News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 1983 - 2007 of 3733
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.... Full story
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,... Full story
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...
Carole Schroeder, in the letter to the editor, stated how much money has been donated to Republicans in Washington from 2006 thru 2017. Well, let me educate you: the NRA is small potatoes when it comes to supporting political parties. The NRA from 1997 thru 2016 has spent on political causes just under $20 million. That is $20 million in almost 20 years. In comparison, the labor unions in 2016 alone spent $1.7 billion; 87 percent went to Democratic causes and political candidates. The unions spent $1.7 billion in one year, so tell me who the...
Sometimes I take a look at this world we live in and just shake my head. It feels like we are living in a big movie script and the actors and actresses just keep stirring the plot. Government divided nations on the brink, terrorists everywhere, and school shootings make all Americans and citizens of the world just dumbfounded at what we are becoming as a nation. Not to mention those elite services we have relied on for so long in this country are not immune to society’s indiscretions. We b...
Auditions for “The Snow Queen,” brought to our community by MCT (Missoula Children’s Theater) and the Grand Coulee Dam PTA (Parent Teacher Association), will be held March 5, 2018, at 3:30 p.m. in the High School Gym. I would like to share some questions and their answers about this opportunity the PTA brings to our children. Every year we have questions that are asked and some people are too shy to ask them, so I thought I would answer them publicly. Is this the same MCT program that comes to Spokane and does a four-hour-a-day summer camp...
According to the Washington Post, Feb. 15, 2018, the following Washington lawmakers have accepted National Rifle Association donations: Rep. Dan Newhouse, Republican congressman, 4th District $4,000, including 2018. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers, Republican congresswoman, 5th District $2,500, 2016. Rep. Dave Reichert, Republican congressman, 8th District $5,000, 2006-2016. And then there is President Trump: at least $9.6 million in NRA funds in pro-Trump ads, and another $12 million attacking Hillary Clinton. Start with them. Vote them out....
Last week, the Trump administration released its proposal to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, a blueprint that gives hope for federal support and a positive path forward on projects across the country that are stalled due to bureaucratic red tape. America must address its aging infrastructure and streamline the process for projects that are needed to meet growing demand for water, especially in the West. President Trump’s infrastructure blueprint included a U.S. Department of Interior proposal to expedite the Bureau of Reclamation (BO...
The tradition continues. Two Raider wrestlers answered the question that has been hanging over the team all year: “Who’s next?” The Raider wrestling team has put on a streak of state champs for the past few years, and two grapplers answered the challenge. One returning for the second time and the other capturing his first title; but equally important, one captured the Academic State Champ, as well, in his weight class. Tony Nichols has been raised on the mat. As long as I can remember, he has b...
6 years ago Water Flows Over Gr. Coulee Spillway: Springtime spilling began again at Grand Coulee Dam Monday afternoon, with a variable number of drum gates open, depending on power load demands and inflow, as water release at the big dam is currently limited to a maximum of 70,000 cubic feet per second due to construction of Priest Rapids and other downstream projects. Grand Coulee will play host to the North Central Washington district class B basketball tourney with action getting underway Monday. Eight teams will participate in the double...
A vote on a boost to the Grand Coulee sales tax that passed on Tuesday will add a bit to the bottom line of most non-food retail sales made in Grand Coulee. The city council showed good sense in allowing the public to vote on it as a solution to the problem of crumbling city streets in need of repair. Ideally, a sales tax wouldn’t be the first solution you’d think of for fixing streets. It’s not directly tied to the problem and so shifts some of the burden to another part of the economy (consumers buying things, not cars and trucks weari...
The right to an individual’s life, liberty, and private property underpins any free society. It is a well-established principle enshrined in the Constitution’s 5th Amendment that under a limited government, no individual can be deprived of private property without just compensation. Back-door methods of federal regulation, without titles or deeds ever changing hands, effectively result in the seizure or “taking” of private lands and violate of the spirit of law protecting private property. President Obama’s 2015 Clean Water Rule, also called “W...