News briefs

FROM STAFF AND NEWS SOURCES

Cheney downtown water work to wrap up

Crews with Accelerated Construction are scheduled to wrap up work on Cheney’s “Water Bore Project” on State Route 904/First Street as early as next week, Aug. 22-26.

The $61,785 project was approved at the City Council’s June 28 meeting, and has involved relocating water services from an old 6-inch main to a newer 12-inch main along First Street between Vine/Pine and A streets, Public Works Director Todd Ableman said in an email.

“The relocation of the services mitigated current and past water leak problems in this area,” he added.

The project also included work on Second Street, and completion will include asphalt and concrete patch work. The city moved ahead with the project in order to have the work completed prior to the state Department of Transportation’s planned paving overlay of SR 904 through Cheney in 2017.

Fairchild base access procedures changing

A standard Washington driver’s license and other identification will no longer be acceptable in gaining access to Fairchild Air Force Base.

Fairchild has begun implementing the REAL ID Act, passed in 2005, and neither state forms of identification currently in use conform to requirements of the act. According to an Aug. 8 news release, the change will affect employees of companies needing unescorted access to the base, as well as individuals needing passes to visit on-base family and friends, the airpark, medical center or other locations on the installation without escort.

Washington’s Enhanced Driver’s License and IDs are REAL ID Act compliant and either can be used to prove identity. Visitors with these identification forms must still go to the base’s visitor center to get a base pass.

Other forms of ID acceptable are U.S passport or passport card, permanent resident card or alien receipt card (INS Form I-511, driver’s license or ID card issued by state or outlying U.S. possession that is Real ID compliant, Native American tribal documents and U.S. government issued, authenticated federal PIV credentials.

For more information, visit http://www.DHS.gov or contact the 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs Office at (509) 247-5705.

‘Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over’ campaign begins Aug. 19

The Washington State Traffic Safety Commission’s “Summer Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign kicks off this weekend, with extra patrols running Aug.19 – Sept. 5. Units from the city of Airway Heights and Eastern Washington University police departments will be joining other Eastern Washington agencies and the Washington State Patrol in enforcement.

According to a commission news release Aug. 15, approximately one-third of drivers arrested in Washington were drug-positive in 2015, according to a new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The same study showed that 5 percent of Washington drivers were alcohol-positive with 1 percent exceeding the per se limit of .08 BAC.

The NHTSA study mirrors the state’s deadly crash data. In 2015, there were 251 impaired drivers involved in deadly crashes. Of these drivers, nearly 60 percent of these drivers tested positive for multiple drugs, or drugs mixed with alcohol.

AH council approves lodging tax disbursement

The Airway Heights City Council breezed through its Aug. 1 meeting, which only had two action items.

Council approved a $3,500 Lodging Tax Advisory Committee funding request to help market the Airway Heights Days, which is scheduled for Aug. 19-20.

J.C. Kennedy, Parks, Recreation and Community Services Director, said the money will pay for print and radio advertisements to help promote the event.

Council also adopted the proposed water use efficiency goal and measures.

Public Works Director Kevin Anderson explained the goal is to reduce seasonal outdoor potable water use by 5 percent by 2021.

One of proposed measures to achieve this goal is transferring the irrigation systems at Traditions, Cleveland and Aspen Parks off the city’s potable water system and onto its reclaimed water system.

Another measure is to have large and commercial institutional users, such as Spokane Rock and the Department of Corrections, reconnect to the city’s reclaimed water system.