Roosevelt. A move took her to New Mexico, where she completed her high school years and got both a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of New...
Grand Coulee 10/14 - A man who resides in the King’s Court Trailer park told police that a person who also resides there threatened to beat him up. Police advised the man to get a protection order through the courts. - Police checked on a report that a woman outside a Federal Avenue apartment was acting strangely. She was just outside smoking a cigarette. 10/15 - Police checked on a report of a man reported as suicidal on Ronald Drive. He told police he just took some pills and a shot of vodka because he had some teeth pulled. A few hours l...
Elmer City voted last Thursday to build its own wastewater treatment plant. The measure to build a modular plant, on property to be determined, got a unanimous vote from the town’s five council members. The decision wasn’t much of a surprise, since the town has been in disagreement with Coulee Dam for some time over billings and other matters. Elmer City pumps about 21 percent of the flow to Coulee Dam’s present plant. With this decision, if successful, Elmer City will leave its larger neighbor with a new plant and no partner. While the vote...
Elected positions for Grand Coulee Dam School District and the city of Coulee Dam are up for election, and The Star will publish candidate interviews for each contested position in our Oct. 25 issue. In Coulee Dam, the mayor’s office is sought by current Councilmember Gayle Swaggerty and by Larry Price. Voters will also choose between incumbant Councilmember David Schmidt or challenger Fred Netzel for Position 1 on the council. Bruce Bartoo and Marcia Warnecke both seek Position 3 on the council. Each of the contested Coulee Dam offices e...
MOSES LAKE, Wash. (17OCT2017) – In response to an October 5 traffic stop by Moses Lake Police Department where a suspect was found with nearly eight pounds of methamphetamine and heroin, a subsequent Grant County INET investigation has led to an additional seven warrants served. Those busts netted 25 more pounds of methamphetamine, seven pounds of heroin, and 40 pounds of processed marijuana with a combined street value of $1.2-million. Sheriff Tom Jones said, "This is huge. In fact, it's the la...
A solid piece of local history got cleaned up and clarified last weekend so people can enjoy and use it more in the present as volunteers from across the state continued work on the Candy Point Trail in Coulee Dam. The trail has historical significance, having been built by the Civilian Conservation Corps back in 1937. Contacted by Coulee Dam's Parks and Natural Resources Board, last year the Washington Trails Association cleared brush along the 2.25-mile trail. It extends from behind Coulee... Full story
Coulee Medical Center is taking an abrupt change in the direction of a plan that was introduced just six months ago as a way to right its finances, and it’s rebuilding its in-house billing department with an emphasis on efficiency. The new direction comes just half a year after then-CEO Jonathan Owens decided to cut non-medical staff and outsource the billing of insurers to an out-of-state company in an effort to get paid more quickly for services. But the effort backfired, says current Chief Executive Officer Ramona Hicks, and the hospital is...
Person airlifted after fall A juvenile fell off “an embankment” Monday near milepost 29 along SR-174 about five miles east of Grand Coulee in Lincoln County, the Washington State Patrol reported. The mishap was reported at 12:32 p.m. and the road closed for about an hour. A Lifeflight helicopter took the youth to Spokane, according to the patrol report. Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office declined to release any information because no one with the authority to do so was at the office. County may outsource juveniles Grant County commissioners are c...
Grand Coulee is completing an application to form its own Transportation Benefit District, which would bring in more revenue in the form of sales taxes. The TBD can use one of two forms for collection of special fees. Grand Coulee has decided to raise its Washington State Sales Tax locally, for non-food items, by two tenths of one percent, rather than collect fees from renewal of license tabs. That would take total sales taxes in Grand Coulee from the current rate of 7.9 percent to 8.1 percent. City Clerk Carol Boyce, in working with the state...
Electric City plans to distribute $40,000 of its hotel/motel tax funds to a handful of organizations in 2018, the council voted last Tuesday night. Upon recommendation of the city’s lodging tax committee, the council voted to fund its lodging tax applications with reserve lodging tax monies totaling $42,920, which includes $1,600 for advertising and $41,320 for the design and planning of two planned parks on McNett Avenue and Grand Avenue. The taxes are collected on motel and campground stays in the city. The committee further recommended that...
The Grand Coulee city council last week adopted new ambulance rates for 2018, adopting slight increases and providing different rates for non-residents. Beginning Jan. 1, ambulance attendants will be paid $15 an hour for their services. The new charges as adopted are below. Grand Coulee’s Volunteer Fire Department has made 374 ambulance calls so far this year, according to a report made to the city council last Tuesday night. Fire Chief Richard Paris stated that 50 ambulance calls were made during the month of September. Of those, nine were m...
OLYMPIA – Oct. 16, 2017 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission today announced its 2017-2018 winter schedule, with more than 100 parks remaining open for camping or day-use activities. The winter schedule is available online at www.parks.state.wa.us/winterschedule. More than 100 parks will remain open during the winter, while about 19 parks are closed until dates in March, April or May, due to weather and other circumstances. Each year, Washington State Parks identifies which parks will remain open and which will offer lim...
Grand Coulee 10/9 - A Bowen Street resident reported that sometime during the night a prowler entered their vehicle and took several items. 10/10 - An officer assisted Coulee Dam on a domestic call with a couple arguing about their children. The officer explained that the mother couldn’t just take the children without a court order. The woman’s parents said they would stay with them for the night. - A woman residing at Partello Parkway was arrested on a domestic violence charge and taken to Grant County jail after an argument with her liv...
A 23-year-old felon, who gave a Spokane address, was arrested Sept. 30 and taken to Grant County jail. Arrested was Chance Carson, who had a felony assault warrant out for him out of Spokane and was listed by local police as a “violent felon.” Charges filed included resisting arrest, obstructing a law enforcement officer, and escape in the third degree. Carson was seen getting into the back seat of a vehicle that was getting fuel at Coulee Gas. The police plan, according to their report, was for one patrol car to block the back of the sus...