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SPOKANE — National Weather Service officials are tracking a powerful cold front that will be passing through the region this weekend, bringing with it the potential for very strong winds on Sunday into Monday that could create blowing dust conditions and damage from downed trees and power lines. Projections at a Friday press briefing are for winds increasing throughout the day on Sunday. Peak speeds reaching 45-40 miles per hour in the Columbia Basin and Spokane regions and 5...
MEDICAL LAKE — Keeping the city’s parks and trails clean was the subject of two discussions at the City Council’s first meeting of the month, held March 2. Councilwoman Heather Starr returned to a subject from the previous meeting during council members report about dog feces begin left in city parks and along the lake trail. Starr said it should fall to the animal’s owners to clean up after them, but that it wasn’t the case. City workers are already stretched thin in other areas, and in order to keep parks safe and clean...
SPOKANE COUNTY — One of the variants making COVID-19 more contagious, and potentially more lethal, has been detected in in the region. The Washington State Department of Health notified the Spokane Regional Health District that one case of the COVID-19 B.1.1.7 variant has been detected in the county through genome sequencing. The variant was first identified in the United Kingdom by researchers in November 2020, and scientists say it spreads more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of C...
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eastern Washington University’s volleyball team likely showed the effects of a two-week layoff in their first match at Sacramento State last Saturday, dropping the March 6 showdown in three straight sets. Any rust the Eagles had appeared to have been knocked off, as they stormed back to battle the Hornets in a rematch 24 hours later, eventually falling in five games 14-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-20 and 12-15. “We did a really nice job of coming back day two, we had a lot of opportunities to win and put ourse...
CHENEY – All Blackhawks Season 1 teams – fall sports – were in action last week, some for the first time since fall 2019. Cross country The boys and girls traveled to Central Valley for a double-dual meet with the host Bears and Gonzaga Prep - Cheney's first meet since moving to the 3A classification and into the now 4A/3A/2A Greater Spokane League. Both Blackhawks teams came up on the losing end, with the boys falling 19-42 to CV and edged 27-30 by G-Prep. The girls lost...
OLYMPIA — On a 25-24 mostly party-line vote, the Senate approved SB5096 on March 6, setting a 7% capital gains tax on profit realized from the sale of non-inventory assets such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds and even boats or artwork set to take effect in 2022 if it also clears the House and is signed by Gov. Jay Inslee. Depending who you talk to, Saturday’s vote is either a historic move to create more fairness with the state’s tax code or the first steps towards destroying Washington’s business climate. For those arguing...
(Editor's note: The first part of this story dealing with the four options appeared in the March 4 issue of the Cheney Free Press.) CHENEY – Eastern Washington University's Board of Trustees was presented with four options for the institution's struggling Athletics Department by the PICTOR Group consulting firm at the board's Feb. 25 meeting. Those options are: staying put in NCAA Division I athletics and in the Big Sky Conference, remaining in D-I but dropping football and m...
CHENEY – The Historical Preservation Commission is looking to apply for a state grant to “jazz up” its walking tour brochure — jazz up in a way that some people may not even need to use it. At its March 4 meeting, commissioner members discussed possible ideas for submitting for a Certified Local Government Grant Project from the state Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation. One idea floated as a possible redrawing of the city’s national historical district now that Cheney’s former Northern Pacific Railroad Depot h...
CHENEY — The amount violators pay for a parking citation in the city may soon change, depending upon the outcome of a Police Department study and decision by the City Council. In a presentation to the council at their Feb. 23 meeting, Cheney Police Chief John Hensley noted the city’s infraction amount of $25 hadn’t changed since he became chief in 2011. Following a request from the Public Safety Committee to do some preliminary research, Hensley said he discovered that regionally, the city has the lowest rate among munic...
SPOKANE VALLEY – It may not have been technically clean, but last Saturday's long-awaited season-opener for the Cheney High School football team was sure entertaining. Playing their first game since last October 2019, the Blackhawks used a stout, attacking defense to make up for an erratic offensive effort, rallying from a seven-point halftime deficit to knock off University 28-14 on a sunny, wind-swept Titans field in Spokane Valley. The key for Cheney was Karl Barsness. T...
CHENEY — When it comes to options on what to do about Eastern Washington University’s financially struggling athletic department, chances are last Friday’s long-awaited report by the PICTOR Group to the Board of Trustees didn’t really provide anything other than what was already discussed. What it did provide was an outside look at the state of athletics at the university, its perceptions by the community and hard numbers on what those four options might mean going forward from individuals experienced with the ins and out...
CHENEY - McKaley Goffard and Brooke Flores each notched a goal and an assist in leading the Eastern Washington University women's soccer team to a 5-0 win over College of Idaho in the Eagles home opener on Saturday at Roos Field. Brittany Delridge's goal off a through-ball assist from Goffard gave Eastern a 1-0 lead three minutes into the match, with Grace Terrill making it 2-0 eight minutes later on a goal off an assist from Taylor Matheny. The Eagles launched six more shots...
CHENEY – The high school volleyball program finally earned its first match win since returning to the 3A classification. The Blackhawks overcame a 25-21 loss in the first game at Lewis and Clark by rallying to win the next three, 25-16, 28-26 and 25-21 to down the Tigers 3-1 last Tuesday, Feb. 23, evening Cheney’s record at 1-1. They then stretched that winning streak to two matches by sweeping visiting 4A Central Valley 3-0 on Feb. 25. Kiley Power led Cheney with 17 assists against the Tigers in the match between 3A and 4A...
CHENEY — City Council members approved an interlocal agreement at their Feb. 23 meeting with the city of Liberty Lake to provide that Spokane Valley jurisdiction with building plan review services for the rest of this year. Those services include “identifying items for correction, correspondence with building permit applicants and design professionals and determining whether plans are acceptable for permit issuance.” The agreement pays Cheney 10% of building plan review fees assessed by Liberty Lake according to their fee s...
SPOKANE VALLEY -- Defensive back Karl Barsness scored two touchdowns -- including a 92-yard interception return for a score with 44 seconds remaining in the game and the Cheney High football team held off University 28-14 in the Greater Spokane League opener for both schools Saturday afternoon. Barsness's "scoop and score" TD return of a Titans' fumble early in the second half knotted the score at 7. The Blackhawks stout defense gave the offense great field position in the...
WEST PLAINS — According to several local officials, housing availability in the area — and particularly the West Plains — ranges from “grossly inadequate” to even worse. “We have a housing crisis,” Tom Hormel, president of the Washington Association of Realtors told an audience of about 100 attendees at a virtual West Plains Chamber of Commerce update on housing last Wednesday. Hormel contrasted his assessment of the current situation with the last time the country faced a similar economic crisis in 2007, when questionable...
CHENEY – The Blackhawks girls swimming program kicked off its return to the pool after over a year away due to the COVID-19 pandemic with a pair of wins in a virtual meet on Saturday, Feb. 20. Swimming in their individual pools, the Blackhawks downed Pullman 97-59 and easily topped Clarkston, 116-36. No individuals results were available at press time. Cheney returns four swimmers from the team that finished seventh overall at 2A state competition in fall 2019 — Janie Richards, Jade and Asia Gere and Adelyn O’Dell. Richa...
CHENEY - Having over a year off and moving up a classification was going to be challenge enough for the Blackhawks volleyball program. Throw in having to face the reigning 3A state player of the year and defending state champions in their first match of the delayed season, and it was a bit too much for head coach Heather Zorrazua's squad as Cheney fell 3-1 to visiting Mt. Spokane and Tia Allen last Thursday, Feb. 18. The Wildcats opened by winning the first two games, 25-12...
Monday marked an event I never dreamed I would see in my lifetime. Somewhere in the late morning, the United States crossed the threshold of 500,000 of our fellow American men and women killed by the coronavirus. If you had told me even five years ago, let alone 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago that we would experience a loss of American lives of that magnitude attributable to one cause, I would have thought you were talking about some kind of armed conflict. 500,000 lives gone. And as you read this, that number is marching steadily...
MEDICAL LAKE – After first meeting for 10 minutes in executive session, City Council members voted returned to open session at their Feb. 16 meeting and voted unanimously to name Chad Pritchard to the vacant council Position 7 seat. Pritchard replaces former council member Jessica Roberts, who won reelection this past November but stepped down on election night because of moving out of the city limits. Pritchard told the council at its Feb. 2 meeting that he and his family moved to Medical Lake from Spokane 6-7 years ago, a...
CHENEY — If you want to learn more about your house, the land it sits on or some other dwelling or parcel in the city — and more — that information is only a couple computer clicks away. The city of Cheney has created an Interactive Zoning Map that is now available online at the city Planning Department’s home page. The map is a composite of information from the county and city that has been accumulated over the past 10-plus years via the city’s geographic informati...
MEDICAL LAKE — City Council members voted unanimously at their Feb. 16 meeting to turn down an offer by national retailer Dollar General to purchase the former Ball and Dodd Funeral Home property at the southwest corner of the West Brooks Road, North Lefevre Street and East State Route 902 intersection. Immediately after doing this, the council took a step to make sure it wouldn’t come up for sale again — at least in the foreseeable future — by removing the 43,475-square-foot parcel from the city’s surplus property roll. Ech...
MEDICAL LAKE — City coffers were expanded a bit by an unexpected financial surprise recently. At the Feb. 2 City Council meeting, Spokane County District 3 Fire Chief Cody Rohrbach told members that with the coming online of the new Spokane Regional Emergency Communications system last year, replacing the older Combined Communications Center, funds some agencies had paid into a reserve fund supporting the older system were no longer needed. “Some of those funds were redistributed back to the folks who paid in, I’m sure that...
CHENEY — The City Council gave its blessings to an expansion of the Public Works fuel station, a renewing of the annual powerline clearance contract and reviewing proposals for a photovoltaic facility at the wastewater treatment plant at its first meeting in February last Tuesday. The proposed fuel station upgrade will install a 70-inch diameter, 24-foot-6-inch, 4,000 gallon “split” tank capable of holding 2,000 gallons each of diesel and unleaded gasoline, Public Works Director Todd Ableman said. The city currently has a 2,0...
CHENEY – Officials at Multicare / Rockwood have confirmed that the organization’s physical therapy clinic at 1727 1st St. has been closed permanently. “In an effort to streamline our physical therapy services, MultiCare Rockwood Clinic has closed its Cheney location,” Multicare media relations manager Kevin Maloney said in a prepared statement. “All patients were notified of this change in service and are able to continue receiving treatment at any of our five remaining facilities throughout the Spokane-area.” It’s the se...
