SDC NEWS ONE
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
We Stole It Fair and Square and You are Not getting it back

Grand Coulee DamVisitor Center | Employment | Photo Gallery | History | Tour | Laser Light Show | Hungry Horse Dam | ||
Construction of Grand Coulee Dam began in 1933 and was completed in 1942. Grand Coulee Dam is the largest hydropower producer in the United States with a total generating capacity of 6,809 megawatts. It is also part of the Columbia Basin Project, irrigating more than 600,000 acres, and is the cornerstone for water control on the Columbia River in the United States. Video Transcript PDF 23 kb | ||
Job Announcements | ||
Grand Coulee Dam Seeks Power Manager The Bureau of Reclamation is hiring a Power Manager at Grand Coulee Dam, a world-class facility on the Columbia River that is the largest hydropower producer in the United States, generating more than 21 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. You will oversee 500 employees and work with multiple tribal, federal, and local entities while managing a facility in the throes of substantial upgrades and equipment overhaul. This complex, multipurpose project provides hydropower, flood control, recreation, fish and wildlife enhancement, and irrigation water to more than 600,000 acres in the Columbia Basin. Apply online: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/361112200 | ||
Grand Coulee Construction Field Office Seeks New Field Engineer/Manager Reclamation’s Grand Coulee Field Office oversees all Reclamation construction contracts at Grand Coulee and Hungry Horse Dams, as well as all heavy electrical and mechanical projects throughout the Pacific Northwest Region. The incumbent supervises engineers, inspectors, and contract support personnel in order to successfully accomplish this task. Major ongoing projects include the uprating and mechanical overhaul of the Third Powerplant, whose 800 MW units are among the world’s largest. All United States Citizens and Nationals: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/360782200 Merit Promotion: https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/360784100 | ||
Grand Coulee News | ||
01/15/2014 | Lake Level Update | HTML |
01/15/2014 | Power Manager Change at Grand Coulee Dam | HTML |
12/20/2013 | Grand Coulee Pumping Plant Operational by March 1 | HTML |
Visitor Information | ||
John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant Guided Tour | HTML | |
Grand Coulee Dam Fact Sheet | PDF 190 kb | |
Visitor Center Exhibit Brochure | PDF 4.72 mb | |
Columbia Basin Project Brochure | PDF 700 kb | |
John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant | PDF 1.32 mb | |
Third Power Plant Overhaul Project | HTML | |
John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant Modernization Scoping | HTML | |
Time Lapse Video: Third Power Plant Rotor Pull | ||
Grand Coulee Dam's Third Power Plant saw a monumental lift on October 26, 2009 when one of the 600-megawatt generators was taken out of service for repairs. The nearly 2,000 ton rotor was removed from the generator and transported to the far end of the powerplant, where it will be stored while the repairs are completed. | ||
Water Data | ||
Lake Level Weekly Update | ||
Lake Elevation and Discharge from Grand Coulee Dam | ||
Grand Coulee Data from the US Army Corps of Engineers | ||
Call (800) 824-4916 for recorded information about the lake elevation. | ||
History | ||
Grand Coulee Dam was the key to the development of power on the Columbia River — the greatest potential source of hydroelectric energy among the rivers in America. Original plans considered ten dams on the Columbia River between the Canadian border and the mouth of the river.
Grand Coulee Dam forms Lake Roosevelt, extending upstream 151 miles to the Canadian Border. It has a 600-mile shoreline and a surface area of 82,000 acres. In 1948 Congress designated Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, which is operated by the National Park Service.
Grand Coulee Dam provides water to irrigate approximately 600,000 acres in the Columbia Basin Project. In addition to its irrigation and power functions, Grand Coulee Dam is a primary factor in controlling the floods on the Columbia River.
| ||
Geology | ||
In its generally southwesterly course from Canada to the Pacific Ocean, the Columbia River in central Washington forms a half loop known as the Big Bend, between the mouths of the Spokane and Snake Rivers. During one of the ice ages, a glacier extended across the present river channel, diverting the flow across the open eastern side of the Big Bend loop. By the time the ice age had passed, this diverted water had eroded what is now known as the Grand Coulee, so that when the river returned to its present channel the Coulee was left as a potential high-elevation irrigation storage reservoir, waiting only to be sealed at each end and filled with water. Grand Coulee Dam and powerplants are located in the present Columbia River Channel adjacent to the upper end of the Grand Coulee, about 90 miles northwest of Spokane, Washington. | ||
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Paula Deen Might Be Comin' to Skymall, Y'all!
Paula Deen Might Be Comin' to Skymall, Y'all!
After a huge cash infusion from an investor who has $75 million worth of faith that embattled chef Paula Deen's buttery best years are ahead of her, the comfort food maven is poised to make a big time comeback... in Skymall.
According to TMZ, Deen's latest benefactor is an investment company run by Jahn Najafi, a multi, multi millionaire who despite the fact that he can afford to live almost anywhere, has opted to live in Phoenix. This is relevant because I believe it speaks to his ability to judge worthy investments.
Anyway, in 2012, Najafi and his partners purchased SkyMall, the highlight of every trip I take on an airplane because it allows me to play a game I like to call What Item On This Page Is The Least Bad? with either my travel companion or whoever is unlucky enough to sit next to me. A customized marble dog carved with your family crest? Something called an NFL Forest Face for the trees that don't grow in the yard I don't have? A fake mounted squirrel head? An "Affirmation box" that will say things like "Lookin' Good, Erin!" when I open it? I pick squirrel.
Imagine Paula Deen branded products in Skymall. Imagine it. It's perfectly awful. Custom made racist lawn ornaments. A pan that only makes black & white cookies (Fine. "Separate But Equal" Cookies). Butter stuff. A miniature gingerbread plantation for Christmas, for the kids.
How, exactly, Deen's brand will be utilized with this gigantic investment remains to be seen. But I'm crossing my fingers that it involves garish knickknacks that can be ordered at the touch of a button from 30,000 feet in the air. And that somehow, this means that Kristen Wiig can dust off her Deen impression for a Very Special SNL cameo.
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Shares in Twitter plummet after its $645m loss for 2013

Shares in microblogging site Twitter fell by 23% as it reported a net loss of $645m (£396m) for 2013, just three months after its flotation on the New York Stock Exchange. The loss was expected by analysts, who highlighted Twitter's revenues, which rose 110% last year to reach $665m. But slow growth in user numbers was a bigger concern for investors.
Twitter averaged 241 million monthly users in the last quarter of the year, up just 3.8% on the previous quarter. That represents a slowdown compared with a growth rate of 10% seen at the beginning of 2013. Timeline views were down nearly 7%, suggesting users were refreshing their feeds less often.
"What this report will do is it will question how mainstream is Twitter as a platform," said Arvind Bhatia, an analyst at Sterne, Agee & Leach. Shares fell as much as 12% in after-hours trading on Wednesday. Stuart Miles, CEO of founder of the technology website Pocket-lint.com said: "Apart from professionals like journalists, the typical user gets on to Twitter, messes around, doesn't quite get it, leaves it a while and then comes back a year or two later. But that translates into very slow growth.
Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote The classic example is Satya Nadella, the new head of Microsoft. He used Twitter in 2010, then gave up for four years, and now is using it because he thinks it's the way to communicate now he's the chief executive” "The classic example of this is Satya Nadella, the new head of Microsoft. He used Twitter in 2010, then gave up for four years, and now is using it because he thinks it's the way to communicate now he's the chief executive," he added. Nate Elliott, an analyst at research firm Forrester, told AFP: "If you don't have an engaged user base, you don't have a business. They have got to do better on users, that is the entire story."
Advertising revenue growth Twitter's share price had more than doubled in value since the company was floated on the stock market in November, when it was valued at around $18bn. But opinion has been divided on whether the company can deliver returns to investors. For the last three months of 2013, Twitter said it made a net loss of $511m but on revenues that more than doubled to $243m. Twitter said it was improving its "overall user experience" by launching enhancements like custom timelines, and the ability to send and receive photos via direct message.
Twitter says 75% of its advertising revenues comes via mobile platforms But it also pledged to continue to improve its services to advertisers in the hope of growing revenues further. Twitter brings in money largely by selling advertising space and data on tweeting habits. More than 90% of its revenues in the last quarter came from advertising, where advertisers pay to have their tweets promoted and appear in users' feeds. Three-quarters of advertising income comes from mobile platforms like smartphones, the company said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)