Articles from the November 8, 2018 edition


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  • More money needed to play

    SHANNEN TALBOT, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    The Airway Heights City Council held a public hearing on Nov. 5 on the city’s 2019 final preliminary budget, and also approved two measures allocating additional monies to the Airway Heights Recreation Complex project. Council unanimously approved the use of money from two separate real estate excise tax funds (REET) to go toward the construction of the recreation center, which has been under construction since November 2017. About $229,000 from REET 1 and $197,000 from REET 2 will go toward the complex’s completion. The cit...

  • Lady Blackhawks soccer team falls to Ellensburg

    SHANNEN TALBOT|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    Following a loss to East Valley in the Great Northern League championships on Oct. 30, the Lady Blackhawks varsity soccer team took on Ellensburg in a postseason regional tournament, putting up a valiant effort but ultimately succumbing 3-2 in overtime. Cheney (11-9, 7-5) travelled to Ellensburg to challenge the Lady Bulldogs but couldn’t overcome a lackluster first half to secure the win. A goal by Ellensburg in the 33rd minute left Cheney trailing for the entire first half. A second score from the Bulldogs in the 59th minut...

  • Getting to know the history of powderpuff football

    SHANNEN TALBOT, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    With Cheney High School’s annual powderpuff football game drawing near, it makes you wonder — how did this become a thing? Who had the idea to give the women the pigskin and shoulder pads and make the men shake the pom-poms? The game is a custom all its own, with unique historical roots that can be traced back nearly a century. “Powderpuff football” is a long-standing fall tradition at high schools all over the nation, and is traditionally a touch- or flag-football game played by teenaged girls, often while boys dress u...

  • Get used to it – athletes engaging in politics are here to stay

    SHANNEN TALBOT, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    Last week, professional wrestlers John Cena and Daniel Bryan announced that they would not be participating in the World Wrestling Entertainment’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia. The move shocked sports analysts and caused WWE stock to plummet, but Cena and Bryan held firm. In the wake of the brutal murder and subsequent cover-up of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi government agents, they refused to participate in one of the largest events ever hosted by their chosen sport. In recent years, everyone f...

  • Medical Lake finishes ninth at 1A state cross country

    PAUL DELANEY, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    To win at state in cross country means you have to get there first. When reaching Pasco, running fast and finishing strong is the difference. Medical Lake got the first box checked, but then ran out of ink last Saturday on the 5,000-meter Sun Willows Golf Course layout where the Cardinals finished ninth behind team champion Lakeside, their Northeast A League rivals. The Eagles swept both boys and girls team titles. They tied with Cascade of Leavenworth with 113 points, the...

  • Blackhawks can't find groove in season-ending loss to Othello

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    Cheney High's football team ended its 2018 season with its fourth-straight defeat, never really finding its rhythm in a 27-7 loss last Friday night to visiting Othello in crossover action between the Great Northern League and the Central Washington Athletic Conference. The Huskies were the beneficiaries of three touchdowns by Isaac Barragan, the first coming on a 45-yard scoop and score of a Cheney fumble with 2 minutes, 26 seconds to play in the first quarter. Barragan added...

  • Eagles vs. California-Davis

    Updated Nov 8, 2018

    No. 5/3 ranked Eastern Washington University vs. 4/7 University of California-Davis, Saturday, November 10, 1:05 p.m. Roos Field (8,500). TV: Live regionally on SWX. Radio: 700-AM ESPN and 105.3-FM in the Spokane/Cheney area. Larry Weir returns for his 28th season calling the play-by-play, with analysis handled by Paul Sorensen for the 16th year. Broadcasts begin one hour prior to kickoff and include an expanded post-game show....

  • Eagles, Aggies have Big Sky showdown at Roos

    PAUL DELANEY, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    These are the games and times everyone works for and plays for this time of year. They’re the matchups that matter, like Saturday’s at Roos Field when the No. 5/3 Eastern Washington University Eagles take on No. 4/7 UC Davis in a showdown of teams ranked in the top -10 nationally. Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. on Senior Day, as 27 EWU players and their families will be honored in pre-game introductions. “We talk about it all the time, how we want to get everybody’s best sh...

  • Cardinal volleyball snubbed by league, Free Press

    Updated Nov 8, 2018

    As parents of a daughter who played on the Medical Lake Varsity volleyball team this season, we have followed the program for the last six years. Over those years we saw the ups and downs, the wins and losses, the joys and heart aches. We saw this year how they improved and worked together as a team to go further than any other ML volleyball team in recent memory, making it to the district playoffs. We would like time to thank coach Harr and Cromer for sticking with the program and getting the team to where It is at today....

  • Thanks for a successful Cheney winter coat drive

    Updated Nov 8, 2018

    You did it again, Cheney. It will be a warmer winter for many thanks to the hard work and generosity of the Cheney community. A total of 478 coats were donated to this year’s coat drive, the second largest donation ever. Of those, 353 were given away at three separate distributions. The remaining coats have been donated to the Cheney clothing exchange. A special thanks goes to the Cheney Kiwanis without whose work this event could not happen, Big Wash for laundering many of the coats, Copy Junction for printing the p...

  • Military also adjusting to nationwide worker shortages

    DON C. BRUNELL, Contributor|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    When our military is viewed as an employer, it has the same problem as the private sector; attracting qualified people to fill jobs. In today’s vibrant economy, there is an abundance of “Help Wanted” signs. Even though our armed forces have stepped up their enlistment bonuses, they still fall short of their recruitment goals. There are just fewer qualified people in the employment pool to fill jobs which require higher educational standards, more skills, a willingness to wo...

  • The future is in good hands with new generations

    FRANK WATSON, Contributor|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    By FRANK WATSON I did my student teaching at Shadle Park High School several years ago. I was a nontraditional student in that I had a full Air Force career behind me and was significantly older than most teacher candidates. I walked into my assigned class and introduced myself to my mentor teacher. He took one look at the mature guy with a full beard and said, “You got it.” I never saw him again. I was left with 15 advanced students who were as leery of me as I was of them. The text book had “Current World Problems” printed...

  • 'First Man' delivered a dose of fond nostalgia

    PAUL DELANEY, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    By the time these words are read by those other than editing eyes, one of the most bitter mid-term elections in our times will have thankfully been finished. Forgotten? Not at all. Whomever claims victory in the “Mudstock 2018” will crow until the cows come home. And the loser, well that all depends. Just hope most of it can wash off. There are probably any number of ways to either celebrate or commiserate, some of those taking place at one’s favorite watering hole. I hope...

  • Cheney district accepting feedback on boundary review

    SHANNEN TALBOT, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    The Cheney School District has begun its boundary review process, creating an online survey for parents and community members to weigh in on the adjustment of school boundaries. According to education officials, the review will help the district balance school sizes and manage its escalating enrollment. The district’s population topped out at 4,832 students as of the beginning of this month, up 288 kids from the final count of the 2017-2018 school year. Enrollment has spiked throughout the district but is particularly high a...

  • NEWS BRIEFS

    STAFF AND News Reports|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    Enrollment is open for Washington’s GET Program Olympia—The state’s GET program is now open for a new enrollment period, providing Washington families an opportunity to start saving for future college costs while their children are young. The 2018-2019 enrollment period runs through May 31, 2019. Since it’s opening in 1998, The Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program has distributed over $1 billion to more than 50,000 students who have used their GET accounts to attend college in all 50 states and 15 foreign countri...

  • Cheney Free Press Thanksgiving deadlines

    Updated Nov 8, 2018

    The Cheney Free Press will be closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 22-23, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Therefore, we will be laying out the Nov. 22 issue on Monday, Nov. 19; printing and mailing on Tuesday, Nov. 20, for delivery Wednesday, Nov. 21. Deadlines for the submittals for the Nov. 22 issue have changed. Legals must be submitted to the office by noon Friday, Nov. 16. Classifieds must be submitted by 11 a.m., Nov. 19. All submitted editorial content — including churches, public service announcements and l...

  • Republicans winning most county, legislative races

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    With the exception of just a few races, Republican candidates were proving to be the big winners on election night, Nov. 6. In the 6th legislative district, Cheney’s Jeff Holy was easily defeating his Democratic challenger Jessa Lewis, 54.60 – 45.15 percent, in the race for the state senate seat vacated by Mike Baumgartner, while Republican Rep. Mike Volz was safely ahead of challenger Kay Murano, 53.19 – 46.69 for the House Position 1 seat. The only race still up for grabs was the House Position 2 seat which pitted Democ...

  • Cheney High School hosts first 'Arts and Culture Night'

    SHANNEN TALBOT, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    On Nov. 2, more than 17 clubs and classes set up tables at Cheney High School, all offering various activities related to their organization. The French Club? Serving up hot homemade crepes. The floral design class? Hand-making rings and bracelets from real blooms. The event was dreamed up by the Cheney High School Writer's Club, which came up with the idea to showcase the interesting clubs and classes the school has to offer, according to adviser and AP Literature and...

  • Medical Lake's Johnson honored by West Plains Chamber

    PAUL DELANEY, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    Medical Lake schools band teacher Craig Johnson was concerned when he was called to high school principal Chris Spring's office, particularly when, as he entered, there sat a couple of his students. "It was funny how he told me," Johnson said. Seeing a couple of his students sitting there as he walked in to see Spring, Johnson was thinking "Oh no, what happened?" What followed was official word from his boss that Johnson had been singled out among dozens of teachers in the...

  • Eastern Washington partners with Spokane Transit to promote literacy

    Updated Nov 8, 2018

    A local literacy campaign created by two Eastern Washington University faculty members will be featured in Spokane Transit Authority bus shelters in an effort to promote conversations about childhood language development. Targeting children five years and younger, Project ELLO (Everyday Language and Literacy Opportunities) encourages language skill development through visuals in everyday places, like the grocery store or bus plaza. In celebration of this partnership, Eastern Washington University and the STA hosted a launch p...

  • Cheney tackles elementary math achievement

    SHANNEN TALBOT, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    Math can be a difficult subject, and it's common for students to struggle with it as children and young adults. But according to recent test scores, elementary students in the Cheney School District are grasping grade-level math concepts much better than their older counterparts. Third-graders in the Cheney district are meeting math benchmarks at a significantly higher rate than older students. About 66 percent of incoming third-graders met required math benchmarks last year,...

  • Spooky and creepy

    John McCallum|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    Area school children got a chance to meet some scientists, enjoy cool activities and experiments while learning a little science at Eastern Washington University's first "Spooky Science" exhibit as part of the annual HarvestFest trick or treat activity on campus Oct. 31....

  • Cheney general fund budgets previewed

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    Administration and Finance stable Little is changing when it comes to the city of Cheney’s finance and administration department 2019 budgets and goals. Finance In a presentation at the Oct. 23 City Council meeting, Finance Director Cindy Niemeier said the department’s budget dropped about $400,000 from just over $3.82 million to $3.484 million next year. About $2.346 million of that is in funds or portions of other funds managed by Finance, with the department functions costs coming in at $1.138 million, a dip of $94...

  • Keeping tabs on the tallies

    John McCallum|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    Eastern Washington University students staffed the Associated Press' 2018 Western Region Election Center at the Fieldhouse on Tuesday night. Students gathered voting information from counties in 17 states as well as Washington D.C....

  • Reitmeier property on auction block

    PAUL DELANEY, Staff Reporter|Updated Nov 8, 2018

    Saying it is time to put property on which he grew up into the hands of others, Bob Reitmeier is selling the 457-acre dairy farm with frontage on Silver Lake at Absolute Auction on Nov. 15. "I was raised on this farm as a boy," Bob Reitmeier, 76, said in a press release from auctioneer, J.P. King. "My wife (Janice) and I raised our own kids on this farm, but timing is right for us to move on. There is now a higher and better use for the property than for a dairy farm." The...

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