News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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The short answer to the headline – yes, it does rain plastic. Take a look around, plastic is everywhere. It’s in our everyday lives; it is, in fact, omnipresent. It is in our rain too. Plastic is an environmental challenge that is piling up globally. About 300 million tons of plastic is manufactured annually. Landfills are full of plastic and it will be there for a long time. Our oceans are increasingly becoming a type of catchment for plastics of all kinds – mini-continents. Two recent studi...
The heat came into the Coulee like someone opened the oven door to peek at the cookies and the furnace blast hit them at full force. And just like that, summer arrived … and so did everything that surrounds the sunny days of summer in the containment of the Coulee walls. We hit the 90s on the gauge, and boats, snakes, mosquitoes, sprinklers and out-of-state plates arrived. Parking lots full, ice cream shop open and lasers flickering on the concrete blockage of the Columbia. Summer has a...
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) motto is, “Caring for the land and serving people.” That is exactly what the students of USFS Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers do. With 25 locations across the country, these Civilian Conservation Centers (CCCs) provide skills and job training to “at-risk” young people who need a hand up to find gainful employment or receive their high school GED. Students are taught real skills they use to serve and bring economic prosperity to their local communities and our national forests. Central Washington is luck...
Considering the fact that the lowering of the speed limit from 40 to 30 mph on a short strip of three-lane from Grand Coulee to the Grand Coulee Project offices had nothing to do with construction safety concerns, the Bureau of Reclamation’s suggestion that it should own a portion of B Street should be considered, with conditions. The real reason the bureau lowered that speed limit on the portion of State Route 155 that it owns was to make legal what it has been doing since it took delivery of a couple dozen all-electric utility vehicles t...
The stated reasons for regulating access to Geezer Beach seem contrived and sophomoric. If you accept the premise that vehicle traffic on the beach poses a threat to public safety, you could argue that boat ramps and public parks have greater potential for incidental events. The (bureau) should produce valid evidence to support their position. If there is an underlying reason for restricting access, let’s hear it. People who visit Geezer Beach for recreation are not hoodlums. They go there to enjoy nature, fish and socialize. Many choose the si...
My maternal ancestors go back to a farm near Lillehammer, Norway, where the 1994 Winter Olympics were held. Most of my mother’s family immigrated to the United States and to, you guessed it, Minnesota. My grandmother left Norway right after graduating from high school to join several older brothers and sisters who had already made their way here. That would have been 1884. So my mother rightfully claimed being a Norwegian, and I have followed that. My mother was an only child, born to a middle-class family in Minneapolis in 1898. She left to c...
As the senior class of 2019 inches closer to that day they have prepared for the last 18 or so years, they can now visualize the ceremony, walking down the aisle, family gathered and grasping the diploma in their own sweaty hands. The question they must ask themselves, as hundreds will ask them: “What’s next?” Many will already know, but many more will have uncertainties still. Some have locked in their schooling and will be looking to the University of Idaho, Eastern, WSU and community colle...
I am lucky enough these days to be in regular touch with young people who are interested in public service. I find hope in their quality, energy, and motivation, and they press me to think more deeply about what it takes to pursue a life in the public realm. I’ve come to believe that at the heart of it all — indeed, at the heart of representative democracy itself — is persuasion. If you’re trying to improve society, you have to persuade other people: the only way to get things done is to convince other people to join in. I once was fortunate to...
Coming into Electric City from the south, there is a big sign that says, “Welcome to Grand Coulee Dam Area.” It was put up decades ago by the local Rotary Club. Another one just like it welcomes travelers coming into the area on the highway to Wilbur. It says the exact same thing. One doesn’t say, “Welcome to Electric City,” and the other doesn’t say, “Welcome to Grand Coulee.” That choice reflected the deep-seated desire of community leaders at the time to unite the community to strengthen it. It was almost an ethic at the time that recog...
There are dams that should come down and those that shouldn’t. Hopefully, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts its review of the 14 federal dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers, that will become abundantly clear. That review is expected to be ready for public comment in late 2020. Here is the difference. Demolishing the two dams on the Elwha River west of Port Angeles was a good thing. They were built in the early 1900s to bring electricity to the Olympic Peninsula at a time when s...
As we get closer to this year’s graduation day at Lake Roosevelt, I sat down with one of this year’s seniors and we had a great conversation filled with tears, hope for the future and advice. Here is a little bit of my chat with Olivia Antone. “I feel more accomplished.” That is how Olivia started her answer about her senior year. “I am more stable in my head and am able to focus on my classes.” Olivia explained to me that her high school years were not the easiest for her. There were lots o...
It is no secret that prescription drug costs are high. When we hear about medications being sold for outrageous prices, it is important to remember that they aren’t necessarily special drugs for specific treatments or rare diseases. These are medicines that treat high cholesterol and blood pressure, epi-pens that save the lives of children and adults exposed to an allergen, and insulin that patients with diabetes depend upon every day. In Central Washington, we already experience provider shortages, skyrocketing deductibles, and unaffordable p...
What is your obligation or commitment to your community? Another Colorama weekend is done and this was a particularly challenging one for those of us at the Chamber of Commerce. In 1994, 38 years into the 63-year history of Colorama, the carnival moved from Coulee Dam onto “carnival flats” in North Dam Park, and the vendor and food fair moved into the picnic area in the same park. Permits to use this land are secured each year from the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), and, in recent years, from the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District (CA... Full story
I was shown an aerial photo of the proposed Electric City sidewalk plan on Highway 155. I am concerned because the parking lot adjacent to New Paradigm Physical Therapy would be eliminated if sidewalks block off highway access. Handicapped patients would have only three spaces allocated at the very rear of the building and would be forced to travel around the building to the front door to gain entrance. This active physical therapy business is growing rapidly, and three spaces at the rear of the building is clearly not adequate and is... Full story
Prior to 9/11, one of the real pleasure spots for bank fisherman was the Banks Lake canal. At the time, I fished there almost daily. Although I wasn’t physically handicapped or too elderly, there were many who fished there because they could park their vehicles next to the canal. Then 9/11 changed all that as it was felt that the gates needed to be protected. I didn’t agree with the decision, as I felt, as I do now, that the threat of terrorism was people, not gates to lakes. At the same time, shutting this off to the handicapped and eld... Full story
Climate change, tree rings and us Like a book of factual history, tree rings are the annual chapters of a tree’s life. Through the eyes of a trained professional, tree rings tell the real story of a location through a living thing — the tree. Those rings can yield a lot of information about the climate at a specific location. The oldest trees are the bristlecone pine (pinus longaeva), dating back some five millennia, and they are found at a high elevation in the California desert White Mou... Full story
I have been hearing the word unity a lot lately. Its meaning, according to the dictionary, is “a state of being united or joined as a whole.“ It also has a mathematics definition. The number one is also called unity. Unity is a word that never meant much to me except for its importance, but I can see this word’s meaning becoming something applied in all areas of life. In a marriage, in a business, in a school, in a church, in a community and in government, having a united body is the key to un... Full story
Those who assert that action on climate change should only happen if it’s fair, just don’t understand the problem. It may be true that other countries are egregious polluters, adding as much carbon and other warming agents to the atmosphere, or even more, than the United States. But the situation is too urgent to wait to even set our goals just because somebody else is worse. The minimal requirements of the Paris agreement from which President Trump withdrew the U.S. are truly minimal, and we’re nowhere near meeting even those, as a natio...
What is happening to Electric City? When I found out about Western Avenue being closed off, I asked the city clerk whose numb-nutted idea this was, and he said it was his. It seems apparent that the mayor and city council will go against emergency services to make the city clerk happy? The mayor and council, for some reason, don’t want community meetings on big projects, probably because they know the majority of residents are against their agenda. Our fire chief tried to save the city from making an irresponsible decision, and then received a...
Last week, the House voted on legislation that would force the President to participate in the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce carbon emissions in the United States and the world. On the surface, this bill paints a pretty picture: reducing our carbon footprint. However, this federally-mandated top-down approach will not help advance that goal. I celebrate the fact that the United States is leading the global community in reducing carbon emissions, but President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement because other countries, like...
With Tax Day behind us and National Small Business Week upon us, it’s the perfect moment to reflect on what helps small businesses prosper. Encouraging people to “Shop Local” definitely helps. Each year, Small Business Week gives my business a boost. Not so the Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Although proponents of the law vowed to “help small business,” the hollowness of that promise became obvious this tax season. Here’s what I know. I paid more taxes after the law passed; I paid my accountant more because she had to make so many manual adj...
In every stage of life we go through, there seems to be some type of test. We all faced the required tests that 12 years in school presented. There was a variety of tests for those who spent time in the military — weapons, equipment and the many skills testing. There are college-entry exams and graduate-school-entry exams like the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, etc. Want to drive a vehicle? Have to take a state-mandated test to be licensed. All those professionals we interact with, such as lawyers, d...
What’s wrong with UHC, i.e., socialized medicine? Simple. First, we have the best and most accessible Health Care in the WORLD. Want to change that? Put government bureaucrats in charge! How is the Federal Government (FG) doing with almost everything else it runs? Health Care is by far too important to put into the hands of another failed FG bureaucracy. The problems we have with Health Care delivery and cost are largely CAUSED by government meddling now (no space to go into that here). Yet the real issue is not Health Care itself because O...
It was probably my last whitewater rafting trip, maybe! A few years ago my wife, Dorothy, and I talked about taking a whitewater rafting trip, so I went to Leonard Taylor out in Electric City to ask him if he knew anyone who was still taking people on raft trips. Leonard knows the rivers in Idaho real well and at one time had his own boat. Leonard referred me to Bemer Rafts, which at the time was featuring a two-day run, starting on the Salmon River the first day and ending on the Snake River the second. There were about 25 of us that had...
Easter Sunday is the holiest day for observant Christians worldwide. It is the day followers of Jesus Christ celebrate his resurrection, and many believers choose to be baptized or receive their first communion on the special day. It is the day on which Christians celebrate the central tenets of our faith, which is why the coordinated suicide bombings on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka that targeted minority Christians at four churches as well as foreigners at four hotels shocked that island nation and the world. The terrorists targeted Christian pl...