News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 2375 - 2399 of 3586
When the 70-ton steel closure gates were not needed for river diversion purposes, the contractor suspended them from special storage barges anchored in the right forebay. – April 1, 1939...
There is one type of election where we, as voters, have a right to expect accuracy — elections for our judges. These are the facts about the judicial elections this year in Grant County: Judge David Estudillo was appointed last year, after an extensive evaluation process, to replace retired Judge Evan Sperline, who retired from the Grant County Superior Court. The law requires Judge Estudillo to stand for election this fall to retain his position. So Judge Estudillo’s judicial race is not a decision about who should replace Judge Sperline. That...
A lot of stuff has been happening across Coulee Country, and the entire nation, for that matter. Theft, drugs, abuse and neglect are just a few of the plagues that are ravaging our neighborhoods and nation, and I might even say world. I use the word “plagues” because it has risen to an epidemic of biblical proportions. The question that always follows is, “What will we do about it?” The first answer is always tougher laws, more officers, and more education. But we have done that. There is not...
Even though President Barack Obama has less than a year remaining in office, his administration is cranking out new government regulations at a record pace. The rush reflects the President’s plan to use his final months to cement his domestic-policy legacy. Unfortunately, that process circumvents Congress, which is constitutionally charged with writing our laws. The new rules are sweeping and cut across labor, health, finance and the environment. They range from setting overtime pay for white-collar workers to more obscure matters, such as r...
We live in an astounding time of technological progress, during the “Information Age.” Since the 1990s, the Internet has flourished and created a digital marketplace, revolutionizing the world economy and the way commerce is conducted. Private enterprise has developed an incredible number of innovative services for millions of consumers. Keeping the Internet free from government micromanagement and open to innovation for years to come must be a top priority. Turn back the clock for a moment to 1934, which is the year the Federal Com...
One of the two dining rooms in the contractor's mess hall. - January 1935...
Citizens would do well to continue their skepticism regarding a curious study underway by Okanogan County commissioners on whether to ship out to other locations juvenile offenders in its justice system, rather than house them in county. The advantages of doing so are anything but clear, at least based on documents The Star requested that outline a cost study already completed. If shipped to Martin Hall, a privately run facility in Medical Lake under consideration, the annual extra cost would easily clear a quarter of a million dollars, not...
I would like to respond to the Grand Coulee alumni group fund raising article that appeared in The Star newspaper March 30, 2016, and thank them for getting this fund raising started. I want to correct the information of only three high schools being involved; there were actually four high schools. When the Grand Coulee Dam was started in 1932-33, there were four main towns in the area, including the city of Grand Coulee, with the Grand Coulee High School Tigers, and the town of Coulee Dam, which was originally only on the west side of the...
A crisis is upon us. A father recently reached out to me and had an idea for a column. He had noticed a scary situation taking form with a group of young people. This group was and is a tight-knit community type of clique that speaks of death constantly, especially suicide. This misled group counsels each other, hides each other and recruits others that are in vulnerable situations. They have formed a pact or a family of the misguided, if you will. This whole area has been affected by the sorrowful effects of suicide. We have seen it take our y...
Growing up in the 1990s, I loved the Seattle Sonics and used to shoot hoops at home in the woods, on a dirt road near a hill. Sometimes I’d miss my shot and the ball would go rolling far down the hill and I’d chase after it. I’d pretend I was making game-winning, buzzer-beating, 3-point shots for the Sonics to win the NBA Championship. My favorite player was Gary Payton. When I got the assignment to cover the recent Gary Payton event, my eyes lit up. I was very nervous, but once I got there I felt fine. So I stood on the sidelines of the gym,...
It may be news to many Americans, but as individual land owners, ranchers, and farmers in Washington already know, the federal government is one of the largest property managers in the nation, and especially in the West. According to a 2014 government survey, federal agencies manage 640 million acres of land, or one million square miles nationwide. That number accounts for 28 percent of land in the country. To put that enormous number in further perspective, it is just a bit smaller than the size of the land area of the three largest states,...
While law abiding citizens often find it frustrating to learn that those accused of crimes against them are arrested but very soon released, that doesn’t mean the system doesn’t work. Sometimes it just means it’s slower than we might like, certainly. But in America, the scales of justice are not fixed for a certain outcome. The police often have an uphill battle to gather the burden of proof of wrongdoing. And if you know that’s the guy who stole from you, watching him walk can be infuriating. But neither individuals nor the justice system...
I would like to say thank you to officer John Tufts, the Grand Coulee EMTs and the staff at Coulee Medical Center for their outstanding care for my mom, Bobbi, during her distress. I am so thankful to live in an area where people really step up and show their true care. We need to remember to thank them for their service to our community. So to you I say, thank you and God Bless you for your service! Your friend, Vicki Ratcliff...
Let’s take a look at drought here in the West. California drought conditions have changed somewhat. Unfortunately, the state is still mostly in severe drought. The exception there is the extreme northwest corner that is showing to be drought free. A number of California reservoirs are gaining a good amount of water, as well. Closer, in Oregon, the eastern and south southeastern portions are still in abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions. Here in Washington, just the extreme south central and southeastern corner of the state is s...
Boeing’s new cost-reduction plan has deep ramifications for Washington because the bulk of the 4,500 job cuts are likely to land here. CEO Dennis Muilenburg asked investors to view the savings initiative as “playing offense in a competitive marketplace” even though Boeing has a $431 billion backlog of 5,800 aircraft orders. Translated, Muilenburg means the aerospace giant needs to find ways to lower the price tag of its airplanes. Boeing leaders worry because Airbus’ A320 scooped up 63% of the...
My favorite subject in school is and was history. I loved learning of our country’s and state’s past triumphs and struggles. I still today loves hearing of people’s journeys — where they came from, their ancestry and what events reshaped their views of the world. Take our local area, for example. We always start with pioneers and homesteaders. Then the great Grand Coulee Dam and its erecting, B Street activities, patriarchs and world leaders who paved the way for everything we see now. We love our history, but sometimes we leave out a very im...
This view inside section E-1, Block 54, the working chamber of the floating caisson shows a drill operator drilling holes in the eroded concrete for hydraulic jacks, used to break the concrete out. The two engineers in the view are laying out dowels for new concrete in the excavated area. Pacific Bridge Company is performing repairs to the spillway face and bucket. – February 16, 1950...
We are missing some fitness equipment from the middle school gym fitness area. The following equipment was noticed missing after the weekend of March 19-20: two 20-pound dumbbells; two 25-pound dumbbells; two 30-pound dumbbells; two 35-pound dumbbells; two 50-pound dumbbells, and an inclined workout board. As we all know, this equipment was purchased to support our middle school kids, but has been made available to the public at no cost, except for a key deposit of $25 that is returned when the keys are returned. It is disturbing and frustratin...
Well, it was a packed week last week, but Spring Break is just around the corner. With a week-long rest coming I thought I would give you my highlights for the last seven days. Fundraising can be a drag sometimes. With the peddling of all kinds of stuff from cups to pizza, and donations for every sport and organization with their hands out and puppy dog eyes in place and locked to yours. But every once in a while an effort comes forward that makes you smile and reach deep within your empty wallet and gladly donate. This time the worthy cause...
For many months, day after day, the first thing that appeared on much of the national news media in bold black letters was the word Trump, often accompanied by a photograph of Mr. Trump. By early March 2016, some of the political pundits were saying that the GOP (Republican Party) was unhappy with the political candidate they had created. But the Republican Party didn’t put Mr. Trump at the top of the first page of those many editions of the national news media and pundit blogs. And it wasn’t advertising paid for by Mr. Trump. It was the med...
Last Tuesday, the world was again horrified by coordinated terrorist attacks at the airport and subway in Brussels, Belgium. Dozens of people lost their lives, and many more were injured. Even before they took official responsibility, there was little doubt that the perpetrators would turn out to be ISIS affiliates, whose attacks in Paris last November took the lives of 130 people. At the time of this writing, four Americans have been confirmed to have lost their lives in the Belgium attacks. These horrific acts against innocent civilians are...
Because of soft foundation material in the bottom of the Grand Coulee, it was necessary to make a 2-mile detour, high over the east side of the coulee. This photo shows some of the heavy basalt rock cutting encountered in the relocated Upper Coulee Highway, commonly referred to as "Million Dollar Mile" on SR-155. – June 1, 1950...
Two examples glare in the news this week, showing why consolidating local towns into one city would make so much sense. It’s far from clear that consolidation would actually cut down on personnel or save as much money as one might assume, but freeing oneself from a doomed mindset isn’t about the money it would save. Such a mindset currently steers the actions city councils in Grand Coulee and Electric City must believe they have to follow. It’s a mindset that draws needless distinctions between the two, when in truth, the people could be serve...
Moving the Omak juvenile detention facility to a psychiatric prison outside of Spokane disregards the needs of vulnerable Okanogan children in several ways: • State laws mandate that these marginalized children remain in their communities whenever possible. We have a civic and legal responsibility to take care of our own children. • Already at-risk children deserve a local therapeutic setting, rather than exposure to a maximum-security psychiatric prison system hours away. Reintegration is much more difficult when children are separated fro...
This weekend is Easter, and although it has snuck up on us and arrived early this year, the meaning is just as relevant today as the events that led to it many, many years ago. Contrary to today’s tradition, it is not about a bunny, chocolate, gifts or eggs. Sorry I did not give you a spoiler warning, but I think it is important for us all to remember the real message, not only this weekend, but every day of our lives. It is a pivotal point in our existence that must be remembered daily. A young person told me recently, “I don’t believe in Go...