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  • Memories of Santa, and one to remember

    Jesse Utz|Dec 9, 2015

    One of my favorite memories of my childhood is Christmastime. I loved it when family would come over and we would gather together. The adults would sit around the living room and share stories and laughter from their childhood. The joy was contagious. Playing with cousins whom you did not see very often was a treat in itself. But eventually we all ended up sitting around the tree, trying to guess what each package was. The highlight, though, was when old Saint Nick himself showed up and had a gift for each of us. (Spoiler Alert) It was not... Full story

  • Shame on "What's in it for me?" whiners

    Dennis Thomas|Dec 2, 2015

    Thank you for your thoughtful, insightful editorial (“Seeking the fair tale land of no taxes” 11/18). Not surprised you drew fire from the “Greed is Good” crowd. “How much is enough?” your critics ask. (Or, “What’s in it for me?”) Because if we give more, we should get something more in return. Right? The answer to “How much is enough?” is all that we see around us and anything more that we dare to imagine. A few generations ago, who could have foreseen “indoor plumbing” and germ-free water flowing in every home? (Remember when we had to... Full story

  • Taxes are excessive

    Bob Hendrickson|Dec 2, 2015

    Great response from Mr. Cathcart. I appreciate your letter “Wanting to pay less to government is no fairy tale, 11/25” and agree with you. We are taxed excessively (those who pay taxes) and there is little to no accountability from our officials. We do need much less government and they need to do the right thing for us. We are not getting that response much of the time. Bob Hendrickson... Full story

  • A government we can trust

    Gayle Swagerty|Dec 2, 2015

    Can we Americans trust the government? According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, 81 percent say sometimes or never. Yet we American citizens state we want the government to act in their behalf and provide services we want and need. In the same poll, 55 percent of us stated “ordinary Americans” would do a better job of solving problems. Who and what is the government? The preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America reads that the government is “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union... Full story

  • Thanks for support, but venture won't go forward

    Monteiths|Dec 2, 2015

    We would like to thank everyone for the interest you have shown regarding the potential purchase of the Center School by the North American Wool Co-op. We are members of the co-op and we were working together to assess the feasibility of the purchase. We are sorry to say it is not feasible for the co-op or us to go forward with the purchase. The building offers so much potential and risk! I wish we had deeper pockets to make it work. Just not so! We would like to thank the following: Dennis Carlson and Debbie Starkey for taking their time to... Full story

  • Our public health district needs help

    Charlene Burns|Dec 2, 2015

    Attention all health care professionals! Ranked 37th out of 39 Washington state counties in public health, according to a respected study, Okanogan County remains in critical need of a secure public health system. Yet our county commissioners have repeatedly cut the public health budget in recent years. A new Board of Health will begin its term on December 8. The new Board of Health members, who were appointed by the Board of County Commissioners, are Steve Varrelman, a licensed installer of septic systems from Pateros; Larry Zimmerland, of... Full story

  • Goodbye to the good, bad and ugly

    Jesse Utz|Dec 2, 2015

    No, I am not going anywhere. But sometimes the dreams we build up get temporarily postponed. Now, the title is about goodbyes and I am not going to elaborate on who is the good or the bad, or even the ugly; you can figure that out for yourselves. Goodbyes are difficult, no matter who you are. Well, I take that back. Sometimes they might be good, depending on who you are saying goodbye to. I will leave that one to interpretation as well. My wife and I now live back in the Coulee. We said goodbye to the ranch lifestyle, not entirely by choice,... Full story

  • Wanting to pay less to government is no fairy tale

    Chip Cathcart|Nov 25, 2015

    While Mr. Hunter’s editorial (“Seeking the fairy tale land of no taxes,” 11/18) makes some good points about how taxes are used to pay for the upkeep of our roads, I take issue with some of the other statements. I do believe that most people realize that some taxes are necessary to maintain roads, provide police/fire protection, keep the parks nice, etc. But how much is enough? He says that “we all want services, and we all want to not pay for them.” That statement does not tell the whole story. We pay income tax, property tax, vehicle license... Full story

  • Re: "Dog declared dangerous" (11/18)

    April Smith|Nov 25, 2015

    Seriously?! So this dog had ONE incident involving a FERAL CAT and it is possibly going to be labeled “dangerous?” SERIOUSLY?! When did dogs EVER start liking cats they didn’t already live with? I have two cats and two dogs. They get along fine, but if another cat came into my house or yard, I know for a fact that my dogs would probably try to catch it and do harm to it. I don’t understand this situation! I can understand if this was an incident involving a person being attacked or the dog getting loose and acting aggressively with people... Full story

  • Thanksgiving of thanks

    Jesse Utz|Nov 25, 2015

    This year, at this time, it is important that we think about the last 365 days and think of the things that we are most thankful for. (I know, that is a lot of words beginning with “th.”) We have watched on the news recently or read online the terror that is striking numerous other countries around the world. It reminds us of the day the towers fell in New York, and we know what those citizens are going through right now. It also reminds us to keep watch out our own backdoor for the same type of thing. Panic is not an option, but preparedness a... Full story

  • Fifty Years Ago

    Nov 25, 2015

    The Grand Coulee Tigers football team had a most successful season. Leading rusher for the squad was Landy Harrell, averaging 9.44 yards per carry for the year. He was followed by John Hotchkiss, who averaged 5.91 yards. The two big guns on the defensive screen were co-captains Rodney Bise and Fred Manzer. These seniors, along with the rest of the line, composed of Ron Kosloski, Marvin Palanuk, John Weber, Dennis Thomas and Dick Behrens, will also be missed by next year's team. Team scoring:... Full story

  • Support small businesses this Saturday

    Patrick Connor|Nov 25, 2015

    Every year, Gallup asks people how much confidence they have in various institutions. The results aren’t surprising. Only 8 percent had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in Congress. Big business scored 21 percent. That’s no better than TV news. Small business, on the other hand, came in second with 67 percent of respondents considering it trustworthy. Only the U.S. military scored higher. While politicians bicker with each other and Wall Street focuses on the 1 percent, Main Street remains the lifeblood of our economy and our com... Full story

  • Seeking the fairy tale land of no taxes

    Scott Hunter|Nov 18, 2015

    Once upon a time, in a land … well, right here … we didn’t have to depend on fairy tales to fund basic necessities. But we did live under the spell of a powerful and hated potion that cast a pall across the land. By helping to pay for our other bad habits, the potion kept us hooked and gained power every year, until one day, a charlatan came with bright, shining lies and said that all would be well if we would only turn away from the potion. And for a while it seemed all was well, until the world started to crumble and the people reali... Full story

  • Remembering Ed Allan

    Garth Dano|Nov 18, 2015

    Sometimes in life we are given gifts, sometimes extraordinary gifts in the relationships we are fortuitous enough to wander into. One of those extraordinary gifts came to me, by happenstance or God’s way of remaining anonymous, in the form of my friendship with Ed Allan. I was a neophyte lawyer in the early l980s, moving to Grant County to begin a practice with my father, when I first met Ed. His kindness and warmth was immediate. I vividly recall the first time I was introduced to him at the Grant County Courthouse. He welcomed me like a l... Full story

  • Lake Roosevelt Hall of Fame inductees added

    Jesse Utz|Nov 18, 2015

    A few months ago I inducted the first two unofficial Raider Hall of Famers: Shawn and Nick Ford. Today I am inducting a few more former Raiders and coaches into the hallowed halls of Raider Nation. Now, you can’t have a Raider Hall of Fame and not put in a world champion. Shane Proctor, champion bull rider and rodeo star is now placed in the hall. A graduate of Lake Roosevelt High School, he went on to big things following his love of rodeo. He comes back every summer, too, and puts on a first class, all-star rodeo camp for future champions. N... Full story

  • Washington's latest deal is little cause for celebration

    Lee H Hamilton|Nov 18, 2015

    You can understand why President Obama and congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle sought to cast their end-of-October budget deal in the best possible light. They avoided a potentially catastrophic national default. They reduced the possibility of a government shutdown. And they raised the debt ceiling until March 2017, taking that bargaining chip off the table until the next president is in the White House. For a last-minute, secret, backroom deal, that’s not too shabby. It was bipartisan and took modest steps in the direction of p... Full story

  • Sixty-Five Years Ago

    Nov 18, 2015

    A rigger rides the concrete bucket and funnel used in pouring operations at the Pump-Generating Plant. In the background, the anchor blocks for pipes from the plant to the headworks can be seen. Source: Contractor MWPK. - May 19, 1950... Full story

  • Gems in the Coulee: U.S. military veterans

    Jesse Utz|Nov 11, 2015

    The insert in this paper, honoring the men and women who served our country, has the pictures of not only heroes in our community, but heroes that belong to our whole nation. I will never know the hell on earth that some of these soldiers went through. Nor do I want to. But because they went through it and are still going through it, we more than likely won’t have to. The ones who know danger and possible death lie ahead of them and yet they continue to step forward, with brothers falling to the ground beside them, thinking not of themselves b... Full story

  • Price controls will deprive epilepsy patients of hope

    Kristine Binette|Nov 11, 2015

    The Federal Drug Administration recently granted approval to a first-of-its-kind medication — an epilepsy drug created with a 3D printer. 3D printing could help lower drug costs. But even with better technology, many patients feel medicines are still too costly. Politicians are floating a potential solution: price controls on certain expensive drugs. Though well intentioned, these proposals are disasters in the making for patients with epilepsy and other serious diseases. There’s no surer way to eliminate the next generation of bre... Full story

  • Apply Navy's nuclear technology to civilian use

    Don Brunell|Nov 11, 2015

    Today, many elected officials are fixated on tearing down coal-fired power plants and replacing them with solar and wind farms. But that isn’t practical, because when there is no wind or sunlight, those plants produce no electricity. There is an alternative. Nuclear power plants supply 10 percent of the world’s electricity. But opponents say they are too dangerous and too expensive. They point to the 1986 meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union, considered to be the world’s worst nuclear disaster. But 30 years later... Full story

  • Eighty Years Ago

    Nov 11, 2015

    First train on Grand Coulee Railroad coming to Coulee Dam through the coulee, where Banks Lake is now. Dated July 29, 1935. – Don McClure photo... Full story

  • Tourism efforts frustrated in the coulee

    Nov 4, 2015

    Each year, the Grand Coulee Dam Area Chamber of Commerce makes formal requests to our local cities for lodging tax dollars, which we use to promote tourism and offset operational expenses for popular festivals. Grand Coulee and Coulee Dam have been generous with lodging tax dollars, which are generated by overnight camping and hotel/motel stays in their towns. Both last year and this, similar requests to Electric City have met with increasing resistance. While the city has given us some funding, their requesting process — which should be s... Full story

  • Drowsy driving and drunk driving are the same

    WIlliam Shaw|Nov 4, 2015

    “Driver falls asleep at wheel, crashes in Vancouver. VANCOUVER, Wash. - A car crashed and rolled over on its side on Highway 14 after the driver fell asleep at the wheel.” “Police: Drowsy driver caused crash that killed two. MARYSVILLE - The driver who caused the Jan. 2 crash that killed two people along Highway 9 near Marysville had fallen asleep at the wheel.” “Five Dead After Driver Falls Asleep at the Wheel. Walla Walla - Washington State Troopers say five are dead after a driver falls asleep at the wheel on State Route 124.” “Semi rolls... Full story

  • Veterans Day, a day to celebrate and remember

    Jesse Utz|Nov 4, 2015

    What would this country look like if we did not have men and women who gave their lives for us? Think about that a second or two. Yes, our country, at times, is pretty screwed up, but that is what freedom can do. It can give us a false sense of entitlement. Or is it false? Everything we say and do in this country has been bought with a price. That price that was paid in full on foreign shores, on salty seas and even on our home soil; it was paid in blood by Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and civilian men and women. Entitled, some... Full story

  • A look back

    Nov 4, 2015

    Seventy-Five Years Ago - Gravel pit at Grand Coulee Dam. – 1940... Full story

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