News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Members of the Coulee Dam Community Church and others gathered for its last service Sunday, offering a worship service that included bittersweet remembrances by those attending and a final fellowship afterward. The church has been a welcoming and open influence in the community that provided a great place for worship, community events, music and much more, members said. "Everyone wanted their wedding to be in this church," said Diane Babler, who married her husband Bob in the stone church at... Full story
A study of consolidating two local cities is off the books. Neither Electric City nor Grand Coulee put funding in their budgets to pay for it, and a second reason is more critical than the cost of the study, according to one councilmember. In order to consolidate the two cities, one of them would have to annex either Delano or the land between North Dam Park and Coulee Playland. There is no land where the two cities have a common boundary. Grand Coulee Councilmember Tom Poplawski pointed this out at that city’s council meeting Dec. 22, and a... Full story
Grand Coulee has a new mayor: Paul Townsend. He replaces Chris Christopherson, who chose not to run for re-election in November. Townsend ran unopposed, and has served as councilman and mayor pro tem. He, along with Councilmember Gary Carriere, who had filed for Townsend's seat, both take on new duties. Councilmembers Tom Poplawski, David Tylor and Erin Nielsen, who had won re-election, were all sworn in Dec. 22, at the regular council meeting. Carriere is a member of the Electric City... Full story
Retail pot license issued The city of Grand Coulee has issued a business license for a marijuana retail outlet. Filing with the city and receiving the license was Jean Comstock, who plans to open her retail store in a location on Burdin Boulevard sometime soon after the first of the year, in the Snyder business park. State to raise lid on pot outlets Following an analysis of the entire marijuana marketplace in the state, the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board heard a recommendation Dec. 16 from staff to increase the number of retail... Full story
Grand Coulee has revised downward the amount of hotel/motel tax funds it is going to give out in 2016, after last summer’s smoky tourist season. The city had received requests from four organizations totaling $34,325, but is only going to fund $22,870. The decision was made Dec. 22 as the city council approved its $3,041,419.22 budget for 2016. Grand Coulee had given out $34,000 in 2015. The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce had requested $13,325, but will receive $8,900. The Ridge Riders had requested $12,500, but will receive $... Full story
Shane Proctor jumped from eighth to third place in the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas earlier this month. Proctor had won it all in 2011, sewing up the world bull riding championship in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. His hometown, Grand Coulee, honored Proctor by erecting a sign at the south end of Midway Avenue calling attention to his note- worthy achievement. On Dec. 13, Proctor, who graduated from Lake Roosevelt High School in 2003, finished competition by riding five of 10 bulls for a payday of $113,385, bringing... Full story
A contract between Grand Coulee and Electric City for police services has been stalled and won’t be resolved until early 2016. Grand Coulee’s city council voted Dec. 22 to extend its current contract, which expires Dec. 31, until new language, inserted since the council committees agreed on the new two-year contract, can be adjusted. The two council committees had a handshake agreement early in December, but after that agreement attorneys had inserted language that the two parties hadn’t yet agreed on. Just a formality, members of the Grand... Full story
Sledders at North Dam Park enjoy the snow and slope around the gazebo area at North Dam Park Monday afternoon. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
An Elmer City man was arrested and taken to Grant County Jail after he allegedly entered a house in Grand Coulee from which he had been banned. Police said Richard C. Rutledge, 63, of 40 Williams Street, had removed items from a house where he had earlier been banned from entering. In addition to a burglary charge, Rutledge faces charges of possession of a controlled substance, third-degree theft, making false statements to a public servant, and obstructing law enforcement. When police arrived at the Roosevelt Drive location, their report... Full story
Prospects of a study in 2016 on the possibility of consolidating the cities of Grand Coulee and Electric City are unlikely. Hopes dimmed last week when $10,000 towards the study became a victim of Grand Coulee’s budget crunching. The hope had been that Electric City would follow through with $15,000 toward the study and that Grand Coulee would come up with another $15,000. Electric City’s $15,000 didn’t make it into its 2016 budget, and the $15,000 for Grand Coulee, which had already been whittled down to $10,000, didn’t make it either.... Full story
Children of Lake Roosevelt Elementary school perform in concert at the high school gym Thursday afternoon. The gym was full of parents and relatives, listening and taking photos of their kids singing and playing. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
The future of the Coulee Dam Community Presbyterian Church will likely be decided sometime in 2016. The decision is up to a Presbytery Commission, made up of a handful of people that includes former Pastor Muriel Brown of Ellensburg, who chairs the group, and local elder Jerry Kennedy. Kennedy said Friday that the commission takes over responsibility for the church Jan. 1. The local congregation plans a Christmas Eve service and another service Dec. 27. After that, the local congregation will be disbanded. Kennedy said the heat will remain on... Full story
The Star started a tradition 29 years ago, publishing seasonal greeting cards drawn by local third graders. Readers are again in for a treat this week with Christmas cards drawn by three third-grade classes at Lake Roosevelt Elementary. This year, 63 third graders submitted their own kind of special greetings to the community through the hand-drawn cards. The special pages sometimes end up in family scrapbooks, bringing smiles to parents and family members as they sort through events that are... Full story
The trees owned by the town of Coulee Dam are worth an estimated $3 million dollars, a recent inventory report funded by the Washington Department of Natural Resources states. The study, produced by Community Forestry Consultants, was produced under DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program. Most, but not all, of the town’s trees were counted and mapped using special software and the Geographic Information System. The type of tree, its condition, size and estimated value were signed to each of 680 trees at 296 planting sites. Trees owned pri... Full story
A wildlife team from the Colville Tribes' Fish and Wildlife (CTFW) Department will head to Nevada this coming January to assist with capture efforts of up to 100 pronghorn antelope. The animals will be released near the Tumwater Basin and White Lakes Mitigation Areas, on the southwest corner of the Colville Indian Reservation. "Our staff will work with the Nevada Department of Wildlife," said Richard Whitney, wildlife manager. "We will utilize an aerial capture company from Nevada to round up... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation has selected its site for a new fire station. Bureau of Reclamation officials announced Friday that it will build its 21,500-square-foot fire station near the intersection of B Street and Highway 155. The site, which was the bureau’s preferred site, is on land already owned by the federal government and is outside the west administration/industrial gate area. A second site considered, managed by the National Park Service, was in the Crescent Bay area. The announcement came after the bureau had completed its e... Full story
The Star office will be closed for the holiday at noon Dec. 24 and reopen on Monday, Dec. 28.... Full story
The new year will kick off with the first major Electric City trail project meeting. Councilmember Brad Parrish, who is heading up the effort, said last week that he plans a stakeholder meeting Wednesday, Jan. 20, somewhere in the area. That’s about a week after the city council will consider a proposal to commit 150 percent of next year’s projected tourism-tax-fund balance on the pathway along Banks Lake. The meeting will include stakeholders like Coulee Medical Center; Gray & Osborne; the National Park Service; The NPS Rivers, Trails and Cons... Full story
To prepare for the Christmas holiday, The Star will come out two days early next week, on Monday, in order for it to reach readers before post offices close. That moves the paper’s usual Monday deadline for news to 6 a.m. Friday this week. The paper will feature Christmas cards drawn by third graders at Lake Roosevelt Elementary.... Full story
After making sure he's on the been-good list, Santa hands a boy book Thursday night during the annual lighting of the library in Grand Coulee. The facility was packed with kids and parents, who came to take part in the spirit of the event, which also featured door prizes and cookies. The boy opened the book immediately, before getting off Santa's lap. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
A proposal to study whether consolidating two local cities makes sense now depends on the leadership of the mayors of Electric City and Grand Coulee. The Electric City Council last week ducked the issue again and is leaving it up to the two mayors to come up with a joint resolution. Consolidation, and the funding of any study, has been bounced around at several council meetings in both cities, with no resolution. The chamber of commerce has offered to be the glue that holds the consolidation effort together, using a Wenatchee consulting firm, S... Full story
Elmer City’s town council reaffirmed its plan to move on with developing its own wastewater treatment plant last Thursday night. The council set its project schedule to have its engineering report completed by October of 2016. Elmer City is in its 41st year of a 50-year agreement with Coulee Dam, which treats its wastewater, so the council has plenty of time to complete its own plant. Elmer City’s sewage constitutes about 23 percent of Coulee Dam’s plant flow. Meanwhile, Coulee Dam’s town council members gave Mayor Greg Wilder verbal support... Full story
A Coulee Dam resident admonished locals for feeding deer and squirrels and proclaimed that it was unlawful to do so. The subject then turned to trees, and that's when the Coulee Dam town council meeting last Wednesday turned ugly. Bruce Bartoo, who lives on Stevens Street, started the public discussion off with his comments about deer and squirrels, then quickly brought up the fact that he wanted to cut down two town-owned trees. He said the roots were destroying the town's sidewalk and his... Full story
Coulee City man arrested after shot fired A 29-year-old Coulee City man was in the Grant County Jail after allegedly firing a rifle, causing Coulee City schools to lock down temporarily Friday morning, the county sheriff’s office reported. David E. Chapman was arrested without incident Friday morning at his home in a trailer park in the 36800 block of Road I.8 Northeast in Coulee City. Chapman is alleged to have pointed a rifle at his brother during an argument at the home Thursday night. That incident was not reported until Friday morning, w... Full story
Grand Coulee's newest postmaster has worked at the national level for the U.S. Post Office, but wanted to get back to small- town life. Amy Glover took charge of the Grand Coulee office Dec. 8. That night, the distribution facility in Spokane that sorts most of the mail in eastern Washington flooded, stopping the flow of mail. Glover, whose assignment includes oversight of Coulee Dam and Elmer City post offices, said that they temporarily stopped sending local mail to Spokane for sorting.... Full story