News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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A Selah, Washington man was arrested last Thursday for allegedly trying to break into the marijuana retail store on Burdin Boulevard. Police said they arrested a 22-year-old man who tried to get into B Street Bud by forcing the back door open. Chief John Tufts and officer Joseph Higgs arrested the man, who told them he came to town to tour Grand Coulee Dam with his electrician class but was late and had missed the tour. He then went to the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce office to inquire where the marijuana retail store was located.... Full story
Electric City has finally agreed to a contract with Grand Coulee to provide police services. Its city council voted 5-0 for the contract offer, even though some of the language was a bitter pill to swallow. Then there was an ultimatum, the tossing of the gauntlet so to speak. Grand Coulee, tired of the document bouncing around because of language changes, told the folks at Electric City, essentially, take it or leave it. Electric City was told that if the agreement wasn’t signed by March 1, forget it. That didn’t sit well with council mem... Full story
There’s an effort to resurrect “Them Dam Writers” an organization that encourages people to write. The group had been organized back in the 1980s, but in recent years had dwindled to only a few. The effort to get the group going again will begin with a brainstorming meeting at 1 p.m., Friday, Feb. 12, at the Senior Center. Them Dam Writers is a non-profit organization that had many of its articles published in The Star newspaper in a “Reflections” column. Them Dam Writers in the past have featured writers’ workshops, poetry writing contests in... Full story
An after-school program promoting values, leadership, family and education received a multi-state award last week when its director, Kim Stanger, was in Washington D.C. to encourage more funding from Congress. The Cultural Enrichment Early Out Monday program at Lake Roosevelt Schools received an award as an "Exemplary Program" in Region 6, the Northwest, of the National Johnson-O'Malley Program in the Bureau of Indian Education. The program takes advantage of the schools' "early out" Mondays... Full story
A popular educator and rising young school administrator was taken from Lake Roosevelt Schools in handcuffs last week, after a Seattle-based task force on Internet crimes served warrants to search his home, office and vehicle. Nate Piturachsatit, 37, was arrested at the school Feb. 3, after law enforcement officers from several agencies, all part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, arrived at 10 a.m. with a warrant to search his office and computer. When they left, they didn't... Full story
Want to serve on Electric City’s Pathway committee? All you have to do is drop a note off at city hall. The city council will make a selection of four local citizens to serve, along with city Councilmember Brad Parrish, on an advisory committee regarding matters pertaining to the proposed trail. Chairing the committee will be Tiffany Quilter of Grant County Health District. A representative of Washington State University’s Rural Community Design Initiative, and a representative from the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conse... Full story
A public workshop will be held this Thursday night at the Electric City fire station to develop survey questions for the proposed Pathways project. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend and take part by sharing their thoughts and vision of Electric City. A large group of stakeholders met in January to get the discussions going on an Electric City trail system but couldn’t agree on a set of questions for a community survey. Deputy Clerk Russell Powers, who is organizing the meeting, said the group will develop q... Full story
Volunteer nominations close Thursday Those who wish to nominate someone for Volunteer of the Year have until midnight Thursday. Letters of nomination should be as specific as possible about why the candidate should be honored, including contact information for the nominator and for anyone who could speak about the nomination. Send nominations by email, through the U.S. Postal Service, or in person as follows: • by email to star@grandcoulee.com • by mail to Volunteer, PO Box 150, Grand Coulee, WA 99133 • in person to The Star, 3 Midway Ave.,... Full story
Coulee Dam Town Council agreed on two leases at its meeting Jan. 27. Council members agreed to leases for The Melody Restaurant and Riverview Lanes, the town’s two tenants in the building it owns. The Riverview Lanes lease, covering two years with the firm’s new owner, Scott Elmore, calls for $480 lease payments each month from May through September and $675 a month from October through April. The higher price is during the months that league play is most active. Elmore took over the operation in December after spending several weeks get... Full story
Electric City will be working on its new “no name” park this year. The park site, behind the city’s fire station, is yet to be named, and is promoted as a “neighborhood” park. It is the brainchild of Councilmember Lonna Bussert. The city has over $35,000 in its budget for some development this year. Targeted will be fencing, irrigation and the placement of some surplus playground equipment that came out of the Center Elementary School recess area. Last year a community yard sale held at the Vet’s Center and a “Pig in the Park” picnic provided s... Full story
A levy to support Nespelem School District passed by a large margin Tuesday night with only 14 percent of the ballots in Okanogan County left to count. As of Tuesday night, 52 voters said yes to the measure that will tax property owners at about $2.49 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, compared to 17 against it. The 75.36-percent margin assures the passage of the levy, which will directly bring in only about $34,000 a year, but makes the district eligible to receive state “levy equalization” funds of nearly $318,000 more. The fou... Full story
A levy to support Nespelem School District passed by a large margin Tuesday night with only 14 percent of the ballots in Okanogan County left to count. As of Tuesday night, 52 voters said yes to the measure that will tax property owners at about $2.49 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, compared to 17 against it. The 75.36-percent margin assures the passage of the levy, which will directly bring in only about $34,000 a year, but makes the district eligible to receive state “levy equalization” funds of nearly $318,000 more. The fou... Full story
The Regional Board of Mayors set their spring and fall residential cleanup schedules for 2016 at their meeting Monday. The spring cleanup will be April 2-9, for those who haul their own garden debris to the Delano Regional Transfer Station, and April 11-15, for those who rely on curbside pickup. For next fall, the mayors have set Nov. 12-19, for garden material free dumping. Three of the local towns and cities assist with free pick-up arrangements: Electric City, Grand Coulee and Elmer City. Donna Deckman, from Electric City’s public works d...
Alumni from Grand Coulee’s Tigers, Coulee Dam Beavers and from Nespelem’s Savages got the go-ahead from the school board recently for a space on the new school campus for a statue showing that the Raiders grew out of the three earlier schools. Coulee Dam Beaver graduates plan a reunion Aug. 5-7 this year and will use the occasion as a fund-raiser for the statue. The reunion is for classes from 1935 through 1974. As part of the fund-raising effort, the Beavers are selling different levels of tables for the reunion dinner. Sponsorship table lev... Full story
A Grand Coulee man is in jail today after a raid Friday in Grand Coulee. Melvin E. Toulou, Jr., 42, is in the Grant County Jail for investigation of possession stolen property. A task force led by the Grant County Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (INET) and the U.S. Secret Service served a search warrant on Toulou’s home at 308 Burdin Boulevard in Grand Coulee and also at a home at 58220 Spokane Boulevard near Grand Coulee. Along with illegal drugs, officers found thousands of dollars worth of property believed to have been stolen d...
“Rocket scientists they are not.” That was the way Coulee Dam’s interim police chief described villains who brag about their escapades on Facebook. Interim Chief Larry Hall said that he often looks at Facebook to catch up with some law breakers who aren’t too smart and tell what they have done for everyone to see. “When we have a a few vehicle prowls and a few garages are being broken into, I call the jail and ask if certain people are still in jail,” Hall said. “As far as major crimes,” he said, “we’re really blessed.” Consumeraffairs.com h... Full story
A popular educator and rising young school administrator was taken from Lake Roosevelt Schools in handcuffs today, after a Seattle-based task force on internet crimes served warrants to search his home and office. Nate Piturachsatit was arrested at the school today after law enforcement officers from several agencies, all part of the regional task force, arrived with a warrant to search his office and computer. When they left, they didn’t take the computer with them, but they did take his cell phone. Piturachsatit is the vice principal of L... Full story
Don Richer, 52, of Coulee Dam, threw a perfect 300 game last week at Riverview Lanes. It wasn't his first - he has three official 300 games to his credit. But it was exciting just the same, both for him and for others at the lanes at the time. A perfect 300 game is 12 strikes in a row in the same game. Most people get excited when they throw a single strike, but 12 in a row puts you in a special class. Richer said the first six or seven strikes for him are without pressure. But after that,... Full story
The Star is still accepting nominations for the annual Volunteer of the Year award. Each year, the community selects between several worthy people nominated for the honor. One person is honored. Groups are not eligible. Nominations can be made until Feb. 11. Letters of nomination should be as specific as possible about why the candidate should be honored, including contact information for the nominator and for anyone who could speak about the nomination. Send nominations by e-mail, through the U.S. Postal Service, or in person as follows: • b... Full story
Voters will decide Feb. 9 whether to continue property tax support of Nespelem Elementary School by paying only about a tenth of the amount of money the levy actually would bring to the school. The school teaches about 120 students in pre-school through eighth grades. That count is up from last year, says Rich Stewart, superintendent of the district, whose board of directors budgeted for only about 100 students this school year. "We are hoping this trend continues as our program has made... Full story
Wildlife staff from the Colville Tribes' Fish and Wildlife (CTFW) Department released 52 pronghorn antelope in the early morning hours last Thursday, a department press release announced Friday. They were released on the southwest corner of the Colville Indian Reservation. "The capture process went great, fairly smooth and without incident," said Kodi Jo Jaspers, Resource Protection biologist for CTFW. "The helicopter crew used net guns to capture pronghorn on the ground, and then anywhere from... Full story
Fish passage now possible, legislators told In Olympia Tuesday, the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee heard testimony in favor of their support of a “memorial” bill that would tell the federal government the Legislature favors reintroducing salmon and steelhead above Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams. “While salmon passage over high-head dams such as Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee may have been deemed impossible when they were constructed 50 and 80 years ago, that is not the case today,” said D. R. Michel, executive directo... Full story
A free class will teach young teenagers, ready to earn money by babysitting, how to do it safely. The class offered at Coulee Medical Center will teach them “the safety skills they need for themselves and the children they are watching,” according to the hospital. It’s scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the hospital’s on-site training room, 411 Fortuyn Road, Grand Coulee. Students need to bring a sack lunch. Drinks and snacks will be provided. Space is limited. To register, call Molly Morris at 633-6354 or email mmorris... Full story
The town council last week narrowly repealed a vote it took in December to remove two town-owned trees along the 300 block of Stevens Avenue after one council member said he felt deceived and embarrassed. Coulee Dam Councilmember David Schmidt said a letter he had signed as a member of the Parks and Natural Resources Board had the wrong addresses on it, not the addresses where two trees they’d inspected needed to be removed. “We didn’t look at either one of those trees,” Schmidt said. “We never would have approved their removal because t... Full story
What to do with an old stone church? The old stone community church in Coulee Dam is vacant and needs a new tenant. The subject came up at the Coulee Dam Town Council meeting last Wednesday night when Councilmember David Schmidt stated his regrets that the church had closed and commented that there should be some public response in support for the church. Councilmember Ben Alling responded that he would like to see it used for a convention center, using hotel/motel tax funds to accomplish that. Schmidt said he hadn’t meant to suggest that t... Full story