News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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School enrollment up again Enrollment number for Grand Coulee Dam District schools continues to exceed predictions. January’s enrollment in all three schools was recorded at 667. That’s 27 over what the district budgeted for and 46 students over the same period a year ago. So far this year, enrollment is 205 students over the same period last year. Runway cracks need fixing Airport manager Bob Babler told Port District 7 commissioners that cracks in the 4,200-foot paved runway at the Grand Coulee Dam Airport need to be fixed. The airport is own... Full story
The task of keeping sewer rates low has begun in Elmer City. Mayor Gail Morin, who campaigned on the notion that her town could go its own way instead of paying Coulee Dam for wastewater treatment, says she hopes that the first steps in that direction will come this month. She has met with two Indian Health Services engineers, Alex Dailey and Laura Sliger, on Jan. 17, and says she is hopeful that the agency will conduct an alternative analysis to better help the town set its direction on whether it should build its own plant or team with... Full story
Colville Members for Justice will meet Saturday morning in Elmer City to discuss the status and updates on their effort to sue the Colville Business Council over decisions on how much of a $193 million settlement with the United States government to distribute directly to tribal members. Their civil complaint was dismissed in tribal court, but the groups has filed for an appeal. A hearing on that is set for Feb. 21. “We still do not have legal counsel and plan to discuss this and other measures available to us,” said Yvonne Swan, who is spearhe... Full story
The Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards night will be Thursday, Feb. 13, at Pepper Jack’s Bar and Grille, officials said this week. Chamber Executive Director Peggy Nevsimal said Tuesday that the “Achiever of the Year” and “Business of the Year” will be announced during the evening. The dinner event begins at 6 p.m. Last year’s “Achiever of the Year” was George Kohout, who led the Ridge Riders to one of their most successful seasons with record turnouts for their events. The “Business of the Year” was the Ridge Riders... Full story
Three residents of Grand Coulee responded to the city’s request to fill a vacant city council seat. The Position 2 seat became vacant after Tim Alling decided not to run again and has been vacant since the first of the year. Filing and expressing interest in occupying the vacant council seat were Mike Horne, who unsuccessfully ran for the mayor’s position earlier and is owner of the MPH mechanic shop on Midway Avenue; Travis Irwin, who worked for Grand Coulee’s public works department earlier and who now is an employee of Coulee Dam’s public... Full story
A woman who called police because she felt threatened did not report that the other party had a knife, as stated in a report last week. Heather Downs did not know that Terry Jo Merbach had a knife until Merbach gave it to police when they arrived. Police collected two knives from her and a pistol from Downs for safekeeping during their investigation, but gave them back. Downs had advised the dipatcher that she was armed when she called.... Full story
County sheriffs in the region have been collaborating on finding out who has been stealing from rural residents and getting their property back. Last week, the sheriffs of Grant, Lincoln and Adams counties met in Lincoln County with their detectives to discuss the crimes and suspects, Lincoln County Sheriff Wade Magers said. "As a result of communication, I believe that we have solved numerous crimes," Magers said. "Search warrants in Lincoln County, Grant County, and Spokane Counties were... Full story
On any given week, Star photographers take far more photos than can be used in the newspaper. But the best of the rest are included on a website anyone can explore, and it has just been redesigned. We hope readers enjoy looking through them and feel free to share them in social media as they like.... Full story
A water line extension project in Electric City to service Sunbanks Lake Resort is scheduled for April, city officials stated. Mayor Jerry Sands said this week that the city is going to upgrade the 8-inch water line to a 10-inch water line at the city’s expense so it will be in a position to serve any future water needs on the south side of the causeway. The line will be stubbed where it goes into the Sunbanks property. Sands said Sunbanks will pay for the 400-foot extension of the water line from State Street to the turn into the resort p... Full story
CMC commission meets tonight Commissioner for Public Hospital District 6, which operates Coulee Medical Center, will meet at their regular monthly meeting tonight at 6 p.m. in the CMC public meeting room. Among items on the agenda are the elections of officers for the new year and a closed session that relies on the state’s exception to open meetings for evaluating the performance of a public employee. Seat open on city council Parties interested in serving on the Grand Coulee City Council still have a couple of days to get their letter of i... Full story
A school bus Tuesday passes by the Grand Coulee Dam School District's new kindergarten-through-12th grade complex being built in Coulee Dam. - Scott Hunter photo... Full story
Electric City Volunteer Fire Chief Mark Payne will keep his job despite two incidents of illegal burning at his home. Mayor Jerry Sands made the statement at a meeting Monday night of several local firefighters. “I am not going to remove Payne as fire chief,” Sands said. Earlier in the day, he admitted that he was pondering doing that. Instead, Sands said he was going to use the incidents as a public education effort to inform residents about the burning ban that covers all areas within the urban growth boundaries in cities and towns thr... Full story
A $750 fine of a home mechanic’s illegal operation was supported in Grand Coulee’s municipal court last Friday. The mechanic, Donovan Picard, who lives at 431 W. Grand, was issued a $750 ticket by Grand Coulee police for doing mechanical repair at his home garage in a residential zone and for not having a business license. Last September two local businessmen appeared before the city council to complain that Picard was operating in a residential zone and didn’t have a business license. They said he was siphoning off business from their shops... Full story
The chamber of commerce has asked the state Department of Transportation and the city of Grand Coulee to consider adding a couple of crosswalks on Midway Avenue. Chamber Vice President Bob Valen made the request to the DOT and to city hall and it came before the city council at its last meeting. Valen said this week that two businesses on Midway, Jess Ford and Coulee Hardware, have expanded their activity to places across the highway and have employees going back and forth. There are no crosswalks at either location. Valen said that he has hear... Full story
An argument over a dead horse brought police to a Delano horse rescue address. Officers found that two women, Terry Jo Merbach and Heather Catherine Downs, had been in an argument over who overfed a “rescue” horse, causing the animal to die. Downs had stated that Merbach threatened her and she retreated to the stable area for her own protection. Merbach claimed the reverse. Rescue manager Chris Holeman told police that emotions had been running high on the loss of the horse on Sunday, Jan. 19. Holeman told police that Merbach had been the one... Full story
A Coulee City man was hospitalized after he rolled his car just north of Coulee City Sunday morning. The Washington State Patrol reported that Henry Visker, 63, lost control of the southbound 1998 Toyota 4Runner he was driving about 6:15 a.m. two miles north of Coulee City on SR 155. He was taken by ambulance to Coulee Medical Center with unspecified injuries, and the car was totalled. The WSP listed the cause of the accident as “speed too fast for conditions.... Full story
Larry Donnelly, Sunbanks Lake Resort's new manager, arrived on the scene here running, and he's still running. Born in Seattle, and now a Longview resident, driving home on the weekends gives Donnelly plenty of time to think about his new assignment. The resort plans a major water hook-up with the City of Electric City in April, the addition of three new beachfront cabins, and a re-building of the stage area, and that's for starters. Donnelly a 20-year veteran of the Navy, has managed several... Full story
A water line extension project in Electric City to service Sunbanks Lake Resort is scheduled for April, city officials stated. Mayor Jerry Sands said this week that the city is going to upgrade the 8-inch water line to a 10-inch water line at the city’s expense so it will be in a position to serve any future water needs on the south side of the causeway. The line will be stubbed where it goes into the Sunbanks property. Sands said Sunbanks will pay for the 400-foot extension of the water line from State Street to the turn into the resort p... Full story
The priorities in a push for a golf course enhancement grant took a shift last Thursday night as a dozen people gathered to discuss the six parts of the preferred list of ideas. Number six on the list, the RV park project, took front and center as stakeholders took a serious look at how the grant application to the state's Recreation and Conservation Office might be structured. The RV park would provide a revenue source for the money-starved, 18-hole Banks Lake Golf Course, while the other five... Full story
MOSES LAKE, Wash. (Jan. 27, 2014) – Four men are jailed today after Grant County law enforcement officers in search of stolen property raided a home east of Moses Lake, the county sheriff said in a media advisory Monday afternoon. Around 9 a.m., the Moses Lake Regional Tactical Response Team served a search warrant at 4562 Road N-Northeast. The raid was related to an investigation into the Jan. 20 thefts of property from National Frozen Foods in Moses Lake. During that crime, a utility t... Full story
Here's what our elected legislators in the state House of Representatives and the state Senate did last week on various issues, according to Washington Votes. This week, the House passed a number of non-controversial bills with few or no dissenting votes. Votes on the higher education measures and a flame retardant bill described below, however, were split more significantly. No votes were taken in the Senate. House Bill 1251, Increasing membership on the Opportunity Scholarship Board. Passed the House on Friday, January 24, 2014 by a vote of... Full story
The Bureau of Reclamation announced last week that Kerry McCalman of Denver, Colo., has been named the interim power manager at Grand Coulee Dam, starting last Wednesday. McCalman is Reclamation’s senior advisor for Hydropower and Electric Reliability compliance officer based in Denver. He replaces Mark Jenson who has been the Grand Coulee power manager since April 2011. Jenson will remain at Grand Coulee Dam to lead the Project Management Group, which is directly involved in repairing, replacing, and upgrading power equipment throughout the f... Full story
A worker burned in an accident at Grand Coulee Dam last November is due to be released from hospital today, the Bureau of Reclamation has informed an irrigation district. The Columbia Basin Development League reported to members in its email newsletter last week that the bureau said Dan McCulloch would be released Jan. 22. McCulloch, 54, was flown to Harborview Medical Center with extensive burns Nov. 18 after a mishap with switch gear for Pump Generator 12 in the John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant. Of the 12 units in the plant, six are... Full story
A vacated house in Electric City may have as many as 15 nuisance ordinance violations, according to Councilmember Brad Parrish, who lives close by. Parrish, who lives on Washington Place, asked City Clerk Jackie Perman to put the nuisance ordinance issue on the docket for last Tuesday night's meeting. Parrish then went on to show pictures of the untidy place and point out that the door has been left open and that he has seen pack rats around the place. He asked that something be done about it,... Full story
Stefani Bowden, Coulee Dam's new town clerk, will be at her first town council meeting tonight. She served almost 10 years as deputy clerk at Wilbur before coming to Coulee Dam. "All cities are similar, but each one has its own unique qualities," Bowden said. She stated that the one thing she really liked about being in a city hall is that you get to meet a lot of people. "I am a people person, and think it is the responsibility for the town clerk to help people when they come in with a... Full story