News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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While living in Boise, we decided to drive up to Payette Lake, about a two-hour drive. At Cascade, we drove around and ended up on a dirt road that headed east. We kept going and ended up in what is called the Stanley Basin. Stanley is a town of maybe 500-600 people. The town has a two-room schoolhouse with kids from all grades. But the little village houses a gigantic view of the Sawtooth Mountain Range. Its ragged rocky mountains reminded me of the Teton Range in Wyoming. It was our first discovery of the Sawtooths. Stanley is about 65 miles...
Our nation offers places for us to observer, read about and digest information on a wide collection of topics and people. The places that offer this are our museums and libraries. As a nation, we are keenly aware those places of knowledge are a hallmark, indeed a symbol of free societies. Is our nation willing to continue its support of its museums and libraries? The United States, has tens of thousands of museums, right up to the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. The same applies to the nation’s l...
Rep. Michael Baumgartner is, figuratively speaking, “all-over-the-map” about Ukraine — but effectively supporting Russia. He agrees that Russia clearly started the war and was/is the aggressor, and he’s assured Thrive International Ukrainian refugees that he opposes their deportation. But he completely undercuts that by his Ritzville Town Hall statement, “I don’t think [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is doing a great job,” and by his outlandish calls for Zelenskyy to resign after President Donald Trump humiliated Zelenskyy. Co...
Everybody has favorite places. Some are lucky enough to live in them. For me, I have been lucky enough to live near some of them. I guess a favorite place is a place that captures your imagination and at the same time makes you feel good. I know of places I’ve been that didn’t do that. My travel agent in Kirkland called me one day while we were living in Bothell and said he had come across a special trip. Well, it turned out to be the Cayman Islands, where the water is clear and the sun bears down on you from midday on. We went for a week and...
Washingtonians recall Ralph Munro’s distinctive political advertisements, which featured 30 seconds of bagpipe music followed by a brief tagline stating, “This interlude brought to you by the Munro campaign.” As usual and refreshing as they were, they worked! They spared voters from the unmerciful candidate pounding dished out by sparing politicians and their band of campaign hacks. Munro was elected as our state’s longest-serving secretary of state in 1980 and retired after five four-year terms in 2000. While he often ran unopposed, Munro w...
We are in a difficult and unsettling era in American History, primarily driven by disinformation in the media, on the Internet, and by word-of-mouth. The assertion that President Biden was the “worst” President or that President Trump is the “best” President displays a shocking lack of both perspective and knowledge of American History, which encompasses forty-seven presidential administrations over almost 250 years. Some presidents were genuinely great; others were base scoundrels, and many were mediocre. Only with history will we know where t...
As lawmakers meeting in Olympia wind up the 2025 session, they face a whopping $15 billion budget deficit—a situation they must address before adjourning and going home. Unlike Congress, state legislators and Gov. Bob Ferguson cannot authorize deficit spending or borrowing to fund state government. They either raise taxes and fees; or cut costs programs and people. Washington is primarily funded by sales, property, specialized taxes (such as unemployment, workers compensation and fuel), and gross receipt (business and occupation) taxes — a hig...
It’s said that a dog is man’s best friend. Not always. I’ve had a couple that wouldn’t qualify. I had a dog when I was in high school in Palouse. It was a shepherd, black, brown and white. We lived about a half mile from the school and no bus service so I had to walk. Every afternoon when I was walking home the dog would sit in the front yard and watch for me. When the dog could see me, it would race down the road to greet me. I really liked that dog. Later, someone shot it. When my wife and I married, she had a dog. We moved to Wilbur and ren...
March 31, 1917, The United States formally took possession of the Danish West Indies, now known as the Virgin Islands. The United States purchased the islands from Denmark for $25 million. The Strategic location was important given their location in relation to the Panama Canal. As European nations continued to colonize, the islands were caught in a back and forth “ownership” between Spain and France as a ruler. Danish settlers arrived and grew sugar cane using convicted criminals and later slave labor. Over time, Saint Thomas Island bec...
Thank you to the people who have supported the efforts of those who are walking in concern for the current activities of the Executive Branch of the United States. Thumbs up, horns honking encourage our spirits. Thanks to the woman buying each walker a cup of coffee, and to another person who brought water, and to yet another who brought blueberry tarts. Each one thanked us for standing up and speaking out against actions that affect so many people in our community and in communities across our country. We walk to represent all of us, no...
As DOGE continues its mission of finding Waste, Fraud and Abuse within the Federal Government, I want to share a bit of Greek Mythology with my fellow citizens. It’s about the hound named Laelaps and the fox named Teumessian. Laelaps the hound was destined to catch whatever it chased down. Teumessian the fox was destined to never be caught. Let’s call DOGE Laelaps the hound as it enters the financial offices of the Department of Defense, which we will call Teumessian, the fox. What will happen? You see, the DoD has never been successfully aud...
Well, we are rid of the worst President in the history of the United States and the worst cabinet ever. Almost all Bidens cabinet were LGBT otherwise they were not qualified to be in his cabinet. 21 million illegals let into the US not vetted, Biden advertised for them to come. With the highest inflation in 40 years, corruption all the way through the Federal government and spent our taxpayer’s money on projects that did nothing for the US. I won’t go thru the idiot projects that billions of our tax dollars were spent on. Corruption of the FBI...
While I have never been firmly hooked on fishing, I do have a history of trying my luck. I don’t own rod or reel. I have owned several but the interest of family members has made them disappear. My first experience was when I was a kid in Palouse. The Palouse River was not far away. In fact, it flowed through the center of town. Our family lived above the river. It was only a couple of blocks away. My first gear was a cane pole with some line tied around the end and of course a hook. At the time I could dig a few worms, grab my pole, and I w...
The Star Archives March 24, 1960, Hospital Name Change Contest announcement appears in The Star newspaper. “Name Your Community Hospital, assist the Board of Directors of Coulee Dam Community Hospital to Re-Name your hospital.” The contest ran from March 10-31, 1960. First Prize -- “A Lifetime Membership in the Hospital Corporation will be awarded to the winner. The membership is worth $250.00 and entitles the holder to vote on Hospital business and Annual Corporation Meetings held in January of each year.” Source(s): The Star Archives Compile...
We’d all gain a great deal if we could just talk with people of a different opinion, calmly and rationally. During simultaneous rallies for opposite political viewpoints Saturday along Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee, some people carried signs that could have worked for the other side verbatim: “Stop the Lies” is a common cry both for supporters and detractors of President Trump and his policies. And both sides are full of people who just want what’s best for the country. The difference, it was apparent Saturday, is that they take in informa... Full story
The national debt continues to grow at an exponential rate, and with unified Republican control of the federal government, we have an opportunity to rethink how we manage taxpayer dollars. Spending more than we take in has become the status quo in Washington D.C., and regardless of which party is in power, reforms to this unsustainable practice have continuously been punted in favor of bloating the national debt. The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), backed by the authority of an executive order, has been tasked with finding areas in...
The spring runoff will offer the brave whitewater rafting. I’ve had a number of exciting whitewater runs, my last the best. We signed on to a two-day raft trip on the Salmon and Snake Rivers. Most of the time we were in deep canyons, barely able to see the sun. It was in May, and the water was ice cold and the temperature hot. The plan was to do the Salmon first and then take on the Snake. An arrangement was made for us to stay in a log cabin near the end of the Salmon run. My wife and I had taken a number of whitewater trips on the Snake, b...
Dusts ups with our North American trading partners pop up periodically, especially when there is global financial trouble. They can be acrimonious and strain relationships as President Donald Trump is learning. Trump, faced with excessive federal spending and our skyrocketing national debt ($36.6 trillion), re-launched his “Make America Great Again” initiative. It is a blueprint to stimulate job creation in America’s private sector and government efficiency. He wants investments in domestic manufacturing plants, fairer trade with more equit...
Everyone can agree that the country should reign in the debt. But then why is the Trump Administration pushing a budget that extends tax cuts for the extremely wealthy and raises the debt ceiling to four trillion dollars? Lost in all the nonsense circulating about supposed “waste, fraud and abuse” is the fact that the Trump Administration fired many of the Inspectors General (the people responsible for investigating actual waste, fraud, and abuse). All of these seemingly random cuts potentially have disastrous consequences for our com...
Your constant relentless pursuit and defense of the liberal, leftist view, without any balance to the right is disturbing. Makes me rethink weather to renew my subscription in June. Maybe, did ya think that not all your readers voted for Kamala? Ken Noggles...
I appreciate the British saying “bad form” when something is inappropriate and not right. The GCDSD upper brass and some others are showing bad form. Congrats to them for recently barely passing their replacement levy, but to assume with their response that all yes voters believe in them is a stretch. There are many yes voters, even in my family, who voted yes, but for kids, not them. 517 voted no for this ballot measure. To be clear, most of us wanted to support the measure at a much lower, reasonable rate. Next time you take a picture of one...
My message to our US Representative Michael Baumgartner, based on my email to him: Have you no nation-wide condemnation and world apology for how Donald Trump and JD Vance humiliated Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 28? And your subsequent call for Zelenskyy’s resignation makes no sense given your statement that Russia clearly started the war and has been the aggressor — on second thought, it makes great sense considering your already evident cowardice in standing up to Trump, Vance, and Elon Musk. You certainly lack the spi...
I have flown several thousand miles in commercial jets, but small planes are my preference. My first small plane ride was here in Grand Coulee and my last was also from here. In the mid 1950’s I was a lumber grader in the planing mill above the dam. I worked for a man named Kirkpatrick. Only the old timers will likely remember either. I worked with a guy who claimed to be an Alaska bush pilot, and he had his own plane here. He told stories of landing in berry patches that stained the underside of his plane. When he invited me to go flying w...
March 10, 1804, France officially transferred its claim to the Louisiana Territory to the United States. President Thomas Jefferson had purchased the territory about a year earlier for the price of $15 million. The official ceremony took place in Saint Louis, Missouri. The Unites States was not making a real estate purchase. It was buying the exclusive Right of Preemption, to purchase or forcibly take lands from numerous indigenous governments who occupied the land. The reality of Louisiana Territory Purchase was 222 land relinquishments from...
Now that the recently completed special election results are certified, the Grand Coulee Dam School District (GCDSD) Board of Directors wants to express our deep appreciation and thanks to our community for supporting our schools by voting to approve our replacement school levy. Your continued financial support remains essential to the quality and future success of our programs, staff and, most importantly, our students at Lake Roosevelt schools. The passing of this levy will enable our School District to continue to provide a varied and...