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Cheney High School’s girls’ swimming team placed fourth overall at districts, with numerous swimmers advancing to the state competition later this month. The district championships where held in Ellensburg, Wash. at Central Washington University Nov. 1 and 2. The state championships are set to take place in Federal Way, Wash. Nov. 15-16. “This year was really, really good,” head coach Jennifer Hochwalt said. The team started with a number of novice swimmers, who either had no experience or just under a month from the previou...
Standardized test scores at Medical Lake High School remained steady in recent years, including the latest numbers for the class of 2013, which were recently released. Director of Teaching and Learning Kim Headrick gave a brief report on SAT and ACT scores from the 2012-2013 school year at the Oct. 22 school board meeting. Approximately 45 percent of seniors at Medical Lake High School took the SAT. Reading scores were at 497, writing scores at 464 and math scores at 491 for the school year. Those taking the ACT were much few...
Spokane County Fire District 10, the Airway Heights Fire Department and the Medical Lake Fire Department are looking to perform a cooperative services assessment to find better ways of working together. The three agencies are hoping to consolidate their resources, continuing to build on an already strong relationship that has been forged over the last couple of years. Currently all three fire departments train new recruits together and help with special events. They also have an automatic aid agreement, which means if Airway...
Brace yourselves, the deer apocalypse has struck! Protect your petunias, fence up your ferns and for heaven’s sake, lock up your lavender, the deer are coming! Well, at least that’s the way it seems to be in Medical Lake. A new ordinance that nearly made it before the Medical Lake City Council would prohibit feeding of deer while in the city limits and set up violation penalties for those committing such a heinous act. The first reading of the ordinance was tabled at the last meeting, but you can almost guarantee that it wil...
Medical Lake’s biannual Healthy Youth Survey yielded mixed results during a report at the Medical Lake School District board of directors meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 22. The anonymous survey is administered to students in grades six, eight, 10 and 12, and is conducted throughout the region. Medical Lake Middle School assistant principal Scott Blasingame said one test goal was to ensure that harassment, intimidation and bullying weren’t occurring in the buildings. As usually goes with bullying the middle school had the larger num...
It’s October, and that means it’s time for the greatest spectacle in the history of sports: the end of another Seattle Mariners season. On “The X-Files,” FBI agent Fox Mulder said “I want to believe” regarding the existence of extra-terrestrial life. Mariners fans across the Northwest, including myself, have adopted the saying for the team, wanting to believe that one day the team will manage to have a stretch of success. The organization is arguably in deeper despair than it was at its last major crisis, around 2008 when i...
Since 1989, Peggy Schweikhardt has served on the Medical Lake School District board of directors, and is running unopposed for another four-year term on the board in the Nov. 5 election. At the time, she worked in the Spokane School District, but was actively looking for a way to spend more time helping families in Medical Lake. “I wanted to give back to the community,” she said. Some of the challenges she sees in the upcoming years are what the district has been working through for quite some time now. Chief among those is...
A public hearing at the Airway Heights Planning Commission’s meeting last week offered in-depth details into a proposed multifamily housing project on South Craig Road near Highway 2. After missing the last two meetings due to a lack of a quorum, the commission heard the plans from Defender Development’s Steve Emtman, who wants to provide an affordable housing option for people living in the Accident Potential Zone leading to Fairchild Air Force Base’s runway. The property is currently zoned as R-2, and could handle seven...
In addition to hearing from Spokane County and its pursuit of approving Proposition 1 in the November election, at its Oct. 17 meeting the Medical Lake City Council heard from the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS) on its plans for 2014. Under the interlocal agreement, Medical Lake and other cities across Spokane County would be united in their animal control laws. For some jurisdictions, like Medical Lake, it would mean being charged just once for a three-year contract instead of facing a charge each...
The annual budget season started up in Airway Heights at the Monday, Oct. 21 City Council meeting with a public hearing that outlined the budget presentation schedule over the next couple of months. Airway Heights has a reported assessed valuation of $460.6 million, aided by its annexation to the east. The population increased by over 25 percent in the annexation. Final numbers are expected toward the end of the year in order to aid with the budget’s formation, which will roll out to the public in November and December. T...
The Cheney High School girls swimming team took down Selah High School in a meet last Thursday. The team’s 200 medley squad took first place, consisting of Makenzie Norman, Kaylie Watters, Alexis Schmidt and Brittany Meyer, winning with a time of 2 minutes, 5.31. Continuing the winning was Kaylie Geschke in the 200 freestyle with 2:21.83. Among the other highlights included Schmidt winning the 100 fly in 1:05.29, Norman winning the 50 free in a time of 57.73. Cheney’s 200 freestyle relay team also won their race, con...
Concerned ranchers gathered at the Jensen Memorial Youth Ranch last Friday, Oct. 11 to discuss stringent new Department of Ecology rules that could impact their business. Around 60 to 80 met at the youth ranch just outside of Medical Lake to hear what other communities were doing in regard to providing support for what they view as intrusive tactics by Ecology. “It’s amazing how many people don’t realize what’s going on,” Spokane County Cattlemen president Jim Wentland said. A...
Jack Collins is looking to continue giving back to the Airway Heights community by serving on Position 2 of the Airway Heights City Council. Collins, a volunteer firefighter in the city’s Fire Department for nearly two years, said he wants to help ensure that citizens are covered and represented during the city’s growth and expansion. “I feel the next way to give back to the community is representing them on the City Council,” he said. One of the things he’d like to see in th...
Business has been good in the opening weeks for Chibu Estate Exchange in Airway Heights. Opening the store wasn’t an easy decision, but it proved to be the right move for the Okemgbo family, who have lived in the U.S. for the past eight years. Last August, they moved to Airway Heights due to a job relocation, but they couldn’t be happier. After moving to the city, Marcelina Okemgbo was searching for a way to help support her family while still being near her children dur...
Skepticism was out and about at the Medical Lake City Council meeting during a presentation on Spokane County’s Proposition 1, a levy to protect Fairchild Air Force Base. Spokane County Commissioner Al French was at the meeting, seeking support for the ballot measure, which appears on the Tuesday, Nov. 5 ballot across the county. The item would buy out mobile home parks in Airway Heights encroaching on Fairchild’s runway and turn it into developable industrial land. The City Council specifically took issue with the fact that...
Cheney volleyball remains the top dog in the Great Northern League after a mixed week of matches. The volleyball team split its two matches last week, winning and losing one. Despite that, Cheney remains on top of the GNL standings, at 5-1 in league play and 6-2 overall. Against Pullman last Tuesday night, Cheney fell behind early and, although the team made a spirited attempt to come back, was unable to overcome in the end. Pullman took all three sets in the match. “That was a tough road trip,” head coach Brianne Lowe sai...
The government shutdown is all that news outlets have been able to cover since the start of the month, but when considering that shutdowns have happened 17 times since 1976. This current “shutdown,” according to the Congressional Budget Office only affects 17 percent of the federal government. If there isn’t a business out there that can choose to shut down 17 percent of its operations for a month - cutting back on printer toner, holding off on that software upgrade, turn off lights and ask employees to reduce their milea...
Steve Lawrence is the incumbent in the only challenged race for a position on the Airway Heights City Council. Lawrence is running once again for Position 2 on the City Council to provide a voice for residents on the southern side of Airway Heights. “There’s no representation and apparently no one is rising up this time,” he said. He also said the City Council has been a productive one over the last four years, and the current makeup has made great achievements this year. The opinions are diverse and the representation is va...
Brenda Redell is seeking to retain her seat on the Medical Lake City Council in the upcoming election. She said the current makeup of the council is a big part of why she’s running for another term. The council is on the right track, she said, and has a good understanding of what the city’s residents are seeking from representatives. “I feel like we need to continue in that direction,” she said. “We’re past that learning curve.” Redell mentioned that the SR 902 project completion is something that will help spur growth i...
The Medical Lake City Council held a quick meeting Tuesday, Oct. 1, approving a moratorium on the acceptance of land use permits relating to marijuana. Nearly a year after voters approved an initiative to allow recreational sale and use of marijuana, rules finally arrived for cities to create an ordinance. City Administrator Doug Ross said there was really only one location within the city where storefronts could go. The moratorium will be addressed again once the city has crafted its ordinance for marijuana retail. Also appr...
Shirley Maike is the incumbent in Medical Lake’s race for Position 2 on the City Council. For her, the current city council, mayor and administration at City Hall have done a good job of maintaining the city’s finances. She’s running to keep that in place. “The city is in a good position both fiscally and from a public safety standpoint,” she said. Maike cited maintaining the city’s infrastructure as something on her list for the next term, as well as finding resources to be able to have that level of upkeep continue. ...
Shirley Maike is the incumbent in Medical Lake’s race for Position 2 on the City Council. For her, the current city council, mayor and administration at City Hall have done a good job of maintaining the city’s finances. She’s running to keep that in place. “The city is in a good position both fiscally and from a public safety standpoint,” she said. Maike cited maintaining the city’s infrastructure as something on her list for the next term, as well as finding resources to be able to have that level of upkeep continue. ...
The Airway Heights City Council once again tackled the issue of marijuana storefronts at its meeting Monday, Oct. 7, approving an extension of a moratorium that was enacted earlier this year. The City Council approved the extension on medical cannabis storefronts within Airway Heights, pushing the expiration date into April 2014. The moratorium would have expired Oct. 15. Airway Heights is still forming its marijuana ordinance, waiting for a final document from the state to emerge. Development Services Director Derrick Braate...
Leadership of Medical Lake comes down to two people in the Tuesday, Nov. 5 election for the city’s Mayor position. The two candidates were asked a series of seven questions each, focusing on some of the hot topics surrounding Medical Lake. John Higgins Higgins, the incumbent in this year’s race, is a lifelong resident of Medical Lake and said he has always been concerned with the issues facing the city, ensuring it provides a good place for families. “It’s a good place to raise a family,” he said. The city does have its chall...
In its first meeting since March, the Medical Lake Planning Commission heard a proposal to rezone nine acres within the city from Multifamily Residential to Single Family Residential. Planner Glenn Scholten said if kept at the multifamily zoning, the project would have 109 units as opposed to 54 single-family units. “We do have enough water,” he said. “Water is always an issue.” The developer argues changing the zoning to support single-family homes will cut down on water usage. Currently, the city budgets 1,000 gallons of po...
