News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Several boat ramps on Banks Lake will be temporarily unavailable because of an upcoming scheduled drawdown. The Bureau of Reclamation will lower the elevation of Banks Lake by 7.3 feet to support environmental and operational objectives, the agency said Aug. 16. The reservoir's level will be lowered Aug. 23 and may remain low through Sept. 5. At that time, the reservoir will return to its regular operation elevation. The drawdown will reduce the lake's elevation to 1,562.7 feet, impacting the...
A 17-year-old lost her life in a tragic crash Aug. 13 as she and her four passengers headed north on SR-155 five miles south of Nespelem. The Washington State Patrol reported that at 9:24 p.m., the 1999 GMC pickup Jaelynn F. Vallee was driving failed to negotiate a curve, drove onto the shoulder, overcorrected, came back across the northbound lane, rotated and rolled onto the southbound shoulder. The four other children in the vehicle injured and taken to hospitals: a 3-year-old girl to Coulee Medical Center, along with a 12-year-old boy; a...
A motorcycle rider suffered injuries when he lost control of his bike, slid nearly 200 feet, and hit a median light pole, allegedly fleeing police in pursuit across the town of Coulee Dam Friday night. The rider was taken by Grand Coulee Ambulance to Coulee Medical Center. Tribal police had attempted to pull him over north of Coulee Dam on SR-155, when the motorcycle reportedly sped away. He made it to the south edge of the town before losing control near the Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center. A...
Lake Roosevelt schools could move to a four-day school week in the 2025-26 school year, and an informal survey of the community showed a majority of respondents support the idea so far. Superintendent Rod Broadnax presented the school board Monday with the results from the voluntary six-question survey he put out to the public on the district website and Facebook page, asking people’s thoughts on how a four-day week would impact families, student learning, attendance and other metrics. 260 people responded. To the big question – “Do you feel...
Grand Coulee will make an appearance in an independent coming-of-age/road trip movie coming out next year. At least one iconic location in town could show up on the silver screen. The filming crew for "Evergreens" stayed in town a couple of nights in late July to shoot one of the scenes, following the route the two lead characters take as they get to know the state and each other. The story starts in Spokane and continues across Washington, ending up in the Hoh Rainforest on the peninsula....
Only one person applied to be mayor when it came open this spring. But the council will have a few more choices for the open Grand Coulee City Council seat and may appoint a new member as soon as next week. Those seeking the spot were asked to write a letter explaining their interest, which was due Monday. The council will interview candidates at their regular public meeting at City Hall on Aug. 20, 6 p.m. They may take a vote to appoint the new council member at the same meeting. Four people applied, and all four will be interviewed. The candi...
Grant County Health District is asking families to “set your child up for a successful and healthy school year by keeping their vaccinations up to date.” Children in private and public schools, home and childcare centers, or other early learning programs are required to have certain vaccinations before they can start. These requirements are put into place to protect children, families, and communities from vaccine-preventable diseases. Parents may choose to opt out of certain vaccinations for their children, but families must have an app...
STCU is working to acquire a bank that serves communities in Oregon and Washington, adding 10 new branches and $550 million in assets to the organization that merged with Coulee Dam Credit Union in 2021. If approved by regulators, STCU said Tuesday, the purchase and assumption agreement would add all of Community Bank’s branches to STCU’s roster in the communities of Hermiston, Pendleton, La Grande, Elgin, Baker City, Enterprise, and Joseph in Oregon; and College Place, Walla Walla, and Clarkston in Washington. Upon closing the deal, the Spo...
A Granite construction crew works on patching up the worst spots on Coulee Dam's Stevens Avenue at Douglas Avenue Tuesday. Crews are also working on the $1.9 million, multi-city, combined project in Grand Coulee and Electric City, where they started sealing cracks in the blacktop Monday. Chip sealing (an oil slurry and gravel) should occur over the next couple weeks, twice, a crew boss said. - Scott Hunter photo...
At the chamber's First Friday event Aug. 2, we asked people who visited our booth to write down their "One Wish for this place" - something that would make the Grand Coulee Dam Area better, safer, healthier, or more fun. We got some good responses from people who jotted their wish on a card and dropped it into our little makeshift wishing well. "Fix potholes," "clean up the neighborhood," and "more boat docks" were each on at least somebody's wishlist. Two people wrote down the same thing:...
Pavement maintenance and road repair jobs will mean detours and parking restrictions over the next six weeks in Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee and Electric City. The $1.9 million project, funded entirely by a state grant from the Transportation Improvement Board, or TIB, begins on Monday, Aug. 12. The contractor has 30 working days – until the end of September – to substantially complete the job. The exact order of which street segments get completed when was not available by press time, but Granite Construction Company will have multiple crews wor...
Snow cones and cotton candy were police business during Coulee Dam's National Night Out event on Mead Avenue Tuesday night as Officer Josh Watkins hands an icy treat to a boy while Chief of Police Paul Bowden helps an assistant with the cotton candy production. The national event on the first Tuesday in August annually is designed to get police and community members together in a positive way. It also featured tribal police, firefighters, a city hall booth making root beer floats, Reel...
Around one in five Washington households qualify for a $200 credit toward their power bill–including residential customers in the Coulee area. It is fast and free to apply online, but applications must be in by September 15. The credit is available to customers served by Grant County PUD, the Town of Coulee Dam, Nespelem Valley Electric Co-Op, Ferry County PUD, Avista and some 40 other utilities across the state. More than 675,000 households in Washington will qualify, according to a press release from the Washington Department of Commerce. T...
Central Washington’s longtime man in Congress, Rep. Dan Newhouse managed a majority in Grant County in last night’s primary, but that was the only county he won of the eight that the 4th Congressional District reaches into. Newhouse was bested by challenger Jerrod Sessler, one of three fellow Republicans seeking to oust him from his seat following Newhouse’s vote in 2021 to impeach then-president Donald Trump. Newhouse was leading by a nose in Grant, according to unofficial results at the Secretary of State’s Office, but overall, the distric...
It wasn't supposed to be in the cards this year. But an unexpected cash injection from a Medicare lump sum adjustment led CMC's board of directors to earmark funds for demolition of the four grain bins across Highway 174 from the hospital, probably this fall. At the CEO's request, the board authorized up to $275,000 to pay for the work, necessary for "employee safety and creating room for expansion," according to the formal resolution. "We decided, in keeping with the idea of hopefully getting...
Grand Coulee Police 7/29 - Police were unable to locate a girl who had kicked her mother’s bedroom door on Weil Place, causing damage, before taking off on foot. The mother didn’t wish to press charges. 7/30 - A woman reported her house on Dill Street had the door forced open and that pots were missing from the kitchen. She requested that a man seen cutting a fallen tree in her yard earlier be banned from the property. 7/31 - A man reportedly threatened to shoot someone at Steamboat Rock State Park. A State Parks ranger requested ass...
Firefighters plumed the area in smoke for a few days over the last week, but their prescribes burns paid off. The Swawilla I Fire encompasses 53, 462 acres and is 94% contained as of about noon Tuesday. The Bridge Creek Fire is 100% contained at 3,998 acres. Its 50 firefighters were to be transferred to the Swawilla I Fire. There are still 556 personnel on that fire, and a change of incident management teams has transitioned to the next phase of fire management. The Northern Rockies Incident Management Team 6 handed the fires off to the Souther... Full story
Wildfires on the Colville Reservation forced people to leave their homes, roads closed, and a ferry to re-open just to help them leave, evacuation centers to open and the burning of more than 51,000 acres on two fires. With a wind shift on the Swawilla I Fire, Colville Tribal Emergency Management early July 24 called for a Level 3 (Go Now) evacuation of Buffalo Lake and McGinnis Lake areas, Belvedere and Seaton's Grove as the fire grew rapidly toward the northwest. Air support increased on...
Official relations between Coulee Dam and Grand Coulee police departments have returned to “status quo” after a meeting of mayors last week. But Coulee Dam Mayor Bob Poch declined to characterize it as a “working relationship,” and Grand Coulee Mayor Ruth Dalton said “there may be” underlying tensions to address, “but that’s for another day.” “In speaking with Mayor Bob Poch, we came to the agreement that mutual aid will continue as necessary,” Dalton said in a phone call Tuesday. “If they need a backup call, they will call for us, and us for...
Temps may be heading right back into the 100s, but you can have it made in the shade this Friday under North Dam Park's ponderosa pine trees as the First Friday summer pop-up market returns this week. The fair is set for Aug. 2 after taking July off in order to focus on Festival of America at the dam. From 4 to 9 p.m. folks can hear live music, relax in a 21+ beer garden, chow at Charro Birrieria, and browse booths of local and regional artists, craftsfolk, and community organizations,...
Young ones enjoy a slip 'n' slide, inflatable sprinklers, and of course, food, at Electric City's Second Annual Community Appreciation BBQ in the grassy park behind city hall last week. City staff and volunteers served up hotdogs and fun as residents, elected officials and staff mingled on a perfect 80-degree day. - Renata Rollins photo...
Update: A Level 3 EVACUATIONS "GO NOW" just issued for residents of Peter Dan Road, McGinnis Lake, Reynolds Resort, Belvedere, and Seatons Grove. Due to increased fire danger from the Swawilla Fire, the current Level 2 evacuations status for your area is now elevated to LEVEL 3 EVACUATION. A shelter is open at Lake Roosevelt High School Gym, 500 Civic Way, Coulee Dam, WA. For information call Tribal Emergency Operation Center at 509-634-7350 or 509-634-7359. There will be a public meeting on... Full story
Bob Valen sent us the time-lapse video above, condensing an hour of smoke and cloud formation above the fire into 30 seconds, shot from across Lake Roosevelt above the Sring Canyon area. Keller evacuated, fire doubles overnight With a wind shift, Colville Tribal Emergency Management early Wednesday called for a Level 3 (Go Now) evacuation of Buffalo Lake and McGinnis Lake areas, Belvedere and Seaton's Grove as the fire grew rapidly toward the northwest. /Users/scotthunter/GCDStar Dropbox/Scott... Full story
Curbside recycling bins could be coming to the Coulee — if at least 300 people are willing to sign up. Residents of the four local towns can expect to receive instructions for a voluntary online survey in city utility bills, asking everything from what seems like a reasonable price, to whether it matters if they offered single-stream (all materials added into the same bin) versus separate sorted bins for plastics, cans, cardboard and so on. Dion Gotti, owner of Sunrise Disposal, the Omak-based company providing curbside trash pickup to the f...
Nespelem School District’s high school will add a 10th grade this year, plus an alternative learning experience program that could push enrollment high enough to add a high school basketball program. The school board Monday night approved hiring Marion Ives and Rowena Antone as coaches for the high school boys’ and girls’ teams. They coached them at the middle school level in the 2023-24 season, superintendent Effie Dean said. The district, which started its new high school program in 2023 with just ninth grade, plans to add 11th grade, then...