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See a photo gallery from the event here. "How do you sleep in space?" "How do you get away from meteors?" "Have you ever been to the moon?" These were some of the questions NASA astronauts - retired U.S. Air Force colonels Bob Behnken and Eric Boe, retired Marine Corps Col. Doug Hurley and Navy Capt. Sunita "Suni" Williams - received from over 500 students at an assembly Feb. 8 at Hallett Elementary School. The astronauts explained they were in the area to participate in...
Four NASA astronauts took more than just a small step when they visited Hallett Elementary School, Feb. 8. The astronauts - U.S. Air Force colonels Bob Behnken and Eric Boe, retired Marine Corps Col. Doug Hurley and Navy Capt. Sunita "Suni" Williams - were in the area to participate in training at Fairchild Air Force Base's survival school. They shared their experience of going into space and answered questions from students. Read the full story here.... Full story
The Medical Lake girls earned a 39-30 win over Deer Park Feb. 10 to advance to the District 7 championship. That's where the Cardinals earned a tense 32-30 victory over the Lakeside Eagles Feb. 14 at West Valley High School and qualified for the 1A state tournament for the first time since 1991. Read the full story here.... Full story
The Medical Lake boys' basketball team administered a 66-40 crushing of Chewelah, Feb. 10 as they travel the path to a possible second berth in the 1A state championships in as many seasons. Read the full story here.... Full story
See a photo gallery from the event here. "This man fits the bill." That is how Duane Wolfe, Kiwanis member and master of ceremonies for the 33rd annual Medical Lake Kiwanis Senior Citizen Valentine's Day Dinner, held Feb. 11, described longtime resident Wayne Fugere, the recipient of the 2016 Senior Volunteer of the Year. Fugere's response to receiving the award was a quick "I thank you all," which was met with a roaring applause and even a "yeah Wayne!" from the crowd....
The Medical Lake Kiwanis Club held its annual Senior Valentine's Day dinner, Feb. 11 at St. Anne's Parish. Guests dined on a traditional turkey dinner with cake and ice cream for dessert. Entertainment was provided by "The Acoustic Duo" and Wayne Fugere was named the 2016 Senior Volunteer of the Year. Read the full story here.... Full story
It is with deep appreciation that I recognize receipt of a generous donation to the Cheney Depot Society from the estate of Yvonne Chatburn. The donation will go to support the goal of the Society to relocate, restore and repurpose Cheney’s 1929 Northern Pacific Railway Station. Ms. Chatburn’s gift will be matched by an equal donation from our major benefactor, Peter O. Hansen, M.D., currently practicing in Kenai, Alaska. The society welcomes all to contribute to the cost of relocating and restoring our historic depot. All...
I have been blessed to have friends from many countries throughout the years, and believe it would be great for our country and the world for others to have those opportunities as well. Being immersed in university environments since the age of 18, and living overseas for 17 years, I have gradually accepted the belief that we are all brothers and sisters. Since Muslims seem to be on the radar right now, I remember with great fondness the graciousness of Muslim families — from Pakistan, Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Libya, Palest...
It’s a dream come true for terrorists. Without any effort of their own, they have been given the best recruiting tool possible: the U.S. president. One constant of Donald Trump’s ego-maniacal, unstable behavior is his belief that he can intimidate anyone to follow his directives. Obviously it has the opposite effect on terrorists. Even before he was the presumptive Republican nominee for president, ISIS recruited terrorists using videos featuring his call to ban Muslims from the U.S. How much more effective this rec...
As long as Mr. Donald Trump is in office, all people’s lives are at stake worldwide because he has no idea what he is doing. He has congressmen raising their eyebrows and other people on the hill, they are not sure how to deal with him and all his craziness. The Muslim ban, and it is a ban, Israel and now Australia, who have been there for us. There is no strategy in anything he does, he is so erratic, so very wishy-washy. There are more people worldwide who are completely confused than not. His words and actions are t...
Recently, some of America’s most respected statesmen announced a different strategy to reducing carbon pollution — one which is based on incentives as opposed to penalties. Believing that carrots work better than sticks, the Climate Leadership Council (CLC) announced a new plan to enact a federal tax on carbon emissions with an accompanying payment program to U.S. citizens. The centerpiece is a “carbon dividend” which, as they put it, would increase the disposable income...
Sometimes a trial balloon on an idea should be floated, and this is one of those from the Cheney Free Press editorial board. This balloon is labeled as follows: What would happen if the eligibility age for Medicare was dropped from 65 to 60? Granted there are many factors to Medicare eligibility, not just age, and there are four different parts. But just for the sake of discussion, what if it was just a blanket reduction in age to 60, with all else remaining the same? And what about moving the retirement age up too, making...
Note: This is a continuation of the honor roll that was printed in the Feb. 9 issue of the Cheney Free Press. 3.5-3.9 — Isabelle G. Adams, Katelyn E. Alderson, Summer N. Ambute, Cruz I. Avila, Elijah D. Axtell, Jonathan T. Bailey, Ryan A. Barthels, Joshua A. Bingham, Miles C. Blomgren, Abigail L. Boal, Vitaliy V. Borodin, Gabriel J. Bradley, Gabriela Chaparro, Inara H. Chavez, Alexia M. Chavies, Colin Chen, Emily R. Clausen, Caitlin M. Cunningham, Sofia I. Day, Taylor J. Denton, Abigail A. Deutsch, Irelyn M. DeWeese, Joza A...
The Medical Lake community lost another notable name on Jan. 22 when Denny McDaniel passed away at the age of 74. Better known probably by his first name - the title that he used for his grocery store along State Route 902 - McDaniel was not just a businessman, but one of the people the community gathered and turned to when there was a cause that needed a boost. "If somebody's in trouble, we'll put the word out and something will happen (to help)," he said in a Nov. 11, 2016...
The Cheney High School Future Business Leaders of America are off to a good 2017 after competing in the Northeast Regional Winter Conference at the Eastpoint Church in Spokane Valley, Feb. 4 Cheney had 56 of its 65 attending members place in the top six. As a team, club members placed 101 times in 55 different events. Students who placed in the top six will compete at the State Business Leadership Conference in Spokane, April 19-22. The following FBLA members are listed with...
The Cheney School District board of directors approved a resolution adopting the board’s priorities it looks to promote to the state Legislature during its current biennial budgeting session. Superintendent Rob Roettger told the board the four areas align with similar priorities advanced by the region’s Education Support District 101. At the top of the list was the need for “ample and dependable funding” to meet the requirement’s of the state Supreme Court’s ruling in the McCleary case in 2012. Roettger said this priority br...
Jason Johnson, known by his stage name of Nova Kaine, gave a "History of Drag" workshop at Eastern Washington University, Feb. 8, two days before the university's annual drag show. Johnson gave those in attendance a lesson on the origins of drag shows, as well as spoke about the Stonewall Riots, which gave rise to the fight for LGBT rights....
Trulove named to chair of regional planning body The Spokane Regional Transportation Commission’s Policy Board of Directors has elected Cheney Mayor Tom Trulove to serve as chair of the regional planning panel. Trulove replaces Spokane Councilwoman Amber Waldref, who served as chair from January 2016 to February 2017. Trulove will also serve a one-year term. He served as vice-chair during Waldref’s term. The SRTC policy board of directors is a 14-member board composed of an elected official from a small town to represent jur...
A group of student-athletes from Eastern Washington University, led by head football coach Aaron Best and Swoop, toured the Mann-Grandstaff Veterans Administration Medical Center in Spokane to greet veterans and thank them for their service. Left: Volleyball player Taylor Larsen and track and field athlete Logan Stahl talk with "Uncle Mike," a 98-year-old World War II veteran while football player Ashanti Kindle (right) thanks a veteran....
Cheney’s police department is proposing changes to the city’s snow removal ordinance it hopes will lead to less confusion and conform to current practices by utility crews when the snow flies. The current ordinance requires vehicles be off city streets between midnight and 6 a.m. whenever two or more inches of snow accumulates. The exception to this are vehicles parked in the central business district, defined in the ordinance, which must be off the streets between 3 – 6 a.m. The proposed changes remove all of this, excep...
The same real estate acquisition and development company behind the purchase and renovation of Cheney's Fisher Building is proposing a rezoning of 3.59-acres of property on North Eighth Street in order to build a student apartment complex. Eastmark Capital Group of Seattle has submitted preliminary application materials to the city of Cheney for construction of the 115-unit Parkside Commons, which would replace 16 former military single-family housing units on North Eighth...
The pieces for Airway Heights’ recreation center project continue to fall into place. In a Feb. 8 news release, the city announced that the project was approved by the state’s project review committee (PRC) to use design-build as an alternative project delivery system. J.C. Kennedy, Parks, Recreation and Community Services director, and staff traveled to Olympia in January to present the project to the committee. His presentation focused on why the method was a good fit to deliver the recreation center. Kennedy said city att...
By AL STOVER Staff Reporter Medical Lake’s quest to receive state funding for police services provided to Eastern State Hospital continues. At the Feb. 7 City Council meeting, Mayor John Higgins announced he testified, via Skype, in front of the Legislature’s Ways and Means committee regarding Senate Bill 5159. The bill, introduced in the current legislative session by senators Michael Baumgartner, Steve O’Ban and Steve Conway, would add chapters to the Revised Code of Washington requiring Western and Eastern state hospi...
NASA Astronau retired Air Force Col. Bob Behnken answers questions from Hallett Elementary students. Behnken, along with three other astromauts, visited the Medical Lake school on Feb. 8....
As of press time Tuesday night, the Cheney School District’s $52 million capital facilities bond was barely receiving the 60 percent voter approval needed for passage. According to information from the Spokane County Election Department’s website, the bond was receiving a 60.21 percent approval, garnering 3,591 votes for to 2,373 against. The 5,964 total votes amounted to just over 30 percent of the 19,788 ballots sent out to voters taking part in the only two measures on the Feb. 14 ballot — Cheney and Orchard Prairie Schoo...
