News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Air quality alerts are common in many regions of the world. The United States experiences air quality alerts regularly too. The causes are wide ranging and many are seasonal in nature. Of concern in our region is particle pollution. During the summer months, here in the west and northwest, air-quality culprits are primarily wildfires. During the winter months, in some areas, it’s home wood burning coupled with temperature inversions. As an example, this past Aug. 6, much of the western United S...
Grand Coulee Police 10/30 - A police officer put out a smoldering fire near Electric Boulevard and Grand Avenue in Electric City after a city employee reported smoke. The officer found a shovel and hose near the smoldering fire and put it out. - Police responded to a call on Bowen Street that two people were going through vehicles in the area. The officer found a pair who said they had permission to be there. Upon contacting the owner of the property, it was found that the pair indeed had permission to be in a vehicle there, but not the house....
A Grand Coulee man who appealed a ruling that he had a “potentially dangerous” dog faced trouble with police again. Andrew Kramer, of 110 Burdin Boulevard, whose dog “Rowdy” bit a Portland woman July 22, had his dog declared “potentially dangerous” by the Grand Coulee City Council. When Kramer went before Municipal Court Judge Richard Fitterer, he appealed the city’s decision on his dog. That appeal was denied by Fitterer on Sept. 22. Kramer was supposed to obtain a dog license and a surety bond on the animal but was having trouble with...
Grant County’s Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team busted another illegal marijuana growing and sales operation last week, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office said Monday. Based on a tip from a patrol deputy, INET opened an investigation on 42-year-old Cesario Huerta of Moses Lake, and last Wednesday served a search warrant at his house in the 1600 block of North Frontage Road East, the GCSO said. INET seized 99 plants, 50 pounds of processed marijuana, 10 firearms and a gun silencer. Huerta faces charges including manufacturing marijuana and...
Two candidates for Grand Coulee City Council, Tammara Byers and Tom Poplawski, were running unopposed until last week, when two local residents said they are seeking their council seats through a write-in campaign. Dorothy Harris is seeking the council seat occupied by Byers, and Deneen Harris, her sister-in-law, is seeking the Poplawski position. The two have been in the news the past several months over efforts to get the city to agree to a dog rescue operation in a residential area on Young...
A little bumble bee squirts paint on a spinning paper canvas, one of many activities at the Lake Roosevelt Elementary School "Harvest Festival" last Thursday evening. The event included a food drive for the food bank, carnival games, a costume contest and food. The cafeteria for the elementary school was packed. - Scott Hunter photo...
The city of Grand Coulee held an open house last Wednesday night to talk with citizens about proposed upcoming changes to its comprehensive plan. The planning commission had scheduled the meeting to seek comments from city residents about what they would like to see happen in the city in years to come. No one showed up but planners and city officials. The city's planning firm, SCJ Alliance, from Lacey, had prepared drawings of the city, and of other cities they have served, to help solicit...
Fall back Daylight Saving Time ends Sunday, Nov. 5, at 2 a.m. Set your clocks back one hour. Student number reported Attendance in the Grand Coulee Dam School District for October was the equivalent of 703 full time students, a report to the school board showed. The district budgeted for 707. The largest classes are the fifth grade, with 72 students, and the ninth grade, with 71. The senior class is the smallest, with 44. Book fair coming Nov. 6-9 The Scholastic Book Fair is scheduled for the Lake Roosevelt Elementary School library Nov. 6-9.... Full story
School bus drivers are hard to find. The problem in the Grand Coulee Dam School District is a carryover from last year when officials had stated that they were three drivers short. It is the same problem this year. Stephanie Duclos, manager of the school district’s bus operation, is a qualified trainer and had nine prospective drivers in a training program, she said. All but two have dropped out, and that pair won’t be done with their training until about the end of November. Superintendent Paul Turner reported to the school board a week ago...
Eiko Urmos-Berry, of the state Department of Ecology, pulls up water samples with a long rope dangling from the bridge in Coulee Dam. It's a sunny fall day, and her orange high-vis vest matches the changing colors of the leaves. Urmos-Berry has taken around 10 samples on this day. The bridge is the last stop for her. The Department of Ecology performs these "ambient" tests to look for trends in water quality over the years. "Overall water quality at this station met or exceeded expectations and...
Grand Coulee Police 10/23 - An official at Coulee Medical Center asked police if they would give a patient a courtesy ride back to his motel. An officer did so. - Police checked on a report of loud music coming from a trailer on East Grand Coulee Avenue and had trouble with the occupants following orders given. Finally, everything turned out OK, and one of the occupants of the trailer wanted to give the officer a gift of a flashlight. The officer explained that they couldn’t take gifts. The flashlight had a magnet on it and the man stuck it o...
OLYMPIA – Oct. 26, 2017 – Recreation and outdoor enthusiasts have two more opportunities to visit Washington’s state parks for free in 2017. On these free days, day-use visitors will not need a Discover Pass for vehicle access on Saturday, Nov. 11, and Friday, Nov. 24. Since the free days were first designated in 2011, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has set aside Nov. 11, Veterans Day, as one of its free days to honor those who served in the armed forces. This year, the agency moved one of its two spring free days to No...
A report of a “shooter” incident at Lake Roosevelt Schools was determined to be a rumor, according to investigators. Last Wednesday, a person overheard some high school students talking on the school bus about a “shooter,” thought that it might be a threat, and reported it late Thursday. “As soon as we heard about it, we started an investigation,” Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner stated this week. That investigation continued late on Thursday, and on Friday school officials called a staff meeting to report that it had...
At lunch after the "Breast Cancer Awareness Color Me Pink and Purple" fun run and walk at North Dam Park, Chelsea Shelton warms her sons, Jackson, 2, and Grayson, 1, as they finish up a bread bowl of hot chowder, along with Holly Buche (middle) and Debbie Flett. The lunch served 118 people and raised $2,990 for the Cancer Care Northwest Foundation. - Scott Hunter photo...
City’s open house tonight The city of Grand Coulee will hold an open house this evening (Wednesday) at 6 p.m. so planning commission members can discuss proposed changes to the city’s Comprehensive Plan. Visitors will be able to ask questions, make suggestions and generally get an understanding of where the city is planning to go. A survey will be available to the public attending. New coaches hired The school board completed two hires, both in basketball, at its meeting Monday night. Hired were Jeremy Crollard as head boys bask etball coa...
School officials this week are investigating who painted the words “white power” on a window at Lake Roosevelt School. Superintendent Paul Turner said that the incident occurred early last week, and was scrubbed off by school janitors. “We haven’t had any racial incidents at the school, and we are trying to find out who was responsible,” Turner said. Turner re-stated the fact that “words matter” and that students need to be made “more aware” of this. He was referring to a rumor of a “shooter” incident at the school, also last week. In that ca...
Work is scheduled to begin this week to make the Colville Tribal Museum in Coulee Dam handicapped accessible. Last week, museum workers were busy packaging everything up on the lower level to get ready for the project to begin. DWK Fowler Construction was the successful bidder on the nearly $800,000 museum remodeling. The project calls for ramps at both levels of the building to meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and new concrete siding, to replace rotting wooden materials. Entrance doors at both levels will be...
All four cities and towns have approved the Delano Regional Transfer Station budget for 2018. The budget shows revenues of $503,975 and expenses of $675,850. The deficit can be tied to two big-expense items: paying off the transfer station semi-truck at $142,615, and the purchase of another trailer, at $90,000. In spite of the deficit, the budget was passed with only one time through the monthly meetings of the four town councils. It hasn’t often been that way; in the past, some councils have been reluctant to approve measures that come to them...
Elected positions for Grand Coulee Dam School District and the city of Coulee Dam are up for election. In this issue, The Star offers candidate interviews for each contested position. In Coulee Dam, the mayor’s office is sought by current Councilmember Gayle Swagerty and Larry Price. Voters will also choose between incumbent 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 entail a four-year term. F...
For David Schmidt, serving on the town council is a civic duty, one he is currently fulfilling for the second time, having served an earlier term a decade ago. "It's just a sense of feeling of responsibility to the community where you live," Schmidt said in an interview last week. "Everybody has a responsibility to ... offer to society what you have the skills for." Schmidt served as president of the Coulee Dam Federal Credit Union for 35 years, taking the financial institution from $1.2...
Fred Netzel has been prodding Coulee Dam's current administration and town council for more than a year to take action on issues he finds important, so he's running for a council seat to be more effective. It started with encouraging the town to fix badly broken sidewalks, an issue he raised at a council meeting in July 2016. "As time unfolded, I realized that from the outside you can only get so much done," said Netzel, who has canvassed the town door-to-door with flyers and petitions to make...
After a year’s absence, this year’s senior class is bringing back the popular school-related fundraiser. The Penny Auction will be held Nov. 18, at both the senior and elementary cafeterias in the new school, from 11 a.m. to the drawings, scheduled for 1 p.m. A “baked potato” bar will be set up with a variety of desserts and drinks. Senior class advisors Tammy Norris and Aaron Derr were responsible for getting the Penny Auction started again. Norris stated that a number of community members said they missed the Penny Auction and were pleased...
The Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and Spioenkop Nature Reserve in South Africa have signed a five-year “sister park” agreement that will allow the parks to collaborate and exchange information. The agreement signed Oct. 11 allows for intellectual exchange, international cooperation, sharing ways to enrich visitor experiences, and enhance training of park staff, said a news release from LRNRA. The relationship also encourages both parks to share first-hand information on a variety of topics, including park management, resource con...
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....