Articles from the February 22, 2018 edition


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  • Wanda Grey Hagenbuch

    Updated Mar 19, 2018

    Wanda Grey Hagenbuch went to be with the Lord on Feb. 15, 2018. Born in Chartage, N.C. on Oct. 15, 1950, to Pansey Rhumel Jones (Calhoun) and William Hartley Jones, she was the younger sibling of Nancy, Brenda and Johnny. Wanda's mother was a dress maker and her father was a train engineer. Economic circumstances resulted in Wanda and her siblings growing up in an orphanage. At age 17 Wanda left the orphanage and lived for a time with her sister Nancy and brother-in-law Donald... Full story

  • Medical Lake levy adds up

    PAUL DELANEY, Staff Reporter|Updated Feb 28, 2018

    As school levy approval inched ahead by a slightly larger margin in two measures on the Feb. 13 ballot in the Medical Lake School District, the pace quickened on how some of the money will be spent. That comes as result of the Valentine’s Day school shooting in Florida where 17 people died. Medical Lake presented a pair of ballot propositions to voters, one an educational programs and operations levy with the second dedicated to a variety of capital projects. Following a s...

  • Big and little

    John McCallum|Updated Feb 28, 2018

    Big and little Cheney Middle School Principal Mike Stark confers with preschool students Jaxsen (last name withheld) and Ellie Alent during snack time. See the story in Education....

  • EWU Downtown Gallery offers visions of (de)clutter

    Grace Pohl, Staff Intern|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Laura Carpenter Truitt, who recently moved to the Spokane area, is the next artist to have work featured at the Eastern Washington University Downtown Student Gallery. A first-year Gonzaga University art professor, Truitt uses shape, texture, and space to construct architectural landscapes that bleed through our physical realm into realms unknown. Her work operates on multiple thresholds that explore metaphor, architecture, structure and physicality. Through her art, Truitt...

  • Another net

    PAUL DELANEY|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Jonathan Lundberg, son of Medical Lake girls basketball coach Kyle Lundberg, cuts the final net cords following the Cardinals 54-33 win over Lakeside Feb. 14....

  • Fast with the first buttercup

    John McCallum|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    The Holtan family must have had a sixth sense about last Wednesday's coming snowstorm because they managed to snag the season's first buttercup while out for a hike Monday, Feb. 12. Lisa Holtan's sons Ethan (left) and Isaac (right) made the find with sister Isabel (holding the buttercup) near Tyler, earning them $5 as the first boys to find the season's first showing of the annual wildflower....

  • CMS provides a home for Betz preschoolers

    John McCallum, Editor|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Cheney Middle School Principal Mike Stark had two thoughts when he heard last spring that nearby Betz Elementary School was out of space for its preschool program. The first was with about 500 students in a facility built to house around 800, the middle school had plenty of space. The second was mixing preschoolers with adolescent 12–14 year olds could present problems. "It shouldn't work, but it does," Stark said. "In fact, it not only works, it's thriving." After Stark's off...

  • West Plains Police News

    Updated Feb 22, 2018

    CHENEY Feb. 12 Domestic violence/verbal dispute was reported on the 1000 block of First Street. A missing person was reported on the 200 block of South Cheney-Spangle Road. The person was subsequently located. A 15-year-old male was arrested as a runaway juvenile on the 800 block of West First Street. Feb. 13 A mental health issue was reported on the 300 block of Erie Street. Subject was involuntarily committed. Feb. 14 Jimmy Bryant, 61, was arrested on the 500 block of Second Street for fourth-degree assault/domestic...

  • West Plains Briefs

    Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Cheney blood drive April 28 The Inland Northwest Blood Center together with Cheney community volunteers led by coordinator Duane Isaac will hold a blood drive on Friday, Feb. 23, from 1 – 4 p.m. at the Marketplace Bakery & Eatery on First Street in Cheney. INBC needs an average of 200 blood donors every day to meet the needs of more than 35 hospitals in the Inland Northwest. A single donation can save the lives of up to three people. Cheney book club meets on Tuesday, Feb. 27 The Cheney Friends of the Library book club w...

  • What's Happening On The West Plains

    Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Cheney • Feb. 27, Cheney Book Club, “The Daughter’s Walk,” community library, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. • March 1, Kiwanis meeting, Sessions Village Clubhouse 2229 N. Sixth St., 7 a.m. • March 1, Ladies Auxiliary meeting, 116 College Ave., 6 p.m. Airway Heights • Feb. 23, 26 and 28, SAIL (Stay Active and Independent for Life) for active adults 65+, Airway Heights Community Center 13120 West 13th Ave., 9 – 10 a.m. Medical Lake • Feb. 21, Women’s Auxiliary meeting, 223 South Hallett St., 1 p.m. • Feb. 22, Lions Club meeting, 123 South...

  • Churches

    Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Cheney Congregational Church Cheney Congregational Church invites everyone to join our worship service this Sunday at 10 a.m. We’re a welcoming church which encourages diverse theological viewpoints. Come and be inspired by the thought-provoking sermon delivered by Rev. David Krueger-Duncan. Plan to stay for coffee and conversation in the fellowship hall after. The men’s breakfast will be Sunday, Feb. 25 at 7:45 a.m. at The Marketplace and Bakery. There is always an enthusiastic exchange of ideas and personal interests. Our...

  • Looking Back

    Updated Feb 22, 2018

    1 Years Ago Feb. 21, 2008 Washington Trust Bank opened a new West Plains branch in Airway Heights. The bank’s opening ceremony brought appearances from Airway Heights Mayor Matthew Pederson, who was also the president of the West Plains Chamber of Commerce, and members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars who performed a flag raising during the ceremony. Medical Lake Kiwanis presented its annual Senior of the Year Award to Judy Abbott of Medical Lake. Cheney High School’s Jason Skjothaug overcame a first round loss to battle thr...

  • It is past time for Congress to take action in gun deaths in the U.S.

    Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Gun violence is one of the leading causes of death in our country and these deaths are preventable. We get angry and demand those in Congress do something. Truth is, many members of Congress have presented bills, but they go absolutely nowhere in the Republican controlled Congress. Here are a few bills that Republicans refuse to address: a bill to strengthen background checks on gun purchases, a bill to ban assault weapons, a bill to prohibit the sale of bump-stock devices, a bi-partisan bill that would prevent anyone...

  • Community made Festival of Chocolate a success

    Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Emmanuel Lutheran Church would like to thank the community for helping us with our ninth annual Festival of Chocolate. The turnout was wonderful, and all had a great time. Thanks also go to the Cheney Free Press for the nice piece in the newspaper. We want to thank the Thrivent Action Team for the “seed money” that purchased the needed food and beverages for the kitchen. Marcia Mecklenburg headed up the “Get Fit Bag” and the congregation helped fill it with great items. The “Get Fit Bag” was won by Christie McKee of Lutheran...

  • We need to save humanity in order to save this planet of ours

    FRANK WATSON, Contributor|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    I drove over to Wenatchee last week for a meeting. As is normal for me when I travel alone, I enjoyed the countryside and day-dreamed most of the way. As I drove pass the irrigation canals, forests of electric transmission lines and crossed the bridge at Vantage, it dawned on me that we have transformed this planet into a habitat for humans. Not long ago, Central Washington was an expanse of arid sage brush. Now it is crisscrossed with paved roads, and the sage brush scrubland has been replaced with lush cropland. As a boy I...

  • Military leaders can help transform education in our country

    DON C. BRUNELL, Contributor|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Do good military commanders make good education leaders? That is a question which Montana’s Higher Education Commission will answer in the coming years. However, if the new University of Montana president follows the pattern set by former Seattle Public School Superintendent John Stanford and Clark College President Bob Knight, the answer will be a resounding yes. Seth Bodnar, 38, is the youngest UM president since World War II. He started in January. He doesn’t have the cov...

  • Try to support those little bands in the music world

    Grace Pohl, Staff Intern|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    I am all about discovering some new and good country music. And at the end of 2016, I found my favorite country band to date when I attended an Old Dominion concert at the Knitting Factory in downtown Spokane. I had heard a few of their songs on the radio before, but hadn’t thought much of it. They were good songs, but not my favorite at the time. I had seen them previously when they were the opening act for Kenny Chesney at Centurylink Stadium, but they sang only a few songs and I didn’t really get to enjoy their full pot...

  • Cheney's Karen McCormick to appear at Mason Jar, releases single

    Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Cheney singer-songwriter Karen McCormick is releasing her new single “Just a Song” to digital retailers on March 16. The single was produced by Matt Carey and recorded in Nashville during McCormick’s three-month internship, September – December 2017, at Warner Music. A student at Eastern Washington University and 2013 graduate of Cheney High School, McCormick said in a news release that she got the inspiration for “Just a Song” while listening to country music star Keith Urban’s “Break on Me” on her car radio. The song b...

  • News Briefs

    STAFF AND NEWS REPORTS|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Armored truck involved in SR 904 accident Icy conditions due to the heavy snowfall last Wednesday led to a one-vehicle accident on State Route 904 involving a lot of money. At approximately 11:30 a.m. a Loomis armored truck heading towards Cheney slid off the roadway near the SR 904 intersection with Meadow Lake Road, about three miles north of Cheney and rolled. Washington State Patrol officials said one of the occupants in the truck experienced non-life threatening injuries and was transported to a local medical center for...

  • District representatives host town hall Feb. 22

    Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Ninth Legislative District legislators Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, and Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, will host a telephone town hall for constituents. The one-hour event will take place Thursday, Feb. 22, beginning at 6 p.m. If residents do not receive a phone call inviting them to the program they may call (509) 724-2970 to join in. Once connected, participants can press STAR (*) on their telephone key pads to ask the lawmakers a question. Schmick and Dye are expected to discuss the 2018 legislative session, including recent...

  • Learn to play hockey comes to Cheney March 3

    PAUL DELANEY, Staff Reporter|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    The Inland Empire Amateur Hockey Association has a new home in Cheney and they want to invite the community to get to know them, and their sport. Along with USA Hockey, the national body that oversees all amateur aspects of the sport, the local organization will present a "Try Hockey for Free" event at Eastern Washington University's Recreation Center ice rink on Saturday, March 3 starting at 1 p.m. It's part of a "Hockey Weekend Across America" where the youth sport is spotli...

  • Cheney High FBLA club does well at Northeast Regional Winter Conference

    Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Cheney High School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) club had 52 of its 58 attending members place in the top-six of a variety of categories at the annual Northeast Regional Winter Conference, held Feb. 7 at the Eastpoint Church in Spokane Valley. Advisor Adam Smith said in a press release that “club members placed 93 times in the competition” and “first in 21 of 57 different events.” Those in the top-six are eligible to compete at the State Business Leadership Conference at Bellevue’s Hyatt Regency Hotel April...

  • Airway Heights transportation plan is moving ahead

    Grace Pohl, Staff Intern|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    The transportation circulation plan (TCP) in Airway Heights is still underway and is set to get approved by City Council sometime in March. But it took a while to get to this point. The plan was first authorized in 2016. After a delay, it was finished in 2017. "The intent is to review the capacity and safety issues in the city," Public Works Director Kevin Anderson said. "We asked how much growth do we have in the city and where are the points we need to work on for future imp...

  • Cheney council OKs solid waste truck buy

    John McCallum, Editor|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Cheney’s City Council approved surplusing three vehicles at its Feb. 13 meeting — then turned around and bought a new one at over double the price of the three combined. Two of the vehicles were in the street department, with the third in solid waste. The latter is a 2010 Autocar front loader with a Curotto unit the city first attempted to use as a trade-in for another vehicle. Public Works Director Todd Ableman said they were only offered $77,000 for the vehicle. Believing it is worth minimum of $90,000, the department ele...

  • In the top 100 of safe places

    John McCallum, Editor|Updated Feb 22, 2018

    Results from a study of college campuses and associated cities has ranked Cheney and Eastern Washington University among the 100 safest in the country. The results, released Feb. 13, by the National Council for Home Safety and Security listed EWU/Cheney as the 73rd safest campus among universities with enrollment of 10,000 students or more. Eastern and Washington State University were the only two Washington schools to crack the top 100. “This was from over 2,000 universities above 10,000 (students),” Cheney Police Chief Joh...

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