News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1927 - 1951 of 3686
Want a bus so you can get to the store or doctor? Want a bus in town to take you to the senior center? Want bus service to drive you home from a community event? Raise your hand! If any of this is true, why did we have a Grand Coulee Mobility Summit March 15 at the Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center, and out of 20-plus organization that were invited ONLY three attended? It does not help just to sit with your friend at coffee or at the bar and complain about things we do not have in town. Only one city had a representative, no representative from...
We have subscribed to The Star newspaper for almost 40 years, but we have never seen such partisan writings ever before. We are sick of the progressive bias that you show and, in particular, the Trump bashing from the Editorial cartoon. (I use that term loosely ... because it is far from funny!) President Trump is the only person strong enough to try to fight off socialism against all odds and the uphill battle to rid our government of the serious corruption. I hope in the future, for our country’s sake, you will take a good, hard look at y...
What do Congressman Dan Newhouse and the Republican Party have against United States citizens’ relying on the courts to defend their rights, their lives, the places they love, and their livelihoods? Wonder what I’m referring to? During the 115th Congress, Republicans have introduced at least 50 bills to limit your rights as a citizen to take cases of corporate and private misconduct to the courts. Eleven have passed in the House of Representatives and Newhouse voted for all eleven of them. These include: - H.J. Res. 111, which limits your abi...
We’re at a watershed moment in American political history. Our Congress — I’m talking about the people’s body, the institution created by our founders, and not just the men and women who currently inhabit it — is in deep trouble. And no one seems to be offering hope. Its public standing is abysmal, occasionally dropping into the single digits in polling. Very few people seem to respect it, even on Capitol Hill. Small surprise, as the Pew Research Center reported the other day that “More members of the U.S. House of Representatives are choosin...
Most parents realize this not long after bringing their newborn home. A lack of sleep is something that must be overcome as we pray and wait to see if our child will actually sleep through the night tonight. As those kids grow up, yes, they do start sleeping all night long, all morning long, all afternoon long and then we start praying for some awake time with them. As parents we also lose sleep when our teenagers are awake. First dates for our daughters and sons can bring us to a new place of sleeplessness, as we wait for their return or a...
1 Years Ago Proctor wins: Shane Proctor’s “Number 7” provided him with all the luck needed Saturday night as he battled his way to the “Toughest Cowboy” championship and the deed to the Jager ranch. The final event of the season was played out in the Columbus, Ohio, Nationwide Arena, and came down to points in the bull riding event to decide the championship and the title to the 38-acre ranch. 20 Years Ago Texaco upgrades: Work began on a major upgrade to Tim’s Texaco at the 4-Corners in Grand Coulee. Owners Tim and Michele Arrants are adding...
I just received the “Benefits of Fiber to the Home” (FTTH) survey included with our Coulee Dam utility bill. The “survey” reads like a poorly written grade-school student project! If Coulee Dam is truly interested in developing a broadband/fiber enterprise, the City should take the quality time and invest the funds by working with experienced consultant(s), including business, legal, and applicable engineers. How you craft the first considerations, you must understand the options, the limitations, and the strategies. One of the first and mos...
1) It is incongruous that a semester of study in 8th grade on the Constitution would give anyone the knowledge and ability to make a learned opinion on the 1st and 2nd Amendments. 2) It is indeed chilling to hear a 9th grader claiming that when they are of voting age and in charge that they are going to “right the wrongs that past generations have made.” I recall such sentiments when I was young in the mid-sixties and that has not happened. We have only gotten worse. 3) The Bible is the only book that lays out God’s “plumb line” on the “cult...
A letter in last week’s Opinion section blamed gun culture and the NRA for the horrid acts committed by individuals. The guns that are used in these acts are simply the tools that these evil, psychotic, deranged, and/or mentally ill people use to carry out their acts. The reasons for their actions will differ with each individual, but those blaming the NRA are just taking the popular, easy, and wrong route. The letter mentioned that guns are the leading cause of homicide in the United States. If you could magically take away all guns, then the...
Sometimes it is just fun to chat with a young man who is ready to conquer the world, and sometimes you can learn a lot about life from that same young man. A few years ago I wrote about Lucas “Lead Foot” Bird as a Gem in the Coulee. He is a senior now and his dreams have morphed a bit as he matured. Here is a little bit of our conversation. If you know Lucas at all, you know that he sometimes can appear shy, but really he is just a quiet kid who lets his actions speak for themselves. So whe...
Congressman Dan Newhouse is one of the sponsors of H.R. 3144, which would maintain the operational status quo at the four lower Snake River dams in the Columbia River Basin. These dams are bad-actors for their negative effects on 13 runs of threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead. Newhouse says opposing the legislation is putting politics over science when it comes to improving fish recovery efforts. He seems concerned, legitimately, about possible impacts to ratepayers, but it shows he does not understand the historical record of...
Something that has been lacking in the current national debate on firearms is trust and good faith. Responsible gun owners mourn the innocent victims of mass shootings. Responsible gun owners want to keep our communities safe. Parents on both sides of this debate worry about our children’s safety. All of us agree that mentally unstable or dangerous individuals should not have access to firearms. We must ensure that laws are effectively enforced – especially considering that there were clear signs that the Parkland, Florida shooter had men...
In the late 1990s, as The Star was starting to publish online as an experiment, access to the internet was not essential. Things have changed. Today, the world is online. New and innovative ways of accomplishing old tasks more efficiently often also lead to other improvements, better insights, more services or, sometimes, lower expenses. For better or worse, access to the world through the avenues of the digital revolution are now essential, and many rural areas in the United States still struggle and fall behind economically for lack of...
When you’re surrounded by kids for most of the day, sometimes you reflect on parenting skills: your own and others’. I also have many friends, who are young parents themselves, who come to me on occasion for advice or to just tell me their story of the week. But some recent events have gotten me thinking even more. Whenever a bunch of fathers get together, the subject always seems to somehow, someway come back to poop. A diaper expulsion, a bath-time floater or crib full of brown artwork are...
Last week, I opened the newspaper to find a [letter to the editor] mentioning how the NRA was not to blame for ANY gun violence, and that it was more of a cultural issue rather than a gun issue. I’m here to say that it is a GUN CULTURE issue, and that it’s not just people that kill people, it’s people with GUNS that kill people, and gun violence is the leading cause of homicides in the U.S. (source: procon.org). The NRA has fought against so many regulations that would prevent people from having access to automatic and semi-automatic rifle...
The current Electric City Municipal Code clearly states its purpose “to protect residential areas from potential adverse impacts as a result of activities which may be deemed commercial in nature.” A new City Ordinance, drafted to allow Short Term Rentals (vacation short stays) in all city residential zones, would change this. Friendly family neighborhoods would be flooded with an influx of non-owner occupied rental homes with revolving renters next to family homes. Short term rental properties are much like motels and there are reasons zon...
What would life in the Mid-Columbia be like if dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers were removed? What would then be used to control flooding that devastated communities before the dams were put in place? How would we provide clean, reliable hydropower for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses? How would our region’s farmers and agriculture industry replace lost access to water that is currently stored behind the dams? This worst-case scenario is not as far-fetched as we would hope, unfortunately. For some interests—many from out...
Shirley Jean Jones went to be home with her Lord on Wednesday, February 28, 2018. She was born September 8, 1930, in Seattle, Washington, to Henry and Martha Sagehorn. The family moved to Tacoma, Washington, where she graduated from Lincoln High School in 1949. Shirley then attended Pacific Lutheran College. During this time, she met the man who would become her husband, Preston Jones. They married December 15, 1951, and were together for 66 years. They had two daughters, Michelle and Lisa....
We are renewing our subscription to The Star newspaper. We have enjoyed reading many of the articles and like seeing the news about the people and the area which has become our home. We do not enjoy your one-sided political cartoons. I believe everyone is aware that our political scene never will be perfect. You, however, seem to find only one side of the equation to be worthy of ridicule. I have friends who have discontinued their subscription to The Star because they have become irritated with your incessant one-sided perspective. Editorial...
Some 18 ladies turned out to tie quilts for World Relief and the Omak Support Center. Many thanks to each of them and to the ones who work at home. At this time, we together have finished 51 quilts and decided to continue into the first two weeks of March. The World Relief quilts will go anywhere in the world where there is a great need or a crisis, and the Support Center quilts will stay here in this area, either in the center itself or will go with families in crisis. The center services our area and are on call. We also keep two or three...
Trump’s most recent challenge to DACA failed when on Feb. 26, 2018, the Supreme Court refused to review lower court decisions that keep DACA in place indefinitely. This administration will undoubtedly continue to challenge the path to citizenship for people brought into our country at a young age. Newhouse could change that but apparently he won’t. There are 19,500 potential citizens in Congressional District 4 alone who meet the criteria to walk the path to citizenship under the Dream Act of 2017. According to the Center for the Study of Imm...
The way they passed it says it all. With almost no public input or notice, the Washington State Legislature last week passed a bill to exempt itself from a law the citizens of the state decided decades ago should apply to all public agencies: the Public Records Act. The legislators who represent you voted for it too, if you live anywhere around the Grand Coulee Dam area. The bill they passed came in response to a lawsuit the Legislature was losing. Last month a Thurston County Superior Court judge ruled that the state’s lawmakers are, in fact,...
We want to make sure the residents of Electric City are aware that our City Council will be considering a new City Ordinance that would allow short-term rentals (STR) in all residential areas across the City. Short term rentals, sometimes called “vacation rental by owner” (VRBO), allow property owners to rent a residence for a period less than 30 days. If approved, this change would allow property owners to turn the house next door to you into a defacto motel, and in effect turn your residential neighborhoods into business districts. Over six...
February 23, 2018, the Washington Legislature decided they did not have to abide by the state’s voter-approved Public Records Act, which requires, with subsequent judicial rulings, that state officials disclose their records. The Feb. 24, 2018, Seattle Times article, “Records secrecy slam-dunk” has more details. This action was not legislative business as usual, with hearings, floor debates, negotiations and then a proposed bill. No normal procedures were followed. Both legislative bodies sidestepped their rules. Rejecting the Public Discl...
In my last utility bill, I received a new notice of my/our garbage rate change — set for April 1st, 2018. The city did not advertise, nor include the notice, for indigent (low-income) discounts and that will impact on them too. Although we only have 32 low-income citizens, I’m certain that they count their pennies. Be it the mayor or the council quorum, adding more costs to those in need was an unnecessary demonstration of ignorance by targeting the indigent, the elderly, and the infirm. Has anyone really calculated this (in)significant imp...