Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 52
By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter While technology advances every day, sometimes we don't appreciate the simple act of picking up the phone and talking to another human being. The city of Cheney found out just how much it needs phones to connect with the public when that capability failed. A hardware malfunction Sunday afternoon stopped the public from reaching Cheney city departments, and vice versa, with their regular phone numbers. Phone numbers with the “498” prefix were offline after the failure, but the city was able to... Full story
Pictures from last Saturday's Country Fair at the PEACH Community Farm near Cheney All photos by Ryan Lancaster Top: Eden Brightspirit Hendrix gives a quick lesson on composting during the May 1 Country Fair at the PEACH Community Farm near Cheney. The all day fair attracted many from the area and included music, food and scores of activities. Middle: Corbin Bird, a toddler from Spokane, does his best to share his pacifier with a baby. Bottom: Primitive survival instructor Kyle Chamberlain demonstrates the elemental way of...
Plans for new Western Washington men's complex in the works as local women's prison closes doors By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Despite steady resistance on the local and state levels Medical Lake's Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women will close by June, saving the state an estimated $7.2 million this biennium. Starting last week all 120 Pine Lodge offenders – excluding inmates scheduled for release before May 30 – are being moved in small groups to a new unit at Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women near Bre...
By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter The Cheney School Board approved a bond contract and heard of the successful sale of $51 million in construction bonds at their April 28 meeting. Bond underwriter John Gores shared news that the school district obtained a low 4.14 percent interest rate on the bonds. Gores said the interest rate was lower than the district predicted and would result in lower taxes for residents. The school district had projected a $4.96 per $1000 in assessed property value tax rate, but after obtain ing the...
Eastern State Hospital experiences policy changes, Lakeland Village the ripple effect of state budget cuts By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Top officials from the Department of Social and Health Services were in Medical Lake last week where they spoke with staff, the media and the public at several state institutions. DSHS Secretary Susan Dreyfus and Mental Health Systems director Richard Kellogg held a news conference at Eastern State Hospital on Wednesday, April 29, to highlight changes made there in the wake of...
City Council also hears of agreement with Airway Heights Corrections Center for providing crews to help with staffing city's recycling center By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter The Medical Lake City Council had a fairly light agenda in their May 4 meeting, where Councilman John Paikuli served as mayor pro tem in the absence of Mayor John Higgins, who was ill. City Administrator Doug Ross reported that as of Tuesday bids are being accepted on a project to widen three blocks of Prentis Street between Lake and Campbell streets in... Full story
City could lose $1,500 per person in revenue if population is lower than actual size By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter The 2010 census is well underway, and Cheney is at risk of losing funding if all its residents aren't counted. The deadline to mail back the census forms has passed, and 69 percent of Cheney residents participated. That's lower than the 72 percent national average, and much lower than Liberty Lake, the county's fourth-highest populated city after Cheney, which had 78 percent of residents mail back the form. Whil...
Spring practice may be over, but the work is just beginning for the Eastern Washington University football team. Quarterback Scott Burgett tossed a pair of touchdown passes as the Eagles concluded its 15th and final spring practice with a 41-play scrimmage last Friday at the EWU Sports and Recreation Center practice fields. Before Eastern can set its sights on its opener at Nevada on Sept. 2, head coach Beau Baldwin knows that significant individual improvement must take place before practices resumes in August. “We have 2...
The schedule for the Cheney High School summer sports camps has been announced and includes a variety of offerings from first grade through senior in high school. A boys' basketball camp conducted by Ryan Fitzgerald takes place for grades 8-12 from June 7-10 from 3-5 p.m. and June 21-25 for first through seventh grade from 9-11 a.m. Cost is $45 per session. Jennifer Harmer will coordinate two sessions of the girls' basketball camp June 21-25. Grades 3-7 meet from 9-11 a.m. while grades 8-12 hit the court from 11:30 a.m. to... Full story
With wins at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 singles, and then a pair of wins in doubles, Medical Lake claimed a 5-2 Great Northern League boys' tennis make-up win over Pullman last Monday. Leon Johnson (6-0, 6-1), Ismael Tesome (6-3, 6-4) and Jordan Jacob (6-3, 6-4) all won in singles, each in straight sets as the Cardinals evened their GNL record at 3-3. Colin Winters and Keegan Ronholdt won in No. 2 doubles 6-2, 6-2, while Andrew Ryan and Spencer Kuhn won in No. 3 doubles 6-3, 6-4.... Full story
By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter Medical Lake's girls' tennis team saw their two-match winning streak come to an end, dropping a pair of Great Northern League contests to Pullman last Thursday and Colville, Monday. The Cardinals were edged by the Greyhounds 4-3 last Thursday, splitting their season series, and also fell in a rescheduled match to Colville, 5-2 this past Monday, going 0-2 this spring against the Indians. That match was supposed to have been played last Tuesday but was rained out. Against Pullman, the Cards...
After seeing a 10-3 lead through three innings being whisked away in a near gale-force wind Monday, May 3, Medical Lake rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to post a wild 18-17 non-league win over Freeman. Facing a 17-15 deficit, in their last at bat the Cards got a lead-off triple from Ronnie Miller and scored to make it a one-run game when the relay was mishandled. Ryan Byrnes then doubled and Eric Collins singled putting runners at first and third. When the Scotties attempted a pick-off play at first,... Full story
By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter Medical Lake's split in a pair of Great Northern League double headers kept the Cardinals in the playoff chase. The week's busy schedule included make-up games against Deer Park where Medical Lake scored their wins 8-0 and 8-6 and concluded with 8-2 and 12-2 losses to league-leading Cheney. Medical Lake (5-7 in the GNL, 10-7 overall) heads into their final GNL games today (May 6) against Riverside (2-8, 4-12) with a 2 p.m. doubleheader. In their opening game with the Stags, Medical Lake broke a...
Rare shootout loss to Pullman drops Cards into third By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter Medical Lake's walk along the soccer tightrope ended with a big fall last week. The Cardinals dropped a pair of Great Northern League games 5-3 last Tuesday at home against Deer Park and 1-0 in a shootout at Pullman. The losses, which dropped Medical Lake to 9-3 in the GNL (10-3-1 overall) helped them tumble out of second place and a potential first-round bye in the upcoming playoffs. The Cards closed out the regular season with a home game... Full story
Mom-to-be in June leaves post after two years, will remain as middle school coach By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter Kari Jones is about to trade directing a dozen teenage girls for a newborn and will step down from her duties as Medical Lake volleyball coach. “I'm excited. It's time for a change I think,” Jones said as she and her husband Bob prepare for the expected arrival on June 6 of their first child, a girl. Jones, a former Medical Lake player, took over the position in 2008 following the departure of Justin Ikehara who mo... Full story
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor The Cheney girls' track team got an important lesson last Saturday in Ellensburg – it's not always winning an event that leads to winning a meet. The Blackhawks notched some big points via fifth place finishes to emerge on top of 11 teams, including five from the 2A classification, at the Keith Jewett Invitational at Ellensburg High School, edging the 1A Cashmere Bulldogs by three points, 115.5-112.5. Cheney dominated on the track, winning six of the 11 events. The Blackhawks were helped by the fact t...
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor The Cheney boys' track team overcame blustery conditions and a skeleton crew to place second out of 11 teams overall at the Keith Jewett Invitational Saturday at Ellensburg High School. The Blackhawks scored 101 points, seven points back of meet champion 4A Monroe High School but ahead of five other 2A schools at the meet. Cheney boys head coach Todd Hering said the Blackhawks were shorthanded for a number of reasons ranging from SAT testing to the choir's trip to Disneyland, to illness. The athletes... Full story
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor The Cheney boys' and girls' tennis teams took part in the annual Inland Empire Tournament last Friday and Saturday at sites throughout Spokane and Spokane Valley. The Blackhawks competed in traditional singles and doubles action as well as combining for mixed doubles competition. David Denenny competed for the Blackhawk boys in the No. 1 singles bracket. The junior had trouble in his 0-6, 0-6 opening round loss to a familiar opponent, Deer Park's Alejandro Canseco, but rebounded for a much better... Full story
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor The Cheney girls and boys golf teams finished fourth and seventh respectively in the Great Northern League's third league season match held under blustery and rainy conditions last Thursday at the Fairways Golf Course. The Blackhawk girls edged West Valley by 10 strokes, 573-583 for fourth overall while the boys fell three strokes short, 485-482, of overtaking Medical Lake for sixth. Marye Fuqua led the Cheney girls with a round of 93, fifth overall among individual girls. Marina Wilbur was second for...
Tough decision to cancel outdoor adventure turns out to be good choice By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter This space has taken its share of column inches in the past to condemn the choices of those in the outdoors who made decisions that have been dead wrong. Literally! There have been rants against backcountry skiers who went where avalanches annihilate. And recently I railed about those who chose to climb to dizzying heights on Cascade peaks in the dead of winter - or go hunting alone - and end up lost forever or fall to their...
Cook's key walk-off double in 7th inning scores winning runs By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter Amelia Cook's 2RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning last Saturday ended a year's frustration for the Medical Lake girls' softball team. The junior third baseman's key hit plated a pair of runs and earned her team its first win this season, 6-5 over Cheney in the opening game of a Great Northern League doubleheader. The victory was also the first for Medical Lake since a May 9, 2009 win, 7-6 in a non-leaguer at Freeman and...
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Thanks to wins in four of the past five games, including three of four in league play, Cheney's softball team has moved up into fifth place in the Great Northern League standings. It's that one loss though that leaves Lady Hawks head coach Gary Blake feeling that his team may have let an opportunity slip away. The Lady Hawks downed Moscow last Wednesday in non-league action for a season-high three-game winning streak. It likely should have been four and then five, but Cheney played lethargically in... Full story
