Looking Back

10 Years Ago

Aug. 17, 2009

Due to tough economic times, Cheney lowered the fee for sponsoring a banner on city light poles from $10 a month to $5 per month

Code changes gave Eastern Washington University a larger role in off-campus student discipline, requiring students to notify university officials if they were arrested off-cmapus.

The Cheney School District scored above the state averages for most areas tested on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), deficient only in eighth-grade reading by less than 1 percent. Medical Lake School District did not meet its adequate yearly progress goals in the test’

20 Years Ago

Aug. 12, 1999

A 140 percent increase in burglaries in the northeast section of Medical Lake led police to suspect a “juvenile gang” and consider enacting a curfew.

The Cheney City Council pushed for more input in hiring decisions, with some members arguing that council should have a say in the hiring of every singled department head.

The West Plains Fair at the Cheney Rodeo Grounds was set to open its doors Aug. 13-15 and include livestock judging, a teen dance and a greased pig contest for kids.

30 Years Ago

April 17, 1989

A few Cheney City Council members opposed pay hikes for the city’s elected leaders, including a $200 hike in the mayor’s monthly salary to $750 and a $25 jump for City Council members to $275 a month.

Twenty Washington school districts, including Cheney, participated in an educational conference on how to prepare students for the 21st century.

Two Eastern Washington University classes — a humanities course on “Great World Views” and a history class on “Labor History” — were set to be offered on cable television and video tapes.

40 Years Ago

Aug. 16, 1979

A dry spell sparked a record number of fires, with Spokane County Fire District 3 Chief Dwayne Paul reporting 17 fires since the first of August, including one at the Sun Runner Marina in Medical Lake that caused about $100,000 in damages.

Two new leased police vehicles arrived in Cheney, bringing the city’s Police Department fleet to a total of five cars.

A group of concerned Cheney residents circulated a petition to obtain a 60-day moratorium on any plans by the city of Cheney to demolish the old Washington Water Power interurban railroad power station, which opened in 1907. The petition began despite the fact that Cheney’s City Council had already advertised for bids for the building’s demolition.

50 Years Ago

Aug. 14, 1969

The Albert Betz estate, along with 184 acres of farmland owned by Spokane’s Anne Harder Wyatt, was involved in an exchange of land in excess of $500,000. The Betz estate alone represented 750 acres of well-maintained farmland. The properties sold to the state of Washington to be added to the Eastern Washington State College campus.

A guest of the Washington Association of Wheat Growers, Washington Wheat Commission and the Western Wheat Association, the chief of the Import Section of the Wheat and Barley Import Planning Unit of the Japanese Government Food Agency visited Eastern Washington to observe the quality of wheat and barley being produced in the Pacific Northwest that year.

Sen. Warren G. Magnuson expressed concern over planned nuclear testing on Amchitka Island in the Aleution Islands, citing worries about long-range effects to human health, weather patterns and wildlife.