News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 3644 - 3668 of 6880
Nespelem now has a Boys & Girls Club, located in the area's community center, offering a range of activities, mentorship, and help with homework. A soft opening of the club occurred on June 21 for the summer, and an official opening will occur sometime in the fall after school starts and when the club will be assisting with academics. Some 157, and counting, school-age children have signed up, and the club is averaging about 30-50 children attending each day, according to Director Michelle Paul... Full story
Four young adults were injured Monday night in a high-speed crash a mile north of Nespelem, including the driver, who now faces charges. The Washington State Patrol reports that Curry A. J. Pinkham, 20, of Nespelem, was driving a purple 2007 Honda Ridgeline pickup south on SR-155 about 9:30 at a high rate of speed when the pickup left the roadway to the right and hit gravel when he lost control. The vehicle went into a field over an embankment, rolled once and landed on its wheels. Three passengers, all of Nespelem, were injured in the crash, i... Full story
It truly was a safe and sane 4th of July as far as local fires go, but current conditions call for high caution, firefighters warn. Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department Chief Richard Paris reported this week that there was only one fire in the area during the July 4 celebration, and that was in a small grassy area between North Dam and the softball fields. “The area firefighters are very appreciative of the local citizens and visitors,” Paris stated Monday. “Most people followed Coulee Dam’s ban and Grand Coulee’s new ordinance and did not f... Full story
The Electric City council Tuesday night agreed to move forward with its plan to develop two new parks. But the council is going to step back and approve parts of the park development in phases. The council approved $8,292 for McNett Park and $7,262 for the Grand Avenue Park, which will take the city through the design and review stage. Robert Droll, the landscape architect selected to see the park project through, appeared and walked council members through the project. He started by telling the... Full story
The Colville Confederated Tribes dedicated their government building to Lucy Friedlander Covington on Thursday, July 6. Covington, a granddaughter of Chief Moses of the Sinkiuse/Columbia Tribe, and descendent of Chief Kamiakin and Chief Owhi, was instrumental in the fight against the termination of the Colville Confederated Tribes. "If it was not for Lucy, we would not be here today," said Colville Business Councilmember Mel Tonasket, who had worked with Covington. "Lucy was our leader, there... Full story
A Delano woman who recently moved back to the area from Idaho is offering support for Dorothy Harris’ efforts to establish an animal rescue operation in Grand Coulee. Doreen Holter has been following Harris’ efforts with the city on an animal rescue plan and stated Friday, “It’s sorely needed.” She said she has been trying to figure out what to do about a number of feral cats, many of which have their eyes “caked” over, from her own area in Delano. “We have 20-30 cats, many with kittens, running wild here, and something needs to be done abou... Full story
The mumps outbreak in Grant County is over. So says Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny, who stated last Wednesday that the county has gone through two incubation periods (50 days) without a single new case of mumps reported. The county’s last case of mumps was reported May 9. Brzezny stated that the county will still be active in monitoring the situation. There is the potential for sporadic cases since other counties are still reporting cases of mumps. County health officials were quick to thank Columbia Basin Job Corps leadership in a... Full story
The Washington State Governor's Advisory Council on Historic Preservation met in Coulee Dam Town Hall June 27 to address eight nominations to either the Washington Heritage Register or the National Register of Historic Places. The seven-member council generally meets three times annually at various locations across the state. Their work is to review and approve selected nominations to either the Washington Heritage Register or the National Register of Historic Places, or both. Last year, the... Full story
Almost a year after he started, the hospital’s CEO resigned last week after a committee of the hospital commission interviewed employees ahead of his upcoming evaluation. Jonathan Owens took the reins of Coulee Medical Center in July 2016. Owens stopped a plan last fall that had the hospital spending more on an electronic medical records system than it could afford. He hired a financial consultant to target high expenses and low revenue areas that had contributed to losses that forced the hospital to pay debts with county warrants, i... Full story
A crowd watches fireworks off the top of Grand Coulee Dam Saturday at the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce's annual Festival of America. The chamber this year put the event on the Friday and Saturday before Independence Day, which fell on Tuesday, hoping to attract as many tourists as possible with tourism-dedicated tax dollars and donations, but crowds were thinner than last year anyway. That didn't curtail enthusiastic applause at the end of the fireworks show. - Scott Hunter... Full story
Dorothy Harris is the type of person who doesn’t give up easily. She has been trying to convince the city of Grand Coulee that a dog rescue shelter would benefit the city and provide a service that the city desperately needs. She has appeared twice at the city council, only to be turned aside. Now she plans a run at the city’s planning commission on Aug. 9. Harris was told by a neighbor that “you can’t fight city hall.” She doesn’t see it that way, but more as providing a service that the city sorely needs. She and her sister-in-l... Full story
A Grand Coulee man driving a stolen vehicle at speeds up to 100 mph was finally stopped near Steamboat Rock State Park, police reported. Christopher Peoples, 23, was seen driving near Pole Park Saturday, June 24, about 7 p.m., and refused to pull over, police said. They tried to stop him as he turned onto Federal Avenue and then on a number of side streets before racing out of town on SR-155, police reported. Police had gotten a call on the stolen vehicle from its owner, who said she was pursuing her black Nissan Murano and gave police the... Full story
In 1918, William McClure and his son, Robert, hitched their horses to their wagon and headed from the Spokane area to the Colville Indian Reservation to establish a homestead claim to 480 acres. McClures have lived north of Nespelem for generations now as loggers, farmers, cowboys, and homesteaders. The original homestead is still standing, and over 100 relatives from as far away as Colorado gathered on the family property June 24 to celebrate a little early the 100-year anniversary of the... Full story
George Davis Jr. will soon be hanging up his wrenches, so to speak. He submitted his resignation, effective Aug. 31, to the school board last month and will take a break as head mechanic at the school district's bus garage. He will be leaving the school bus operation a lot different than he found it, some 33 years ago. When he took over the mechanic role in 1984, the district had 11 buses, nine with red tags on them. A red tag means that a bus failed to pass its annual test. That was in early Se... Full story
The Colville Tribes had some very close races in the Colville Business Council general election June 24. The poll votes and absentee votes were certified on Thursday. In Nespelem Position 1 race, Rodney Cawston won over Ricky Gabriel, 392-285. Gabriel had been expelled from the council a week earlier by vote of the council on ethics grounds. In Nespelem’s Position 2 race, longtime business Councilmember Andy Joseph Jr. won out over Charlene Bearcub, 375-305. In the Inchelium Position 1 race, Joel Boyd won over Alan Hammond, 353-124. In the d... Full story
A process that for a time stranded some federal funding in Washington D.C., will now play out with Coulee Dam residents paying less for their new wastewater treatment plant because a grant finally came through. With some prodding. Mayor Greg Wilder received word in an email Monday morning that more than a half million dollars of the total $7.9 million augmented plan would come through as a loan, and almost a million more in a low-interest loan to allow the town to upgrade its “solids” handling at the new plant. Wilder said the new bottom lin... Full story
Both Grant and Okanogan County officials imposed temporary bans on outdoor burning last week. Grant County’s board of commissioners banned all outdoor burning until further notice. The temporary burn ban was prompted in part by a huge range fire near Wenatchee and Quincy, and generally very dry conditions throughout the area. The commissioners noted the current range fires were putting pressure on firefighting resources. Anyone caught burning outdoors could suffer fines and other consequences, the commissioners stated in their notice. Even t... Full story
Grand Coulee Police 6/23 - Police located a woman in Safeway that had been banned from the store earlier, and reminded her that she would have to leave. She did. - An officer returning from taking a person to Grant County jail struck a deer near milepost 22. The patrol car sustained damage to the front bumper, fender and headlamp area. 6/24 - An officer responded to a report of loud noise at a Hill Avenue apartment. All was quiet when the officer arrived, but an unlocked storage area was secured while the officer was on site. - Police went to... Full story
Two retired school employees, one a janitor and the other a math teacher, gave the Grand Coulee Dam School District board Monday a taste of how they feel about the recent results of surveys that asked about discipline in the schools. Ray Wells, a retired janitor, spoke at length on issues he had while employed at the school. Wells came loaded with hundreds of documents from his experience of over 15 years at the school district. He told the board that he had made several complaints to the administration at the elementary school on conditions... Full story
If you're wondering if there will be a professional fireworks display off the top of Grand Coulee Dam on July 4, the answer is no. The annual Festival of America occurred last weekend, when the fireworks were a hit on Saturday night. Here's a bit of the finale. Fun fireworks finale from Scott Hunter on Vimeo....
Here's our complete guide to the Festival of America this Friday and Saturday.... Full story
Both Grant and Okanogan Counties imposed temporary burn bans on outdoor burning. Read the full press releases from each county below. Grant County Board of County Commissioners Press Release June 28, 2017 For more information contact: Grant County Fire Marshal's Office Grant County Courthouse Ephrata, Washington 98823 Phone: (509) 754-2011 ext 3001 GRANT COUNTY COMMISSIONERS IMPOSE TEMPORARY BURN BAN EPHRATA-The Grant County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) today imposed an emergency, temporary ban on outdoor burning effective immediately,... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District's preschool will move to the old middle school this fall, following a decision made at the school board meeting Monday night. "The elementary school needs the classroom for its growing early grades," according to Superintendent Paul Turner, who stated his concerns last Thursday. Earlier plans had called for the preschool to be moved to the former science classroom at the old high school, but costs to remodel the space had made this impossible, Turner said.... Full story
Taking their best guess, Nespelem School District set up a tentative plan to spend $4.7 million to run the school in the next school year, give or take $525,000. Financial officer Tanya Bunting said they won’t know exactly what money will come in until the state Legislature passes a budget. The $525,000 will depend on what formula the Legislature comes up with to fully fund public education, a state Supreme Court requirement under the McCleary decision. That process is hung up and threatening a state government shutdown by Friday if D... Full story
A boater cruises down Banks Lake Tuesday at the start of a very moderate weather week, expected to feature blue skies and pleasant temperatures. See the forecast on page 8. - Jacob Wagner photo... Full story