Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 30
MEDICAL LAKE — An overturned semi-truck on westbound I-90 near the Medical Lake/SR 902 interchange backed up traffic nearly into Spokane on July 29. The rollover is believed to have occurred around 7:30 AM and any injuries to the driver are unknown. The semi and trailer were removed from the scene around 2 PM and traffic was allowed to flow normally. Scott Davis can be reached at news@cheneyfreepress.com....
CHENEY — At the City Council meeting Tuesday, July 27, members voted to end the COVID-19 Emergency Declaration. With emergency funds already allocated, and addition support not anticipated, the council unanimously voted a suspension of the declaration issued by Gov. Jay Inslee at the inception of the pandemic on Feb. 29, 2020. “We are basically through the emergency,” said City administrator Mark Schuller. “We’re bringing this declaration forward because we no longer need the Eminency Declaration to be eligible to receive f...
Spokane County election workers use a sorting machine at the Election Department's office on West Gardner Street Tuesday afternoon to prepare ballots for counting. Ballots are run through the machine twice, first to scan the bar code and voter signature to log in that the specific voter has cast their ballot and a second time to separate ballots by precinct in preparation for tabulating....
MEDICAL LAKE - Roam Roasters, a roasting company based in Harrington, Washington, is bringing their coffee to Medical Lake. As of July 1, they are open for business on Lake Street and ready to get involved with the community. For owner Shelley Quigley, a coffee shop was a goal for the far, far future. A fifth-generation farmer, she and her husband had remodeled an 80-year-old building on their property and turned it into a roastery. They were providing custom blends and roasts...
SPOKANE — The Spokane Is Reading program has announced its Writers Recommend Booklist for 2021 in celebration of its 20th anniversary. Over the years, readers throughout Spokane County have enjoyed books by wonderful authors as part of this community reading program. “We asked some of those past Spokane Is Reading authors to recommend books that brought them hope, joy, or laughter during the last year,” Spokane County Library officials said in a news release. “The result is this year’s booklist.” A goal of Spokane Is...
MEDICAL LAKE — The school board held both a budget meeting and regular meeting on July 27. They are budgeting for a predicted enrollment of 1,750 general students and 25 Running Start students. While enrollment has gone down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the board is hoping those numbers will rise as time goes on. The general fund is budgeted for $28.8 million and was approved by the board. The board then moved on to their traditional opening of sharing what is right in the district. Staff members are working on getting s...
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Cheney’s Sydney Jo Huotari is one of seven students from Washington state recently named to the University of Wyoming’s Spring Semester Provost’s Honor Roll. Huotari is one of two students so named from Eastern Washington. The Provost’s Honor Roll consists of undergraduates who have completed at least six but fewer than 12 hours with a minimum 3.5 grade-point average for the semester. The University of Wyoming provides quality undergraduate and graduate programs to 12,249 students from all 50 states and 88 co...
MEDICAL LAKE — The City Council approved the six-year transportation program for 2022-2027 at their July 20 meeting. A public hearing for the plan was also held, but there were no citizen comments. The transportation improvement plan is updated every year. There are two projects lined up for the year of 2022. The first is an asphalt repair project along Barker Street with an estimated cost of $120,000. Construction will include a two-inch asphalt overlay and will run from Lefevre Street to Stanley Street. The second p...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS — The City Council heard a presentation on the state of the city’s childcare services at their July 26 study session. The city was provided with $57,200 by the Washington State Department of Commerce to conduct a needs assessment and feasibility study, and J.Burton Consulting was hired in January 2021 to perform it. They conducted a study of the area, collecting data through interviews, surveys, observations and document analyses in order to properly understand the issue. Consultant Jenny LeBeau presented the...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS — The city held a study session packed with information on July 26. One of the hot topics was the new police legislature that went into effect on July 25, as Police Chief Brad Richmond brought a presentation to break it down for the council. The most impactful bills call for more detailed background checks, limit instances where officers may use physical force and update the equipment available for use. Both law enforcement and the city are working on public outreach to educate the community on how the legislat...
One hot mid-August Wednesday morning in 2000 I received a phone call from then-Cheney Free Press Dave Rey. Rey didn’t waste any time. After a quick greeting, he asked one simple question “How’d you like to come work for the Cheney Free Press?” Similarly, I didn’t waste any time with my response: “Yes.” After several interviews and job search disappointments, I was finally going to put my recently earned journalism degree to work as a staff reporter at a local weekly newspaper. While not specifically what I had sought when g...
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were billed as the “Hydrogen Olympics!” Then along came COVID and sporting events worldwide were put on hold. The summer games were delayed until 2021. Postponing the games cost Japan billions and thwarted its efforts to showcase the Japanese “Green Growth” strategies. Japan, like the United States, plans to become carbon-neutral by 2050. While countries like China are betting on lithium batteries, Japan’s centerpiece is hydrogen. As Japanese researcher...
Pictures are reminders that this moment will never come again. We are frozen in time for that moment. We will never be here with each other exactly like this again. Collecting family photos has kept me connected since I left my family of origin so many years ago when I set out on a long adventure and created my own family. Looking at pictures of family members, warts and all, always helped buffer the intense homesickness that I felt, at times, that emphasized being so far from home. Pictures can be the great pretenders. What...
Cheney Congregational Church Greetings from Cheney Congregational. You’re invited to join us for our “Church in the Park” events on Aug. 29. Partnering with a couple of other churches, we are holding our Sunday morning services outside in Sutton Park at 9:30 a.m. on those Sundays. We hope you’ll join us to learn about God’s creation while physically being in it. We hope to see you there! Also, we welcome you to join us on Sunday mornings for in-person worship at 10 a.m. Masks are no longer required. However, there will be m...
After a long battle with illness, Chris Warnick passed away Aug. 1, 2021, at the age of 60. Chris was born on August 18, 1960, in Spokane, Wash. Chris is survived by his parents Pete and Pat Warnick; brother Randy Warnick; sister Marcy Warnick Drummond; dear friend Lesha Stolz; son Chase Warnick; daughter Cassandra (Todd) Patterson; grandchildren Justin Warnick, Madelynn Patterson, McKenzee Patterson, and Emmery Warnick; great-grand daughter Olivia Warnick; nieces Leah... Full story
Benjamin Lee Knaff, 53, passed away July 25, 2021 in Seattle, Wash. He was born May 23, 1968 in Helena, Mont. and adopted by Dolores and Dennis Knaff. It is with great sadness that the families announce Ben's passing on July 25, 2021. He passed away at the age of 53 due to multiple organ failure, liver disease (NAFLD: non-alcoholic fatty liver disease) as well as endocarditis (infection of the valve of the heart.) Ben fought valiantly for five months. His wife, Jennifer, and... Full story
CHENEY — According to the initial results of the Aug. 3 Primary Elections, Mark Posthuma and Jacquelyn Belock will progress to the general election for City Council Position No. 3. Belock accumulated 37% of the vote with 332 ballots and Posthuma captured 27% with 239 votes. When reached by phone, Belock expressed shock and excitement over the current results. In a follow up email, she wrote: “I want to thank everyone who turned out to support our campaign during the primary. We still have a long road ahead till November but...
CHENEY — According to the initial results of the August 3 elections, Suzanne G. Dolle and Zachary Zorrozua will be moving to the general election for the second seat of the Cheney School Board. Zorrozua received 44.84% of the votes for a total of 1,781. “I’m really proud of the turnout and I appreciate the people willing to vote for me,” Zorrozua said. “I’m thankful for the people who reached out and asked who I was and what I stand for. It’s been nice to respond and process where I stand. I’m hopeful the people who vote...
CHENEY — According to the initial results of the August 3 elections, the Spokane County Fire District 3 succeeded in passing their property tax levy for fire protection and emergency medical services. The proposition received 3,093 votes to approve (76.88%) and 930 votes to reject (23.12%). The measure restores the district levy from $1.42 per $1,000 of assessed value to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed value. “We’re pleased to have the support and trust of the community,” Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach said. “It’s well timed, too,...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS - Fairchild Air Force Base hosted a special tour on July 23 for the Girl Scouts of America. The Athena Tour took a select group of Girl Scouts around the base to meet with women in the military who occupy a multitude of roles, dubbed "women warriors" by the Scouts. They even got official scout patches to prove it. The girls taking the tour were not there randomly. While selling their iconic cookies, the Scouts also worked to secure boxes to donate to the...
MEDICAL LAKE - Medical Lake held its 24th annual Tennis-A-Thon beginning on July 21 at noon and ending at the same time on July 22. Leroy Lemaster, the former high school tennis coach who began the endeavor in 1997, was there to watch the continued tradition. The Tennis-A-Thon's main goal is to raise funds for the Medical Lake Food Bank and Medical Lake Community Outreach, but a percentage of the funds go to the high school tennis teams. With the help of sponsors, the event...
CHENEY — A pair of Eastern Washington University football seniors have been named to the Stats Perform Preseason All-America Team, as announced on Aug. 2. Eric Barriere represents Eastern as a first team quarterback and Tristen Taylor is a second team offensive lineman. The duo is among 21 other Big Sky Conference student-athletes to make the team, the most among FCS conferences selections. In total, there are 120 preseason All-Americans from 60 schools and 15 conferences s...
CHENEY - A new brand of training ball with local connections has found its way onto the soccer fields of Eastern Washington and Nels Radtke, the head coach Cheney High School's women soccer team, has been impressed. Founded by Matt Folsom and Elliot Fauske, Riobol (pronounced rio-ball) is a small rubber ball designed in Brazil intended to improve control, shooting, and technique due to the implements decreased size and increased weight. And the results of have been promising....
CHENEY July 26 A Washington adult driver’s license was found on the 200 block of 2nd Street. A license plate was found on the 1500 block of Salnave Road. A 37-year-old female, Erin R. Every, was arrested for driving under the influence after a collision on the 1200 block of 2nd Street. July 27 No reports July 28 A runaway juvenile was reported on the 2400 block of University Lane. The 17-year-old male returned home later in the day. A mental health issue was reported on the 2200 block of Marigold Circle. A mental health i...
CHENEY - Water recreation enthusiasts will find their access to Williams Lake limited beginning this week. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is beginning a project to replace the existing ramps at the public water access are on the lake, located south of Klink's Resort. In a news release, DFW officials said the work was beginning now due to a limited construction season. Contractor crews will be onsite Wednesday, Aug. 5, preparing the area for construction, which will...
