News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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As a cast of 42, local students and a couple Missoula Children's Theatre staffers (on each end) take their bows at the end of "Pinocchio" Friday afternoon. The MCT was brought to town by the Grand Coulee Dam Parent Teacher Organization. They audition the kids on Monday, practice after school all week, then present the resulting production at the end of the week in the Lake Roosevelt gym. MCT staffers bring all the props, costumes and sets. PTO's Lee Seekins and Rebecca Hunt were musical...
Some students might get to ride on a battery-powered bus sometime next year, if a grant application is accepted by the bus manufacturer. Grand Coulee Dam School District Transportation Director Wade Magers presented the school board Monday with the option to go electric with one bus in a little over 10 months. Magers said there are pros and cons to getting one, but the financial aspect of the application makes it attractive. Magers said the IC Electric School Bus (ESB) should go about 130 miles on a charge and recharge fully in about eight...
Proposed federal Medicaid cuts could devastate Washington state, hitting rural communities the hardest. More than 1.8 million residents rely on Medicaid for health care. A Republican-led plan in the U.S. House to slash $880 billion could lead to service reductions, higher costs, and hospital closures. According to Manuel Navarro, CEO of Columbia Valley Community Health, approximately 46% of the organization's patients are covered by Medicaid. The organization provides essential medical services... Full story
The nonprofit federal administration that provides one-third of the Northwest’s electricity is preparing to part ways with its current Western energy market and sell its excess energy to companies and electric cooperatives as far away as Louisiana. Bonneville Power Administration officials announced in a draft policy proposal released Wednesday that they intend to leave the California-controlled “real-time” market they’ve participated in since 2022 and join a new “day-ahead” energy market based out of Little Rock, Arkansas. The move sparke... Full story
Seated among more of them, 10-year-old Stettson Miley holds the first buttercup submitted to us this year, which he found in a rocky area near Electric City March 7. - submitted photo...
March 18, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9201. It authorized the War Relocation Authority. It was established in the Office of Emergency Management. This authority was charged with interning Japanese-Americans. The director was Milton Eisenhower, younger brother of Dwight Eisenhower. Prior to the above date, and hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, FBI agents had gathered hundreds of Italian, Japanese and German immigrants who were living in California. They were put on a train that brought them to Missoula, Montana....
Bureau of Reclamation employees at Grand Coulee Dam who had accepted the “fork in the road” offer of deferred retirement, expecting to stop working on March 7, instead got a memo Monday morning telling them to clear out by the end of the day, March 3. No reason was given for the rush, but the emailed instructions from Boise, the Columbia Pacific Northwest Region headquarters, had an air of resignation about it: “Big change in the DRP rules as of 10:37am this morning,” the email began, explaining that all Deferred Resignation Program participant...
The Trump administration on Wednesday ordered all federal departments and agencies to submit reorganization plans outlining how they would implement large-scale layoffs before March 13. Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought and Office of Personnel Management Acting Director Charles Ezell wrote in a seven-page memo the reason for the expected layoffs is that the “federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt.” “At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public,” they wrote. “Instead, tax dolla...
People with concerns and picket signs can gather on Grand Coulee's Midway Avenue (SR-155) from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 8. The march will take place on the same day as a nationally advertised march for women, but it will be the fourth in a series of local, loosely organized events for expressing solidarity with others concerned about the recent changes in the federal government, including layoffs, forced resignations and coming RIFs, abolishing entire agencies established by Congress, and... Full story
Martin Falls near Steamboat Rock cascades in all its glory on Friday, Feb. 28, one of several along the Grand Coulee wall. - Scott Hunter photo...
A federal judge last week sentenced two men to life in prison for their six-week multistate crime spree that included murdering two Keller residents in 2022. Acting United States Attorney Richard R. Barker announced that on Feb. 26, Zachary L. Holt, 24, and Dezmonique D. Tenzsley (a/k/a “Privilege”), 36, were sentenced on 17 counts including Felony Murder in Indian Country, Attempted Murder of a Federal Officer, Assault of a Federal Officer, Attempted Robbery in Indian Country, Robbery Affecting Commerce, as well as several firearm off...
A couple months after she and her husband John, moved here in 2010, Carol Nordine had found the local food bank. She's been volunteering at the Care and Share Food Bank ever since, the last seven years as its manager. Just in time to see a growing need. A roomful of volunteers and friends gathered at La Presa Saturday to honor that service, eat, and enjoy each other's company. Shawn Neider also volunteers at the food bank, as well as pastoring the Zion Lutheran Church. He recalled the growth...
Coulee Dam’s police chief published a statement Monday asking people to report crimes to police, not just post it on Facebook. “If we don’t know about it, we can’t do anything about it,” noted Chief Paul Bowden. Bowden said the don’t consider Facebook posts as a proper way to report police issues. “This is a reminder to PLEASE report any criminal or suspicious activity such as thefts, car prowls, break- ins, etc. directly to the Police Department by calling MACC Dispatch at 1-888-431-9911.” Bowden also addressed comments he’s heard that there...
The Missoula Children's Theatre will audition local students for parts in their upcoming play, "Pinochhio" on Monday, March 3, at 3:30 p.m. in the Lake Roosevelt gym in Coulee Dam. The company is looking for students in grades 1 through 12, or 6 to 18 years old. The MCT will audition its actors on Monday, rehearse them all week after school, then put on the play on Friday, March 7, at 4 and 6:30 p.m., also in the gym. Anyone interested in helping to put on the production can volunteer by...
An ice fisher plies his pastime Friday evening on Banks Lake ice near the feeder canal through which the Bureau of Reclamation planned to pump water into the lake beginning at 10 p.m. Saturday. That could make the ice unstable, and Reclamation urged people to stay off the ice. But late Saturday afternoon, ice fisher's tents were lined up at the edge of the ice. - Scott Hunter photo...
Holly Koon struggles every day in her 9th-grade biology classes to help students achieve, but sometimes it seems like a losing battle. Chronic absenteeism, growing class sizes and fewer classroom helpers all get in the way of student learning, she said. "All students can absolutely learn, and they can learn to standard," she said. "I have a biology class right now with 36 students in it; I have one instructional aid. How do you – in 60 minutes a day – individualize and support all 36 stu...
March 2, 1899 Mount Rainier National Park was established when President William McKinley signed federal legislation. Originally called Tacoma or Tahoma by generations of Northwest Native Americans, the peak was named after British Admiral Peter Rainier. The first European to see the volcanic peak was explorer George Vancouver in 1792. A century later, naturalist John Muir visited the Mount Rainier region. He recommended that it be designated a national park. Following the designation as a national park, some critics charged the act was merely...
After a vandal hit Grand Coulee City Hall Jan. 4, the city was left with cleanup and repairs. Those are coming in at about $74,000 to fix broken windows, damaged floors and walls, office equipment and police cars parked outside. The city council Tuesday night OK’d spending $13,450 on new windows, including a couple not damaged in the incident but old enough to be replaced with more energy-efficient windows. The council also voted to declare surplus five of those now-unused police vehicles outside, which had served the police department when it...
Ice fishers and other recreators are urged to stay off the ice on Banks Lake, which will soon become unstable if it isn't already. The Bureau of Reclamation at Grand Coulee Dam will begin pumping water into Banks Lake, beginning Saturday, Feb. 22, at 10 p.m. This influx of water may result in unstable ice conditions that present serious safety risks to all ice fishers and recreationists, Reclamation announced this week. The change in operation will conclude on Monday, Feb. 24, at 6 a.m.... Full story
Olivia gets a gentle send off by her mom at North Dam Park Sunday evening. The 5-year-old was undeterred by the increasing presence of grass amid the snow that had been several inches thick earlier in the day. From Thursday on, we're heading into a warming trend in the next week. Check the weather prediction on page 3. - Scott Hunter photo...
Results of the school levy election last week remain nearly unchanged since election night with the levy passing with a 5.26% margin, 574-517. Proposition 1, the Grand Coulee Dam School District’s proposal to replace its expiring levy with a new one at the end of this year, will tax property owners about $2.13 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. County canvassing boards must certify the election on Friday, Feb. 21....
Elmer City residents may notice their city bill gets a boost next month. Effective March 1, each service will cost another $1, following the passage Thursday of an ordinance increasing the monthly fee for garbage, water and sewer service by a dollar each for the bill that comes due in April. The council also passed an ordinance instituting an ongoing, planned utility rate rise of 1.5% every year, beginning in 2026. Both the $1 rise this year and the future 1.5% annual increase starting next year were discussed during council budget discussions...
The Washington State Patrol will soon have a new tool to catch drivers speeding through highway work zones. Starting in a few weeks, a speed camera mounted on an orange trailer will rotate through work zones across Washington in a bid to keep workers safe on state highways. State officials showed off the new technology in a press conference Wednesday. The camera will look for cars going over the speed limit and take pictures of the vehicle and its license plate. You don’t have to smile; the photos won’t capture faces. Captured information will...
Citizens unhappy with the direction of the federal government under President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who heads up the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, marched with signs Monday from noon to 1 p.m. along Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee. A week earlier, Sheri Edwards had walked the route alone. On Monday, President's Day, the number climbed to 13 like-minded people. Several said they were pleasantly surprised by positive responses, and no negative ones, from passersby honking horn...
Seven people were involved in a two-car crash Saturday near the top of Grand Coulee Dam on SR-155. Three were injured and taken to Coulee Medical Center. According to a Washington State Patrol press memo, a 2007 Black BMW driven by Aidan Palmanteer, 18, Grand Coulee, was headed south at 4:51 p.m. when it crossed the center line into the northbound lane, striking a 2004 Nissan Armada. Both cars were totaled. The Nissan, driven by Jesus Llamas, 48, Grand Coulee, was also carrying four passengers: a 10-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl, a...