News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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I wanted to thank you for your thoughtful editorial coverage on “Mental health troubles and news,” and the article “Man rescued from bridge standoff” in the September 11 edition of The Star. You are absolutely correct: “... Hope has to be part of the coverage” you provide, and is a reminder that each of us can offer hope to those who are struggling. Each of the community members who noticed the at-risk individual on the bridge and contacted the appropriate authorities, as well as the worker from Nespelem Valley Electric Co-Op, who was willi...
Just wanted to send a shout out to the Coulee Wall Variety Store. They opened up on Labor Day so that I could get some kitten milk replacement for some sick kittens I was asked to foster. A business and folks like this are truly a godsend to this community. Brittany Belgarde...
Excellent letter from Jim Catlow about “a vote for Trump is actually a vote for”. He does a great job of laying out why people should vote for Trump and not Harris. People need to get over their “TDS - Trump Derangement Syndrome” and vote for what is best for this country. Do I wish that the Republicans had picked someone other than Trump, yes I do, but in this election he is the only choice for preserving the greatness of this country. Glen Graevell...
The gray wolf was never native to the lower 48. But since the introduction of the gray wolf to the lower 48 here are some facts. Yellowstone National Park wildlife numbers in 1990 Elk population was 20,000. Moose population 1,000 Wolf Population 14 Yellowstone National Park Wildlife population 2022 Elk population 5,000 Down 75% Moose population 120 Down 80% Wolf population 120 Up 750% The Gray Wolf has spread from Yellowstone into Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Wyoming, The Idaho Elk hunter harvest in 1995 Lolo Zone was 1,975, In...
A number of years ago while living in Bothell my personal doctor and I became close friends. When I moved there, our clinic had about half a dozen doctors, and I chose the youngest as the one I wanted to go to. When my visit to see him came to a close, he would always take about five minutes to learn what I was interested in. It probably was not the best thing to allow, by either of us. One time, at the close of my visit, he said he intended to go to the Pavarotti concert and wondered if my wife and I would be interested in going. He got...
September 20, 1850, the U.S. Congress abolished the slave trade in the District of Columbia. This was part of a legislative package called the Compromise of 1850. The District of Columbia was founded in 1800 and enslaved people lived and worked in the nation’s capital. Slavery continued to exist in Washington D.C. under the slave code until April 16, 1862. It was on this date that President Lincoln signed legislation freeing the 3,000 African Americans bound by the district’s slave code. Source(s): Library of Congress Compiled by Bob Val...
As a newspaper, we actually try not to cover certain stories if they’re arising from an individual’s personal mental health problems. It’s not unusual to get a report that authorities have responded to an individual in distress, or worse. But if someone threatens to do themselves harm, most often it seems far less likely that a news story would help either the individual or society, which might only suffer greater loss if a news article placed more pressure on an already bad situation for that individual. Most of the time. But it was diffi...
Someone recently asked me why I like Trump. My answer was that I don’t really like a lot of things about Trump. But this election is not about choosing the most likeable person. We are voting between two vastly different ideologies. We are voting for the country we want to leave our children and grandchildren. Trump represents that future and has proven that he can deliver. He is a patriot to the core and even served his country for 4 years without pay. That moment when someone says, “I can’t believe you’re voting for Trump”. I simply re...
It was at the end of World War II that I became fascinated with cars. During the war, auto manufacturers were busy making tanks and ammo carriers. The public had to get along with some early 1945 models and people were lucky to find one. Those were the days when you could look at a car and know what make it was and the year it was manufactured. It was still a few years before I was old enough to drive and make enough money to purchase a car. We didn’t have driving classes then. My dad wasn’t anxious to let us drive the family car. My first exp...
Washington voters will soon have an opportunity to have their say on an unusual and corrosive tax the legislature passed in 2021. The controversial tax imposes a levy of 7% on capital gains income over $250,000. While that seems like it would only apply to “the rich,” the legislature has already proposed expanding the tax until it hits working-class incomes. Here’s how got where we are now. Three years ago, lawmakers passed and Governor Inslee signed SB 5096, creating the first-ever tax on capital gains income. Based on multiple prece...
Last week, The Star covered Lake Roosevelt students who petitioned the school board for more mental health support, including full-time counselors and a crisis intervention program like Only7Seconds. We also said a comprehensive follow-up story on student mental health would appear in this week’s paper. We have not heard back from school staff to discuss the topic further – understandable, given the start of the new school year. However, a student body representative told us she would like to talk more about student mental health for a fut...
The new school year is beginning for many, but before the bell rings, I want to address the increasing dangers we see from opioids in our schools. Fentanyl is sadly the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-45, and it only takes a 2-milligram dose—the size of a grain of rice—to cause an overdose. As it becomes increasingly available, it is crucial for parents to understand the risks that their children are facing. According to the Washington State Department of Health, over 300,000 people have died due to drug overdose deaths nat...
Ever wonder where your sense of humor came from? I got mine from my dad. He was always pulling pranks on the family, sometimes in a very creative way. When we lived on the farm and my dad came out of the house, all five of us kids in unison shouted, “Can we go with you?” That was a sore spot with my dad, so he told us to go in and get cleaned up. We raced inside because we thought we would be headed to town. We came out raring to go, but then my dad went to the outhouse. It taught us a lesson about asking to go all the time. That little trick h...
Are we failing to teach students about the nation’s history, it’s Constitution and civics? Are graduating students truly prepared as citizens, fully understanding how our federal democratic republic form of government operates? The University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center annually conducts a survey of public knowledge of our nation’s Constitution. The 2023 results of the annual Constitution Day survey are out. The title of the survey: “Many Don’t know Key Facts about the U...
Jesse James was born on September 5, 1847. As a teenager, he was a guerilla fighter for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. At war’s end, he returned to Missouri and became the leader of an outlaw gang. With his older brother, Frank and several ex-Confederates, including the Cole brothers, they robbed their way into the hearts of many; romanticized by eastern journalists. It all ended abruptly when a bullet was fired into James’s head by Robert Ford, a fellow gang member. Ford hoped to claim a bounty of $10,000 for his deed. He only got...
I appreciate our local towns working together on the massive chip seal street project. It looks great and was needed. Now we all need to work together with expertise from Ryan Fish, Nic Alexander and others knowledgeable to make our emergency services more efficient and effective. Also, thanks to the Coulee Dam Shop crew for cutting back the overgrowth at the corner to the police station. I have seen many close calls there and worried about vehicles colliding. Now visibility is better for traffic flow. I’m thankful for the tremendous l...
March on Washington and spoke to the estimated 200,000 people gathered. The speech is now known as the “I have a dream” speech. King imagined a future when “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners could sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” King envisioned a future in which his four children would not be judged by the color of their skin, rather by the content of their character. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. Source(s): National Geographic Education Compile...
During most of recorded history, there was no science, no explanations for the many terrifying events that afflicted life, e.g., volcanic eruptions, floods, droughts, starvation, and epidemic diseases. People invented gods and eventually believed that those gods were the cause of both good events and bad events. According to Michael Jordan, writing in his Encyclopedia of Gods, humans have invented more than 2,500 gods. Modern science has produced provable explanations for many of the things that once frightened people, and science has made the...
My friend Will Chausee had a sapphire mine in Montana about 35 miles east of Hamilton. He was an unlikely friend. Will owned a high-class cedar lumber operation, catering to high-end builders. He was a burly chap, probably 200 pounds if an ounce. Over time we got thrown together through the Rotary Club and other endeavors. Will kept inviting me to vacation at his Gem Mountain sapphire mine. So, my wife and I decided to do just that. The mine was located high up in the mountains, a fun and scenic drive, if nothing else. He spent time there in a...
I have family in Grand Coulee but I also have family in Texas. I read The Star news report: “Four-day school week under consideration” (Aug 14 issue) talking about Lake Roosevelt contemplating a proposed four-day school week for the (2025-2026) school year. Some schools in my area of Texas have gone to a four-day week. Oddly enough, one school selected Friday as their “off day,” whereas a neighboring town selected Monday as their school’s “off day.” To me, that was poor planning. In an age of divorced parents and siblings attending dif...
It’s almost impossible today to buy something off the rack that fits. Gone are the days when better clothing stores had a tailor on staff to make minor adjustments so clothes fit better. The biggest issue is fitting the length of trousers. All too many times I have bought pants that needed tailoring so they fit. Yet the service isn’t offered at the store. I have pants hanging in the closet that have been bought, paid for, and just hang there. You end up in double jeopardy if you like a cuff. I guess stores expect you to grow your legs to fit...
August 25, 1978, Georgia Ann “Tiny” Thompson Broadwick died in Long Beach, California. Tiny was an American pioneer parachutist and inventor of the ripcord. She was the first female to jump from an airplane and the first person to jump from a seaplane. Tiny was born in North Carolina in 1893. She was a small person, weighed less than 100 pounds and was less than 5 foot tall. Married at 13 years of age. Later, at 15, she joined a traveling Aeronautical Show. In 1914, due to her skill and fame, she demonstrated parachutes to the U.S. Army. Sou...
As the summer comes to a close and the new school year is looming, excited children are buying backpacks, going over their class schedules, and anticipating all the new things they are going to learn. But with the year beginning, I would be remiss if I did not discuss the elephant in the room —Washington’s education report card. In yWashington state, children ages K-12 are failing to meet the basic math and reading proficiency requirements, test scores are still far below where they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, enrollment is down 4%, and...
We would like to thank our wonderful community members who donated to and patronized our ‘every Saturday summer yard sale.’ It was a great summer for your local veterans organization and appeared to have been well received by the community once again. Your generosity will be returned 100% to our community through our support of local veterans, local American Legion baseball team, Isle of Flags support, volunteering at the food bank, meeting space for AA, blood bank venue, community event space and much more. We are so proud of our com...
While preparing for one of my trips to the Far East, I learned that Myanmar (then Burma) had opened up its borders to allow 72-hour visits. I jumped at the chance. Burma had been a British colony. I was surprised that there didn’t seem to be any strings attached. I asked Pan American Airlines officials if it was a good idea to stop over there. I had booked my trip with Pan Am since they had route privileges everywhere I was planning to go. My contact there was Willard Marsh, who said things were a little strained but a visit might be i...