News briefs

Cheney coat drive will keep over 300 warm this winter

The annual Cheney Helping Cheney Community Coat drive is over and the final numbers are in for this year’s community coat drive.

According to a news release, a total of 369 coats were donated along with over 100 miscellaneous items such as hats and gloves. Of those, 310 coats were distributed at three different times and sites. 

The remaining 59 coats have been given to the Cheney Community Clothing Bank. Coat drive organizers express their thanks to the Cheney Kiwanis, Big Wash, Copy Junction, and Walker Property Management who all played a role in the success of this year’s event. Appreciation and thanks also goes to local schools, churches and businesses that had collection boxes and/or displayed signs to promote the local drive.

In an email, coat drive volunteer Carol Kriegh said Cheney-area families are warmer this winter because of the generosity and work of many.

EWU public lecture to discuss flooding on Earth and Mars’

How are Earth and Mars geologically similar? Come to Eastern Washington University’s JFK Library auditorium Friday, Nov. 18, and find out.

EWU geology professor Dr. John Buchanan will talk about the catastrophic outburst flooding by various mechanisms that have been occurring on Earth and Mars through geologic time. Buchanan will examine how the “Ice Age Floods” in Eastern Washington compare with the filling of the Mediterranean (Pliocene), the Altai and Black/Caspian Sea floods in Russia (Pleistocene), floods in the English Channel (Pleistocene), the dumping of Lake Bonneville (Pleistocene), the recent failure of the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska (2002) and ancient floods on our nearest planetary neighbor, the red planet Mars.

Buchanan has been a member of the EWU faculty of the Department of Geology for 32 years. While his academic focus includes sedimentology, hydrogeology and geomorphology, he is easily excited about all things geological. Buchanan is also a world traveler, an avid photographer and a passionate amateur astronomer.

The lecture takes place from 7–9 p.m. and is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Melanie Bell at (509) 954-4242 or email [email protected].