News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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For nearly a year now, state officials have been wrestling with a surprisingly difficult question: where do you put a 4-ton bronze Marcus Whitman? The statue, which occupies the north portico of the Washington state Capitol, is so heavy it threatens the integrity of the building. Moving it outside exposes it to the weather and vandalism. Finding a new indoor space requires costly structural engineering. And placing it next to the forthcoming statue of Billy Frank Jr. is appropriately off the...
I have always liked places where there wasn’t a lot of people. I think it is in our family DNA. I remember a few places where this showed up. We were in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. We were taking a few days R and R. My wife would be returning home in a couple of days and I would leave for Japan. The beaches were so crowded that you couldn’t enjoy them, so we rented a car and took off to find our own beach. Less than an hour’s drive later, we made our way through some palms and brush and we found our beach. It was a strip of sand about 30 fee...
As we finish the 2026 Lincoln County budget, the same themes I’ve consistently written about continue to be front and center: the 1% property-tax cap, runaway insurance costs, unfunded mandates, and a revenue system that simply can’t keep pace with reality. Washington law limits counties to a 1% increase in property-tax collections each year. That may have sounded reasonable back in 2001, but 1% doesn’t keep up when inflation as wages, utilities, equipment, and basic operating costs rise 5–10% annually. In 2026, that 1% increase, will generate...
December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified by a newly formed nation, the United States of America. Our Bill of Rights was influenced and draws inspiration from the Magna Carta (1215), and the English Bill of Rights (1689). George Mason’s Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776) formed the basis of the amendments that comprise the ratified Bill of Rights. The application of the rights addressed in the first ten amendments continue to create contention. The nation’s U.S. Supreme Court, has the power to declare a law unconstitutional tha...
Washington state has ambitious renewable energy goals. But as we transition away from fossil fuels, energy demand will increase as we electrify our lives and as energy-intensive industries proliferate. This complicates our state’s path to decarbonization. As part of the transition, solar energy in Washington could cover tens of thousands — possibly hundreds of thousands — of acres in the coming years. Where all those solar panels go is a serious question. Rooftop solar is great. However, the most ambitious estimates show that, at best, it wo... Full story
We have had our first spit of snow. It was welcomed by some and dreaded by others. I am on the dreaded side. My record with snow is not good. I just don’t like it. Luckily, I am at that stage in life where I don’t have to go anywhere. So I can smile and say, “Let it snow.” I’ve had a number of mishaps or near mishaps in snow. Coming home to Palouse from southern Idaho when my father died, I slid off the road and had a difficult time getting one chain on as my wife held a flashlight so I could see. One chain did it that time. Another time, we...
If my body were a temple, the bricks would be glued together with Cheez Whiz. Okay, so sometimes I eat radishes and kale in between almost never-ending portions of hamburgers and leftover Chinese food. But the leftovers run out from time to time. Hence, I rely on the radishes. My idea of a balanced diet is a large Coke in each hand. But that changed when my sister told me about the 75 Hard Challenge. The rules are simple enough. You have to do two 45-minute workouts a day, eat healthy, drink a gallon of water, and read 10 pages of a...
December 9, 2015, article by Roger Lucas addressed the Bureau of Reclamation’s new EUV’s (electric utility vehicles). “The vehicles are supposed to have a battery capacity of 50 hours and are now running out of power after only 15. It had been estimated that the battery-powered vehicles would save the government about $110,000 in fuel costs alone, as they would be recharged with electricity produced at Grand Coulee Dam. “The contract for the 27 EUV’s was for $900,000 including maintenance. The fleet of the white mini-vehicles have been acti...
President George W. Bush’s eulogy of Dick Cheney, his vice president, brought back memories of a kinder, gentler America — a time when those elected to office did what was best for our country not their political party. Bush reassuring words came after an unthinkable government shutdown (39 days) which paralyzed essential functions and threatened to stop flights during our country’s busiest travel time — Thanksgiving. The shutdown underscored how angry and bitterly divided our nation is today. The old adage “Don’t personalize difference” has be...
I would like to comment on the theater in Coulee Dam. I understand that Coulee Dam is cancelling their lease. It seems like Coulee Dam finally, after years of an empty, useless space, has something positive to offer families in the area, as well as tourists. This includes more than just movies or even movies and a snack bar. It has turned into an all-around entertainment center, offering different forms of educational programs, free matinees and live entertainment, along with an arcade and other fun activities. A lot of new equipment has been...
The only grandparent I knew and remember was my mother’s mom. She immigrated from Norway in the 1880s. She settled in Minneapolis where my mom was born an only child. My grandmother, Mary Peterson, came west to Palouse with my parents and my three brothers and sister in 1929. I was born the next year in Palouse. My grandmother lived with us and never bothered to learn English. She held on to her old ways, so my memory of her is rather slim. It took me a very long time — and I had the help of my oldest daughter, Kathy — to help unlock some... Full story
We are a nation that celebrates with food. Birthdays are synonymous with cake and ice cream. Easter is all about eggs and chocolate. Halloween is everyone’s favorite day for candy (or potatoes if you swing by the Washington State Potato Commission Executive Director’s home). But the ultimate in food-related holidays is Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving, Americans will consume about 46 million turkeys, about 77 million hams, about 250 million pounds of potatoes, about 50 million pounds of sweet potatoes, and about 40 million rolls to celebrate the...
November 26, 1883, Sojourner Truth, women’s rights advocate, preacher and abolitionist died in Battle Creek, Michigan. She was born into slavery in Ulster, New York. The date of her birth is uncertain, sometime around 1797. Sojourner was bought and sold four times, escaped slavery in 1826 as her “owner” failed to fulfill a promise to free her before the date mandated by New York law. At the Women’s Rights Convention held in Akron, Ohio in 1851, she said. “I have plowed, I have planted and I have gathered into barns. And no man could head me....
Kudos for the letter to the editor dated October 29th from Kurt Steinke. Thanks, Mr. Steinke, for speaking out! Impartial news is all but extinct and has been for quite some time. It’s all about pointing fingers now and hating the opposing side. These United States have turned their collective backs on God, the Bible, He gave us, and just plain Christian decency for so long, that I’m shocked He has held our Nation together for this long. Recently I heard it said by a reputable source, that of the near 1100 registered voters in Grand Cou...
My current read is “Patriot”, by Alexei Navalny, who courageously tried to save Russia from Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship before Putin murdered him. That raised my mind’s question: Who is currently our US Patriot playing the same role as Navalny was in Russia? I immediately thought of former US Rep. Liz Cheney and her courageous dedication to saving our democracy from wannabe dictator President Donald Trump. At the other (bottom) end of the courage scale, my recent read was the Aug. 18 Time magazine featuring Republican House Speaker Mike Jo...
November 21, 1864, a letter from President Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby Dear Madam - I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our...
During his first year, President Trump has been globetrotting attempting to ink trade deals, repair tattered relationships, and attract manufacturing back to America. However, no mission has been more crucial than his recent trip to South Korea, Japan and China. Behind the bluster of new “reciprocal” tariffs was the simple fact that China is not only a manufacturing, trading and military challenge but it is our primary supplier of strategic metals. Not only is America short of RARE minerals, but metals such as iron, copper and aluminum. Wea...
Dear Mayor Poch and City Clerk Bowden, Please share this email with Council Member Black, Council Member Schmidt, Council Member Adkins, Council Member Hall, and Council Member St. Jeor, since I can’t seem to locate their email addresses on the Town of Coulee Dam website. I understand the challenges our communities face, especially rural towns, when balancing pinched budgets during these difficult times. I have spent the last year participating in these discussions across the state, and I’ve seen how difficult these decisions can be and how...
On behalf of all of us at the Grand Coulee Care & Share Food Bank, I just wanted to take the time to give out a BIG THANK YOU to all of the Boy Scouts and their leaders! You are all amazing and appreciated very much for your outstanding work this past Saturday. You brought to us over 2,600 pounds of food! This will really make a difference in helping those in need. Thanks also to all of you that contributed by leaving bags of food on your front porch! We truly live in a wonderful very Blessed community! God Bless all of you! Dave Noggles...
In appreciation, I wanted to mention someone we lost recently that was a true angel on earth. Judy Kuiper was a one-in-a-million human. She was a simple, humble, wonderful, loving, optimistic individual who was unwavering in her faith. Judy was such an amazing person, woman, wife, mom, grandma and community member. She always saw the best in everyone, was comforting and could put anyone at ease. Judy was a tremendous role model and will be greatly missed. I was fortunate to have known her for decades and she made me a better person. I enjoy...
I’m gonna need Democrats to stop cosplaying as conservatives. It’s not funny anymore. It’s not useful anymore (if it ever was). Conservatives play a real and vital role in American society. They’re the ones who hold onto the past, who grip the edges of our traditions and say, “This is who we are. Don’t forget where we came from.” That instinct isn’t always right, but it’s valuable. It keeps us connected to our roots; to the stories, lessons, and boundaries that give us identity. But progressives, often Democrats, are supposed to do the opposite...
November 14, 1851, Herman Melville’s classic American novel, Moby-Dick, was first published in the United States. The novel captures Melville’s real-life experiences aboard a whaling ship. Melville was a crew member aboard the whaling ship Acushnet, and departed from New Bedford, Massachusetts on January 3, 1841. Melville was 21 years old when he signed on in December 1840, he never completed the journey with the ship. They sailed around Cape Horn and across the Pacific Ocean. Melville and another crew member deserted in July 1842 when the shi...
Please renew my subscription to The Star. The editor has won national and local awards; the paper provides important community news and a variety of insightful perspectives that entertain and enlighten its readers. The editor prints editorials from perspectives with which I sometimes disagree and perhaps which the editor himself has reservations over as well. Yet, consistently, his belief in permitting his community to speak through The Star overrules whatever his own political perspectives might be. The community is fortunate to have such an...
Anyone who expects a newspaper’s editorial policy to exactly match their own political ideology, or is triggered by editorial cartoons, would be better off in a dictatorship. The free press should not be a safe space for those who fear their beliefs questioned. The Star’s editorial page regularly features columns by our Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse, and conservative business columnist Don Brunell, as well as local conservatives. It’s hardly a leftist, “woke” space. But apparently, it doesn’t pass some potential readers’ purity test f...
Well, well, well. It seems like your relentless pounding of your TDS “Trump Derangement Syndrome” drum has reached the ears of others too? Maybe the “Wayfinders” can find a way to convince me that open borders, illegal immigration, assault on ICE officers, and defunding the police is a good idea? America is 250 years old. Never had a monarchy, never will. Where they get this “no kings” idea? Your left-leaning, liberal rag is republishing garbage of a “cartoon syndicated editor.” No ideas of your own? Maybe so, huh? What’s wrong with the st...