News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 4843 - 4867 of 6741
To school officials here, and throughout the state, Initiative 1351, passed by voters in November, is just another financial unfunded nightmare. The initiative calls for smaller class sizes, an idea that normally would receive little argument. However, there is no provision for funding. The Legislature, now in session, is faced with the task of funding the number of additional teachers and aides required in smaller classroom sizes, plus classroom space. Locally, Superintendent Dennis Carlson... Full story
By a narrow 3-2 vote, the Grand Coulee City Council refused to pay back a building permit fee to Mike Horne, who wanted to move his automotive business to a new location earlier this winter. The permit fee of $650.06 was only a small portion of what it cost Horne told the city council last Tuesday night. Horne said he had taken out a loan and had attorney fees of his own, in the amount of about $5,000. In an earlier discussion, the council decided not to reimburse Horne for the permit fee, and last Tuesday night he appeared before the council... Full story
The dream of a community swimming pool and wellness center is due for a visible rendering, which architects started to get a feel for Tuesday morning in a field of weeds. In January, the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District awarded the job of helping the community see what could be to NAC Architecture of Spokane. NAC's Keith Comes and Ryan Palmquist met with district commissioners Bob Valen and Phil Hansen Tuesday. They toured two possible sites for a "wellness center" - the old Grand... Full story
Newspaper to close Monday The Star newspaper will be closed Monday, Feb. 16, in observance of the Presidents Day holiday. The deadline for advertising and news is 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13. The Star office will open at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17. Valentines breakfast planned The Coulee Dam Lions Club will host its 20th annual Valentine’s Day breakfast at the Senior Center from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 14. Pancakes, eggs, sausage and ham are on the menu. Cost is $7 for adults, $4 for children 6-10 years old, and $20 for a family. Tourism g... Full story
Quincy Williams, a sophomore at Lake Roosevelt High School, watches Friday as a 3D printer he programmed builds up a personal name tag with his basketball jersey number on it. The printer, which applies layers of cornstarch-based plastics to make objects, is among several fabrication and design instruments at the school. It was used to make the homecoming crowns last fall. The Grand Coulee Public Library will hold a training for such 3D printers on Thursday, Feb. 12 from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Space is... Full story
Electric City is starting a process that could lead to the building of a pedestrian pathway along SR-155, using hotel/motel tax money. Council members have long hinted that the city would like to do a major tourism project using some $280,000 held in its hotel/motel reserve fund. Councilman Brad Parrish talked about the project at Tuesday night’s council meeting. The proposed pathway would go from Coulee Playland to the Causeway and connect with all three firms that develop hotel/motel tax monies, Sunbanks Resort, Skydeck Motel and Coulee P... Full story
Coulee Dam is getting closer to selecting its third police officer. Police Chief Pat Collins and Sgt. Larry Hall have handled law enforcement duties for over a year while waiting for the civil service commissioners to be named and to organize. The town’s Civil Service Commission has forwarded two names to Collins, who said Monday that he plans to conduct an interview with the second candidate soon. After that process is complete, Collins will select the department’s third officer. However, there won’t be much relief in sight since that candi... Full story
Grand Coulee’s volunteer fire chief, Richard Paris, has asked the council to give him authority to sign an interlocal purchasing agreement with Snohomish County Fire District 3, so Grand Coulee could “piggy-back” with that agency in the purchase of a new ambulance. Paris said the city has enough in its fire department equipment reserve fund for the purchase and that he had placed a $160,000 request in the 2015 budget, which was approved by the council. Paris said that piggy-backing with another agency that has already gone through the effor... Full story
John Tufts is the new chief of police in Grand Coulee. Mayor Chris Christopherson named Tuft, to the applause of council members, at the city council meeting Tuesday night. Tufts, a 30-year veteran of the department, had been acting as interim chief since shortly after the retirement of Mel Hunt on Oct. 1. Tufts was one of the top three candidates for the job and his name along with two others was advanced to the mayor for consideration for the appointment. When the mayor made the announcement, it was apparent from the reaction, that council... Full story
A 39-year-old Omak man was taken to Coulee Medical Center today after he swerved to miss a deer on SR 17 and hit a telephone pole. Jason Reise was headed north in a 2005 Dodge Caravan 13.4 miles north of Coulee City when he had to swerve to miss a deer about 7:45 a.m., the Washington State Patrol reported. The van left the roadway to the left and hit the pole. Reise, who was wearing a seatbelt, was taken to Coulee Medical Center. The van was towed to Jack’s 4 Corners in Grand Coulee....
It seemed to be pumping through the veins of people all over the community last week, but there couldn't have been more concrete evidence of the Pacific Northwest's support of the Seattle Seahawks for their bid to repeat last year's Superbowl victory than a big 12 emblazened on the great Grand Coulee Dam. Friday night, as workers doing maintenance work on the largest nightly laser light show in the country tuned the lasers on the Grand Coulee Dam, they made a 300-foot tall blue and green "12"... Full story
Local school district patrons have only six days remaining to mail in their replacement levy ballots. The ballots must be postmarked by Feb. 10, to be counted. The Grand Coulee Dam School District is asking voters to approve a four-year, $1.13 million maintenance and operation levy, which would result in a reduction in taxes to most property owners. This levy is a replacement levy of a four-year levy that ends this year. It asks voters to pay $3.95 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, compared to the current rate of $4.54 per thousand,... Full story
Five Lake Roosevelt High School students will begin a pilot project at the Bureau of Reclamation in February. The project will allow upper class students at the high school to spend one day a week getting a work experience at designated locations at the dam. High School Principal Brandon Byers said Tuesday that he is in the process of selecting five students who are currently in the school’s engineering program. Byers said he met with Bureau officials last spring and the process got started. He also stated that if the pilot project gets off t... Full story
A Keller man was arrested last Wednesday at a Burdin Boulevard residence for being in possession of a stolen vehicle. Henry Alexander Palmer, 43, was arrested and taken to Grant County Jail on an outstanding warrant for driving while his license was suspended and for having a stolen vehicle in his possession. Palmer told police he had bought the pickup from a third party. Police saw the black 1999 Toyota pickup in the alley behind Burdin Boulevard and A Street, partially blocking the alley about 8:30 p.m. When they checked the registration,... Full story
Recent outbreaks of Avian Flu in Washington state have prompted officials to schedule two local meetings, on Monday, Feb. 9, to provide the public and poultry growers information about the bird disease. A meeting is set for 9-10 a.m. at the Nespelem Community Center, and a second meeting is set for 1 p.m. in Okanogan at the county commissioner’s hearing room, 123 Fifth Avenue North, room 150. Dr. John Huntley, USDA APHIS Veterinary Services, assistant District 6 director of the US Dept. of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Ser... Full story
Fire district passes audit Okanogan County Fire District 2 passed state audit for the two-year period from Jan. 1, 2012 through Dec. 31, 2013, the Washington State Auditor’s Office said Monday. The SAO said records it examined indicate the district, which took in about $20,000 in 2012 and $10,000 in 2013 while fire protection to Elmer City and the surrounding area, “complied with applicable requirements and provided adequate safeguarding of public resources.” Town seeks citizens for advisory group Coulee Dam is looking for citizens inter... Full story
In last week’s article “Spending Frenzy” an omission in submitted information resulted in not mentioning that State Farm Insurance was also a sponsor of the school event. The interim fire chief in Coulee Dam is Flint Bjorson. His first name was mispelled in a recent story.... Full story
Members of the Banks Lake Golf Course received letters late last week of a new rate structure for annual membership. Port District 7 officials were busy Thursday preparing letters noting that single memberships and family memberships wlll each go up $50 for 2015. The golf course will open for play on March 1. Port commissioners said the rate increase is modest and is still much less than a few years ago. This year, family memberships will be $750, and an individual membership will be $650. In addition, gas cart storage will be $200 a year, and... Full story
Port District 7 got its new dump truck and blade last Wednesday; but where's the snow? The truck, with an International chassis, was delivered from Wisconsin, amid a lot of fanfare, with port district officials there to assist in the unloading of the huge truck. The truck and blade, along with the 35-foot by 40-foot garage to house it, come in at about $292,372 for the truck and $133,000 for the building, according to port district officials. The entire project, including engineering, was paid... Full story
Bob, Washington? That could be the new name of a consolidated Grand Coulee and Electric City, chamber representative Bob Valen laughingly told Grand Coulee’s council last Tuesday night. He and Kevin Portch appeared before the council to make a pitch for consolidation discussions. The chamber had earlier appeared before the Electric City council. This time, the issue got some action, with the council agreeing to prepare a letter of support. It’s a first step. Valen had proposed that the chamber hold a community meeting for residents of the two... Full story
There couldn't be more concrete evidence of the Pacific Northwest's support of the Seattle Seahawks for their bid to repeat last year's Superbowl victory tomorrow, than a big 12 emblazened on the great Grand Coulee Dam. Friday night, as workers doing maintenance work on the largest nightly laser light show in the country tuned the lasers at Grand Coulee Dam 90 miles east of Spokane, Wash., they made a 300-foot tall blue and green "12" light up the spillway on the face of the dam, presumably to... Full story
She was selected, by a vote of local citizens to be awarded the "volunteer" for 2014. Rice was among a list of nine that had been nominated for the honor, and received almost a third of the total 182 votes. Others nominated include Karen Depew, Emily Robinson, Earl Cole, Donna White, Fern Blaylock, Donna Shear, Bubba Egbert and Zekkethal "Val" Vargas-Thomas. As this was being written, you could have found her at the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center training to help people prepare their income... Full story
The Electric City Planning Commission will submit a number of changes to the city council as a result of its public hearing held at the fire hall last Thursday night. Major among the changes is the doubling of the size allowable for accessory buildings, a hot topic for nearly two years at both the planning commission and city council meetings. About 30 local residents turned out to hear planner Kurt Danison, of Highlands Associates of Okanogan, walk through the changes that the planning commission will propose to the city council. The planning... Full story
School district patrons received their official mail-in levy ballots this week and will need to return them by Feb. 10, in order for them to be counted. At issue is a four-year replacement levy that would provide $1.13 million each year, 2016-2019, for maintenance and operation costs for schools and programs. The levy provides additional funding for underfunded school programs, and is in fact a reduction in the rate at which taxes are levied on property owners currently. A successful vote also... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam School District is loaning itself the money to truly own Center Elementary School and the surrounding property. The board voted last Wednesday to move $155,000 from the district’s general fund to its capital fund to purchase the property. Then later in the meeting the board authorized the superintendent to sign the necessary documents. The district will actually purchase a “reverter clause” in the existing title, and when this is completed will be the owner of the Center School building and surrounding property. The distric... Full story
