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By JOHN McCALLUM Editor For the fifth year in a row staff and faculty at Eastern Washington University have exceeded their goals in the annual community food drive, an effort that includes collecting school supplies for area K-12 students. Six teams of university personnel from various departments raised a total of $18,241.22, along with 6,236 pounds of food in the drive running May 11 through Aug. 17. Last year the drive netted just over $14,000 and 5,352 pounds of food. Making the award presentations in the shaded backyard...
Cheney man was there when Coast Guard crew sank a recently rediscovered German U-boat in World War II By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Last month divers discovered the remains of a German U-boat off Nantucket Island, Mass. that was sunk by U.S. ships in April 1944. Last week on the other side of the country, Bill Smith sat in his Cheney home recalling exactly how the submarine ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic. It took nearly 70 years to find the remains of the U-boat, but the battle that sunk it was over in a few hours. O...
Cheney Special Olympians brought home gold and silver medals from the recent Special Olympic State Softball Tournament in Everett, Wash. Thirty-eight Cheney Parks and Recreation athletes in two teams and one individual took part in the competition. The Masters T-Ball team, in their second season of competition, brought home a gold medal, winning their division's championship with 14-2 and 18-12 wins. The Unified Partner team, in their fourth season, earned a silver medal. The team went 2-2 in competition, posting an 11-8 win...
The majors' softball team wasn't the only West Plains Little League All-Star squad enjoying success this past summer. The Junior League All-Star team advanced to state tournament play by capturing their sixth overall District 13 title. The 13- and 14-year-olds from Cheney, Medical Lake, Airway Heights and surrounding areas downed South Spokane by 10 runs in the first game, and eight runs in the championship to capture WPLL's fifth Junior League district title in six years. The wins sent the WPLL team to state competition... Full story
By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Last week a lightning storm sparked numerous fires in the Cheney area that destroyed three buildings, including a home. Spokane County Fire District 3 crews were able to put out the fires before they spread, but the danger of wildfire will be present on the West Plains for the weeks and months to come. Fire District 3 Chief Bruce Holloway said late summer brings heat and dry conditions, but September and October often comes with high winds as weather patterns change. Those windy conditions can... Full story
Former Whitworth instructor gives up tenure track in order to help provide special education service needs at EWU collaborative preschool By JOHN McCALLUM Editor If you're going to give up a tenure-track teaching position at a good university, it better be for something you love. That's the spot Dana Stevens found herself in early this summer. After five years on the faculty at Whitworth University teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in special education, “Teaching teachers how to teach,” the Iowa native decided to...
By JAMES EIK Staff Reporter Airway Heights is in the formative stages to begin replacing some of its government buildings, some of which have been in operation for over 50 years, since the city's incorporation. To start the process, the city is accepting statements of qualifications for a multi-use building somewhere within city limits. The building would serve to unite several city operations including City Hall and the fire, police, municipal courts, parks and recreation and the building/planning departments. “This is an o... Full story
By JAMES EIK Staff Reporter The siting process for a proposed new jail location in Spokane County is beginning once again, after new property was submitted by Spokane International Airport along Geiger Boulevard. Spokane County Sheriff's Office Lt. Mike Sparber led a brief presentation at the Spokane County Commissioners board room Wednesday, Aug. 22, detailing the process that will come in the next few months. The initial siting process started around five years ago, with the goal of finding a new facility to replace the...
Labor Day weekend is the perfect time to check out our Cheney fall sports teams By JOHN McCALLUM Editor It's doesn't seem possible, but summer is almost over. And you know what that means? Yep, fall sports! Oh yes, school too. OK, I know technically, summer lasts until Sept. 20, but really, the seasons revolve around sports so with football starting – and football is a fall sport, despite the arena leagues and those Canadians – that means it's fall. For those of us here in the beautiful Inland Empire, the winding down of sum...
By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter The hits now come against opponents for the Medical Lake football team Friday night, Aug. 31 in St. Maries, Idaho. After three weeks of preseason camp the Cardinals will open their season with a non-league game against the Lumberjacks (1-0) in a series that continues in its third year following Medical Lake's two-year stint as an independent team awaiting reclassification. “We've got a great opener,” MedicalLake head coach Wes Hobbs said. “This has been a real great series between us and St. Mar...
Associate head coach Lisa Westlake will serve as interim coach for rest of 2012 season FROM NEWS SERVICE REPORTS Eastern Washington University has announced the resignation of head volleyball coach Miles Kydd, effective Tuesday, Aug. 28. Kydd tendered his resignation for personal reasons according to an EWU athletics department news release. Currently the associate head coach for EWU volleyball, Lisa Westlake will serve as interim head coach for the duration of the 2012 season. “I accepted Coach Kydd's resignation t...
One hundred twenty-five years ago in 1887, William E. Pierce and George A. Davis delivered the first plat of the town of Marshall. In 1912 wheat was selling at 26 to 28 cents a bushel. In 1934 the price went to 55 cents a bushel. Learn more about our area's history at www.cheneymuseum.org.... Full story
Joseph E. Tiedt, age 87, passed away Aug. 17, 2012, in Spokane, Wash. Joseph was born in Cheney, Wash. on Feb. 8, 1925. He was the son of Elmer and Hattie (Wegele) Tiedt. Joseph graduated from Cheney High School and went to work for the SPNS Railroad for one year; he then went to work as a grounds keeper at EWU and worked there for 31 years. He retired in 1978. In 1958 he met and married Betty Maxfield. They made their home in Spokane for 28 years. After their retirement, they traveled throughout the Western U.S., Canada and...
By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter For the Eastern Washington University football team, their 2012 season opening non-conference game Thursday night in Moscow at the Kibbie Dome against the University of Idaho is just another game. Not that much different than last season's opener versus the University of Washington at Husky Stadium, or a 2010 debut at Nevada Reno. “Our players don't get too concerned at the level of play your opponent plays at,” Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin told the Big Sky media during Monday's con...
By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Shootdogging, mutton busting, goat tail tying and dummy roping. To the untrained eye, these words sound like nonsense. For young children with a heart for rodeo, they spell fun and a potential stepping-stone to a career in professional rodeo. The second annual Cheney Pee Wee Rodeo is coming up, and kids from across the region are practicing their skills. Most of the events at the rodeo are amended versions of traditional rodeo events. Shootdogging is like bulldogging—in which a horse-mounted c...
1 Years Ago Aug. 29, 2002 Medical Lake City Administrator Curt Kelling announced the hiring of an interim police chief, Jake Evans, to replace Jim Sjothun who was recently placed on administrative leave due to concerns over his management style. A decision whether Sjothun leaves the force or accepts another position is pending. Cheney residents would get one more chance to lobby City Council members about a proposed 13 percent increase in city utilities taxes when they met one more time Sept. 10 to vote to implement the... Full story
By JAMES EIK Staff Reporter The front office at Medical Lake High School is changing somewhat for the 2012-13 school year, specifically with the assistant principal position. Chris Spring, the school's current athletics director will share assistant principal duties with principal John McSmith, following the departure of Darlene Starr, who took the principal's position at Michael Anderson Elementary. Spring's official title is now assistant principal/athletic director at the high school. Starr's duties, which included discipl... Full story
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Airway Heights City Council recently denied a request by Spokane County Commissioners to be released from a portion of a 2010 contract between the city, county and the Spokane Tribe of Indians regarding STEP, the Spokane Tribe Economic Project that includes plans for a casino. We applaud the council's decision but we also think the commissioners were correct in bringing the request. Under the section in question the city would have paid the county 20 percent of what it received from STEP for providing services to the developm...
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Changes include flat rate per housing unit, plus 9-cent increase in usage fees By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter New water rates are coming for Cheney residents and renters. The Cheney City Council voted unanimously to approve changes to the water rates charged to consumers at its Tuesday, Aug. 28 meeting. The move creates a flat rate of $8.26 for residential water users—both single family homes and individual apartment units will be charged the same base rate. Water consumption will be billed at $1 per 100 cubic feet of use. T...
Medical Lake City Council decision stems from last year's string of criminal activity By JAMES EIK Staff Writer Medical Lake's skate park will permanently close following a unanimous vote from the Medical Lake City Council at its Tuesday, Aug. 21 meeting. The skate park was closed for the remainder of the summer season last year, stemming from a string of vandalism incidents throughout last summer that included graffiti tagging, spreading of human waste on bathroom walls and racial slurs spray-painted on ramps. Drug dealing...
First six games are away from home so fans will have to wait to check out new Reese seats FROM STAFF AND NEWS SERVICE REPORTS Remember those nice new Reese Court seats that were installed during the offseason? On the good side there's more opportunities to enjoy them for Eastern Washington University men's basketball. The bad news is fans will have to wait a while to sit in them. Eastern will play its first six games away from home, but then will have five of six at the improved Reese Court setting that will also be... Full story
Lorraine “Pinky” Everett passed away Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012 at her home in Medical Lake, Wash. at the age of 100. She was born May 17, 1912 to Elmer Knowles and Adella Bryant in Terry, Mont. Lorraine is survived by her son Ronald Taylor of Dallas, Texas, daughters Beverley Thompson and Adella Ost of Medical Lake, 22 grandchildren, several great and great-great grand children and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Wayne Everett, daughter Joyce Webb, son Raymond Taylor, sisters Elsie Sma... Full story
COLLEGE FOOTBALL Eastern Washington University Thursday, Aug. 30 at Idaho, 6:05 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8 at Washington State. noon. HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY Saturday, Sept. 8, Cheney, Medical Lake at Silverwood Coaster Classic, Silverwood 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, Cheney at Highlander Invite Shadle 8:30 a.m. HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Friday, Aug. 31, Medical Lake at St. Maries, 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 1 Cheney vs. East Valley-Yakima, Eastern Washington University, 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, Cheney hosts Omak, 7 p.m. Medical Lake...
