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There are good things and bad things about working in the "horrible" media. One of the good things is through our work, we get the chance to become a little bit of an expert on a lot of subjects. As we go about our reporting, we have opportunities to go places others don't, talk to people most can't and observe things many people don't have the time to take in. For instance, in covering the Cheney School District since 2004, I have observed many of the situations associated...
The Medical Lake boy's basketball team rustled up the right time to end a late-season slide. The Cardinals scored a tense 72-69 win in overtime over Colville Feb. 2 at home on senior night that put a halt to a three-game losing streak and solidified a No. 3 seed in the district playoffs. Earlier last week Medical Lake fell 67-57 at Lakeside. Now Medical Lake (13-7), which opened play versus No. 6 seeded Chewelah (8-11) at home in a loser-out game in district play. A win gets... Full story
The Cheney High boys' basketball team ended their regular season on Senior Night Feb. 4 with a 63-52 loss to Clarkston. The following seniors were honored before the game: Jaylen Worthem, Cam Hardt, Drake Johnson and Anthony Ehrenberg. Read the full story here.... Full story
The Cheney High wrestling team began their postseason with an impressive showing at the District 7 tournament, Feb. 3-4 at Shadle Park. Out of the many athletes that competed, five advanced to regionals. Read the full story here.... Full story
The Cheney High girls' basketball team wrapped up their regular season with a 57-53 win against Clarkston. Before the game, seniors Ellie Davis and Kristie McGourin were honored for their contributions to the team. Read the full story here.... Full story
The Medical Lake girls completed its season not only as the 2016-17 Northeast A League regular season champions, but did so with a perfect 14-0 record in league play and a No. 1 seed. The team's 50-47 at Lakeside, Jan. 31, and then a 60-43 victory over Colville on senior night, Feb. 2, improved their overall record to 18-2. The team will play in the second round of district play at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10 versus Deer Park. Read the full story here.... Full story
I recently learned that there are no private schools in Finland. The rich and poor alike send their kids to the same public school, thus all are motivated to build, support, and provide the best possible school system in their neighborhood. Many of you might already know that Finnish students consistently rank No. 1 in the world for reading, mathematics and science. In comparison, America ranks 21st out of 34 countries represented in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in those same academic areas....
Once again I’m facing a off-cycle ballot for raising my taxes. Once again I ask why is the district having an off cycle election? Didn’t we just have a national election three months ago. Didn’t we just vote for a huge increase for the school district for multiple issues? Did we just not build three new buildings? Once again I realize you have a mandate to educate Cheney School District children, but at what expense? How many times will you not forecast and plan future needs? How many times will you use the guilt compl...
The effort to get rid of the death penalty in Washington state appears to be gaining some momentum. Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Gov. Jay Inslee introduced Senate Bill 5353 in the current legislative session. If passed, the bill would repeal the death penalty and instead require life imprisonment without the release or parole for criminals convicted of aggravated first-degree murder. This is the latest movement to abolish capital punishment in Washington. In 2014, Inslee put a moratorium on executions in the...
Artist Jenene Nagy transformed Eastern Washington University's Gallery of Art into a geometric illusionic painting for her "Scablands" exhibit, which runs until Feb. 23. Admission is free to all....
Cheney School District schedules snow make-up days The Cheney School District recently had three school closures related to weather and road conditions. This district will use the following days to make up for the closures: Feb. 17, June 15 and June 16. For more information, contact (509) 559-4502. Hallett Elementary School announces January winners Hallett Elementary School announced its Partners Advancing Character Education (PACE) award winners for January. PACE/Fairness — Jonathan Williams, Samuel Shcherbina, Lauren K...
Internationally renowned educator and researcher Dr. Joy DeGruy, Ph.D., will hold a special workshop at Eastern Washington University on topics of cultural sensitivity and diversity, as well as areas of mental and ecological resilience. DeGruy’s four-hour presentation, “Culture-Specific Models of Service, Delivery and Practice,” will be from 1-5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 16, in Hargreaves Hall Room 201 on EWU’s Cheney campus. During her 25 years in the field of social work, DeGruy has been lauded as a dynamic and inspirational spe...
By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter While winter snows have forced cancellation of meetings, the Cheney Merchants Association has been busy behind the scenes. Holding its first general membership meeting since the first week of November on Monday, Feb. 6, the CMA offered up a lot of news and information to those in attendance. Snow cancelled the Jan. 9 meeting where the business booster group had planned to officially introduce its new leadership. Randi Kooyman from Banner Bank...
Medical Lake Middle School honored six students for the Partners Advancing Character Education (PACE) award for January. January's trait is fairness. Students received certificates and T-shirts and were treated to a lunch, Feb. 3. From left to right: Katie Hiatt, Ryan Vandenbussche, Kaylee Swenson, Tracen Tueller, Thomas Threadgill and Atriana Larson....
Medical Lake High School Junior ROTC's drill team is kicking it into high gear for the Feb. 25 Silverwings Drill Competition they are hosting. The team began their season at the Nov. 5 Silverwings competition at Redmond High School in Oregon. They were scheduled to compete in two other events, but those were canceled because of the weather. The team's drill practice begins at 6:45 a.m., Monday through Friday and cadets are expected to be front and center. Senior cadet Josh...
Cheney Middle School announced its honor roll for the second quarter of the 2016-17 school year. 4.0 — Tyler T. Ashcroft, Mia J. Baldwin, Tilly A. Baldwin, Elliana G. Barden, Evelyn M. Barlow, Bailey M. Benson, Camryn N. Bishop, Aaron M. Brown, Martha J. Cindric, Kady A. Cullen, Madelynn D. Depner, Elias S. Dow, Serenity R. Dow, Adam D. Estock, Meaghan E. Estock, Matthew T. Fritz, Cameron M. Geary, Charles G. Gerber, Asia M. Gere, Jade A. Gere, Samantha R. Habegger, John W. Hammel, Grace C. Hammermeister, Abram C. Huber, N...
The Medical Lake School District is partnering with Communities in Schools (CIS) to offer its Primetime Mentoring program at the district’s buildings in Medical Lake and Michael Anderson Elementary at Fairchild Air Force Base. The program has been established in several school districts around Spokane County, including Cheney. For the program, mentors meet with their students for one hour a week. During that time, adults will spend one-on-one time with students doing different activities. “We’re not asking folks to do math...
Feed Medical Lake, a charity that serves a free dinner at St. John's Lutheran Church from 5–6 p.m. on the second Monday of every month, continues to go strong after five and a half years. "There were a couple of people who thought this was going to be a one-time meal, or it would just last a couple of months, but I didn't listen to them," Feed Medical Lake director Joanna Williams said. "It's an amazing thing that we're still going and we've been able to add a second meal." In...
Cheney seeks applications for lodging tax grant funding The city of Cheney is accepting applications for grant funding from its lodging tax fund for events that promote tourism to the city. Revenue for the fund comes from lodging taxes collected on overnight stays at lodging establishments within the city. Applications go before the Lodging Tax Committee, which reviews and makes awards to twice during the year to events meeting the requirements. “Funded projects must be a tourism draw to Cheney and bring people in from o...
The Cheney Free Press is putting together a special section in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of Fairchild Air Force Base. The facility started as Spokane Army Air Depot, and has served as a key part of the Inland Empire community for decades. If you have stories and insights into the history and operation of Fairchild, please contact John McCallum at (509) 235-6184, or at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com....
While the Airway Heights Police Department is adding four officers to its ranks in 2017, it is also bringing on an additional member of the four-legged variety. The department is adding another K-9 unit to its roster. In a January interview, Chief Lee Bennett explained the department has two patrol teams, with each one working four, 10-hour shifts. Officer Mike Ziegler and his canine partner, Austin, make up Airway Heights' current K9 unit. Although Ziegler conducts regular...
The Airway Heights area only has one school. Sunset Elementary was built in 1951, belongs to Cheney School District and is the oldest school in the district. There is not a middle school or high school in this community. Not one school has been added to this area for 66 years! For the third time CSD has placed a bond on the ballot to expand Cheney High School while ignoring requests to build a high school closer to the Airway Heights area. Generations of children have been negatively affected by this indifference. Re-write...
Is this a hostage situation? In the previous bonds Cheney School District asked only for money to fund renovation to our high school. The latest bond proposal adds classrooms and security measures to our elementary schools. Why weren’t these included on the two previous bonds? At what point did the district have an “ah-ha” moment? Imagine it. “Hey, there aren’t secure entrances to the older elementary schools and look they are using portables!” These needs appeared to be hiding in plain sight. Using the elementary...
The Cheney Historic Preservation Commission’s first meeting of 2017 was abbreviated last Thursday due to a session of the Cheney Municipal Court going longer than anticipated. The commission did meet long enough, however, on the staircase landing in the hallway at City Hall to accomplish two important items — re-elect new officers and get to know its newest commissioner. Lee Pierce has been named to fill the commission seat previously occupied by Fred Lauritsen, whose third term expired in December 2016. Lauritsen came to...
The city of Airway Heights followed suit with other municipalities regarding the public defender caseload rules the Washington Supreme Court and Legislature recently adopted. At its Feb. 6 meeting, the City Council approved an amendment to the city’s public defender service contract with Maurer Law. The amendment proposes to increase the contract from $4,000 to $4,833 per month. City Manager Albert Tripp gave two reasons for the contract amendment, that being the increase in the city’s caseload activity. In 2014, the cit...
