Articles from the December 30, 2021 edition


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  • Spokane - Palouse Winter Storm Warning

    Jonathan Olsen-Koziol|Updated Jan 5, 2022

    The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the Spokane – Palouse area and much of western Chelan County as well. Cheney, Spokane, Medical Lake, and the entire inland Northwestern and Palouse areas were all issued a warning for a winter storm rolling through from 9 PM, Wednesday, Jan. 5 through 4 PM, Thursday, Jan. 6. The advisory says there will be an additional three to eight inches of snow accumulation with the heaviest accumulations along and east of US-195. Colfax, Worley, Cheney, Fairfield, H...

  • Frigid New Year's weekend on tap

    Olivia Harnack, Special to the Free Press|Updated Jan 5, 2022

    CHENEY – The National Weather Service is warning residents and travelers that an Arctic air mass will continue to bring frigid temperatures to the regional through the first half of the New Year's weekend. "Dangerously cold temperatures will impact Eastern Washington and North Idaho through the remainder of the workweek," the agency reported in a special weather statement released Tuesday. "High temperatures will only warm into the single digits and teens." Overnight lows are...

  • Weekend Weather

    Updated Jan 5, 2022

    New year weather forecast...

  • Updated Dec 30, 2021

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  • Two Blackhawks bring home bronze

    Olivia Harnack, Special to the Free Press|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    SPOKANE VALLEY -- Two Blackhawks boys brought home bronze medals Dec. 23 from the Tri-County Classic wrestling tournament. Trevor Caldwell at 113 and Black Gross at 170 were Cheney's only medalists at the tournament that attracted more than 400 grapplers. Caldwell, wrestling at 113lbs, won 7-4 and scored a total of 20.0 team points for the Blackhawks. Caldwell won his first two matches, topping Gavin McCloy (Pullman) by a 6-4 decision and pinning Diego Esparza (Gonzaga Prep)...

  • Eastern grad engaged to 'The Bachelorette'

    Sarah Stephens, Features Reporter|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    CHENEY – An Eastern Washington University graduate was the winning suitor on the reality television show, “The Bachelorette.” Nayte Olukoya won the affections of Michelle Young, the bachelorette, a 28-year-old elementary school teacher from St. Louis Park, Minn. Olukoya is a 27-year old Canadian-born senior account executive living in Austin, Texas. Before moving to Texas, Olukoya attended Eastern Washington University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He has an Apple Master certifi...

  • Air Force to address Fairchild housing needs

    Matthew O. Stephens, Reporter|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE – Finding affordable adequate housing has become a very serious issue for many facets of society, and the housing needs of Fairchild Air Force Base are not currently being met, according to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Sen. Patty Murray. It was recently announced that Air Force Secretary Frank Kendell has agreed to fully evaluate the housing needs of Fairchild Air Force Base. The announcement comes just a couple of weeks after Rodgers, R-Spokane, and Murray, D-Shoreline, requested a full housing r...

  • Goodwill plans facility in Airway Heights

    Matthew O. Stephens, Reporter|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    AIRWAY HEIGHTS – Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest recently announced plans to build a new 60,000-square-foot facility here. According to records, Goodwill Industries recently purchased 6 acres of land at the southeast corner of Deer Heights Road and Flight Drive for $770,000. Goodwill CEO Clark Brekke said the facility will serve multiple purposes, but over half of the facility will be designated for salvage space that allows the bulk sale of products that don’t sell in the retail stores. Brekke said the com...

  • Report: Drought conditions improving slightly

    Jonathan Olsen-Koziol, Cheney Free Press|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    WASHINGTON – The National Weather Service released a report in December breaking down the moisture and drought information for the entire Inland Northwest. According to the report, drought conditions have shown small improvements throughout the month of December across the Inland Northwes,t especially in Southeast Washington and the southern Idaho Panhandle. These improvements were reported because the areas in the state that were experiencing exceptional and extreme drought have seen improvement. These improvements came a...

  • Airway council approves budget amendments

    Matthew O. Stephens, Reporter|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    AIRWAY HEIGHTS – Finalizing budget amendments as the year closes was the main topic of discussion during the final council meeting and study session of 2021 for the City Council. City Clerk/Treasurer Stanley Schubert brought the first action item, Ordinance No. C-981, to the council’s table. The ordinance amends the final budget for 2021. Schubert explained that some of the projected expenses will exceed departmental revenue in some areas. He proposed some interfund transfers to help balance the final budget. As an example, S...

  • Keep your vehicle ready for winter

    Matthew O. Stephens, Reporter|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    CHENEY -- Cold weather is always a little harder on vehicles, and it can be extremely beneficial to look into some preparations. With winter settling in, the sun tends to set earlier in the day and professionals with AAA said it is a good idea to make sure all vehicle lights are in working order. The battery is another component that can be quickly affected by cold weather, and the battery and charging system should be checked and inspected by a trained professional. All vehicle fluids should be checked and closely monitored...

  • Homelessness in a pandemic

    Matthew O. Stephens, Reporter|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    CHENEY – Homelessness has been an increasingly pertinent topic for several years, and even more so recently with the impact of the pandemic and aftereffects. Bob Peeler, who has been with SNAP for 40 years, said housing costs and rent have drastically increased during this period. The average cost of rent has gone up nearly 25%, and it is putting a lot of pressure on residents, he said, adding there is not enough shelter availability in Spokane County, and that is a key factor. A housing specialist, Peeler said he has seen a...

  • Crossing arm strikes vehicle

    Jonathan Olsen-Koziol, Cheney Free Press|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    CHENEY – The Police Department had to direct traffic at the corner of Betz Road and state Highway 904 on Thursday Dec. 22, after the railroad crossing equipment failed. A railroad crossing arm apparently malfunctioned and caused a struck a vehicle, Sgt. Chris English said. The arm was knocked off, said English, who was on shift during the time of the incident. English said the original collision was never reported, he collected the information through officers that were on t...

  • Homeschooling will boom long after COVID-19

    Lance Izumi, Contributor|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    Public school student enrollment has nosedived as parental disgust with school COVID-19 policies, student learning losses and controversial curricula has gone through the roof. In the wake of this enrollment implosion, homeschooling has boomed across the country. At the beginning of the current school year, the U.S. Department of Education estimated that 1.5 million students had left the public schools since the COVID-19 pandemic began. If students are not enrolling in public schools, where are they going? The numbers show...

  • Washington needs a competitive energy market

    Sen. Mike Padden, Contributor|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    Washington motorists have choices when it comes to fueling their vehicles, thanks to the free market – but the benefits of competition, beginning with cost and quality, aren’t consistently available throughout our state’s energy sector. Reliable and affordable home energy continues to be a challenge for Washington, including locally. During the last summer’s heatwave, for example, thousands of customers in the Spokane area were victims of blackouts that were intentional – outages that were deliberately engineered to deal with...

  • Parents shouldn't indoctrinate children

    Updated Dec 30, 2021

    As a university math teacher, then K-12 mentor in afterschool programs for 22 years in retirement, I can assure you that most white students in our country experience more psychological stress and anxiety when learning math than learning anything about U.S. racial history. So, are we supposed to eliminate or “dumb down” (teach less) math in our K-12 education, as many Republican legislators and school board members insist we do teaching racial history, just because they think it might make some white students anxious? It...

  • Cheney library offers art shows, science and story times

    Sarah Stephens, Features reporter|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    CHENEY -- The local library is offering artists a chance to be creative and display their artworks in a mini art show and virtual art show in January. The mini art show is where registered participants are asked to submit a 3-inch by 3-inch piece of family-friendly art to display. The library will have paint supply kits and a mini canvas. Submissions will be photographed and included in the virtual art show online. Supplies can be picked up any time after Jan. 3-21; registration closes Jan. 20. Submissions are due before...

  • Expect delays while traveling this holiday

    Olivia Harnack, Special to the Free Press|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    CHENEY – The widespread and ever changing pandemic has Americans eager to leave home. For Christmas and New Year’s Day, AAA estimates that 109 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles or more to celebrate holidays. Facilitating travel plans and organizing itineraries for the upcoming New Year’s weekend may be stressful and with the recent strong winds and freezing temperatures, travelers can expect more flight cancellations and closed interstates, the organ...

  • Jennifer Eileen Bauman

    Updated Dec 30, 2021

    Jennifer Eileen Bauman Oct. 18, 1978 - Dec. 24, 2021 Jennifer Eileen Bauman, 43, a beautiful sparkle in everyone's life, a loving wife and mother of two children, passed away on Dec. 24, 2021 after a long battle with cancer. Jennifer was born on Oct. 18, 1978 to Steve and Mary Glaser. Jennifer graduated from Post Falls High School where she participated in many sports. She was an outstanding basketball player, but her passion was always softball. She was a natural athlete in... Full story

  • Looking Back

    Updated Dec 30, 2021

    1 years ago December 29, 2011 2011 was big year for building in Cheney A train derailed on the Eastern Washington Gateway Railroad track, spilling up to 700 gallons of diesel fuel just south of the track's intersection with Cheney-spokane Road in Cheney Dec. 29. Railroad investigations later revealed a train operator failed to prepare the locomotive for switching tracks. The spill was cleaned up and the Department of Ecology said it did not leak into ground water. Youth...

  • Whatever happened to 2021?

    Updated Dec 30, 2021

    Carol Beason 30 December 2021 It seems like only yesterday that we were at the end of the road, with 2020 in our rear view mirrors. Who, on that first day of 2021, would have thought that we would still face a worldwide pandemic with deaths that continue to resemble the after effects of a tsunami, unimaginable turmoil, extreme weather conditions and a myriad of racial and social problems, the effects of which are still unknown? Well, sadly, we are still facing them as we continue to deal with the effects one year later in...

  • West Plains Police News

    Updated Dec 30, 2021

    AIRWAY HEIGHTS December 13 Natasha A Schwencer was arrested on the 14300 block West of Highway 2 for fourth degree assault/domestic violence December 23 Shay LK Haine was arrested on the 13600 block West of 6th Avenue for violating a domestic violence protection order December 27 Francis J Marceau was arrested on the 2000 block South of Craig Road for violating a domestic violence protection order...

  • Medical Lake wrestlers do well individually

    Matthew O. Stephens, Reporter|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    SPOKANE VALLEY - On December 23, the Cardinal wrestling team competed in the Tri-County Tournament at Central Valley High School, and Aden Carl won first place in the 132-pound weight division. In the 132 class, Medical Lake's Aden Carl went undefeated winning five matches and taking first place individually, and four of his wins were by pin. Carl had wins by pin over Demzel Ekholm from Mead, Nicholas Carlson out of Chewelah, Hunter Hawk from Freeman High School, Owen Zitek fr...

  • Five Liberty wrestlers medal at Tri-County

    Roger Harnack, Publisher|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    SPOKANE VALLEY – Five Liberty (Spangle) wrestlers brought home medals Thursday, Dec. 23, from the Tri-County Classic. Kariyah Strobel brought home gold in the girls 145 pound class as teammates Owen Prince at 132, Ashton Strobel at 152 and Jeshua Cwik at 182 each won silver medals in the boys division. Aaron Roberts captured bronze at boys 195. Undefeated Kariyah Strobel opened the tournament by pinning Paisley Hall of Hanford in 45 seconds. In the second round of the t...

  • Lady Cardinals shut down Shadle Park

    Matthew O. Stephens|Updated Dec 30, 2021

    SPOKANE VALLEY – Tournament play opened up for many high school teams on December 28 at West Valley High School, and the Medical Lake girls' varsity team beat Shadle Park 57-34. The Cardinals took an early lead behind a steady offensive gameplan that allowed the team to move the ball effectively and create high percentage shots. The team also utilized a lot of defensive pressure to create offensive fastbreak opportunities as well. Both Ellie Haas and Charde' Luat were ball h...

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