News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 3910 - 3934 of 6880
Brad Parrish has resigned his position on Electric City’s council. Parrish submitted his resignation after he learned that his wife had been selected as deputy clerk. The council meets next Feb. 14, and is expected to accept Parrish’s resignation at that time. Parrish is midway through his second term and would have been up for re-election in 2019. City officials stated that Parrish decided to resign after his wife, Diana, was hired as deputy clerk. She begins work at city hall Jan. 27. Parrish has been the mainstay on the council in sup... Full story
The Nespelem School District has plenty of cash right now, but fewer federal funds may be coming for the year than previously planned. The district, which budgeted for the year based on an expected enrollment average of 110 students, has seen that number at 133 this year. Financial officer Tanya Bunting told the board Monday night that the district is in a good cash position currently, but cautioned that federal Impact Aid funding may not come in as expected. The district's budget includes... Full story
The Liberty Bell Mountain Lions held an impromptu slumber party in the Lake Roosevelt gym last Tuesday after their basketball game with the Raiders, due to the ice storm that night. The junior varsity games had been canceled so that the varsity games could be held earlier and Liberty Bell could get back home before the weather became too frightful. But frightful it was, as an ice storm hit before the games were over. The Liberty Bell bus driver and coaches discussed at halftime during the boys’ game whether it would be wise to drive home in s... Full story
The National Park Service Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail is like a giant jigsaw puzzle; the whole is there to see, but the problem is how to put the pieces together. Denise Bausch, NPS chief of interpretation and education for the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area and Ice Age Floods, told about 40 people Monday that "partnerships" with communities and groups along the way would be the key to the trail's success. The meeting was held Monday afternoon in Coulee Dam's community room a... Full story
D'Wayne Darlington with Hurd's Guide Service displays a couple of good-sized Kokanee on the dock at Crescent Bay Monday. The land-locked salmon have reportedly been biting, but regional anglers have been frustrated as many boat launches on Lake Roosevelt iced over during the recent cold weather. Crescent Bay was one of those that remained open. Darlington said the Kokanee and now rainbow trout are hitting. "Once you find a good group of them, it's like hammer time," he said. "It's non-stop." -... Full story
A city law proposed months ago to regulate fireworks in Electric City has gone “poof” last Tuesday night after the fire chief insisted it wasn’t needed. The ordinance was doomed after volunteer fire Chief Mark Payne appeared before the council and told members it was unnecessary. Payne said he had been associated with the fire department for over 20 years, and fireworks have never been an issue. “Just because Grand Coulee has an ordinance about fireworks, it doesn’t mean that we need to,” Payne responded. The fire chief told council mem... Full story
Grant County Mosquito District 2 board is calling a special meeting for Tuesday evening at 7 p.m., at the Electric City Hall regarding district assessment.... Full story
Nespelem School will start two hours late on Friday, Jan.20, and will hold no preschool....
Both Lake Roosevelt and Nespelem schools will start two hours late again on Thursday, both schools said late Wednesday as warming temperatures put a slick watery surface atop built-up road ice. Nespelem School will also not hold preschool again Thursday, and no breakfast will be served....
The most dramatic feature of a proposed four-state trail is centered locally, and residents can learn all about it next Monday afternoon. People can learn how this region will play a small but significant role in the development of the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail at a National Park Service information meeting Monday, Jan. 23, from 1-3 p.m. in the community room at Coulee Dam Town Hall. Denise Bausch, of the National Park Service, will make a 45-minute presentation showing the proposed... Full story
Electric City’s Pathway and Revitalization plan is about three-fourths of the way complete, and should be ready for review within a few weeks, the city council learned last week. The plan is being developed by a Washington State University group made up of a team of students and Assistant Professor Kathleen Ryan from the WSU Rural Communities Design Initiative. The WSU team has been working on the plan since last spring, including conducting two public meetings and issuing a preliminary report. When completed, the plan will be reviewed by C... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District directors accepted the resignations of two veteran employees at its meeting Jan. 10. Resigning were teacher and Current Technical Education Director Kathy Proctor, and Human Resource Director Mandi Stack. Proctor came to the district in 1979, and has been associated with vocational education. She will finish up a 37-year teaching career at the close of school this spring. Proctor’s husband, Gordon, retired a couple of years ago, also after many years of service, as a teacher and coach. Stack is a 1997 g... Full story
Electric City may still get started on its new park behind the fire station early this year. A discussion at last week’s council meeting provided some hope to Councilmember Lonna Bussert that work on a needed retaining wall could be done after the city receives the finished Pathway and Revitalization plan from a Washington State University team of an assistant professor and several students. That plan is expected to be complete in either late January or early February and include details of the development of the park. Bussert was active in t... Full story
OLYMPIA - Finding the dollars to meet the Supreme Court's mandate to fully fund basic education as required by the state constitution is the dominant issue facing legislators in the 2017 session. A major amount of education funding is now raised through local tax levies. The state is obligated to take over its constitutional share of funding basic education, reducing the burden on local school districts and their taxpayers. Last February, voters in 131 districts in Washington approved special property tax levies totaling over $3 billion to... Full story
With reduced staffing and resources during the winter season, the facilities open in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area are limited, but the National Park Service unit last week listed several boat launches snowplowed on an “as needed” basis on weekdays during the snowy season. They include Kettle Falls boat launch, Bradbury Beach boat launch, Gifford boat launch, Hunter boat launch, Fort Spokane boat launch and first campground loop road only, Seven Bays boat launch, Porcupine Bay boat launch, Lincoln Mill boat launch, Keller Ferry bo... Full story
The guy who’s always helping out the neighbors, the member of your club or church who helps with just about everything, the member of the volunteer board or council who puts in countless hours on behalf citizens who often don’t know who makes local decisions on their behalf. These are all examples of folks you could nominate for the 2016 volunteer of the year to be honored in an upcoming issue of The Star. The newspaper will publish your letters of nomination between now and then. We encourage you to think about those who give of their time and... Full story
Duncan Oddie, who with his wife Marlene, owns KISSed Quilts, changes out light bulbs Sunday on the decorative strings that criss cross Main Street, a project of merchants on the street. He was one of a handful of volunteers swapping the lights out in sub-freezing weather with the help of lift equipment from Flowers and Sons. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
Olympia - More than 6,500 students, educators, and parents assembled across the capitol steps Monday, Jan. 16, to shout out their frustrations over the state's failure to fund basic education, its constitutional duty. Speakers at the Rally for Student Civil Rights and Amply Funded Public Schools referred to Dr. Martin Luther King's fight for equality. Monday was his Day. "In honoring Martin Luther King Jr., Washington can look to his words for inspiration and a call to action," said Summer...
The Colville Tribes will repay the federal government nearly a quarter million dollars to settle allegations it submitted false Medicaid claims in connection with bills submitted by a mental health contractor for services allegedly never rendered, U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby announced in Spokane late Tuesday. The tribes, which have not admitted to any wrongdoing, agreed to pay $245,860 for alleged “billing irregularities” between January and August 2010, said a press release from Ormsby, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of W... Full story
It's entirely possible The Star could be late tomorrow. As I write, freezing rain is pelting the ground, the National Weather Service is warning of an ice storm with up to a half inch of ice locally, and roads are becoming hazardous. Just for fun, here's a video of the frozen drops bouncing of the ice-encrusted snow in front of The Star tonight as we finish up tomorrow's paper. Freezing rain from Scott Hunter on Vimeo....
Lake Roosevelt Schools and Nespelem School with start two hours late Wednesday. At Nespelem Elementary there will be no preschool at all for the day. Also, breakfast will not be served at Nespelem on Wednesday. Freezing rain was pelting much of the area Tuesday night, making roads very slick....
No after-school activities for Nespelem today Nespelem School will send it’s kids home right after school today (Tuesday, Jan. 17) at 2:45 and will not hold after-school programs, the school said this morning. With freezing rain frequently on Tuesday morning and ice storm warning for this evening and tomorrow morning, administrators thought it best to get the kids home early. There normally would have been after-school activities until 4 p.m. No decision has yet been made on starting school Wednesday morning....
Nespelem Elementary School was start two hours late Thursday, Jan. 12, due to weather conditions, the school announced Wednesday night....
Tonight's (Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017) Coulee Dam Town Council meeting was canceled due to lack of a quorum, a statement posted on the town's website said.... Full story
Grand Coulee's police department showed a marked increase in the number of burglaries reported in its jurisdiction (which includes Electric City) in 2016 over what it reported for 2015, according to records released last week. The report, which included Electric City, showed there were 42 attempted and actual burglaries for 2016, compared to 23 for 2015, an 82-percent hike. Burglary records for Coulee Dam were not available for 2016, but the number of burglaries in 2015 was shown as six. Police... Full story