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For Mike McKeehan, running was a passion. So much so that the former Cheney City Councilman and long time resident who passed away last July was known as a “perennial” – someone who had run in every single Bloomsday race since the event began in 1976. Thirty-six in all – and his family hope others will join with them to make it 37 for a special cause. McKeehan passed away July 19 due to complications from pulmonary fibrosis, a disease scarring the lung tissue and damagin...
Frisbees flew and robots climbed at the FIRST Robotics Region Competition last week, held at EWU’s Reese Court Pavilion. Cheney and Medical Lake high schools sent their creations to battle with other schools from around the world. The winner moved on to the championship competition in St. Louis, Mo. later this month, April 24-27. Teams were staged in the pit, located in the indoor tennis courts of the facility. There, they could make modifications to their robot and have a h...
As warmer weather results in more pedestrian traffic, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office would like to remind both pedestrians and motorists of the rules of the road when dealing with crosswalks. Pedestrians crossing at marked crosswalks, without pedestrian control devices, need to make sure there is a natural safe void in traffic before entering the roadway. In other words, pedestrians cannot jump in front of vehicles in the crosswalk when it is not safe or possible for the vehicle to stop. Pedestrians often feel a false se...
Cheney’s Solid Waste Division begins its large item pickup Monday, April 15, running through Thursday, April 18. For $21.88, residents can leave the equivalent of one full-sized pickup truck bed, large furniture-sized items, along the curbside for collection by city crews. The amount will be charged to the resident’s monthly garbage service bill. Some of the items allowed are air conditioners, sofas, barbecues and freezers. Unacceptable items include asbestos shingles, bags of refuse, solvents, bricks and paint. For a com...
OLYMPIA – Regardless of the wet, rainy spring, wildfire season officially begins April 15, as specified by state law. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is reminding people that the risk of wildfires can change rapidly during the spring when warmer, dryer weather occurs with increasing frequency. Wildfires can damage natural resources, destroy homes, and threaten the safety of the public and the firefighters who protect forests and communities. As of April 8, 17 forest fires have already been r...
The fate of the Cheney School District’s administration facility, the Fisher Building, was the main topic of discussion at last Thursday’s meeting of Cheney’s Historic Preservation Commission. The school district has been phasing out operations at the Fisher Building, moving services to the 63-acre former Washington Air National Guard communication station site located just off Andrus Road southeast of Four Lakes. The only services currently at Fisher are a few people associated with the superintendent’s office, and those w...
The city of Cheney took one step closer to owning a piece of geological history. The City Council authorized Mayor Tom Trulove to sign a purchase and sale agreement for the purpose of buying 15 acres of property overlooking what is known as the Williams Lake Plunge Pool. The pool is located just off Williams Lake road between Williams and Badger lakes, and used to be a large cataract area as a part of the larger Ice Age floods which swept through and carved a good portion of the area and Eastern Washington and the Central...
West Plains Clubs and Organizations If your club or organization’s meeting time has changed, or you currently are not listed in this column, call 235-6184. A complete listings for each organization, including times and place, is available online at www.cheneyfreepress.com. CHENEY Al-Anon 235-8954, cell 768-4792 Alcoholics Anonymous 235-9385 American Legion Post #72 235-6181 or www.legion.org Boy Scout Troop 356 (509) 481-8172. Cheney/EWU SCOPE Phone and fax 559-5679 or 280-0622 or 624-4110 Cheney Good Sam’ers 299-9002. Che...
One of the area’s most important natural resources and attractions is the Turnbull Natural Wildlife Refuge, and a regional organization is holding a fundraiser this weekend in Cheney to help support its mission. The Friends of Turnbull are holding a dinner and auction Saturday, April 13, at the Wren Pierson Community Center, 615 Fourth St., to support the refuge. The evening begins with a wine reception and silent auction at 5 p.m., featuring the music of Spokane folk singer/songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player Mark K...
Sometimes “solid rock” turns out to be anything but sturdy stuff. Limestone and a couple other related sedimentary rocks are common in some parts of the country, including in Florida. The chemistry of limestone and groundwater can combine to make for sinkholes, or vertical holes in bedrock that can open up quickly. Sinkholes are caused by the fact that groundwater, percolating downward from the land surface, is acidic. And acids eat away at limestone, dissolving it. That means over time limestone bedrock can start to res...
Donald Eugene Holt’s faith became sight on March 23, 2013. He was 86 and a resident of Seaside, Ore. Don was born to Winnifred Lindell and Guy Donald Holt in Spokane, Wash. on Feb. 25, 1927. Don left high school to join the Navy in 1945 and served as a radar technician until 1946 on the USS Point Cruz, part of the US Pacific fleet. He was honorably discharged and returned to Cheney to finish high school. Don met Maxine Nelson while working for her father and they were married in 1950. While in Spokane, Don worked as m...
William T. Dalling (age 86), lifetime resident of the Cheney area passed away April 6, 2013 at his home. He was born Dec. 25, 1926 in Spokane to John and Mary (Mallen) Dalling and was a graduate of Cheney High School, class of 1946. Bill was an army veteran of WWII, serving in the last mounted cavalry unit until it was disbanded. He returned home after the war and worked for Melrose Bobcat for 35 years. He also worked for Keytronics, retiring in 1989. Bill always ranched on the family homestead on Thomas Mallen Road (named...
1 Years Ago April 17, 2003 The perpetual problem of parking in Cheney reared its head again as the second phase of Rob Brewster’s project promised to compound how to manage parking in the downtown core. City Administrator Doug Ross was fielding complaints over the sudden influx of portable basketball hoops that were said to be blocking pedestrians from using sidewalks. The Medical Lake Planning Commission continued its work revising the city’s 7-year-old comprehensive plan. Ultimately it was hoped their effort could tak...
Emmanuel Lutheran Church All are welcome to join us this Sunday, April 14 to celebrate the Third Sunday of Easter. Christian education classes for grade school children through adults begin at 9 a.m. Worship begins at 10:30 a.m. followed by fellowship at 11:30 a.m. StageWest thanks Emmanuel Lutheran Church for graciously sharing their facility for StageWest’s spring production of “Arsenic and Old Lace” directed by Kay Pacheco. Opening night is April 26 at 7 p.m. and runs through the second weekend in May. Ticket prices are $...
Diane and Paul Stevens were married in 1985. Both were busy with jobs. Diane was a special education teacher and Paul worked with his dad at their production machine and sheet metal shop. They lived in a mobile home court until 1996 and then moved to Cheney. An ordinary family with four young children, they worked hard and life was good. Then suddenly trouble came crashing into their lives. A ruptured brain aneurysm threatened Paul’s life and sent him by helicopter to s...
On reading an article in the Spokesman-Review Monday, March 4 paper, I became deeply incensed. Over a dozen bills are now before the legislature that have one goal – to make liquor more available to everyone – including teens. I’m unaware of any bill before the legislature that would restrict its availability. Money seems to be the main concern. Will these bills have a positive influence financially on the economy? The answer to that question may be difficult to predict. What isn’t hard to see is the impact on individ...
The Associated Press announced last week that it no longer sanctions the term “illegal immigrant” in its stylebook. Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll explained that the AP has decided it is wrong for reporters to use the word “illegal” to describe a person, but it’s OK to use the word to “describe only an action, such as living or immigrating to a country illegally.” Make no mistake about this decision. Whatever prompted the change, its practical effect is to delegitimize those who have called for tougher enforcement o...
Wall Street is a beast. And proud of it! In fact, a pair of animals are the stock market’s longtime symbols: One is a snorting bull, representing surging stock prices; the other is a bear, representing a down market devouring stock value. But I recently received a letter from a creative fellow named Charles saying that we need a third animal to depict the true nature of the Wall Street beast: a hog. Not just a little piggy, writes Charles — but a HOG, a really big one. Yes! And we could name it “Jamie.” Jamie Dimon — I mea...
It’s that time of year again for the West Plains Relay for Life! Relay for Life is an overnight fundraising event for the American Cancer Society. A fundraising event where the community can join us by: signing up a team, making a donation, or just come out to the event and walk a few laps with us in support of the Fight Against Cancer. All the money raised at our event goes to cancer research and patient services, so the money stays in the West Plains. This year the event has moved from its long time home in Cheney to M...
International finances have come under scrutiny as of late with the ever-changing situation in Cyprus. Cyprus is a shipping and energy hub for European countries. Additionally, it has served as a financial powerhouse of sorts for worldwide investments. At the onset of the crisis, the Cypriot government announced that it would be taxing bank accounts in order to recoup some of the losses. After negotiations, loans and discussion, aided by a plentiful amount of public outrage, the government said it would only place the tax on...
The Medical Lake School District board of directors passed a few updates to district policy at its last meeting, March 26 at Medical Lake Middle School. Among the changes included the new meeting start time of 6 p.m. The school board began meeting at the new time in February. Updating the document merely made the change official. Another policy passed clarified that the district superintendent was an executive officer of the board and is “responsible for the administration of the schools under applicable laws and policies o...
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor The U.S. Declaration of Independence lays it out in simply language: One of the goals of human endeavors, and an unalienable right is the pursuit of happiness. But how happy are we really? How do we measure it? How does happiness, or lack thereof, impact our daily lives? Difficult questions, but some people are beginning to take a stab at finding the answers, the latest being Eastern Washington University which launches “The Pursuit of Happiness Week” this Friday, April 12. The campaign is ass...
Taking a slow and steady approach to final approval of chapter three in Airway Heights’ comprehensive plan, the city’s planning commission gave verbal approval of the latest draft. A public hearing will take place regarding the chapter in June, after which it will pass to the City Council for its approval. At its Monday, April 8 meeting, The commission previously approved two of the sections in the chapter, looking at minor wording changes for the parks and recreation department’s community goals. “The primary issue was par...
On a visit to Cheney last Friday, 5th District Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers may not have had to listen to complaints about the impact of sequestration, but she certainly heard about a number of other concerns from local civic and business leaders assembled in the City Hall council chambers. McMorris Rodgers told those at the quickly called public meeting that as she has toured the district during Congress’s spring break she has been hearing and learning a lot about the impacts of sequestration. When she asked if C...
Robots and their creators went to battle last week at the FIRST Robotics Regional Competition at EWU’s Reese Court Pavillion. High schools from across the world duked it out, testing whether their robot could throw a Frisbee or climb a pipe pyramid. Both Cheney and Medical Lake high schools took part in the competition. Turn to page 3 to see how they performed....
