News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The city of Grand Coulee will be able to fix a lot of dilapidated sewer lines with funding from the state of Washington’s Public Works Board for $4 million, the board said in a press release Monday. The city’s sewer improvements project will replace or rehabilitate approximately 10,200 linear feet of deteriorating sewer mains and manholes, PWB said. Planning for the project has already been started while the city engineer has been working with city leaders on updating its wastewater treatment plant, a job that will cost more than $10 mil...
STCU reaches 50- branch milestone Columbia Center Branch opens in Richland branch opens today; celebration to follow In a year of significant milestones, STCU is poised to reach another. The Spokane-based credit union will open its 50th branch location on Oct. 8. Many financial institutions are closing branches, particularly in rural communities and underserved neighborhoods. So far this decade, banks nationwide have closed more than 7,000 branch locations. In that same period, STCU has more than doubled its branch network. Every day, tens of...
A Department of Transportation crew works at dampening the impact of exposed pavement expansion joints in the Columbia River Bridge in Coulee Dam Monday. The state commission that directs the DOT will hold public meetings online this month, including on its maintenance backlog. - Scott Hunter photo...
The Moon shines over Lake Roosevelt Tuesday evening, a day after a "supermoon" lit the sky with a full moon about 14,000 closer to the Earth than normal, at 224,600 miles. It still looked big and bright on Tuesday. - Gwen Hilson photo...
Grand Coulee Lodge 504 was recently recognized as a leading Moose lodge of excellence in Washington state and Northern Idaho by being awarded Premier Status. The award was presented to them at the Washington, North Idaho Moose Association (WSNIMA) convention in Pasco, Sept. 11-14. Of the 20 lodges in 504's territory, five were awarded the honor. This was the first time in the history of the lodge, established in 1936, that it has received the award, which is given to lodges that provide a...
The Washington State Patrol bomb squad Monday night safely disposed of a live hand grenade that a 3-year-old boy found in his family's front yard. The boy at the 600 block of Willard Street in Hartline took the grenade inside to his parents, who called 9-1-1 around 6:45 p.m., the Grant County Sheriff's Office explained in a Facebook post Tuesday. Patrol deputies asked for the Washington State Patrol bomb squad to assist. Bomb techs determined the grenade was live, then carefully removed the...
United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke sentenced Lance Scott Michel, age 31, of Nespelem, to 216 months in federal prison after Michel pleaded guilty to Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Indian Country and Sexual Abuse in Indian Country, a US Attorney’s Office release said. Dimke also ordered that, following his sentence, Michel be placed on a lifetime term of supervised release. According to court documents, in early 2023, Michel began communicating with various minor females on the Colville Reservation over social media. Michel, then 29, provide...
by Jennifer Shutt, Washington State Standard September 30, 2025 WASHINGTON — A government shutdown could have significant economic consequences, though an analysis released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it’s difficult to pinpoint ramifications without knowing the length of a funding lapse or how exactly the Trump administration will try to reshape the federal workforce. Director Phillip L. Swagel wrote in a four-page letter the agency projects about 750,000 federal workers would be furloughed, leading to a $40...
James Pulley, 35, of Meridian, Idaho, gestures a heart as he crosses the finish line in Run the Dam's half-marathon race Saturday, taking fourth in his age group, 23rd overall, in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 11.4 seconds. Of the more than 440 who registered for the half marathon, 10k and 5k races, 407 actually participated, said organizer Kelly Buche. That's a record for the race, she said. Race results can be found on page 6. - Scott Hunter photo...
The Grant County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) announced Monday that they had appointed Tom Gaines as the “Interim County Administrator, marking an essential step in implementing this newly created leadership role within Grant County.” Hiring a county administrator “will bring continuity, consistent management, and oversight into the daily operations of Grant County,” the commissioners’ office stated in a release. “This position ensures services are delivered efficiently and aligned with the policies set by the BOCC,” they said, so the...
The town of Coulee Dam gained its fifth police officer, completing the department last week. Following his graduation from the Washington State Police Academy, Phillip Ogren was sworn in as an officer Sept. 15 and took the Law Enforcement Oath of Honor in a brief ceremony and reception at the Town Hall Ballroom. Chief Paul Bowden administered the oath of office. City officials, and Ogren's family and friends attended. Coulee Dam's police department also provides policing services for Electric...
The Confederated Tribes of Colville Reservation have been planning on launching fast fiber-optic internet access, including for Elmer City and Coulee Dam. Elmer City’s town council at its last meeting didn’t have objections to a plan for the buildout, including adding some utility poles in town. The town took plans for review and will likely be ready to sign a franchise agreement with the tribes at the October council meeting. That likelihood is a turnaround from a few months ago, when council and staff took exception to a plan presented wit...
Washington's secretary of state on Tuesday denied the Trump administration's request for personal information contained in the state's voter rolls, saying to hand over the data would violate state and federal law. Secretary Steve Hobbs told the Department of Justice he would be willing to provide voter names, addresses, genders, years of birth, voting records, registration dates and registration numbers. But he wouldn't give dates of birth, driver license numbers and the last four digits of...
Several local businesses came together to arrange for weekend snacks and meals for certain local kids who might otherwise go hungrier over the weekend. A Second Harvest van rolled up to Lake Roosevelt Elementary School Thursday with about a month's worth of supplies for feeding 55 kids who can use a little extra help on the weekends. The delivery was the start of Second Harvest's Bite2Go program that partners up local donors with school staff who know which students would seem to benefit from...
The annual Run the Dam races start at 9 a.m. in staggered times Saturday as runners and walkers of all abilities head up hill to North Dam and along Banks Lake. The 5k ends at the finish line in Banks Lake Park. The 10k and Half Marathon runners keep going along Highway 155 to designated distances. A challenging and scenic race, Run the Dam is still "fun for the entire family and for all running and walking enthusiasts and abilities," its promoters say. All races finish in Banks Lake Park "in...
The city council in Grand Coulee voted Tuesday to get started adopting a new ordinance intended to encourage commercial property owners to use their property, clean it up or sell it. Councilmember Tom Poplawski said he’s had no contacts from the owners of what he estimated were 10-15 local properties that are deteriorating instead of housing some business. Poplawski in July had brought to council examples of similar programs in other cities, including an actual ordinance from Medical Lake. A study undertaken in Blaine, Washington was also inclu...
Stewart Williams prepares to cut down the pole Friday that held up the Wildlife Restaurant's parking lot sign (on the trailer in the background) decades after the Midway Avenue restaurant closed and the building housed other successive restaurants, most recently remembered as Pepper Jack's. Williams said he plans to open a Wildlife Tavern in Belfair, Washington, southwest of Bremerton. - Scott Hunter photo...
A volunteer staffs a voter registration table on Midway Saturday during the Wayfinders' weekly demonstration march. The group will also be available to register voters during the Run The Dam event this Saturday at the Run the Dam Festival vendor fair at North Dam Park from 9-5. - Scott Hunter photo...
by Scott Hunter The driver of a late model car left Spring Canyon Road after apparently losing control Saturday afternoon about 3, landing in dry brush and starting a fire. The crash happened right in front of a home at 4550 Spring Canyon Road. Firefighters got there quickly, according to Coulee Dam Police Officer Josh Watkins, who was at the scene for traffic control. No injuries were reported, other than financial. Only a metal hulk was left of the apparently late model car. Firefighters...
Electric City will shift dollars from a project city council members decided to give up on after years of setbacks, spending it instead on a popular park project that is taking shape but needs a financial boost. The city park being built just uphill from the fire station, but will eventually need more funding that what was currently available, despite fundraising efforts. Mayor Diane Kohout said a vote was taken at a special council meeting Aug. 28 to drop the Shoreline Waterfront Trail project that now would cost about $1.4 million to...
Since Lake Roosevelt School are now on a four-day school week, students won't be there for Friday meals, which is a problem for many students. The school district directors agreed Monday to change that with an amendment to their contract with Chartwells, the company that provides the food service, which noted they lost 20 percent of their revenue under the contract when the district went to a four-day week. Superintendent Rod Broadnax said he told Chartwells the district would not pay full...
Mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus have been detected near Crab Creek in Grant County, the Grant County Health District said Sept. 4. The blood suckers were collected during routine testing on Aug. 24, and the positive result was confirmed at Oregon Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory Sept. 3. It is possible there could be mosquitoes carrying the virus in other areas. Most people infected with WNV will not get sick, but in some cases it can be serious. About 1 in 150 people who are infected develop a severe illness affecting the central nervous...
Over 700 firefighters are battling two blazes on the Colville Reservation that have burned more than 23,000 acres of forested land. The Rattlesnake Fire started Sept. 1 from lightning and had burned 19,367 acres as of early Wednesday morning in the southeast corner of the reservation. It's 33% contained. The Lynx Mountain Fire has burned 4,226 acres since its Sept. 2 start from and undetermined cause. It is 5% contained. There are 762 firefighters on the fires. Evacuation levels have been set...
Friends and family gather to help Roger Lucas celebrate his 95th birthday Thursday evening at Auntie Dannee's, where he is a regular at breakfast. Lucas, who still writes his weekly column for The Star on page 2, joined the paper in 1989 after working at newspapers for decades and retiring from managing a weekly in Bothell, Washington, then returning to the Grand Coulee Dam area where he and his wife, Dorothy, had lived early in their life together. From bottom left, Lacey Ward, granddaughter...
After a relatively easy early fire season, September started with a rash of new fire starts amid high temperatures and thunderstorms, resulting in thick wildfire smoke socking us in for a time on the first day of school in Coulee Dam. The Grant County Health District issued a warning that the smoke was thick enough across much of the county as to be "unhealthy" and warrant limiting time outside. "Poor air quality conditions are expected to continue as wildfires in Washington and neighboring...
