Cheney Free Press -

I normally watch the news as I brew my morning cup of tea. As we were experiencing a significant winter storm, I was anxious to check school closures and road conditions. I was disappointed to find all news channels filled with Michael Cohen’s cong...

The other night while watching the PBS news, Washington state representative Pramila Jayapal, from the 7th District, was being interviewed about the “Medicare for All “ Bill 1384 which is to be presented in Congress. I felt so proud and inspired...

I spent the major portion of my working years in Cheney so when I need to make a purchase, checking with local merchants is my first choice. This week my choice was 12-foot two by fours at Jarms Hardware so the Cheney Chipsters could make the trucks...

I went to college in New York. It was a long way from home, but West Point offered to let me play football in exchange for a quality education and a career. New York was quite a culture shock for a small town farm boy. The drinking age was 18, the...

The animosity  expressed by tone of voice, facial expressions and questions about undocumented people (i.e. illegal aliens ) at political meetings amazes me. I attended a “Conversations with Cathy” (5th District Rep. McMorris Rodgers) meeting...

This is in response to the Feb. 21 story “Holding out for a hot breakfast” in the Cheney Free Press. Inmates and Gov. Jay Inslee don’t seem to get it. Incarcerated individuals are being punished, not sent to an all-expenses paid country club....

This week I got a bit of a lesson in human insensitivity, or maybe one in our unique ability to turn the appalling into the mundane if exposed to it often enough. While driving to work the other day, I noticed an elderly woman in a wheelchair struggl...

I want to share my high praise and appreciation of the city of Cheney street department for the skill and dependability with which they plow the streets of our city. They are quick to respond when it snows, and the city has invested in the...

After 12 years of being a working guy at Eastern Washington University sporting events for the Cheney Free Press and having complimentary admission, on Monday, Feb. 18 I became a paying customer. Went to the Reese Court ticket window and asked for...

I have a friend who can cuss up a storm. Talk about making sailors blush — his blue language could peel paint on a battleship. In fact, my friend drops f-bombs so much, it’s more like he’s adopted the word as an adverb or adjective...

Along with millions of other Americans, I watched last week’s State of the Union Address. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but that wasn’t it. The President was uncharacteristically subdued. He didn’t pick any fights nor call anyone names....

America’s drift away from our market-based economic system is perplexing. Equally, mystifying is the new push to replace entrepreneurs with government bureaucrats in planning and controlling services and products offered to us — the consumers....

I am deeply discouraged by the news regarding several county sheriffs and county commissioners, among others, arbitrarily deciding that Initiative 1639 is unconstitutional therefore they are not upholding it as a law. Are these same individuals, who...

I’m the executive director for the West Plains Chamber of Commerce. My job is to connect people, businesses and communities together with the vision of making our West Plains area a better place to live, work and play. I had the opportunity to...

Four Washington state counties announced they will not enforce Initiative 1639, and more may follow. I don’t understand. I was taught in high school civics class we were a federal, constitutional, democracy. I remembered the words but didn’t...

Lots is written about students exiting college saddled with hefty student loans; however, the impact on retired parents went largely unnoticed. Recently, Wall Street Journal writer AnnaMaria Andriotis reported Americans over 60 years old are coming...

Last week marked the end of a 35-day government shutdown — the longest in history. But while many federal workers are happy to see money coming in again, the relief is temporary at best. With the looming threat of another shutdown or the...

I visited a pot shop last week, something I thought I would never do. A senior citizen friend of mine has been experiencing rather severe knee pain and is trying to postpone an inevitable replacement. In the meantime, she has done almost everything:...

The good news is Washington’s cherry crop is projected to be as good as 2018; however, absent tariff relief from the ongoing U.S.-China trade tiff, a key market will remain limited. When China’s tariff went from 10 percent to 50 percent last...

Every year at this time I am reminded what a caring community we live in. Feed Cheney’s annual fundraiser is coming up this weekend, and if past years are any indication we will raise the $6,000 needed to keep Feed Cheney operating at its current... Full story

I wish to express my appreciation to the city of Cheney road maintenance personnel for their prompt response to recent snowfall in the city. I know there are many competing demands for city government services, and we usually want things done right...

Knife-wielding men killed by police. The latest example of police shooting and killing citizens in the Spokane area was Wednesday, Jan. 23. What in the world is wrong with this picture — several “trained” police in cars, armed to the teeth, app...

It’s a good time to be alive if you’re a craft beer aficionado, at least according to a recent Forbes report, which noted there were 7,082 registered craft breweries spread out across the U.S. in 2018. Vermont boasted the most craft breweries...

Necessity, as they say, is the mother of invention. That’s particularly true in difficult times when “business as usual” no longer works. As our national deficit approaches $22 trillion ($180,000 per taxpayer) and state and local governments...

After long and careful consideration, I have decided not to run for President of the United States in 2020. I realize this may come as a disappointment to my supporters, and I will leave my future options open, but the timing is just not right. This...