News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
Sorted by date Results 2705 - 2729 of 3737
Ten Years Ago The Electric City Council got its first glimpse last week of a proposal from Lakeside Grill owner Terry Ayres to expand his restaurant. Three are planning to challenge the Electric City mayor position in election 2005. They include Don Daniels, Bob Rupe and Troy Ritter. Twenty Years Ago Work on the first phase of the North Dam Park project should begin next month after the Grand Coulee City Council gave its official approval at a special council meeting last Thursday. Coulee... Full story
In the midst of smoke and flame, a rising beam of hope shows a promising path, one that will need our focus in the months to come: the desire good people have to help. That desire is striking in the experience of Rob and Glo Carroll, whose own desire to help led them to set up a GoFundMe page to which donations have been coming in steadily for a week. Their effort supplies normally self-sufficient firefighting organizations with items they need but find hard to get amid the massive, thinly-stretched firefighting efforts across the West. They... Full story
There has been growing recognition of the challenges of Alzheimer’s disease but the funding to find a cure lags dramatically behind what’s necessary. In 2010 Congress unanimously passed legislation that set a goal of finding a treatment for Alzheimer’s by 2025. But National Institutes of Health (NIH) research on dementia has not increased to the $2 billion-a-year level that scientists say is needed. In fact, for every $100 spent on Alzheimer’s research, Medicare and Medicaid programs spend $26,000 to care for people with the disease. Current... Full story
Reducing stigma. Someone wants to promote a “stigma”? and keep part of it? and you offer them space? Curious. Harold A. Maio, retired mental health editor Ft Myers, Florida... Full story
Post offices are crucial anywhere, but especially crucial in rural areas that depend on the postal service to stay connected through news delivery, services crucial to businesses, and, in some communities, a link to prescription drugs and other services. The mail service is a national treasure that has been in operation for 240 years. Every day, the Postal Service provides affordable, universal mail service to all—without using taxpayer dollars for its operation. The Center for Rural Affairs has signed letters of support for continuing reliable... Full story
As I write this, and probably as you read it, there are firefighters on the front line of a fire, battling the smoke, heat and flames. There is also a homeowner deciding if they should evacuate or stay and defend his or her home. There are also loved ones worrying about their better halves, praying that they will be safe. There is someone with asthma who can’t wait until they can go outside again. There is a citizen wondering what they can do to help? I have a past in firefighting. In the e... Full story
Ten Years Ago Dave Marrs resiend his position as marshal of Elmer City on Monday. Marrs has had an on-again off-again relationship at Elmer City. After his hours were cut from 120 a month to 80 under this year's budget, there has been a lot of turmoil with the marshal positions. Animal control became an issue at the Grand Coulee council meeting Aug. 16. Grand Coulee residents from Banks Avenue and Dill Streets complained to the council of a pack of dogs running loose. Twenty Years Ago An... Full story
As I write this today, my mind is wandering. You see, I just finished burying a neighbor’s pet, and my heart is broken for the Hearne family at the same time. Also, all day long we were going through boxes that have been in storage, some since our house fire years ago. A day of remembering. My first memories of Kenny Hearne go back to our grade school days. He was in my brother’s grade and I remember him vividly. Kenny was a one-of-a-kind kid who did not take teasing easily. He was a serious person, but once you got to know him, he would ope... Full story
Imagine rolling into Olympia in your travel trailer each year for the start of the legislative session knowing your district has the highest unemployment in the state and the lowest average annual wage. Folks in your sprawling rural 7th District earn between $15,000 and $20,000 less than the state average wage. Stevens, Pend Oreille, Ferry and Okanogan counties are rich in minerals and have abundant forests and natural public grazing lands, but over the years mining, logging and lumber mill jobs dried up, in large part due to government... Full story
The bipartisan Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, HR2646, introduced in June by Rep. Tim Murphy and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, has come under attack. The purpose of the legislation is to resolve a number of problems within our mental health care system, particularly for the treatment of America’s seriously mentally ill. The measures within this legislation would effectively improve treatment and outcomes for those with severe brain diseases, ultimately resulting in a significant reduction in homelessness and incarcerations. But v... Full story
Twenty Years Ago Colville Pump and Supply Company will attempt to revive an old, unused water well on Palmer Avenue in Electric City. Heater problems at the Coulee Dam pool may force an early closure, but the town council shortened the pool schedule last Wednesday night in hopes of keeping it open through August 25. Thirty Years Ago The Grand Coulee Fire Department was called out five times in two days when brush fires were spotted in two separate locations.... Full story
The city of Grand Coulee took an encouraging step last week, appointing an employee to the job of enforcing city codes. That means someone at the city will be charged with talking to people whose properties don’t meet those codes, such as “nuisance ordinances,” which basically prohibit the kind of unsightly messes some properties end up displaying for any number of reasons. For a long time, the city has been less than enthusiastic (and, at some points in the past, downright hostile) about such an enforcement policy. Because of that, value... Full story
The most important function Congress serves is to debate and pass the federal budget. I know — it also levies taxes, imposes or relaxes regulations, and once in a while nudges our social, economic or political order in a meaningful way. But the budget tells the government what to do and makes it possible to do it. Everything else follows from that. Even at the best of times, passing a budget is a test of Congress’s abilities. And these aren’t the best of times. Its two houses are controlled by Republicans who don’t see eye to eye. The White Hou... Full story
What is a human life worth? The way a society responds to that question effectively describes the values held by that society. A just and healthy society should view innocent life as worth dignity and protection. The prospect of profiting off of another human’s life is repulsive because each person possesses an intrinsic moral value, not a commercial value. Horrifyingly, there are some today who actually place a dollar amount on the tissue and organs of unborn humans. The callous language used by Planned Parenthood officials in recently r... Full story
The name Nissen has been heard in Coulee Country for years, but it was just a few years ago when I actually met Ray and Sharon. Since that time I have gotten to know Sharon and have found out a lot about her, some of which I can’t tell you about because she would disown me. The truth is, she might be one of the strongest women I know. Despite her small stature and her seemingly meek attitude, she is a spitfire who will tell you exactly what is on her mind and never ask for much help, even when it is needed. She has a large family and is t... Full story
Ten Years Ago GCD School District standardized test scores are higher this year, according to results released from the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Rodney Bise retired from the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department after 30 years of service. Rick Paris, fire chief said, “It will take three men to replace him. He’s the best.” The Regional Board of Mayors agreed Monday night that buildin a transfer station was the way to solve the area’s solid waste problem. Elmer City Marshall Dave Marrs received a new patrol... Full story
That big piece of land that so many of us find useful — for walking, playing softball, picnicking, holding reunions and much more — needs to be maintained, and it’s not free. North Dam Park takes some $30,000 a year to maintain, and the community rallied to save it after the city of Grand Coulee decided it could no longer support it alone. Local cities have been drawing from hotel/motel tax funds designated for boosting tourism to help maintain the park where big events are held. That was always seen as a stop-gap measure, in place until other... Full story
The Coulee Dam council meeting on July 8, which had the keeping of chickens on its agenda, was a very well-attended meeting with a very lively audience participation. The group seemed to split into three categories. There were those who loved the birds and being able to use their property as they saw fit. There was the opposition group who believed chickens have no place in the townsite. The largest group seemed to be concerned with our present ordinances regarding pets for two reasons. Their wording is unclear in some cases and even... Full story
No one should ever hang up on a veteran seeking medical assistance. Every veteran deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, and especially with urgency in an emergency medical situation. Proper treatment for our veterans reflects the honor our nation accords for their service in uniform. Anything less is simply unacceptable, and even shameful. Earlier this year, a 64-year-old Army veteran from Kennewick, Donald Siefken, arrived outside the Seattle Veterans Administration hospital emergency room with a broken and swollen foot. Mr.... Full story
Sometimes you never know when a revelation of life will hit you. The past few weeks I have been in a few different weed patches, from Belvedere to Electric City and many in between. A few kids (Mason, Marisha, Ronan, Cole and Kaden) along with Karrie and I have been providing a service to those in need. We have dug trenches, put in fence posts, bucked bales, painted a garage, and stained a deck, but yard work seems to have become our specialty. Weeds have become our Achilles’ heel. The kids n... Full story
A rock crew working on the pumping plant foundation. A general program of blasting and excavating a successive series of trenches, the back wall of which was trimmed to the specified slope, was followed. - July 26, 1938...
Maybe it’s just because we so often have a front-row view of tragedy, but two items in this week’s brought home the extreme importance of highly- trained emergency responders and some relief that that training is happening. Serving as a volunteer firefighter or emergency medical technician is far from easy, and considerable training is needed to be kept up even before the actual job of responding to emergencies is tackled. So it’s been with some alarm over the years that the local availability of trained EMTs has seemed at risk. A story on th... Full story
“Relationships, the foundation of tribal journalism” Sorry sir, I take wholehearted umbrage with your recent editorial listed in its entirety! Tribal journalism? What a laugh! To me, journalism is about writing, editing and publishing in factual directions, newsworthy material in a timely manner. Nothing more, nothing less. Bowing down to CCT/CBC iron-fisted dictatorship rule only exacerbates the whole problem! I still opine tribal council indeed bridles our tribal newspaper to every direction; along this line I remain steadfast in my thinking... Full story
As the dust settles on the fight in Congress over Fast Track for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, we have an opportunity to think anew about what good trade policy could be. If we get past the rhetoric, we can expand the public and political dialogue about trade and truly understand the impact it can have on all our businesses. Representing hundreds of thousands of businesses from diverse sectors and different regions nationwide, we have come to understand first-hand that trade is an important element of a robust economy. As a... Full story
I spent the weekend with some of the most dedicated, passionate and hardworking school employees from around the state. I was at a conference for Washington Public School Employees, where during dinner they gave out awards. It was a very eye-opening moment for me. There where great stories of how each winner had given up so much for a job they loved, and that got me thinking about the school employees who had touched me over the years. So I went back in the database of my mind, and a few names... Full story