News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area
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March 10, 1804, France officially transferred its claim to the Louisiana Territory to the United States. President Thomas Jefferson had purchased the territory about a year earlier for the price of $15 million. The official ceremony took place in Saint Louis, Missouri. The Unites States was not making a real estate purchase. It was buying the exclusive Right of Preemption, to purchase or forcibly take lands from numerous indigenous governments who occupied the land. The reality of Louisiana Territory Purchase was 222 land relinquishments from...
Now that the recently completed special election results are certified, the Grand Coulee Dam School District (GCDSD) Board of Directors wants to express our deep appreciation and thanks to our community for supporting our schools by voting to approve our replacement school levy. Your continued financial support remains essential to the quality and future success of our programs, staff and, most importantly, our students at Lake Roosevelt schools. The passing of this levy will enable our School District to continue to provide a varied and...
The protesters are very uninformed or very shortsighted. The United States is in financial trouble, Democrat and Republican Administrations have spent Taxpayers money like it grows on trees. We are $36.2 trillion dollars in debt. At this date we are 124% in debt compared to United States Gross domestic product. To put this in plain terms if all the products made, manufactured were taken by the government they would still be 24% short. What would happen if the creditors demanded their money? The United States would go bankrupt. In that case...
Any battle over tariffs between the United States and Canada, China, and Mexico is worrisome, but if it escalates, it will hit Washington farmers particularly hard. Avoiding that possibility should be a primary goal. Tariffs could trigger new trade wars. The last retaliation in tariffs eight years ago hurt agriculture. “A trade war with economic partners is the last thing our farmers and ranchers need,” said Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-WA4), whose family owns and operates an 850-acre farm near Sunnyside. Excessive costs, turbulent markets, inf...
If only we could all be like Danielle Sassoon, who told the thugs to stick their crime where the sun don’t shine. Hard as it’s been for us sane Americans to navigate the MAGA idiocracy, the journey has been even more torturous this past month for public servants who still believe in venerable America values like the rule of law. This dilemma is not new. Typically, cogs in the government wheel suspend their consciences and bend to the prevailing winds, fearful of job loss and mindful that they have mouths to feed at home. It has long been tha...
In response to your “Behold! I am Reverse Robin Hood” cartoon: I enjoy your cartoons immensely! Where is the outcry from Republican legislators concerning raising the Debt Limit to Four and a Half-Trillion Dollars to cover tax cuts? Why in heavens name would legislators consider tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy while cutting vital programs across the board for American taxpayers? An adage is, if a man earns ten dollars and spends twelve dollars, he is an unhappy man. The same is true of government spending and taxing. Currently, foc...
In the fight against hunger, the United States has been the global leader in delivering much needed aid for decades. For nearly 70 years the Food for Peace program within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has successfully fed over four billion people in more than 150 countries with American agriculture products. With the recent decision by the Trump administration to freeze all funds for USAID to examine and identify waste, fraud, and abuse, my colleagues and I introduced legislation to move the Food for Peace...
While a member of FIUTS (Foundation International Understanding Through students) I met a young lady from Saigon, who when she learned I was going to Vietnam asked me to visit her parents. My wife and I sponsored two students at the University of Washington under the program. One was from Thailand and the other from Hong Kong. While in the program we met dozens of students who had been sponsored by others in the area. The young Vietnamese lady asked me to look her parents up and convey her greetings if I had the time. I took down their address...
We sold my mom and dad’s dream home last autumn — the Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired mid-century modern house they called home for 25 years. Staying put is becoming more commonplace in America. According to The Atlantic, America, once the most mobile society in the world, has become increasingly stagnant, with fewer people moving between cities, states and even neighborhoods. The American Economic Association’s research finds that internal U.S. migration is at a 30-year low. The Atlantic argues that declining mobility leads to fewer econo...
Atlanta is known for the number of streets with the word “peach” in them. Thankfully, there’s more to Atlanta than peaches. We were there for a newspaper conference, and in the evenings there wasn’t anything going on. So it became a time to explore. In the afternoon one day we went to the church where Martin Luther King preached on Sundays when he was in the city. It was an old church and there were signs out front so you could tell you were at the right place. I guess the reason to go there was to say you had been there. The evenings were fu...
As fentanyl continues to ravage communities across the United States, the Trump Administration has taken measures to ensure Canada, Mexico, and China are doing their due diligence to address this crisis. With illicit drugs flowing over the southern border from Mexican cartels, serious security gaps at our northern border, and China manufacturing fentanyl precursors, the tariffs announced by the administration serve as a reminder of the responsibility these nations have in mitigating the crisis. While the tariffs on Canada and Mexico are on...
In his first month as President, Donald Trump has shaken our federal government to the core. Many argue that his “meat ax” approach to cutting government waste, abuse and spending is as harmful to our country as the current “runaway “spending and borrowing. Regardless, America needs a strong wakeup call. The question is where to go from here. Is there a better way? In short, we need good comprehensive audits of current programs to determine how and where our tax dollars are spent and if we, as taxpayers, are getting our money’s worth. Pe...
February 12, 1974, Federal Judge George Boldt, issues a historic ruling reaffirming the rights of Western Washington’s Indian tribes to fish in accustomed places. The ruling allocated 50 percent of annual catch to treaty tribes. The ruling caused outrage among non-Indian fishermen. Western Washington tribes had been assured the right to fish at “usual and accustomed grounds and stations” by Federal treaties signed in 1854 and 1855. Over several decades the ever-growing numbers of Euro-American fishermen heavily fished those “accustomed area” a...
Problems always get talked about more than good news. That’s just a basic fact of society, one that applies to the way we view the institutions we all depend on, such as our local schools. That doesn’t mean good things aren’t happening too, or that we should stop supporting them. That’s what the current levy election is about. It seeks to replace the one that will expire this year, and it presents your opportunity to support your local schools. A change in approaches to leadership, professional development, and accountability is always likely... Full story
If you were confused by one of last week’s letters to the editor due to the obfuscation used, so was I. Are people voting on a four-day school week, or on a school levy? My yellow envelope says election, and I did not see four day week on the ballot inside. Since the writer brought it up, I am enclosing the letter I wrote to Q6news on our four day school week, and how the reporter’s conclusion was inaccurate and not well researched. The STAR can decide whether to give readers a peek at this information or not. With the writer’s request for a...
As a community member for several decades, my passion for our local school district is shown by my consistent words and actions. I have high expectations for the GCDSD. Our School Board members and Superintendent need to be consistent and do what is right. They have an ongoing pattern where their words don’t match their actions. Here are some clear and valid examples. Their mantra is “what is best for kids.” They claim they’re transforming the GCDSD culture for the better. In their strategic plan they promote dignity and improved test scores...
I appreciate & share John Adkins’ passion for our students, staff and community. But I don’t understand his thoughts. If you’re concerned about our students’ education and the employees’ possible loss of time (pay), then why would you ever vote “No” on a school levy? I experienced a failed levy as a LR student & athlete. NOTHING good comes from a failed levy. A failed levy cuts everything! I believe we would lose more students/families if the levy fails. A “No” vote would also affect staff and bus drivers, not only with job cuts, but also wi...
My name is Ethan Tatum. My wife and I live in Elmer City, where we own a small business. In mid-2020, Morgan and I moved out to the Grand Coulee area in search of a community that we could invest our time in. Because she is a local (a Tillman), we only ever considered moving here. Since that move, we opened a salon, bought a home, had a child, and I took a teaching job at the school district. Currently, I teach several subjects at Lake Roosevelt Jr./Sr. High School, including Spanish, Digital Photography, and Yearbook. In the past week, each...
It had always been my interest to go to Santa Fe. A couple of things happened to make that possible. First, friends of ours from Woodinville invited us down to Phoenix where they had a second home. It ended up as a week-long vacation. And my wife had her gift shop and design business in Bothell Landing. She had ordered and sold some items from a firm in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She had a couple of interior designers that worked big jobs for her. Those jobs included rooms of furniture, floor coverings, etc. She sold wallpaper and stocked about 40...
I am writing to encourage each of our community to vote YES for the upcoming school levy. This levy replaces an already existing levy that will expire at the end of the calendar year 2025. I think we can all agree that our school is not fully funded by the State, and passing this levy helps support the schools by ensuring that they have the staffing, special education programs, athletics, advanced courses, extracurricular activities, transportation, food service and building maintenance that it needs to operate and function. If this levy is...
It’s been great to see so many community members voicing their support for the upcoming replacement levy vote in The Star over the past few weeks. There’s been great information shared, and I encourage you to go back and read those letters if you haven’t already. The replacement levy is critical for daily school operations, supporting the School District’s strategic plan, academics, school safety/security and much more. It replaces the expiring levy and ensures continued funding for LR schools. As noted by the GCDSD Board in their January...
Recently the GCDSD upper brass forced a 4-day school week for the future. They act like this is new but this option has been going on for a long time nationally. The TV coverage the superintendent boasted about, that he was in, said the DOI Foundation’s research does not support this schedule. It actually leads to negative academic effects. Embarrassing! With the 4-day format there will be a significant number of school days lost. So now when students or staff are absent it will have a greater negative impact. Over 275, close to 94% of s...
When we lived in Nampa, Idaho, we got the urge to go camping. So we had to pick a place to camp and get a ton of costly gear. We always liked the mountains, so we drove north of Boise to a place called Lowman. It was a place, not a town. There was a meadow there with a small stream running through it. This was when you could camp most anywhere. So we picked our spot and started laying in some gear. The first thing was a tent. We purchased an umbrella tent that had a pole in the middle. It was pretty good size because at the time we had three...
February 2, 1980, the FBI revealed the results of an investigation that started in July 1978. Known as ABSCAM. It started with underworld figures who delt in stolen art. The undercover operation also involved connections with criminals dealing in fake stocks and bonds. Later, the investigation led to criminal contacts in Camden, New Jersey, politicians who were willing to offer bribes, including some U.S. Congressmen. For a price, they would create private legislation that would offer asylum to certain people involved in stolen art. According...
As the Indian Education Director at Grand Coulee Dam School District, I witness every day the incredible impact our schools have on students, families, and the community as a whole. Our schools are more than just classrooms; they are centers for growth, connection, and opportunity. They are where children learn not only math and reading but also the rich cultural heritage and values that make our community unique. The levy is the backbone of so much of what we do. It supports the programs that set our schools apart—programs that empower our s...