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Maverik, the convenience store and fueling station company, is adding another location on the West Plains on the southeast corner of Hayford Road and Highway 2 in Airway Heights. “They have been looking at the development for quite some time,” Airway Heights Public Work Director Kevin Anderson said. During the city’s July 11 Planning Commission meeting, the board looked over a request from Maverick to perform a SEPA review for the proposed station and included a public hearing. The property will be on 2.8 aces (94,997 squar...
Airway Heights is in the initial stage of planning a community time bank with health program specialist Heather Wallace leading the way. A time bank, which was developed in the 1980s, is an organized way that people can trade their skills based on units of time. For example, if one person teaches how to crochet for an hour, they earn a credit and can “spend” it on having somebody mow their yard. “It is an idea of exchanging skills one-on-one, regardless of what it costs,” Wallace said. “Time bank has shown to help people conn...
Even though I may not be in Cheney when Eastern Washington University football is kicked off, I am really excited for this season. College football season is the best time of the year in sports and I look forward to it every year. Nothing beats those Saturdays where you just watch football all day long. Last season stung a little bit as EWU barely missed the playoffs and the University of Tennessee had their worst football year. But this is a fresh start for both teams. I can’t wait for the first Eastern game as they take o...
Everyone probably knows by now that Amazon is coming to the West Plains area – unless you are living under a rock. But that isn’t the real reason why I bring up the powerhouse company. On Saturday, July 21, Forbes posted quite the controversial article with the headline “Amazon Should Replace Local Libraries to Save Taxpayers Money.” Yikes. The backlash from the article was so extreme that Forbes actually deleted the piece from online. So if you go on their website, you cannot read the actual article anymore. This is how a r...
Sutton Park is busy this summer with the outdoor concert series every week. Previously, the 3D Band, Mojo Box and Kosta la Vista has played at the gazebo but there are still a lot left during the hot days of Cheney. Every show goes from 6:30 – 8 p.m. The next concert is Lyle Morse aka “Lonesome Lyle” on Aug. 1. He is an acoustic guitarist, harmonica player and a singer-songwriter and performer who calls eastern Washington his home. His music has been highlighted and performed live on National Public Radio affiliates as well...
At the July 23 Airway Heights City Council study session meeting, Parks and Recreation Director JC Kennedy requested consideration to appoint Liz Beck to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. Paula Clouse, the representative that served on the committee for Stratford Suites, stepped down as the general manager. Beck had then filled out an application for the council to consider. On July 2, Beck attended the committee’s meeting, but there was no quorum so it was not official, but Councilman Dave Malet and Kennedy showed her a b...
Earth is moving in a lot of places around Cheney and Superintendent of schools Rob Roettger gave an update on construction around the public schools at the July 18 Cheney board meeting. During the presentation, he showed pictures to the board of every school that is being worked on – all of them in Cheney. Betz Elementary also has a new secure entry and has new classrooms being added right now. There were additional bathrooms also included, which was not originally in the plan. “It has a lot more lighting in the entrance too...
Northern Quest Resort and Casino has officially opened two more dining facilities in their location. It was announced on April 26 that the ice cream shop Ben and Jerry’s along with the Mexican fast food option Qdoba would be a new addition to the casino, and now they are both open for business. Qdoba is a build-your-own burrito experience. Some of the options include fire-grilled steak, chicken, slow-roasted brisket, fresh-made pico de gallo and hand-mash guacamole. The fast food option is located on the casino floor in t...
The Airway Heights Police Department requested council approval to purchase a police equipped SUV at the July 16 City Council meeting. Previously the council approved the hiring of two new officers and due to the addition, the department requested to purchase one fully equipped vehicle. The total cost of everything, equipment included, is $53,000. In other action items, the council was asked to approve a change order for nine items of different conditions and additional work for the recreation center utilities project. This...
The food pantry, Cleone's Closet, in Airway Heights is quickly approaching their one year anniversary since relocating to 13114 West Sunset Highway and things are still running smoothly. "Things are going great at the food pantry," founder Mable Dunbar said. "It has been very busy, but very rewarding. A lot of people are coming into the community with nothing and they are very grateful (for Cleone's)." The organization collects data in two months increments, and the last ones...
July kicked off parks and recreation month and the department in Airway Heights has a whole month of activities to help celebrate. One activity lasting until July 30 is a National Parks and Recreation photo contest. The organization is holding weekly themed photo contests, and the Airway Heights parks and recreation department wants to see pictures of people discovering something about the town. People can post their pictures and use the hashtag #NRPAdiscoverychallenge to be entered. The weekly contests are as follows: • J...
At the July 2 Airway Heights City Council meeting there was only one resolution to pass on the agenda and it was approved without any discussion. The resolution authorized a 50 percent reduction in further general facility connection (GFC) amounts for the portion of Highland Village that is being developed by Community Frameworks. The other part of the development is being done by Habitat for Humanity. In 2016, the city had passed a similar resolution that allowed for a reduction to 85 percent of the full GFC amounts, but...
After years of not having a code enforcer, the city of Airway Heights has brought in Kristina Blake to take over the new job. Blake earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Portland State University in 2012 and went on to complete a master's online. She has a lot of history in security as she was part of campus security at Central Oregon University and was the code enforcement officer for two years in Boardman, Ore. Most recently, she was living in Goldendale,...
It is crazy to me that we are already halfway through the year and that it is now July. This will personally be a big month for me as I move across the country to Knoxville Tenn., at the end of the month. As I realized that I will be moving from my home of just over 10 years in just a matter of weeks, I thought of all the good times that Cheney and the West Plains have brought me. I am a proud alum of Cheney High School and Eastern Washington University. I will forever be a Blackhawk and I am officially an Eagle for life. If...
Keeping airmen healthy on Fairchild Air Force Base is quite the task, but the 92nd Medical Group started an innovative program in the beginning of the year to help support full-spectrum readiness. Team Fairchild's "Human Performance Cell" (HPC) begun earlier this year and is taking a holistic approach to help combat chronic injuries that can help airmen get back to the fight and defend the country. HPC is composed of a multitude of medical specialist that deliver a...
A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report came out regarding some of the contaminants that were found in the water in Airway Heights last May. The 852-page document concluded that the PFOA/PFOS could be more damaging than people thought before, but the city has actually not been using any water that was contaminated last year. "We know that any level (of the chemicals) isn't acceptable," Public Works Director Kevin Anderson said. "I think we are at the...
This weekend marks the magical days of summer because Hoopfest is in town. Ever since moving to the area, I have loved attending the event every year because it brings the whole Pacific Northwest together in the most entertaining way. You can walk the streets of downtown Spokane and go from watching cute little kids balling it up to older guys trying to relive their glory days. Even though this will be my first year not playing in the event in about eight years, I am still looking forward to going down and enjoying the...
Village Centre Cinemas in Airway Heights is bringing back the summer matinee series for everyone to enjoy. The series started on June 18 and will run until Aug. 16 for a fun activity to last throughout the summer season. The next movie up to watch is "Paddington 2" on July 2-3 and 5. This sequel showcases Paddington the bear as a popular member of the community after he settled in with his new family, the Browns. He goes on an adventure to find a perfect present for his aunt...
Northern Quest Resort and Casino officially opens their Kids Quest and Cyber Quest on June 29 for family-friendly activities. On the Kids Quest side, an hourly children's entertainment center for children between the ages of six weeks to 12 years will be featured. Included in the Kids Quest is a private "Tiny Tot" room for babies six weeks to 30 months. The next stage is "Club 305" that has age-appropriate activities for kids 30 months to five years old. Other items for kids...
At the June 18 Airway Heights City Council meeting, the board approved a bid to recoat the Sunset Park water tank. In 2016, this project was advertised and since the bids were way higher than the city's budget, tit was rejected. Coming into this year, the Public Works Department budgeted $360,000 for the project and re-advertised. The project was opened on June 7 and the lowest bidder was Extreme Coatings, Inc. (ECI Services) at $366,458, about 7 percent higher than the...
There is a new commander in town at Fairchild Air Force Base. On June 15, Col. Derek Salmi assumed command Fairchild during a ceremony in front of local of area leaders and other attendees. Salmi comes from the Royal Air Force Base in Mildenhall, United Kingdom, where he was the commander of the 100th Operations Group. The group was responsible for planning, scheduling and execution of all U.S. air forces in Europe air refueling operations. They were leaders in mission readiness, mobilization, employment, training and...
The Airway Heights Planning Commission met on June 13 and held a public hearing on an Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearing Board ruling against the city. Starting in October 2011, the city began to update AHMC (Airway Heights Municipal Code) 17.37, which was a mixed-use overlay. It was labeled as too broad and it did not provide any standards for future developers. Since that time, the Spokane International Airport, city of Spokane and Spokane County sued Airway Heights over three areas in the city limits. One of...
As the academic year at Eastern Washington University is winding down, the most recent funds given to EWU was the College Spark Washington Grant. This grant will provide EWU with $149,573. The organization gave $1.5 million overall in community grants to help low-income students earn their college degree. The money will go towards the Eastern’s department of mathematics and it will be used to develop, pilot and scale co-requisite courses, which should help first-year students in the university. During these classes, students...
Graduating Cheney High School students were recognized at last week's senior assembly, including athletes (above) who received the Mayor's Award. Also receiving awards were Evarosa Perry and Hunter Pohl (Minuteman Award). Pohl was also recognized for receiving a Type 7 ROTC Air Force Scholarship, which pays for 100 percent of tuition, textbooks and a monthly living stipend....
A water and sewer rate resolution to the new development of Highland Village was discussed at the June 11 Airway Heights study session meeting. Public Works Director Kevin Anderson asked the council to consider reducing the general facility connection (GFC) costs based on anticipated lower water usage per unit. The water and sewer rate resolutions allow for this adjustment to be made on larger meters (above 1-1/2 inch), but not for the sizes that are anticipated on this future land. He said that the one way to handle this...
