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The Colville Confederated Tribes is now the first tribe with a permit to grow hemp, and growing some of the only hemp in the United States today. The U.S. hemp industry is estimated to have brought in $688 million in revenue in 2016 and has been steadily growing by about 25 percent a year, with projections at $1.8 billion in 2020, according to Hemp Business Journal. A 60-acre organic hemp crop growing in the Swawilla Basin near Keller Ferry is the first step in researching the possibilities for...

People interested in art and music can take advantage of a free event at North Dam Park this coming weekend. The Third Annual Plateau Native American Art Show, showcasing beadwork, baskets, paintings, and more from around 20 different artists, will run this Saturday, Sept. 2, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., in North Dam Park in Grand Coulee. The event, sponsored by the Northwest Native Development Fund, will feature live music from two flutists, Peter Ali and Tom Duke, as well as live art painting by...

School bells chimed today (Wednesday) for the start of the new school year. School personnel gathered Tuesday to hear Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner give an outline of activities scheduled for this year, the main one emphasizing "Goal 2" of the district's Strategic Plan, providing a "safe and secure learning environment." Turner emphasized that the district is conducting a "year-long" training period for all employees, focusing on the "whole child." The superintenden...
Dust off your old musical instruments and get back in tune; the community needs you! Lake Roosevelt High School wants parents and community members who have musical talent and no place to apply it to join with students and form a pep band to play at school sporting events. Music director Karen Pace said Monday that it is her hope that local musicians who love music and like to play will step forward and help out. Pace said that community members can come out this Thursday night to the band room at the high school gym and get started, or show...
Star to close for holiday The Star will be closed for the Labor Day holiday Monday, Sept. 4. Deadlines for announcements and advertisements move to Friday at 5 p.m. Run volunteers to meet Tuesday A special meeting for “Run the Dam” volunteers is planned for 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 5, at the Chamber of Commerce/JR Newhouse offices, 17 Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee. The “Run the Dam” event is scheduled during the Harvest Festival celebration, Saturday, Sept. 16. A good number of volunteers is needed to supply the support necessary for the run...
Grand Coulee’s Municipal Court heard two “potentially dangerous dog” cases last Friday at city hall. In the first, Judge Richard Fitterer dismissed an attempted appeal involving a dog owned by Preston Guin, which bit Shirley Heberling June 21 on Main Street. Fitterer stated that the couple attempting to appeal the city council’s decision to declare the dog named “Scoot/Oreo” potentially dangerous had missed the five-day condition for appeal as outlined in the city’s ordinance. The owners will now have to confine the dog, put up a dangerous dog...
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that its deputies and local police will soon receive training and anti-opioid overdose kits to counteract overdoses in the field. “Not only can we help the victim of an opioid overdose, we can also help another officer or one of our K-9s which becomes exposed to an opioid,” said Sheriff Tom Jones. “We do see many drug crimes involving opioids, and we have responded to several deaths caused by opioid abuse.” Opioids include heroin, morphine, fentanyl, codeine, hydrocodone, oxycodone, meperidin...
Now you can play foosball with a human twist. It’s a repeat of a fun adventure held over for a repeat performance from last year’s Harvest Festival. This year the festival will be held at Banks Lake Park (near North Dam) on Sept. 15-17. The Foosball event will be on Saturday and run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., or until all of the contesting teams have concluded the double-elimination tournament. So gather five friends or business associates, along with yourself, and get your registration in soon. You can register online at http:...
The Bureau of Indian Affairs will provide the Colville Confederated Tribes with $3.9 million to reforest areas devastated by the catastrophic 2015 wildfire season, according to a CCT Aug. 29 press release. The BIA is providing the $3,899,148 in response to letters from both the CCT and Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA). The North Star Fire in 2015 burned a state record 218,138 acres, and in combination with the 165,918-acre Tunk Block Fire burned about 600 square miles of forage and forest on and off the reservation. “Our Forestry Management and N...
The lightning-caused Bridge Creek Fire, burning 13 miles northeast of Keller, is responsible for the smoke in the air lately. So far the fire, which started on Aug. 9, has burned 3,518 acres and is at 42 percent containment, according to an Aug. 29 press release from the Colville Tribes. Heat conditions, difficult terrain, and poor access to the fire have proved physically and mentally challenging for the crew, according to the press release, and crew members are encouraged to stay hydrated, and to be very aware of their surroundings, told to...
Coulee Dam police arrested four suspects and are charging them with burglary after an incident at 1019 Camas Street Aug. 21. Arrested were Martina Delacruz, 48; Rodney Ezell, 29; Daniel A. Lewis, 26 and Marissa S. Curry, 31. They were all taken to Okanogan County jail. Police didn’t have addresses for those arrested. Trina McCurty advised police that there was someone trying to break into the house she was in charge of. One of the four told police that they were there to see the owner of the property. Police knew the owner of the property w...
Grand Coulee Police 8/21 - Dispatch advised police that three juvenile hikers were lost in the dark somewhere behind the rodeo grounds and toward Electric City. The hikers were able to show a light from their cell phone and police helped them to safety. The mother of one of the hikers was notified, but the other two stated they didn’t know their parents’ phone number. 8/22 - Police recognized a driver on SR-155 as a person wanted on a felony arrest warrant. The vehicle was stopped and the driver arrested and taken to Grant County jail. - Pol...
A 22-year-old man was arrested and taken to Grant County jail Thursday on a number of charges, including first-degree burglary and escaping from police. In jail is Brandon Pachosa, who allegedly stole a number of items from a house at 44 Hillcrest Place in Electric City. Pachosa, who gave police multiple addresses, including Young Street in Grand Coulee, Inchelium, and as an Electric City transient, had been sought by police on a felony warrant earlier this month but managed to avoid capture. Officers received a tip that Pachosa had been seen...

People line up to view the eclipse of the sun Monday at Crescent Bay, where the National Park Service set up a special viewing, complete with an educational tent, special solar telescopes and viewing glasses and filters. More than 220 had taken advantage of the NPS offering, a worker there said shortly after the peak of the eclipse. Although the temperature dropped a few degrees, darkness was barely noticeable even with nearly 90 percent of the sun's light blocked by the moon. Readers have...
A Coulee City man died Monday afternoon as he rode a three-wheeled motorcycle down Highway 17 toward Soap Lake. Benjamin L. Coates, 78, was southbound about 13 miles north of Soap Lake when, according to a Washington State Patrol investigation, he passed three vehicles in a no-passing zone before a curve, moved back into the southbound lane, then lost control of the trike and drove off the right shoulder, hitting a rock wall. The crash happened about 12:26 p.m. at milepost 89. Coates was riding a blue 2011 Harley Davidson Tri Glide...
A Burdin Boulevard man who had his male pit bull declared a “potentially dangerous dog” by Grand Coulee’s city council last Tuesday night has decided to appeal the decision. The dog belongs to Andrew Kramer, 308 Burdin Boulevard, and it bit a Portland, Oregon woman, Kimberly Karlsson, on July 22, a police report said. The city council declaration stated that the black, white and grey male pit bull, named “Rowdy,” attacked and bit Karlsson without provocation. The “potentially dangerous dog” designation requires that Kramer will have to have...
Grand Coulee police are referring another dog bite incident to the city council for a possible “potentially dangerous dog” designation. The complaint stated that two small dogs jumped on a juvenile girl Saturday and bit her on the hand, each leg and her stomach. The girl and a friend had entered a gated and fenced area at 316 Burdin Boulevard and were attacked by the dogs. The area was fenced and had “beware of dog” signs on display. The dogs are owned by Gerald Gendron. The girl was treated at Coulee Medical Center....

Peter Dan Road, which connects the Elmer City area to the Keller area, has a temporary passage up and over a landslide that occurred in March, and the beginning of the removal process is anticipated to start in the fall. The dirt road over the landslide is meant for locals, with no large trucks or other such vehicles allowed. A sign near the landslide warns motorcycles to use extreme caution. Cache Creek Road near Nespelem is another way over to Highway 21, as is the Keller Ferry route,...
New officer in Grand Coulee The city of Grand Coulee has a new police officer, Matthew Ponusky, bringing the police department back up to eight officers. Ponusky recently graduated from the police academy and is assigned to the graveyard shift. Food bank closes for holiday The Care and Share Food Bank will be closed Friday, Sept. 1, for the Labor Day weekend, according to Pastor Shawn Neider. People put it on the card More than 20 customers have used the new third-party credit card system to pay their utility bills, Grand Coulee City Clerk...
Electric City has received word that it is receiving two grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency totaling $183,000 for emergency street repairs. City Clerk Russell Powers said one grant was for $60,000 and the second for $123,000. The FEMA grants will pay for 75 percent of the work accomplished with them, with the remaining costs split between Electric City and Grant County. The city suffered a number of street problems from frost heaves last winter, and the grants are for repair of these streets. Powers said the grants cover 19...
Electric City has taken more of its “butt ugly” trees out. City work crews have removed several trees that hinder the vision of motorists coming onto SR-155 from city side streets. The city council, back in March 2013, authorized the removal of a number of what then-councilmember Brad Parrish called “butt ugly” trees. The trees were planted several years ago by longtime mayor Ray Halsey, and lined both sides of the city’s main thoroughfare. They grew up fast, and many of the trees are now mature and about 10 feet tall. At critical intersect...
The town of Elmer City has set Sept. 14, as the date for a public hearing on assuming the rights, powers and functions of its Transportation Benefit District. The hearing will be at 6:45 p.m., just prior to the town’s monthly council meeting at 7. The town passed its TBD ordinance on Dec. 10, 2015, creating the boundaries as the town limits, and has since collected about $3,800, which is allocated for street improvement. The public hearing will deal with the town council assuming the duties of the district and will take input on what streets m...
Barbecue lovers might want to mark Sept. 16 and 17 on their calendars. Those are the days you can go to Banks Lake Park and sample barbecue specialties from a host of grillers who are after the grand champion prize of $2,000, the trophy that goes along with it, and bragging rights. The BBQ competition is part of the community Harvest Festival put on by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. Grillers will get set up and rely on their special recipes to please the “sampling” crowd and gain the attention of the judges as they compete for...
Coulee Dam utility customer charges for sewage treatment will likely rise $5-$6 a month to around $61-$62 per household equivalent when the town builds its new wastewater treatment plant, Mayor Greg Wilder told the town council at its Aug. 9 meeting. Construction is beginning on the $7.7 million project now with the contractor on site. Wilder said if Elmer City decides to build its own plant in eight years, when a contract between the two towns ends, the ERU (Equivalent Resident Unit) rate Coulee Dam residents would pay would rise to about...

Grand Coulee ambulance volunteers prepare to transport a man whose car ended up on a lawn just north of the Visitor Center at Grand Coulee Dam Friday. A Coulee Dam police officer at the scene said the late-model Honda minivan had traveled about 140 feet after the driver started drifting, hitting two median curbs for the turn into the park below the visitor center, going somewhat airborne at a low rate of speed and jumping the curb between a stop sign and street light post, then coming to rest...