News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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In recent years, papermakers in the Pacific Northwest have been losing ground. However, today there is a ray of hope. Surprisingly, that optimism results from the COVID-19 pandemic. In the first days of the pandemic, grocers couldn’t keep toilet paper on store shelves even though paper mills were running 20 percent higher than normal capacity. Cardboard plants also were operating full bore making shipping boxes for medical supplies and personal protective gear. As Amazon and online sales ramp up...
I was pondering this today. How are we spending our time during our self-isolation and social distancing? The way I see it we must look at the bright side of a dark situation. So in case you can’t think of anything to do and you are starting to have cabin fever and are ready to erupt I decided to try and help you all out a little bit and give you some ideas that just might remove our eyes from the television screen and phone long enough to engage in something more positive. Play a board game. I...
When the Million Dollar Mile outside of Coulee City was created it inadvertently ran through a field with a level area and a natural spring surrounded by trees. For uncounted years this was a camping spot for the original nomadic inhabitants of the Upper Grand Coulee. The spring was nestled up on the cliff wall just out of sight, and the trail up ran along a cut to the south east. Once there was a large stone table for preparing food and families gathered together at the spring for generations....
During our lives we experience a number of acts of kindness that help make life more pleasant or easier. With the coronavirus here, we all have an opportunity to perform meaningful acts of kindness by observing a few procedures to both protect ourselves and others at the same time. In an effort to stem the advance of the virus, we are asked to observe social distancing, wear face masks when around other people, and to practice cleanliness by washing our hands thoroughly. Some people just don’t get it. Theirs is a rush to expose or be e...
I believe that the community needs to honor two people who are responsible for keeping our golf course open. Jim and Rose Keene have volunteered numerous hours in the last couple of years at the golf course. They don’t do it for self-recognition, but because of their love for the community. I feel that many of the members fail to realize Jim and Rose’s dedication to the golf course. The golf course likely would not be open if not for these two people. I personally would like to thank them for their work at the golf course. Michael Lac...
Hi over there. Sad day at the Womack house when I read about the Colorama days cancelled. I have been in the parade with our 1968 AMX for 38 years in a row. Susan has been with me for all but two times. For three years we have had the 1968 Mustang there too. This time was a reason for the family to gather, starting when Mom was still with us. Continued on after she was gone. Good times by the Womack clan and seeing so many friends at the parade. Next year I hope to have the two cars there...
Some have asked what we can expect this summer — weather and wildfire conditions. I’ll share what the Washington state climatologist states in the most recent monthly report: “The National Climate Prediction Center (CPC) May outlook has increased chances of above normal temperatures across the entire state. Slightly lower chances of above normal temperatures exist for a pocket in the northeast corner. The May precipitation outlook is split with equal chances of above, below or equal preci...
By now it is apparent that, barring a miracle, a cure for COVID-19 will not happen soon; however, to make it a condition of removing the economic lockdown would be a catastrophic mistake. They must coexist. The shocking news that America’s unemployment rate skyrocketed to 14.7% as employers cut 20.5 million jobs last month is demoralizing. It is approaching Great Depression numbers. The bottom line is our country needs people working in safe surroundings. The fact is the COVID-19 pandemic may f...
I cannot stop thinking back to state volleyball, state football, and most recently state basketball. Standing outside with my students and their homemade signs waving and cheering as the fire trucks, police cars, and buses came through the bus lane cheering our athletes on as they made their way to the state tournament is something that I will never forget. My husband and I have been a part of multiple programs in various states, including private and public schools, and both college and high school programs. NEVER have I ever experienced a...
Having just read the new senior graduation plan, as a grandma of a senior, I am upset. It feels like after 13 or 14 years of supporting, praising, fighting for, crying with, and celebrating, grandparents not only have no input, but can now park where they can and there will be a virtual version of graduation, IF you have a smart phone, otherwise? I heard from my senior, who is pretty upset, as the plan is for only 10 at a time on the field and they must wait in vehicles until their 10 are called (so mostly virtual for them, as well). A group...
A short item in the Sunset Magazine caught my eye just as we were planning a quick early summer vacation. lt featured a bed and breakfast in Lamoille, Nevada, only a few miles from where Dorothy and I were married in Elko. Over the years we have traveled Nevada from all directions and knew of its beauty. A quick call and we had reservations. When we arrived there we became aware that you can’t always trust what you read. They were cleaning the place, and it was a mess. They explained that they had winter guests for skiing and hadn’t cleaned up...
Bids to build the construction railroad were received May 17, 1934, and 22 firms competed for the work. The two low bidders were L. Coluccio of Seattle, and David H. Ryan of San Diego. Irregularities were found in the Coluccio bid, resulting in an investigation of the bids. They came in at Ryan at $235,570 and Coluccio at $236,925. The contract was awarded to Ryan on July 17, 1934, and a notice to proceed was issued August 8, 1934. Ryan claimed to be able to outbid anyone else by already being...
Throughout these unprecedented times, members of Congress — like many families across the country — are facing uncertainty about returning to work. While we understand that it will take time to return to business as usual, we should be taking important steps to ensure the legislative branch remains representative of the American people. Our Founding Fathers designed Congress to operate under certain procedures to best represent the American people. As a former Member of the House Rules Committee, I have a unique understanding of and app...
We’ve had it pretty easy so far. Not much evidence here of the devastation other places have been dealt at the hands of COVID-19. Or even of the level of tragedy the Seattle metro area has suffered, which has been far lighter than it might have been had health authorities pointed out a way to lesten the blow. That strategy was never about keeping everyone safe from the SARS-Cov-2 virus that has sickened more than a million Americans; it was about keeping the healthcare system from collapsing if an overwhelming number of cases came, as they l... Full story
Somewhere in the Carribean there’s a sea turtle swimming around with my name on it. Let me explain. A number of years ago I was looking for an out of the way place for my wife and me to go on vacation. I had used a travel agent in Kirkland on occasion and asked if he had any ideas of such a place. He said he had just come across something and suggested the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands are made up of three small islands, a British Overseas Territory. The islands are Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, with Grand Cayman the l...
I don’t know if you noticed the signs near the bridge and other places since our social distancing started, but rumor is they are all over the entire Colville Indian Reservation. The three signs I have seen say Hope, Love and Pray. Such a simple message for a stressful time. I don’t know who put them up or how many are out there, but you have inspired me and many others in the area because of your appropriate simple four-letter words. Hope. A feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing...
Since Governor Inslee issued his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” Proclamation last month, Lincoln County has been scrambling trying to determine how to best balance our paramount duties to provide for Public Safety, Public Health and County Road functions. While we all want to stay safe and avoid viruses, we want to do so in a manner that is the “least restrictive” to our constitutionally protected rights. While the Governor’s Proclamation is aimed at protecting the public, I believe it does so in a way that, in most aspects, is the “most res... Full story
Newspapers in the United States have traveled rough seas to the First Amendment freedoms we enjoy today. From the colonial Stamp Act through wartime censorship to today, when thousands of newspapers were slammed with the public health emergency known as COVID-19, people who work for newspapers have never had completely smooth sailing. Now most of the businesses that advertise with us are shut down. The pipeline to make our payroll shut down with them. People are restlessly waiting in their locked-down homes for us to bring the news... Full story
As we get deeper into the COVID-19 pandemic, we are finding more Americans to thank. Until recently, truckers have been behind the scenes just doing their jobs, but as shoppers learn how groceries and necessities reappeared on shelves, they join the list of unsung heroes. Business Insider (BI) reported truckers are the reason America’s grocery stores, online retailers, hospitals, gas stations, and even ATMs have remained stocked. They number 1.9 million. It’s estimated that grocery stores wou... Full story
The way we celebrate different events during this isolation time is, well, to put it bluntly, strange for us a family. We are a family much like many of you that gather together for birthdays, holidays, weddings and funerals. During this Covid-19 time we must distance, isolate and be very smart, and that in itself can make for hard-to-swallow moments as events come upon us. My sister had to cancel her wedding. She had been planning, prepping and preparing for a long time. Like every little... Full story
With the advent of World War II, Kaiser Industries, part of the Consolidated Builders Inc. that completed the Grand Coulee Dam, began building ships. Kaiser Shipbuilding Company established seven ship-building locations on the West Coast, including one at Swan Island near Portland Oregon. Here they would build the T2-SE-A1 oil tanker. On May 16, 1944 the 62nd tanker was delivered and christened the "SS Coulee Dam." The ship sailed on May 20, 1944 and returned from service on February 10, 1945,...
I never saw one that I didn’t hate. I hated the taste and texture and when possible I scraped them off my plate. These so-called vegetables were frequent dishes my mother prepared while I was growing up during the “Great Depression.” I always thought we had these dishes because we were poor, only learning later it was for another reason. While it was true that we were probably poor, the family never acted like we were. Actually, the reason we had these vegetables was more practical: They would keep in the cellar during the winter. We lived...
Given the current threat of the Novel Coronavirus and its potential effect on humanity, I thought I’d write about viruses in general. I’ll address the fact that viruses are in our atmosphere and ride air currents, eventually dropping to the ground regularly. They are abundant. They have been on the planet for at least 300 million years. Viruses are the most abundant microbes on the planet. We are host to them as well; they are part of the body’s microbiome. Let’s start with a highly abridge... Full story
By now, everyone knows that going to school is over for Washington state and many other states around the nation, but what many do not is that school is still happening for many. It just looks different. It is done from home and by contacting the teachers you need to via email, Zoom Meetings, Facebook and phones. Seniors still have some work to do, and that is not any different for Megan Abel, a senior at Lake Roosevelt. I interviewed her via Messenger and here is a little bit about the...
Indications are that Washington’s fairly early emphasis on social distancing and staying home have been effective at helping to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, but more local focus could help this area weather the crisis even better: We all need to wear a mask in public, and a method is needed for delivery of groceries to those who are supposed to stay at home. The first one is easy. The second one isn’t. Anyone who has been exposed to some known to be sick with COVID-19 is definitely mandated to stay home to protect everyone els... Full story