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PORTLAND, Ore. — Officials want Washington residents to know there is still time to respond to the U.S. Census — especially residents in Eastern Washington. The count conducted every 10 years is important in that it determines congressional representation, helps with awarding billions of federal dollars to communities each year and provides information that will impact communities for years to come. The Census helps determine how many seats in the House of Representatives each state receives. It also affects funding dec...
CHENEY – For over 35 years, Delmer and Jeanie Fitzner have bestowed the gift of flowers to people passing by their home at the intersection of Betz and Granite Lake roads. Free of charge. No conditions — just be sure to stop by Jeanie’s wagon early because the flowers get snatched up quickly. That practice is likely coming to an end as the couple who celebrate their 63rd wedding anniversary next week are moving to a new home on Medifor Road near the Medical Lake-Four Lakes...
CHENEY – A series of small wildfires has grown into a 200-acre-plus blaze near Badger Lake about 15 miles south of Cheney. The four fires began around 5:04 p.m. Sunday evening under hot, dry conditions, and were burning in grassy areas dotted with stands of ponderosa pine. According to the state Department of Natural Resources, one was six acres and threatening structures, another was eight acres, the third was between 1-2 acres while the progress of the fourth had been stoppe...
CHENEY – When it came to a career, being an insurance agent was not on Layne Stoops’ radar. “I don’t think anybody grows up wanting to be an insurance agent,” Cheney’s newest State Farm representative said. Raised in Sun Valley, Idaho, Stoops came to Whitworth University in 2001 with music on his mind, having played saxophone for a number of years. But musical theory wasn’t his cup of tea, so he switched to psychology, receiving a bachelor’s degree in 2006 and a masters of ed...
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University has announced that will offer online only instruction after the Thanksgiving/Native American Heritage holiday break. In a news release today, Aug. 12, university officials said the move is designed to keep students safe by minimizing health-related disruptions while maintaining attentiveness to public health concerns. The move should help limit travel to and from Cheney after the Thanksgiving break, Nov. 25 – 27, although students who live in the residence halls may return to campus aft...
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University’s Board of Trustee’s approved a memorandum of understanding with the United Faculty of Eastern (UFE) that would stave off declaration of a severe financial crisis. All of the trustee’s voted for the memorandum with the exception of Trustee Uriel Iniguez, who voted no. “We’ve had a discussion about, and I think the board knows how I feel about some of the components in this agreement,’ Iniguez said in declaring his decision to vote against the memorandum. The board has met on several oc...
CHENEY – Overall crime reports dropped in the city by 9.9 percent in 2019. That’s better than the 11.1 percent increase in 2018, but not as good as the 20.1 percent decline in 2017 and certainly far from the 24.5 percent increase in 2016 for what are referred to as “Group A” crimes. If that sounds like a rollercoaster to you, it is, one officials have speculations about but no hard evidence to point to as to why there is such a swing. Carnival ride aside, Police Chief John Hensley is pleased with the decline in 2019 overall...
CHENEY – Residents will have another option available to them when it comes to internet service in the city. At its Aug. 11 meeting, the City Council approved an agreement with Avista Edge to begin a pilot program “for the provision of fixed wireless broadband internet services” in the city. Details on how Edge will work were not available at press time, but the technology will be installed and available through the city’s electric metering system. The resolution authorizing the agreement originally came before council...
CHENEY -- Despite smoke and flames several hundred feet away, some area water enthusiasts have reportedly been trying to launch their boats from the docks at Badger Lake. Accordingly, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has issued a notice reminding people that the public access site at Badger Lake is "closed indefinitely due to a wildfire burning out of control in the area." DFW officials stated that despite evacuations of residents in the area, first responders are... Full story
CHENEY -- A series of small wildfires has grown into a 200-acre-plus blaze near Badger Lake about 15 miles south of Cheney. The fires began around 5:04 p.m. Sunday evening under hot, dry conditions, and are burning in grassy areas dotted with stands of ponderosa pine. According to a news release from the Washington State Patrol, about 50-70 homes are threatened. Initially, Level 2 "be prepared to leave" evacuation orders were enacted but state Department of Natural Resources...
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University has announced that will offer online only instruction after the Thanksgiving/Native American Heritage holiday break. In a news release today, Aug. 12, university officials said the move is designed to keep students safe by minimizing health-related disruptions while maintaining attentiveness to public health concerns. The move should help limit travel to and from Cheney after the Thanksgiving break, Nov. 25 – 27, although students who live in the residence halls may return to campus aft...
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University’s Board of Trustee’s approved a memorandum of understanding with the United Faculty of Eastern (UFE) that would stave off declaration of a severe financial crisis. All of the trustee’s voted for the memorandum with the exception of Trustee Uriel Iniguez, who voted no. The agreement includes financial concessions from the union, including a one-year, 6-percent reduction in salary, a tenure buyout and relinquishment plan and a voluntary retirement and separation incentive. The university a...
FAIRCHILD AFB – If you’re planning on partaking in outdoor activities northeast of Chewelah any time soon, don’t be surprised if you come across a wandering airman. Fairchild Air Force Base officials have announced that the U.S. Air Force’s Survival School is moving its winter training scenarios beginning this month to U.S. Forest Service land in the vicinity of North Fork Chewelah Creek and Drummond Creek around Sand Canyon Road. According to a news release, the change is part of a typical rotation of training areas designe...
CHENEY – Students may be returning to school in name only this fall, but they still need supplies. Cheney schools are slated to resume online instruction Sept. 8, and several organizations are attempting to provide backpacks filled with much needed supplies such as paper, pens, binders, calculators and USB flash drives. The city’s Parks and Recreation Department is holding a “Back 2 School Community Event” this Sunday, Aug. 16, from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at Sutton Park. Backpacks with school supplies will be distributed along wit...
WEST PLAINS – Cheney High School will have to wait a few more months to make its second appearance in the Greater Spokane League. At a July 30 meeting, the consensus among District 8 athletic directors — which includes the Greater Spokane League and Mid-Columbia Conference — was to move all fall sports to a newly created spring season, a move approved by school principals at a meeting last week in Spokane. The decision is the latest outcome from the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association’s (WIAA) creation of a fo...
CHENEY – What the City Council did for people delinquent with their utility bills they now plan to do for small businesses. The city has set up the CARES Small Business Assistance Grant Program which, like the utility bill program established at the council’s July 14 meeting, will provide money received from the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress in April. Washington received $2.95 billion in CARES funding, sending $300 million of that to cities and counties with ind...
CHENEY – The school district board of directors voted unanimously on Aug. 3 to begin the 2020-2021 school year with most students taking part in the remote learning phase of the district’s proposed six-step plan for reopening. Under this stage three of the plan, students in the greatest need of support (educational justice) may participate onsite with in-person instruction. The board also approved a new calendar for the school year, dividing the 180 days of instruction into four separate but unequal quarters and pushing bac...
CHENEY – The City Council gave its approval to several projects last Tuesday, July 28, allowing a residential development to proceed along with a long-anticipated move towards utilizing reclaimed wastewater for irrigation purposes at public places. The latter involved accepting a pair of bids to install filtration systems at the city’s wastewater treatment plant allowing future construction of a “purple pipe” system from the plant to Cheney parks and other publicly owned spaces requiring irrigation. That system could be expan...
CHENEY – The City Council took steps to bolster the city’s water reserve fund while protecting rate payers from subsidizing new development by approving increases to water connection charges at its July 28 meeting. The increases were discussed at council meetings in February and March but put on hold over questions raised by local developers about the charges, with allegations rising from several that the city was instituting a potential “no-growth” policy by implementing increases in excess of what other nearby cities...
WEST PLAINS – Cheney and Medical Lake school districts have teamed with other districts around the state to hopefully prove there is power in numbers – especially when it comes to buying personal protective equipment needed to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Both school districts have placed orders through Educational Service District 112 in Vancouver, Wash. to purchase a variety of supplies ranging from reusable cloth face masks to isolation gowns, disinfecting wipes and infrared thermometers. The idea came after indiv...
CHENEY — Eastern Washington University President Dr. Mary Cullinan has announced that she is retiring from her position, effective immediately. The university’s Board of Trustees has named Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. David May to serve as interim president. The announcement came at a virtual board of trustees meeting this morning, Aug. 4. “I have been honored to serve as Eastern Washington University’s first female president,” Cullinan said in a news release. “EWU is a valuable asset to this region...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS – Spokane County Fire District 10 officials felt asking the public to support their Emergency Medical Service levy renewal in the midst of economic hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic was a gamble. It was a gamble that paid off as the district’s levy was well on its way to passage at press time Tuesday night, Aug. 4. According primary results from Spokane County Elections Department, the levy was passing 67.21 percent to 32.79 percent with 1,299 of the 1,912 returned ballots as of Tuesday hav...
CHENEY – The Fire Department’s fledgling emergency medical services cadet training program received a financial shot in the arm recently with a one-time $5,000 grant from Providence Health Care. The program is a collaboration between the department and Eastern Washington University to help students interested in a medical career receive real-world learning and training while also expanding the number of trained personnel capable of responding to emergencies in the city. Students who complete the coursework and field tra...
CHENEY – Public comment is being taken on a 46-lot housing development proposed on 16.98 acres of land north/northeast of Cheney High School Parkside 2nd Addition would plat 31 single-family lots an d 15 duplexes on property east of North 6th Street, west of Boulders Apartments, north of the Cheney Care Center/Plum Tree Court and south of Simpson Parkway. Access to the development would mainly be from Simpson Parkway via new extensions of two existing streets — Bethany and Annie Place. Annie Place would connect to its sou...
SPOKANE COUNTY – The Aug. 4 primary election is right around the corner, with ballots required to be mailed and postmarked by no later than next Tuesday to be counted. According to information from the county Elections Department website, as of Monday, July 27, 49,607 of the 340,883 ballots mailed had been returned — meaning just 14.53 percent of voters have made their decisions on statewide races such as governor and secretary of state to local levy issues. On the West Plains, 14.24 percent — 14,17 — of the 104,060 ballots i...
