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Medical Lake Assembly of God Church has been restored to its original condition after vandalism caused more than $130,000 in damage last January. See the story in Neighbor News, Section 2....
Lightning storms lit up the skies last Tuesday night across the Inland Northwest. Around 500 lightning strikes were recorded and, despite having a red flag warning in effect, started no brushfires....
The lights are on, and the stage is almost set, offering a chance for the public to shine in the Airway Heights spotlight and put their talent on display. As part of the Airway Heights Festival next month, residents can compete in the first annual “Airway’s Got Talent” show. Organizer Jacob Powers was looking for something to add to the upcoming festival in hopes of keeping families and visitors in town through the evening. A car show, watermelon races and various music acts draw big crowds to Airway Heights throughout both...
All-day kindergarten is coming to the Medical Lake School District this year, although it took some effort to make it become a reality. After several years, the district’s revenue level is projected to be back where it was in the 2007-08 school year, which aided the process. At the Tuesday, July 23, school board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Pam Veltri said Medical Lake was about 40 buildings behind those that were selected on a list for all-day kindergarten funding. As a result, the district needed to scrape together some m...
The city of Airway Heights received some welcome news earlier this month regarding property that encroaches on Fairchild Air Force Base. The state Legislature approved $2.7 million in funding to purchase land in Accident Potential Zone II, which lies in the approach to Fairchild’s runway. Airway Heights has made previous attempts at reducing the density in the area, but the Legislature’s funding provides a big step to making the plan a reality. “We were very optimistic that it would be supported,” City Manager Albert Tripp s...
Airway Heights’ water reclamation well is up and running, giving the city a sustainable source of water into the future. The well came online Wednesday, June 26 and has been performing just as expected for the city, and marks the beginning of the end of a string of public works upgrades in the city. “The project is nearing completion,” City Manager Albert Tripp said. “We expect it to be finished before the end of August.” As a result of the well’s completion, Airway Heights has a water consumption footprint of nearly zero...
An award to R&L Landscape Construction for Airway Heights’ tree planting in Aspen Grove Park was revoked at the Monday, July 15 City Council meeting. Parks, recreation and community services director J.C. Kennedy said the company failed to produce a performance and payment bond to the city within 10 calendar days from their initial award notice June 4. Since the company didn’t follow policy, the award was revoked, as was a non-refundable bid deposit of $800. Moments later, the bid award was presented to Environment West Inc...
The discussion of banning or heavily restricting fireworks in Medical Lake took a serious step forward as a result of the recent Fourth of July celebration in the city. Councilman Howard Jorgenson was first to bring up the subject at the Tuesday, July 16 City Council meeting. “There is a difference between fireworks and these M-80s,” he said, noting that he couldn’t hear the TV in his living room even when it was set at maximum volume. He further noted that having houses all around lighting off the bigger fireworks was a lit...
For the past year, the food bank has enjoyed its spacious new location at 207 S. Washington St. It’s reaped the benefits of having a very accessible location in Medical Lake, next to the library and post office. “The new facility is half again what we had before. We streamlined the operation so we’re able to move people through here more quicker,” Food Bank director Peg James said. Before moving into the new building, the food bank’s system for serving clients was far less efficient than it is today. In addition, the past...
After many delays and much deliberation, the Airway Heights Planning Commission gave its recommendation to the City Council regarding amendments to the city’s general commercial and mixed-use overlay policies. Development Services Director Derrick Braaten said the process, which started back in the late months of 2011, has seen numerous delays along the way due to various factors. Among them included Spokane County’s implementation of its Joint Land Use Study and receiving comments from various jurisdictions involved in the...
Team Gleason is hosting a series of three trail runs throughout the Inland Northwest, and the next one is set to take place at 49 Degrees North, Sunday, Aug. 4. Proceeds from the trail run will benefit the Gleason Initiative Foundation as well as Spokane’s Crosswalk Teen Shelter. The course runs through the Colville National Forest throughout the Chewelah Peak area, starting at the Calispel Creek Lodge. Jackie Gleason, a teacher at Medical Lake School District’s Michael Anderson Elementary and stepmother to former New Orl...
In January, the Lake City Assembly of God church in Medical Lake was vandalized, with damage strewn throughout the building. The church banded together to make repairs and get back into the sanctuary as quickly as possible. Now about half a year after the incident, the church is back to having services in its sanctuary and there are only a few loose ends to tie up before calling the renovation complete. Pastor Nick Hawkins said there was about $130,000 in damage when...
I’m not a rodeo guy. Roping cattle, wearing chaps and staring down the eyes of a raging bull just aren’t really my cup of tea and the closest I get to cattle tends to be around dinnertime. My grandpa enjoyed rodeos, however, and I was lucky to see one with him some years ago. It’s a memory I still cherish today. While I’m not a rodeo guru, I do appreciate the labor and amount of hard work that go into the rodeo lifestyle, traveling across the country, hoping to make the next competition on time. It’s similar to the lifestyle...
Airway Heights received some welcome news late last week from the Washington state Legislature regarding the state budget. City Manager Albert Tripp said the Legislature included $2.7 million for purchasing land in Accident Potential Zone Two. Included in the land is residential property that resides in the flight path to Fairchild Air Force Base. “This is a huge win for the region and also for the city,” Tripp said at the Monday, July 1, City Council meeting. The city and other non-profit agencies are currently in the proces...
The Medical Lake School District board of directors approved an increase in the sports and season ticket prices for the 2013-14 school year. Among the reason for the increase includes the district needing two officials instead of three for basketball. “We’ve had a lot of increases in officials costs,” Veltri said. The price increase, she said, is also issue for auditors who might look at the lower ticket prices as a gift of public funds. “We need to be comparable to other school districts in the state,” Veltri said. The schoo...
Last year, the Medical Lake School District was busy gearing up for its first year heavily immersed in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). This summer will be just as busy as the school district moves into the second of its three-year STEM grant from the Department of Defense. The grant is helping fund a math and study skills class to all incoming eighth-graders and freshmen who might be interested in boosting some of their skills. The hands-on program...
Cheney firefighters survey one of the vehicles damaged in a two-car collision last Wednesday near Safeway on SR 904. The minor-injury crash caused traffic to back up for a period of time....
The city of Medical Lake is receiving a big upgrade to its utility billing system which will allow customers the opportunity and convenience of paying bills online. The wheels for the software conversion started moving three or four years ago, City Administrator Doug Ross said. Working in earnest over the past year, the city is in the final stages of beginning to accept utility payments online through Vision Municipal Solutions and Invoice Cloud. “It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “We’ve looked at this for a long time...
Cheney’s MacKenna Jones has an ambitious goal to earn her Gold Award for Girl Scouts. Jones decided to honor our nation’s veterans with a Fallen Soldier statue that will be placed at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake. But to make the project a reality, she needs fundraising help to purchase the statue. To date, she is halfway to her $8,000 goal, pushing for a Sept. 21 ceremony where it will be unveiled at the cemetery. The idea for the statue all sta...
The month of July is a time to get outdoors, and Airway Heights is seizing the opportunity to highlight the many parks in the city. Throughout the entire month, various events will take place in Airway Heights in coordination with the Parks and Recreation Department. At the heart of the month’s celebration is a poster contest for city residents, centering around the theme “I (heart) my Parks and Rec.” Recreation assistant Glen Horton said residents can upload a photo or video with them and one of the posters to the city...
At its monthly study session, the Airway Heights City Council listened to a plan that could help create a long-term plan for one of its busiest streets. The Public Works Department is looking to put together a task order with Sunburst Engineering regarding the future of the Hayford Road and Highway 2 intersection. “The Hayford Road intersection is becoming a really big deal,” Airway Heights’ public works director, Kelly Williquette, said. Sunburst would be a partner in creating a long-term mitigation plan for the inter...
The start of the Tuesday, June 18 Medical Lake City Council meeting went right into executive session. After 10 minutes, the City Council resumed regular session and took action to accept a settlement for $1,886.04 from Cingular Wireless regarding taxes collected from wireless customers’ bills over the course of three years after the company was bought by AT&T. Some of that money was supposed to be sent to local jurisdictions, but was never disbursed. Many other larger cities presented Cingular with a lawsuit in order to r...
Airway Heights’ sewer comprehensive plan will receive some review and revision for $20,000, four years after the last upgrade took place. At its Monday, June 17 meeting, the City Council authorized TD&H Engineering to handle the review, which will also include looking at future areas of the city that aren’t using the sewer system right now. City Manager Albert Tripp pointed out that the Southwest corner of the city, near Craig and McFarlane roads, was one of the areas that doesn’t have sewer connections. The last time an up...
Just over a month remains until the annual Blue Waters Bluegrass music festival in Medical Lake, and organizers are excited to showcase a strong lineup of talented players. For three days, Aug. 9-11, Medical Lake’s Waterfront Park will be home to some of the top emerging bluegrass artists in the nation, Blue Waters president Kevin Brown said. “We’ve got a fun lineup that we’re really excited about,” he said. “The lineup will probably be a bit more ‘bluegrassy’ than last year.” Two of the headlining acts were nominated fo...
The Medical Lake Middle School marching band makes its way through the streets of Medical Lake in the annual Founder’s Day parade....
