News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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When checking into a motel or hotel have you ever wondered who had stayed in this place? In this country, places seldom reveal who has been there before you, like it would be an invasion of privacy. That’s not true in many places, at least in the Orient. Several places I have stayed in, like Taiwan, Calcutta, and Burma, apparently want you to know that they are visited regularly by the rich and famous. For instance, in Taipei, on the island of Taiwan, they make it a point to let you know who some of their most famous guests have been. The G...
When Oregon enacted the nation’s first bottle bill in 1971, it was intended to reduce litter on the state’s beaches, along roads, and in parks. It was a cleanup, not a recycling program. Today, the focus is recycling empty beer, pop, juice, and water containers and it is working very well, in large part because it pays people to recycle. Collect the “empties” and earn a dime for each plastic bottle or aluminum can. It adds up and often is enough money to supplement purchases of food and gas. Ore...
At home, the kitchen is at the heart of many American households. It’s from where we send our children off to school after cooking breakfast, enjoy delicious meals with family, and come together with friends and neighbors. While the kitchen serves a reliable place to gather, the Biden Administration is setting their sights on removing an unexpected target: gas stoves. In February, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposed an “energy efficiency standard” for gas cooking products — a blatant backdoor attempt to ban gas appliances. Accordi...
Last summer — about July, I’d guess — I got a phone call from Bubba Egbert. I knew Bubba by reputation, but at that point I’d had only one conversation with him when I’d gone to pick up my daughter after a day she spent hanging out with his sons. On the phone he said, “It’s looking like I may coach the football team this year, and I need an assistant coach in the school.” I tried to think of someone quickly — someone else, another teacher. I suggested a couple people, and Bubba hemmed and hawed a little. If I’m honest, I felt a little like I wa...
I was talking to a friend who told me she was pulled over on her ATV and told not to travel between Electric City and Grand Coulee. But it is fine to speed in town. I do not know the braking distance of a 100,000-pound tractor trailer. But judging from the amount of roadkill deer I have pulled out of town with my quad, it’s a long distance, and too frequent. The holidays are coming, and so are the trucks pulling boats and motor homes. Two years ago, I had to drive to Spokane five days a week. I noticed drivers don’t speed through Wilbur, tha...
If you are a basketball fan and have been around the sport for a while, you will know the name. When the Denver Nuggets won over the Lakers the other day, I recalled how I knew him. Dick went to school in Palouse and was part of a trio of lads growing up there, including myself and a boy named Jon Skovlin. Dick had a rich basketball life in Palouse and then four years at Eastern Washington, where he played for Red Reese. He then made his way to Denver, where he was instrumental in starting the Denver Rockets, a pro team that later became the...
All eyes have been on the U.S.-Mexico border in recent weeks as politicians and pundits assess the impact of changing rules for who can enter the United States. But the fixation on the border can distract from a bigger problem: America’s immigration system hasn’t kept up with the times. We need an immigration policy that advances our national interest, one that reflects our needs as well as our values. It should complement and support American foreign policy. It should respond to the current realities of workforce demands and international mig...
We have an uncountable loss for our Town. Yet again, betwixt the battle our sidewalks and our trees. That said, we can now announce, on Arbor Day, April 28th, 2023, the celebration for the destruction of two blocks of beautiful mature majestic Maples… brought down by the metaphorical axe. Kiss goodbye the savored shade, gone too are the uncountable nesting birds… the frogs and the crickets, the playful squirrels – all gone now. The budding shades of green in the spring, the bright colors in the fall, the whispers through the wind – they to...
Thank you to the beautiful and magenta Maple trees on Ferry in Coulee Dam who provided shade, habitat, cooling for 90 years. I am sorry you were mowed down for a sidewalk for people to walk on. Which nobody wants to walk on because it is too hot. So sorry nobody could figure out that a walkway through you would be a nice place for people and habitat to live and thrive. I’m so sorry for your loss. Gayle Swagerty...
With the basketball season coming to a close, we will be into baseball. It will be a strange season; I can’t name a single player, on any team. I remember that when I was covering baseball, I kept track of several big league players, many of them from the Boise Valley where I worked for the Idaho Statesman newspaper. Baseball was big in the valley, partially because we had a Milwaukee farm club locally. The Boise Braves were part of the Pioneer League, a class C franchise. But baseball was big for another reason. We had several players from t...
Although New Zealand and Washington are located a half a world apart, they have lots in common — beautiful seashores, majestic mountains, crystal clear streams and lakes, and vibrant salmon and trout fisheries. Both are struggling to rid their air sheds of CO2 and other greenhouse gases coming from the burning of carbon fuels (coal, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel) in vehicles, home heating and electric-power generation. New Zealand and Washington share a common goal to be carbon neutral by 2...
The Colville Tribes have reason to be proud of Michelle Stanger. Michelle just returned from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she competed along with 26 other Indian national representatives for national honors and the opportunity to represent Indian tribes, teaching diversity, throughout the world. Michelle was selected as Miss Colville Confederated Tribes last July and has been representing the 12 tribes since then. She won local recognition through competition on the reservation. Michelle and her mother Lucy drove to New Mexico in late April,...
You are invited to attend the re-naming ceremony May 27th, at 1 p.m. in the Tonasket Legacy Park. Highway #20 in Okanogan County will become the “Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Highway.” The ceremony will have the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Honor Guard presenting the colors, the Tribal Singers “The Citizens,” singing the honor song. Louie Wilson will be the master of ceremonies and will introduce the dignitaries in attendance. We have heard from our 4th District Congressman, Dan Newhouse, and our 7th District state represe...
Small businesses play a critical role in creating jobs, driving economic growth, and contributing to the overall well-being of rural communities. In many areas, they are the backbone of the local economy, providing essential goods and services. Spring offers a good reminder of the importance of these entrepreneurs’ contributions, with National Small Business Week, Small Business Month, and other recognitions celebrated in May. For consumers, it’s a great time to research what’s available in their community, instead of hitting the road to shop...
President Joe Biden is seeking re-election. I wish he were younger and I might favor other Democrats — Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan Governor, and 2020 presidential contenders Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker come to mind. But Biden’s record is impressive and he may have the best chance of winning the presidency. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell stated openly, and Republicans have followed, a commitment to oppose everything Democrats proposed from the day former President Barack Obama was inaugurated, even if originally Republican...
I have been to the nation’s capital city. My efforts have been to see as many famous places as a day there will allow. My first visit was a real disappointment. We had hired a tour guide to shepherd us around, believing that we would see more if we didn’t have to worry about the traffic, a wise decision. I recalled these visits when I went out to cut several tulips for the house. We were driving around, and our driver stopped and said, “I’m going to get those tulip bulbs.” There was a large flower bed where someone had dug up the tulips. T...
Some would argue that spring is the most wonderful time of the year in Washington. Throughout our state fruit trees blossom, vibrant tulip fields bloom, and colorful lentils carpeted the fields on the Palouse. It is when photographers and sightseers have a field day. While spring is eye-catching, it is the late summer and fall when our state reaps the benefits of the harvest. It is when crops yield “green,” generating cash in markets around the world. While Washington ranks 14th in agr...
In just a few days, Title 42, a measure which allows border agents to automatically turn away migrants without documentation at the border, is set to expire. And when it does, border officials anticipate tens of thousands of migrants per day to come rushing across our southern border, further exacerbating our already unprecedented border crisis. This is unacceptable, and we cannot sit idly by. The numbers paint a harrowing picture. Since President Biden took office, there have been over 5 million illegal crossings of our southern border, and...
In the April 19, 2023 edition of The Star, one of your readers wrote a letter asking about mental health resources in the Coulee Dam/Grand Coulee area. I am happy to reassure your reader that help is available in your area. Your reader was correct that “a person’s mental and emotional health are as important as their physical health,” especially with all the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was a very difficult time for so many reasons. There is a marked increase in the need for behavioral health services as a result, espec...
I found it interesting to read how well the local hospital did last month. It made headline news. Such enthusiasm over more people needing to pay for medical care. It’s unfortunate for the care center that this comes with less government payouts and more insurance forms, since it is harder when you have to show your work. Hopefully they can adjust. I’m glad we do have medical care here, and I know they do much good, but it was a strange article....
So why am I writing this letter? I have asked the Chief of Police for 20 years to have an officer do speed control above the canal on SR-174. The answer is always the same: Ok, Rob. Then there is nothing done. I have asked several officers if they would be traffic control on SR-174. Their answers are, I work for the Grand Coulee Dam Project, or there is no place to sit by the road above the canal. People don’t have to pull over if they don’t want to, and, it costs too much to write a ticket. With the cost of gas and time going to court and peo...
Hearing the deadly dust storm on Monday caused me some alarm. The storm was reported to be in Indiana, where I have a close friend. So I called Warner Bartleson, who is well known in the coulee. Warner was hospital administrator here for four years in the early 1990s, during the struggle to save the hospital. Warner said they had the wind, but no dust. However, the area was visited by four tornadoes recently. Warner’s wife, Sara, had recently suffered a bad fall and is still recovering from that. He remarked that the years he was here were r...
Intentionally, the Washington State Legislature, Governor Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson, are completely destroying our state. The Democrat controlled legislature has singlehandedly absolved you from having any say over the health of your children as it pertains to gender identity. If your child runs away from home and seeks shelter at a state facility, while seeking gender-transitioning treatment, including puberty blocking drugs that can render a child sterile for life, the state will not contact the parent or guardian. This bill,...
Central Washington is home to a diverse and reliable energy portfolio, and with abundant natural resources at our doorstep—from hydropower to wind energy—we are proud to play a leading role in our nation’s energy independence. If we are to ensure the United States remains at the forefront of energy production and innovation, then our federal policy must take a page out of Central Washington’s book and aggressively pursue an “all-of-the-above” energy approach. The idea of “all-of-the-above” energy is simple: we utilize all available sourc...
It seems to be our human nature to blame someone when events take a turn that we don’t like. When deadly contagious disease struck the ancient Greeks and Romans, they thought that humans had displeased the gods, and the gods were punishing the human race. During the Middle Ages, there was a time now known as the “little ice age.” The summer weather in Europe was cold and wet for years or decades at a time. Crops failed and people suffered from hunger and starvation. People blamed minority elements of the population for the bad weather, and t...