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 Care and Share Food Bank, currently seeking contributions, is open Fridays from 1 to 3 p.m. in the basement of the Church of the Nazarene at 45925 State Route E Hwy 174 (on the way to Wilbur). A story in the Aug. 13 edition of The Star stated incorrect open times....
Gov. Bob Ferguson makes remarks during a press conference at the state Capitol in Olympia, on Aug. 19, responding to a letter he received the previous week from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, threatening to withhold federal funding if the state does not change its approach cooperating on federal immigration enforcement. — Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson swiped back Tuesday in response to threats from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to withhold federal funding and potentially prosecute officials if they fail t...
Larry Hernandez got his lease extended for the Village Cinema last week, with monthly rent coming to $1,500 a month, including $600 plus $900 of in-kind work on the building. The town council wouldn't budge Wednesday on his request to put off the collection of the $600 cash component for another three months. Hernandez approached the town a year ago with a plan to take over the space if he could have a year to get it functional again as a theater and more, with his upgrade work paying the rent f...
A wildland fire put Electric City on evacuation alerts Aug. 6 as firefighters from many agencies helped local firefighters in the steep terrain. The Silver Fire ignited in the rocky, wooded hillsides outside the southeast corner of the city where a small forest rises on cliffs overlooking houses and pastures Wednesday afternoon. By 2:30 a large, blackened area dwarfed firefighters with brush trucks hosing the perimeter closest to homes just off the corner of Sunset Drive and Electric Boulevard....
Care and Share Food Bank is running short of some items and is hoping for some community assistance. “We are really in need of some canned goods, especially tuna and chili,” Manager Dave Noggles said. Although food bank volunteers will make the trip this week to get food from Second Harvest in Moses Lake, Noggles said, they needed to put the word out now about the need because that source is also tight on supplies. “We are not expecting the amount that we usually receive,” he said. “They have informed us that they are having trouble, also, wit... Full story
Aug 11, 2025 North Central Washington’s rural hospitals from Quincy to Omak, Brewster to Grand Coulee, are staring down an uncertain future after Congress approved sweeping federal health care cuts that could gut Medicaid funding. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), passed by the House and Senate and signed by President Donald Trump in July, makes deep reductions to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act programs. Health experts and state officials warn the fallout could be devastating in rural areas. According to a study from the University of N...
He was at work, and Randy Adolph's grandchildren were all asleep as fire began consuming their home last month. "Could have been worse if Tim didn't knock on the door," Adolph said Monday, referring to neighbor Tim Lynch who lives a couple blocks down Camas Street in Coulee Dam. About 10 a.m. that Monday, July 14, Lynch, retired, had been headed to the post office and intended to next drive to the Downriver Trail for a walk along the Columbia River. Then he saw the smoke. It was "thick, black...
KELLER – Until further notice, Keller Ferry users who travel across the Columbia River on State Route 21 should find alternate routes. The Keller Ferry (M/V Sanpoil) is currently out of service due to power failure at the north landing site. Crews are waiting on an electrician to restore power service to the landing site to resume normal operations. Travelers planning a trip across the Columbia River on SR 21 should choose an alternate route during the closure via SR 25 or SR 155 and SR 174. Drivers should also plan additional time for t... Full story
Chantel Crowe, Grand Coulee's deputy city clerk, attracted a majority of the votes in the three-way race for the mayor's office in Tuesday's primary. Crowe and Mayor Ruth Dalton will face off in the general election that concludes Nov. 4. The two were selected over Micah Seekins in the primary election. Seekins garnered 12 votes, or almost 8%. Of the 155 ballots cast, Dalton got 54 votes (35%) to Crowe's 87 (56%). There were two votes for write-in candidates, who were not listed in the Grant...
Thunderstorms have kept firefighters busy in Okanogan County and the Colville Reservation, but local area firefighters only got in about an hour's work fighting one fire this week. That was Thursday when a fire was called in alongside SR-174 in a rocky area on the right across the highway from East Heights. Firefighters quickly knocked it down. But that same day, the Mount Tolman Fire Center saw the start of the Kinkaid Creek fire that developed into a "complex" of smaller fires. That one includ...
A group of people that recently adopted the name The Wayfinders meets at Voltage Coffee House Saturday discussing their effort to raise awareness and support for school supplies this year in the face of extra challenges for school budgets. They're putting flyers out listing desired supplies for Lake Roosevelt and Nespelem schools, and solicited support from local cities to help with the cost of clear backpacks for school and public events, a safety item. The group is the same one that has been...
Brook and Fawn, right, dish up free ice cream for shoppers at Harvest Foods and Variety in Coulee Dam for their anniversary celebration Friday, Aug. 1. - Scott Hunter photo...
Chinking in armor riprap - A 100 ton Manitowoc Speed crane is distributing smaller rock among the large individual armor rocks. Even these big rocks could be moved by the wave action if not protected with the smaller rocks in the interstices which wedge the big rocks firmly together, and also cover up large exposed surfaces. - June 22, 1950...
Flanked by his crew, Larry Hernandez cuts a ribbon to formally declare the Village Cinema open July 19 as about a dozen patrons applauded. Hernandez has spent the last year getting the old theater into shape, upgrading it, adding equipment, cleaning and refurbishing it, investing heavily in time and money, and most recently, hiring people. The cinema has been open since May, and even before, for several special events and recently started a regular schedule of movie runs. Hernandez got together...
Update: Below is the current update for the wildfire incident: As of 5:53: Rebecca Lake to Convalescent Blvd is closed to HWY 155. HWY 155 to Rebecca Lake is closed. 07//30/2025 5:41 PM Fire Name: Kiser Canyon Fire Location: 1 Mile South of Agency Campus Estimated Size: 500 Containment: 0% Fire Behavior: Wind Driven in grass and sage brush Cause: Under investigation Structures Threatened: Yes Evacuations/Closures: Click the link to see the evacuation map. You can type in your address to verify... Full story
Two local school districts passed budgets for the next school year on Monday after a Friday when the Trump Administration relented on withholding billions that were supposed to have been transferred to states by July 1. In Coulee Dam, school district directors OK’d a budget that plans to spend $416,000 less than in the 2024-25 year just ended, but still will end up next summer with less than a quarter of what it will start the 2025-26 year with amid declining student enrollment. The district will start with just under $2.5 million next month, a...
Superintendent Rod Broadnax said student from Nespelem who want to attend Grand Coulee Dam schools must again “choice in,” that is, formally choose to come to the district, by Aug. 21. The process changed last year as the two districts bumped into regulations on teaching students from other districts. Now, students wanting to transfer to a district not serviing the place where they live must complete some paperwork, either at the school they will attend or online at https://eds.ospi.k12. wa.us/choicetransferrequest. Broadnax told the sch...
A city council member in Grand Coulee says he’d rather not have to pass an ordinance that forces property owners to get their commercial sites up to standards, but he will push for it if no progress is made. Tom Poplawski said at the city’s last council meeting July 15 that he is aware of arguments for and against passing an ordinance with punitive measures designed to encourage owners of empty or unsightly buildings to clean up. “I agree with all of it, actually, but neither one has produced any change,” he said. “And so we’re still stuck...
Local entrepreneur Micah Seekins has announced his candidacy for mayor of Grand Coulee, seeking to fill a two-year unexpired term with a campaign centered on fiscal responsibility and the fundamentals of city governance. Seekins, who has operated a business in Grand Coulee for more than a decade, is making his first run for elected office. He has not previously held elected positions and did not submit information on educational background or community service, according to the Office of the Sec...
Two protesters hold a conversation on Midway Avenue Saturday while walking during a weekly protest against the Trump Administration's policies. The group will walk again Saturday at 11 a.m. during a nationwide event called for by 50501, an organization that started out hoping to get 50 protests going in 50 states on one day. Saturday's protests around the theme "Rage Against the Regime" are reportedly planned in about 300 cities, not including Grand Coulee. - Scott Hunter pho...
SOAP LAKE, WA — Masquers Theater is excited to announce open auditions for the cult classic musical Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Stacey Bresee. Adults of all experience levels are encouraged to audition for this darkly comedic tale of love, ambition, and a bloodthirsty plant from outer space. Auditions will take place August 16 & 17 at 6:00 PM at Masquers Theater in Soap Lake. All roles are available. Those auditioning should be prepared to sing one verse or chorus from any song in the show—ideally one associated with the role they are p...
by Scott Hunter Local volunteers had at least 19 calls to emergencies last week, including four fires and 15 ambulance calls. After 18 of those, the next one came in at 11 a.m. Sunday to put out another fire: a campfire (already banned) at Jones Bay on Banks Lake. They put it out. That was after having left home almost 12 hours earlier to find a red glow near the airport in the middle of the night. The glow turned out to be on the other side Banks Lake up in Barker Canyon, to which Douglas...
by Scott Hunter Nothing like getting thrown right into the fire. Ruth Dalton was new to the city council in January of 2024 when the council chose her to fill the mayor pro tempore spot. That's normally simply who fills in if the mayor can't make the next council meeting. But then-mayor Mike Eylar ended up having to resign for health reasons, leaving Dalton at the helm of the city whose police chief was retiring and whose longtime city foreman was too. "It's been a huge challenge, but I have to...
Chantel Crowe thinks her knowledge of the workings of the city of Grand Coulee, along with her past experiences, would let her help the city to "move forward and upward" at the same time. Crowe has been the deputy city clerk since November of 2023. Even if she's not elected, she said in an interview, she has a goal of finding a way to help people who need it. "We have an elderly community that I would love to see supported even more - or a veteran community, a disabled community ... anybody who...
Another candidate is also running for the office of Grand Coulee mayor, but hadn’t yet returned a call or email before deadline. We’ll have a story on Micah Seekins next week....