News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Birdie Hensley is running for Electric City Council to find out what’s going on, and to fix some earlier mistakes. “I just think if you’re in the community, you should be involved,” she said. “And if you’re not on city council, you don’t find anything out about the city.” She’s been on council before, when the council made new rules on development requirements for curbs and sidewalks. That was during a time when the city annexed land with an eye on possible expansion to the south. Now she sees that push had some unintended consequences, mak...
Sierra steadies the baby and opens her small trick-or-treat bag as little Charlie's eyes look in wonder during a stop in Coulee Dam Halloween night. Her sister Paisley, a chicken for the night, watches and waits for her handful, too...
Coulee Dam Police Chief Paul Bowden briefed the city council last week on a couple possibilities for expanding the kinds of services his agency can provide. They include connected cameras that read license plates, and also trained police dogs that can search for drugs. Bowden would like to consider the purchase of four cameras, two for Coulee Dam , two for Electric City, which his department serves, to mount and record license plates as they come through town. He said he was considering applying for an available grant to pay for the cameras,...
If you live in Grant County and power your home with Grant PUD electricity, you pay below the utility’s cost to produce it, and discussions are underway now on how to gradually increase rates to get back on track toward “target goal posts” after a four-year hiatus. Grant PUD commissioners told an audience in their packed boardroom Oct. 24 that their ongoing “discussion over how to set electric rates and arrive at a rate increase for 2024 will take into account all the county’s economic sectors and ensure ‘core customers’ are protected,” a...
Mist rises from Lake Roosevelt early Monday morning as the sun warms up the cold lake after overnight temperatures in the mid-20s. Temperatures are expected to rise a little this week, but expect a little rain, too. - Scott Hunter photo...
Inside this issue of The Star and inside Lake Roosevelt Schools this week are two things designed to help you remember what Veterans Day is all about. And if that were not enough, how about adding a good breakfast. At Lake Roosevelt Schools this Thursday, the public is invited to a special assembly in honor of veterans at 9 a.m. in the gym. The assembly both honors the veterans and impresses on students the importance of understanding their commitment to the country. At the annual assembly... Full story
Lake Roosevelt Schools took an unplanned day off Monday after the district learned on Friday it would not have a school nurse. Superintendent Rod Broadnax said he learned as he was out of town Friday that the nurse who had been supplied to the schools for two days a week by the local hospital district would no longer be available. Registered nurses are in short supply in Washington state, and Coulee Medical Center spends large sums to bring in temporary nurses, as do many, if not most, hospitals. Broadnax said Monday night in a letter to...
The San Poil ferry, which crosses Lake Roosevelt between Keller and Wilbur on SR-21, temporarily went out of service Sunday about 1 pm with mechanical issues, the state Transportation Dept said. It’s out of service until further notice.... Full story
The National Weather Service says drivers should watch for black ice this morning: “Areas of light snow are moving through northeast and east-central Washington and the northern Idaho Panhandle this morning. Although little more than a dusting is expected in most locations, sub- freezing temperatures have allowed for areas of black ice to develop on untreated surfaces. If traveling this morning, be prepared for slick spots.... Full story
Tension simmered last week during a discussion of what staffing direction Grand Coulee will ultimately take in staffing its wastewater treatment plant. Council members Anita Eylar and Ruth Dalton pressed others on which direction the council was leaning: filling the need with the city’s own employees or continuing to contract it out. The latter was the course the council took earlier this year, but only on an emergency basis. The city’s current contract with a union allows for contracting out city jobs in an emergency only, city officials sai...
From left, Anita Eylar, Marie Anderson, Stan Cass, Lonna Bussert are pleased with the Moose Lodge's entry into the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce's Scarecrow Trail. The chamber is asking people to vote for their favorites. Maps for the entries are on page 10, along with a website and QR codes. We found most of them and include photos in this issue, plus a few more not entered but worthy of it. - submitted photo...
Brian Buche sees himself as a voice for the community. Running for re-election to the Electric City Council seat he's held since 2020, full-time UPS driver and now part-time farmer says he takes pride in talking one-on-one with people. "Anybody can approach me and tell me what it is they think or they don't like or whatever," he said. "I'm an open book." Elected when council members at the time were taking considerable heat for some controversial projects, Buche said listening to people is...
Levi Johnson sees public safety as the most pressing issue facing Electric City. So do his fellow officers. Johnson is a police officer in Grand Coulee, as are two other candidates running against incumbents for Electric City council seats. Johnson, who joined the Grand Coulee Police Department in 2015, says that's no accident. When the Electric City Council decided to change its police services contractor, choosing Coulee Dam over Grand Coulee last year, they took notice. "I think that's kind...
Masonry workers in Elmer City Tuesday work on the walls of a new garage to house fire engines that Okanogan County Fire District 2 has been working to get out of the weather for at least two years. The new 2,268-square-foot, cinderblock building with three bay doors will cost nearly $1.3 million, mostly state funds. Okanogan County commissioners also kicked in $143,000 of American Rescue Plan money to get the project fully funded. - Scott Hunter photo...
Most streets in Electric City could be in for some upgrades if the grants come through, a long-hoped-for waterfront trail should be built by late next summer, and the city’s corroding sewer pipes might be saved with a lining for over $1 million, a small group of citizens attending a meeting at the fire hall learned Tuesday night. Trent Ward, of Century West Engineering, the city’s consultant, said the 8-foot-wide trail along SR-155 from Coulee Playland to North Dam Park will cost about $870,000, including a two-foot gravel pathway on each side...
If you were planning to rent out a shipping container or RV on your property in Coulee Dam, or use it for events such as weddings, sounds like you’re out of luck, but the town council heard last week exactly how short rentals will be allowed and under what circumstances. Mike Manning, of SCJ Alliance went through a long list of requirements Wednesday night during a public hearing before the regular council meeting, seemed like common sense, but some added restrictions you might not think about. Among those are an annual requirement to pass a...
Maddy Babler pulls the cart with sister Lillian and cousin, Jackson Alling, helping to gather pumpkins Saturday at the Full Circle Acres Pumpkin Patch north of Almira on Old Coulee Road. The patch contains giant sunflowers and corn, too, in an effort to add a bit of a maze experience to outings, said April Pinar at the farm. She said the coming weekend will be their final one open this season. - Scott Hunter photo...
An obsolete recall sign and that one about the ugliest town in the west came up as subjects of poor taste at last night’s Electric City meeting. A woman asked if the city might be able to encourage a sign seeking a recall of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to be brought down now that he’s not running for re-election. She said she’d had company recently who commented on it. “It’s just bad taste,” said the woman, who did not identify herself. Mayor Diane Kohout said the city could contact the property owner to ask about it. The woman also asked about...
A local gas station and convenience store is listed as the retailer that sold a winning lottery ticket in September. Coulee Gas, on Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee, sold one of two tickets that drew $50,000 prizes Sept. 20, according to the state Lottery Commission’s website. That ticket, however, is not listed on a separate page of unclaimed prizes, suggesting the lucky winner has already cashed in. From Sept. 16 through October 11, Washingtonians won 21 large prizes ranging from $50,000 to $1million, according to the site. “While the $1.76 bill...
The good news is “we have good people in the right place” at Lake Roosevelt Schools, a consultant hired to coach principals in the school district told the board of directors Tuesday night, but “we have our work cut out.” Mike Horn had been working in the district for a 10-day period of coaching principals, also talking with staff to get input. In the course of discovering the district’s needs, he said, he’d learned that 78 percent of students at the school miss 10 percent of classes. “That’s daunting,” he told the board. Hiring Horn was one of...
A discussion on a persistent problem with vaping at school turned into an opening conversation on how to solve that and other discipline problems for some students at Lake Roosevelt Schools. Layla Flett, a student representative on the board of directors for the Grand Coulee Dam Area School District, cautioned the board and superintendent Tuesday night that some measures may not work as intended. The subject came up when Superintendent Rod Broadnax asked Flett how she thought the school year was going so far. Flett said the only real issue she...
A poplar tree glows on the edge of Banks Lake with its brilliant fall color under the bright blue sky of Oct. 4. See our weather forecast on page 3 for what to expect this week. - Scott Hunter photo...
Gone are the days when the area was served by two volunteer ambulance services, one in Coulee Dam, one in Grand Coulee, which now is the only one left. That’s getting to be a big job for the few volunteers left on the crew. And the city of Grand Coulee knows it’s picking up the whole tab. Grand Coulee Councilmember Tom Poplawski told local mayors at their Regional Board of Mayors meeting last week that the city would like them to start thinking about helping out with a specific portion of the cost. Every time an ambulance rolls out of the sta...
An agreement that lets the local community send trash to the local transfer station is in question because some of that trash comes from outside Grant County, where it ends up. The problem has to do with how state money is allocated down to counties for solid waste disposal. The Regional Board of Mayors first learned of the problem last month. Chairing the Oct. 4 meeting, Electric City Diane Kohout gave an update. As Grant County Solid Waste department was preparing a plan, they noticed that Coulee Dam was in their written plan, but Elmer City...
From left, Riley Ayling, Lola Yazzie, Carly Neddo, Raeley Portch, and Madelynn Carman pose in the school in their Barbie movie-themed clothes for "Dads versus Chads" day during spirit week, which wrapped up Friday at homecoming. More photos of homecoming are on page 6. - Natalie Kontos photo...