News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1761 - 1785 of 3686
The Care and Share Food Bank has received over one ton of donations from our small communities with big HEARTS In the last two weeks. The high school homecoming drive, Boy Scouts, Coulee Medical Center, plus other smaller drives did a great job of adding to our stores, and we would like to THANK YOU, each and every one. The high school did a hygiene drive during homecoming and the products have been well received — items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, plus bar soap, deodorant, shaving cream, razors, to name a few of the...
The holiday season is upon us and, as we start our list of chores to do for the festivities, we must remember that this first holiday is all about giving thanks. So amidst the second course of turkey, the third course of stuffing and the fourth piece of pie we should give thanks to what we are all thankful for this year. Then we can go into a coma on the couch watching football. Family. That is the first thing to come to mind this year, and I am truly thankful for them all. Even though we...
The recovery of the gray wolf is a success story for the Endangered Species Act, and the best available science should determine whether species remain listed. I am proud that the House voted last week to approve of legislation I co-introduced with Rep. Sean Duffy: H.R. 6784, the Manage Our Wolves Act, which will return management of the gray wolf species to the states. The states are best equipped to provide more effective and accountable management that responds to the needs of the ecosystem, other species, and local communities. In 2013,...
The special Veteran’s section in last Wednesday’s Star newspaper was another reminder of the debt we owe to our servicemen and women. They serve to protect the freedoms we so often take for granted. Locally, the “Isle of Flags” program at Spring Canyon is one opportunity we experience each year where we honor and salute our veterans. Again, around Veteran’s Day, The Star newspaper publishes a special section using pictures of local service personnel. It continues to grow each year. While I was growing up in Palouse, Washington, veterans...
November 11 of this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I. Over the course of that conflict, 116,516 American military personnel lost their lives. The deadliest battle in U.S. history was at Argonne Forest, from September 26, 1918, lasting more than a month, until the Armistice. The battle involved more than one million American soldiers and resulted in more than 26,000 American military deaths. The toll was unimaginable, but the U.S. contribution and heavy sacrifice on behalf of the Allied cause turned the...
A lot has been in the news recently about freedom, civil rights and equality. I tend to stay away from a lot of those volatile topics just because words can be bent or misused and turn a civil conversation into a riotous movement. But there are some topics from which I will never shy away, and I will jump in with both feet and swinging. God, America and veterans are three of those topics, and I was reminded of them last Friday at the assembly at Lake Roosevelt. I always get emotional at the Veterans Day assembly. I just can’t help it. But t...
While both sides argue over the merits of Seattle’s escalating minimum wage, there are other issues, such as the total cost per worker, which enter into hiring equations. When employers look to add or retain workers, they must not only consider wages, but the added required benefits which they must pay for each individual they employ. They must keep costs on par with their competitors, because employees are a big part of their operating costs. According to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (...
I had a friend at the age of 10 who swore to me that she was a boy. We were just kids playing in sand and gravel of a pit behind my home outside Missoula, Montana. Her statement didn’t really make any sense to me. She looked like a girl to me, although her interests seemed to indicate she was different. Neither one of us had any idea what sex was all about. But one day she felt compelled to tell me she was really a boy, not a girl. The memory of her informs my opinions on the current international struggle in society to recognize those we now c... Full story
As we near Thanksgiving, I hope the Raider Nation will join me in being thankful for the vision and passion Rob Williams had for starting the Lake Roosevelt youth football program 11 or so years ago. Many of the players on this year’s team had the opportunity to grow up playing football and getting better because Rob wouldn’t take no for an answer when pursuing his passion to create a youth football program in the Coulee that would be safe, fun, and make kids better people and players. Although it has been 10 years since we lost Rob, it is awe...
If you live in the Grand Coulee Dam area, you know that the large volcano-looking structure beside the high school is called “the sand hill.” It is one of the markers of our little area that has become part of the town. Very much like our dam, North Dam Park, Banks Lake, Siam Palace, Loepps and the TeePee, it has become a part of our community. But the history it holds tells a story that only a large sand hill can tell. Most of us know it is the leftover sand from the construction of our Gra...
In the last column, I wrote about the physical changes occurring in and around the Arctic Ocean. Those changes are occurring due to climate change. Shipping lanes are being used for commerce, significantly cutting travel time and saving fuel. Other transformations are happening as a direct result of climate change in that part of the world as well. The geopolitics of the Arctic is affected as much as the physical body of the region. Several nations are looking at the region and envisioning...
Meet the late Will Chaussee. On the outside, he was a cedar lumber owner-dealer. On the inside, he was a mountain man, and he owned a sapphire mine between Hamilton and Philipsburg, Montana. He retired and annually invited me to his place up in the mountains, where we fished, explored a bit and told stories that were mostly true. He had returned to Bothell on business and looked in on me at the newspaper there where I worked, and said, “Look what I found at the mine, a sapphire fit for a king.” That started it, and for the next several mon...
At the end of last year, a group of people visited the school and brought a strong message. They not only came to Lake Roosevelt, but traveled to Nespelem, Omak, Paschal Sherman, Inchelium and Keller schools as well, bringing with them a message of self-worth, overcoming and positive actions. In Lake Roosevelt this has caused a ripple effect of good things, and I keep going back to that turning point of communication. When James Pakootas, Miah Bearcub, Lou Rouda, TS Solution and John Crown spoke on the stage in the Raider gym, I am sure they kn...
Last week The Star published “Town now planning entire lift station to serve Elmer City.” As a short response, Coulee Dam should not subsidize Elmer City. It’s unreasonable, it’s poor strategy (with some caveats), it’s a matter of fairness, and may violate the state constitution & statutes (as a gift of funds). During the planning, design, and approvals for the new Coulee Dam wastewater treatment facility, the town took all reasonable efforts to include and involve all those impacted and involved the stakeholders — specifically, since the T...
Why: Cindy cares about Grant County and actively participates in making it better. Cindy listens and is passionate about finding positive solutions. Cindy is fiscally responsible and holds departments accountable. Cindy is dedicated to public service and has a great working relationship with us, department heads, and other agencies. Cindy is accessible and willing to help at all times. Cindy is well-respected and a trusted county leader. Please join us in re-electing Cindy Carter for Grant County Commissioner - District 3. Michele Jaderlund,...
Looming at the PUD is replacement of a complicated (and vital) energy sales contract, new infrastructure to meet growing power demands, and the resolve and creativity to finally finish building out the PUD fiber optic network. We need commissioners who actually understand how debt works — not folks who throw around scary debt numbers with no context. Terry Brewer and Patti Paris will begin on Day 1 of the new term as effective PUD Commissioners. No learning curve needed. Please look beyond the $$ onslaught of Ag Power User road and yard s...
I urge voters to consider personal qualifications of candidates - rather than simply party affiliations. My votes for unaffiliated/independent candidates Ann Diamond and Salley Bull are for their ability to unite people rather than divide them. I support Democrat Christine Brown for joining these independents in their push for good healthcare for all. I support Republican Arian Noma for Okanogan County prosecutor because he addresses, with knowledge and passion, a consistently minimized issue. In 2015, the U.S. held 21.0 percent of the world’s...
Our institutions are essential in preserving democracy. Some vital elements of our democratic institutions include a free press, judicial system, environmental protection, education, labor unions, intelligence agencies, election systems and health services. These institutions, and others, are under attack by the current administration by actions such as repeatedly discrediting the press and intelligence agencies, eliminating environmental regulations (clean air, water, climate change), and chipping away at healthcare. Our own election system,...
Did you know that in the 2016 presidential election, over 108 million eligible voters didn’t vote? Were you aware that nationally, the voter turnout was less than 40 percent in the 2014 midterm elections and 21.4 percent of eligible voters were not registered? That’s greater than 46 million people. And here is another sobering statistic — according to a Pew Charitable Trusts Foundation 2016 survey, around 60 percent of both unregistered and registered voters said they had never been asked to register to vote. The study also showed that eligi...
This is another bill sponsored by billionaires and organizations such as Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility (WAGR). They spent $10.5 million to get I-594 passed in 2014. That bill approved by voters now makes it illegal to loan a rifle to a friend to hunt with, among other things. Then they spent $7 million on bill 1491 in 2016. Now the same five billionaires, along with WAGR, have spent $4.3 million to get this passed. If bill 1639 is approved by the voters, it could potentially make every gun owner in Washington state a felon. This...
Cindy Carter is a rarity these days, an elected official who knows where money comes from. She learned to work as a child and retains a remarkable work ethic. I visited the Carters when they were finishing their house. Cindy was not there giving directions; she was there working. When Cindy first ran for the office of county commissioner, the county Republicans opposed her because she was a political outsider. She’s been the lone voice in county government for those living south of I-90. Things have changed since Cindy Carter was first e...
We have important PUD Commissioner choices on the ballot this year. The platform of two of the PUD Commissioner candidates seems solely to be reducing rates for irrigation and residential customers. But, history is full of unintended consequences from seemingly simple solutions. Irrigation and residential electric rates in Grant County are among the lowest in the nation. Much of that is due to the foresight of prior PUD commissioners in building Priest Rapids and Wanapum Dams, but it’s also due to the practice of current PUD commissioners in a...
There are some students who fly by under the radar, and they are moving to the college of their choice when you realize you missed out on knowing a senior who is pretty special. That is not the case with Rainy Dawn. I met her a few years ago and have been addicted to her personality ever since. So when I sat down with her this past week to talk about all things “her,” I was really looking forward to what she had to say. She did not disappoint. Rainy is one of those rare students. Good grades, go...
Ballots are starting to arrive and it’s getting to be decision time. As someone who works with a lot of businesses, especially small businesses, I am concerned about the impact of the costs associated with Initiative 1631, the energy tax measure. That’s why the [Moses Lake] chamber is opposed, and why I am voting NO on I-1631. Living in the Columbia Basin, we do have some mass-transit options. But most of us — especially businesses — rely on our vehicles to get around town or leave the county. We also rely on vehicles to transport product...
As we watch the larger political world seem to strain to pull itself apart, it’s heartening to see signs of local unity shining a beam of light through the clouds. Last week, Coulee Dam’s city council agreed to consider paying for the extra horsepower needed to get Elmer City’s effluent to the new treatment plant Coulee Dam is building. The two towns have been at the verge of mutually suing each other over whose responsibility that should be. Then last night, the Grand Coulee City Council voted to put the question of consolidating local munic...