News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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Fire took away a family's home Monday morning in Coulee Dam. Randy Adolph's home at 1004 Camas Street, where he lived with his two grandchildren and a great grandchild, went up in flames about 10 a.m. when, a neighbor the next street over said, a very loud boom was heard. Casey Brewster was behind Lake Roosevelt Schools just down the street, taking a photo of his daughter, he said. He got in his truck and drove to the house on fire. Brewster couldn't open the front door but went around to the...
Grand Coulee’s city council voted unanimously Tuesday night to direct the city government to write to others who might wish to be part of a new “fire authority” that could combine the efforts of local volunteer fire departments. The idea was the subject of a community meeting in November 2024, when the Regional Board of Mayors sponsored a community town hall meeting to talk about options for either an emergency medical services district or a broader regional fire protection authority, which could start out initially as an EMS provider, proba...
When they wrestled with how to allocate a pay boost not all covered by extra state money last month, school directors didn’t know the federal government had just announced it would not pay far more money Congress had already promised, money that would typically be paid the next day. That was June 30 as the Grand Coulee Dam School District Board of Directors learned the $136,000 the state would pay for a 2.5% cost-of-living increase next year wouldn’t cover the $679,000 of actual cost involved, leaving a $543,000 hole in the coming year’s distri...
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has put on hold $6.8 billion in federal funds for K-12 schools, according to an Education Department notice obtained by States Newsroom. The agency informed states on Monday that it would be withholding funding for several programs, including before- and after-school programs, migrant education and English-language learning, among other initiatives. But the agency notified states just a day ahead of July 1 — the date these funds are typically sent out as educators plan for the coming school year. “The Depar...
Two American bald eagles settle in for the evening on cottonwood trees near the entrance to Steamboat Rock State Park on Thursday just before dusk. - Scott Hunter photo...
The biggest local festival of the year drew thousands to Grand Coulee Dam to celebrate Independence Day with fireworks, live music and even the original laser show on the dam. What they couldn't see were the unusual challenges that started the week for Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce officials. With the festival looming on Friday, Krystal and Jillian Fillis, executive directors in training, knew they had a lot of organizational boxes to tick off by Thursday. But Monday morning they...
Firefighters kept at least two smaller blazes from turning into bigger ones this week as wildland fuels turned tinder dry. One blaze took off quickly about 11 p.m. July 5, right after a loud bang at the south edge of the town of Coulee Dam, setting the hillside near the Visitor Center ablaze. Several agencies responded quickly, including the Bureau of Reclamation whose land was burning near the Columbia River Inn. Coulee Dam Volunteer Fire Department requested mutual aid, bringing in Grand...
One of several groups of protesters spread out along Midway Avenue July 4, take an hour on Independence Day to object to the Trump Administration's policies. Several said they'd had a lot of friendly honks but only a couple single-finger salutes. - Scott Hunter photo...
by Scott Hunter Festival organizers getting everything ready for the chamber of commerce's big Festival of America below the dam Friday discovered a key asset had gone missing Monday morning - the beer tent. Apparently, a thief had backed up to the trailer holding the chamber's assortment of festival tents, tables and chairs, and temporary fencing, hitched it up, and drove off. The big tent has been used for several years at festivals where libations are served as a fund raiser. It was also...
Update 7 p.m.: Mt. Tolman confirmed that the evacuation level 2 has been dropped for McGinnis Lake. Online sources are still calling it an active fire, however, with no containment percentage stated. McGinnis Lake residents are advise to be ready to go on a moment’s notice as Mt. Tolman Fire Agency issued a Level 2 Evacuation notice. The Buffalo Lake Boat Launch Fire that started about 3 p.m. has grown from an initially reported 4 acres to 75 as of 5:50 pm, July 7. The Level 2 notice was i...
GCD School District policies around managing students, athletics and money shifted Monday, as board directors voted approval of changes in the junior/senior high handbook, athletics policies on participation in sports, paying to enter events and in some instances park, and even on the kind of bag you can bring into school events — clear only. Some changes address safety issues and society’s changing ways of handling them. “You can’t go into any major sporting event without a clear bag,” Director Shannon Nicholson told Director Rich Black aft...
The Grand Coulee Volunteer Firefighters would like to remind everyone to be careful during the upcoming July 4th holiday and to be careful all summer during outside activities. The weather has turned warm and very dry. We had a good spring with great grass growing weather. We have a lot of grass and other vegetation that has grown well. Now it is dried out and is ready to burn, especially on hot windy days. We hope everyone is able to get out and enjoy the holiday and the summer ahead of us. We just want to remind everyone to be careful with...
OLYMPIA — Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday announced the appointment of Winthrop resident Rachel Hong to the Okanogan County Superior Court. Hong’s appointment, effective July 3, fills the position that Judge Robert Grim’s resignation will vacate. The governor’s office announced the appointment in a release. Hong is a litigation attorney and longtime federal judicial law clerk with more than two decades of legal experience, including more than 10 years at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. As a career clerk to Judge Barbar...
A lot of visiting goes on as people upset with the Trump Administration's policies walk and talk, including with dogs, along Midway Avenue Saturday. - Scott Hunter photo...
Members of the Sanzar Dance Company, of Wenatchee, pose for a photo by Banks Lake before performing at Friday Market at North Dam Park. The girls, all between 12 and 16 years old, performed in two sets for an enthusiastic crowd at the event, sponsored by the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce. - Scott Hunter photo...
Rep. Dan Newhouse announced Sunday that he’d secured over $3 million in federal funds to build “safe, dependable living space for health professionals working at … Coulee Medical Center,” a goal hospital officials have been pursuing for a couple years. CMC relies on traveling professionals to staff various positions, and housing them is a challenge locally. The hospital actually owns several houses for this reason, which also makes the local housing market even tighter. But the professionals, who, hospital leaders point out, pass several other...
A non-profit organization that is all about getting kids involved in active recreation pitched Grand Coulee's city council June 17 on a vision for a "community center" on city land with a great view. Nic Alexander, president of Reel Rec, is a local builder and developer who looks at the city's vacant land overlooking Crescent Bay Lake and Lake Roosevelt as a great place for a center with a view. The vision is still a little vague. Would it include a pool, batting cage, archery range, golf simula...
A group working to inject the skills and abilities of thoughtful leadership into communities is offering training to do that in Grant County, and north county residents can even get some pay to offset mileage. The Leadership Institute of NCW is all about "Educating and Empowering Community Members for Civic Leadership in NCW." It was a hit in Chelan County last year; this year it's concentrating on Grant County, with plans to do it again in Okanogan County in the next year or so. Nancy Boord is...
A neighborhood in Coulee Dam will get an upgrade its residents likely didn’t know they needed: their main sewer pipes will be lined. The area to have the work done runs along River Drive and nearby streets, where the sewer pipe is good enough to warrant the CIPP (cured in place pipe) treatment, which requires no trenching, with a liner injected into existing pipe. The city council awarded the project June 11 to Allied Plumbing and Pumps for its winning bid of $243,042.66. The project will be funded through a combination of a grant and loan f...
The next town council members in Coulee Dam will get paid on a different scale than council currently does, following a vote of the council earlier this month. Council members are currently paid $50 a month. The new scale changes that to $50 per regular council meeting attended. Two council meetings are normally scheduled per month, but the town often cancels one for lack of agenda items, which is the case this week. Tonight’s regular council meeting was canceled. Council could have changed the pay to add in compensation for extra meetings s...
With signs quoting the wisdom of Isaiah and The Lorax, a group of protesters bring down the median age of those walking along Midway Avenue Saturdays. With warmer days coming, they're now starting their weekly one-hour Trump Administration policy protests at 11 a.m. instead of noon. - Scott Hunter photo...
June 28, 1914, Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb, assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sofia of Austria. The killings set off a chain of events that culminated in World War One. Following the killings, an elaborate network of treaties among the nations of Europe led to a rapid escalation in the war between the Central Powers - Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ottoman Empire, and the Allied nations of Britain, France, Italy and Russia. On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the war with the Allies. Source(s): Library of...
Coulee Dam is mulling an inquiry as to whether the city would allow a Level 3 electric vehicle charging station on its electric grid. Such a 180-kilowatt station would be capable of adding 100-250 miles of range in 30-45 minutes. That capability could be an added attraction for customers of the 12 Tribes Casino. Mayor Bob Poch told the city council last month that the Colville Tribes had approached the city on the question. The city owns its own electric utility, but Poch wants to be careful to not add something that would jeopardize a...
Painted faces on these kids reflect some success with filling out their passports, like the one the boy on the right is holding up. The chamber of commerce enlisted the participation of 28 businesses and organizations to put on something for the kids to do during the annual Koulee Kids Fest, such as face painting, done by Faith Community Church. The kids get their passports stamped at several spots, then qualify for a drawing. This year, Reel Rec donated a drone, which was won by a 6-year-old...
The use of fire is restricted in 20 Eastern Washington counties by one federal agency, and along Lake Roosevelt by the National Park Service, even after two local counties started their annual fire restrictions earlier than normal. Federal Bureau of Land Management officials have restricted activities on public lands to reduce the risk of human-caused wildfires in Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Columbia, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lincoln, Okanogan, Pend Oreille, Spokane, Stevens, Walla Walla, Whitman, and...