News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Students, parents, educators and activists with the advocacy group Billion Dollar Bake Sale gathered outside the Legislative Building in Olympia Jan. 30 to demand more money for public schools. "Fund our schools, no more crumbs," students chanted as they expressed frustrations over current school funding. The group wants an additional $3 billion for education, well above the $1.3 billion in the proposed budget of former Gov. Jay Inslee. Huda Hamed, a seventh grader in the Seattle Public School...
A person died in an early-morning fire Monday when a home at the corner of B Street and Second Street in Grand Coulee burned. Fire Chief Ryan Fish said the single-wide mobile home was fully engulfed the first time he saw it, and he lives across the street. Citizens called it in at 5:24 a.m. They also "took actions to save two dogs from the yard," a Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department press release states. Fish was at the scene at 5:29. Fish called for response from the U.S. Bureau of...
Superintendent Rod Broadnax’s contract with the Grand Coulee Dam School District he leads was just extended by his bosses — the elected school board directors. The board met in a closed session during part of Monday night’s regular meeting to evaluate their employee, then emerged to take a vote, which was unanimous among those present. Director Buffy Nicholson was absent. Broadnax’s three-year contract was extended one year ago, when he was given a pay increase to $160,000 a year, plus cost of living increases. Monday’s action extends i...
During the coldest months of the year, home heating equipment kicks into high gear, and space heaters are most often responsible for home heating equipment fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The NFPA reports that an average of 45,800 home heating fires occurred each year between 2015 and 2019, resulting in 480 civilian deaths, 1,350 civilian injuries, and $1 billion in property damage. In Washington state, fires started by home heating are the third leading...
The Lake Roosevelt Culinary Arts program will offer a pork chili verde fundraiser at 5 p.m. Jan. 30, which will be followed by the Levy Town Hall meeting at 6 p.m., where people can learn and discuss the proposed school levy. They will be both be in the Hub at Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High School....
A new team of federal personnel attended the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District meeting at the old middle school Jan. 22, to meet with district commissioners and get a sense of how to move forward during a transition. Bill Dykes, Stefani Utter, Chloe Johnson and Lauriann Mountjoy, all with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation are the new resources group that will work with the district that currently oversees North Dam Park, which is owned by Reclamation. "We're here to see what are options and...
A state agency has raised the question with Electric City of whether it might consider re-annexing some of the land it de-annexed last year after annexing it several years ago. Mayor Diane Kohout told the city council last week that some of the land the city had been advised could not be developed into valuable real estate actually could be. Land owned by the state's Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, can be developed with local partners. In fact, the land on which Sunbanks Lake Resort...
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Legislators are considering financially supporting police departments large and small as they try to hire new officers in the name of boosting public safety. Speaking at a hearing in the Senate Law and Justice Committee Tuesday morning, State Senator Jeff Holy (R-Cheney) said Seattle police had one of their best recruiting years in 2024, drawing in 84 new officers. However, he said a large number of existing officers left, ultimately adding two or three officers on net. "...
Local voters will be asked to decide whether to approve continuing to tax themselves to support schools next month. The election date is Feb. 11. Mail-in ballots were to be mailed yesterday, Jan. 22, but the Post Office says to allow a week for your ballot to arrive. The Grand Coulee Dam School District is seeking a levy of about $2.13 per thousand dollars of assessed property value. That would replace the current levy, which expires at the end of 2025. The new one would bring in over $967,461 in 2026 and rise yearly if property values continue...
The Yes Committee will be meeting Wednesday, January 22nd at 3:45 PM at Lake Roosevelt Jr/Sr High School in room C105 in support of the replacement levy vote. To get involved, email josephtynan3@gmail.com or just show up ready to support our schools!...
Early morning sun Tuesday gives the top of Grand Coulee Dam a warm, deceptive glow that gives little hint of 13 degrees. For local weather expectations, see weather on thi page.. - Gwen Hilson photo...
If you notice a few 10th-graders in the greater downtown Coulee Dam area around lunchtime next week, they're not skipping school. The Grand Coulee Dam school board Monday voted to give the class of 2027 an off-campus priveleges trial period. The decision followed a presentation by the class officers asking for relief from a decision made about some earlier sophomore class that apparently had had discipline issues off campus. "We have never had a chance to go out and prove ourselves," Jaci Clark...
Elmer City leaders will consider a method of building in minimal annual raises on utility rates to keep from falling behind costs of providing the services. City Clerk/Treasurer Kelly Ross asked the town council Thursday to consider the step and hold a public hearing on it at the scheduled February meeting. The council approved a resolution for increasing the percentage of water and sewer service sales that is sent to the city’s reserve funds from 1.5% to 2.5%. Ross suggested a $1 annual increase on each rate for garbage collection, sewer, a...
Gov.-elect Bob Ferguson unveiled a budget-cutting plan to ease a projected $12 billion statewide budget deficit during a 2025 legislative preview in Olympia Jan. 9. "Washingtonians expect that we will increase revenue as a last resort. I will not contemplate additional revenue options until we have exhausted efforts to improve efficiency," Ferguson said. Estimates of the deficit vary widely, from $7 billion to $15 billion. To make up the deficit, Ferguson proposes cutting spending by 6% of the...
Washington state voters want legislators to cut spending but also support spending more on specific programs, according to a recent poll. “People are not anti-government,” said pollster Stuart Elway during a legislative preview session Jan. 9. “People want government to work and to provide needed services but done efficiently and effectively.” Elway established the Cascade PBS/Elway Poll in 1992. This year, 403 registered voters across Washington state were surveyed between Dec. 26 and 30, with phone calls, text messages and online survey...
Electric City Clerk Peggy Nevsimal told the city council Tuesday that all security provisions are now turned on at city hall after seeing what Grand Coulee’s city hall endured at the hands of a vandal earlier this month. That city, which just postponed its next city council meeting, suffered damage inside and out its headquarters when an individual was found breaking windows and walls, according to police. Damage was considerable. Nevsimal said Electric City has had Ring doorbell cameras for a long time, but other measures, such as motion s...
Star reader Robert Fields promised last June in a letter to the editor that if by the end of July a pile of scrapped used concrete eyesore had not been moved he would be calling regional Bureau of Reclamation authorities for an explanation. On Tuesday, Fields took this photo of that pile being removed from alongside SR-174 near the 230 Switchyard, which is now owned by the Bonneville Power Administration. - Robert Fields photo...
In a historic light show, various colors of blue, green, red and amber lit up Grand Coulee Dam for New Year's Eve, decades after a fire ruined the display's control panel. The light show will continue to illuminate the dam from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., nightly until March 6. The Bureau of Reclamation Visitor Center has a free parking area for viewing. The Bureau of Reclamation recommissioned the historic light show on the spillway of Grand Coulee Dam from 5 to 7 p.m. on New Year's Eve, a landmark...
When he approached the broken city hall front door from the inside late Saturday night, the suspect in widespread vandalism there saw the targeting dots on his chest from an officer's taser and immediately complied with an order to lie down. Coulee Dam's Officer Mathew Ponusky, driving by on patrol just before 11 p.m., had noticed the broken glass door on the front of the building and stopped to investigate. Ponusky could hear glass breaking at the southwest corner of the building, and, looking...
Accountability and words like it came up repeatedly during a special meeting of the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors Monday night as they hashed out their priorities among a list of recommendations for strengthening the district in a new report. The “Performance Audit Report” commissioned by Superintendent Rod Broadnax is barely 16 pages but intends to offer “a basis for discussion and a roadmap for the future.” The report by “Burns/ Van Fleet” of Houston, Texas, is based on a review of district policies and documents,...
GRANT COUNTY, WA – It's cold and flu season, and some viruses have crossed a threshold public health people watch, say Grant County Health District experts. Grant County Health Officer Dr. Alexander Brzezny, has announced the official start of the 2024/2025 respiratory virus season. Influenza (flu) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) activity in Grant County and across the region has been increasing and recently exceeded respiratory illness seasonal thresholds. COVID-19 activity has r... Full story
STCU is kicking off the new year with an unprecedented effort to help families complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – a critical step for anyone who may decide to obtain specialized career training or attend college at any point after high school. In January and February, the credit union is offering FAFSA assistance after hours at STCU branch locations throughout Eastern Washington and North Idaho. In all, there will be a record 50 free events – including 24 in Spokane and Northeastern Washington, 10 in North Idaho, 4 in Tri...
M OLYMPIA — Dec. 24, 2024 — Celebrate the new year with Washington State Parks during our annual First Day Hikes events on Jan. 1, 2025. More than 30 state parks will host staff-led and self-guided hikes, snowshoe excursions, trail rides, polar plunges, scavenger hunts and more on New Year’s Day. First Day Hikes events vary in difficulty, ranging from smooth, flat ADA-accessible trails to moderate hill climbs. A few parks will offer multiple hikes catering to different interests and abilities. Additionally, several hikes will include talks...
Coulee Dam Police 12/19 - A Grand Coulee officer assisted Coulee Dam Police with a call on Grand Avenue in Electric City. Allegedly, a man had been fighting with a woman about cigarettes, resulting in him throwing her to the ground at one point, throwing items at her, and also taking her phone and purse. The two had been in a dating relationship and were hired to clean a place on Grand Avenue. The Grand Coulee officer was at the situation first and was trying to separate the man and woman. The man reportedly was trying to fight the Grand...
January 7, 1610, using a hand-built telescope, Galileo Galilei discovered the planet Jupiter and four moons orbiting the planet. His first observation led him to believe he was observing a group of stars. After a few weeks, Galileo determined that he was seeing not stars, rather objects in orbit around Jupiter. His discovery provided evidence for the Copernican understanding of the universe. That is, everything in existence did not move around the Earth. Source(s): The Star archives Compiled by Bob Valen...