Sorted by date Results 476 - 500 of 3077
CHENEY – The City Council has approved a contract with Shamrock Paving to begin work on one of the city’s larger street projects this summer. The Washington Street Preservation project will remove the old asphalt and repave Washington from Oakland to 6th Street along with sidewalk and stormwater system improvements. Shamrock was the lowest of three bidders at $752,515, not including taxes, with the engineer’s estimate at $905,000. “It’s right around where we want to be,” Public Works Director Todd Ableman told the council... Full story
SPOKANE – The Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) has announced it is providing curbside COVID-19 testing at a number of school sites in Spokane. The testing, which began July 7, will be available Tuesday – Thursday through Aug. 27 from 12:30 – 2: 30 p.m. There is no charge for the tests, but individuals who have insurance are encouraged to seek testing at their primary care provider’s office. According to a July 2 news release, to be assessed for COVID-19 patients are advised to arrive early at the site as tests are done... Full story
CHENEY – In a way, the COVID-19 crisis was Eastern Washington University’s perfect storm. Already engaged in a college realignment and facing declining enrollment, the pandemic that hit earlier this year has culminated recently in over 400 staff layoffs, a steep loss of revenue and Monday’s vote of no confidence in the university’s president. Realignment In 2008 – 2009, Eastern’s trustees endorsed a reduction in the number of degree/major options offered at the university. EWU Provost Dr. David May said there was no follow th...
CHENEY – A woman convicted of molesting an 18-month-old girl and who admitted to having as many as 15 other child victims has relocated to Cheney. Laura Faye McCollum, 62, was convicted of the molestation charge in 1990 and was civilly committed to the state’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island for violent sexual offenders in 2004. She was the first woman to be committed to McNeil. McCollum was originally released to an apartment unit in Lakewood south of Tacoma last June after a psychologist filed a report in Decembe... Full story
CHENEY – Saying “It’s time to have the courage of our convictions,” members of the Eastern Washington University Faculty Organization are planning to hold a no confidence vote on university President Dr. Mary Cullinan. The vote is scheduled for Monday, June 22 at the Faculty Senate’s regular meeting. The move stems from evaluations of upper administrators conducted by faculty in February, the results of which were released by Faculty Organization President Julia Smith and former organization President Kelly Evans on June 2... Full story
SPOKANE – Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) officials have announced that a COVID-19 testing site has been established in Airway Heights. The site is in partnership with Multicare Rockwood Clinic and is located at the organization’s clinic at 10414 W. Highway 2, Suite 10. The Airway Heights testing location is open beginning Friday, June 19, and is available to residents from the city and the surrounding areas. The latter includes residents of the West Plains and even further, SRHD media coordinator Kelli Hawkins said....
CHENEY – The goose has landed! DB Davis owner Dell Davis's pronouncement may not have the poetic sounds of astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous statement trumpeting mankind's first landing on the Moon, but to Cheney Depot Society member Sue Beeman, the words announcing the end of the depot's move were just as sweet. "Whew! What a day," Beeman said in a June 18 email. "I'm doing a bit of basking in the success of the moment today!" She and other members of the society have every r...
Medical Lake High School held its commencement exercise last Saturday night at Holladay Field – drive-in movie style. Vehicles were escorted into rows, maintaining the six-foot social distancing requirements between rows as part of COVID-19 measures. Valedictorian, salutatorian and class speaker messages were videotaped and shown on a big screen. Graduates were driven up to the stage in golf carts to receive their diplomas and then returned to the families....
CHENEY -- Members of Eastern Washington University overwhelmingly approved a vote of no confidence in President Dr. Mary Cullinan during a meeting today, June 22. In an news release, Faculty Organization President Julia Smith said the vote was 35-2 in favor, with four abstentions and one absence. The Senate is comprised of 40 voting members, with two additional officers also eligible to cast a vote. Smith may vote to break a tie. The move stems from evaluations of upper administrators conducted by faculty in February, the... Full story
SPOKANE – Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD) officials have announced that a COVID-19 testing site has been established in Airway Heights. The site is in partnership with Multicare Rockwood Clinic and is located at the organization’s clinic at 10414 W. Highway 2, Suite 10. The Airway Heights testing location is open beginning Friday, June 19, and is available to residents from the city and the surrounding areas. The latter includes residents of the West Plains and even further, SRHD media coordinator Kelli Hawkins said.... Full story
CHENEY – St. Paul’s Episcopal Church has announced that it is resuming in-person services this Sunday, June 18, for the first time since closures and social distancing measures were enacted in late March to combat the spread of COVID-19. It is the first church in Cheney to resume some sort of regular service. According to information provided by church secretary Susan Durrie, the church has instituted measures following state guidelines for resuming services, along with other steps. St. Paul’s is requiring the use of masks...
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University police are asking the public’s help in locating a statue that was stolen from in front of the university’s one-room schoolhouse, formerly known as the Jore School. Police Deputy Chief Jay Day said they were notified by a campus grounds crew around 6:30 a.m. on June 16 that the statue of a young child working on a laptop had been taken from in front of the school. Not only was the statue taken, but the metal bench it was sitting on was also stolen. “It would take a concerted effort... Full story
For the past several weeks, I have been watching the protests and subsequent riots hitting our urban areas throughout the county sparked by the senseless killing of George Floyd. Like you, when I viewed the video of the Minneapolis police officer atop Mr. Floyd’s neck, I found myself yelling at the TV screen – “let him up for heaven’s sake.” As a police chief with nearly four decades of experience in public safety, I condemn the force that was used to arrest Mr. Floyd in the strongest possible terms. More important...
WEST PLAINS – School districts in Washington finally received some guidance on resuming in-person operations this fall with the release of the state’s “Reopening Washington Schools 2020: District Planning Guide” on June 11. The guidelines are a mixture of rigidity and flexibility, but are focused on one single goal expressed by state K-12 Superintendent for Public Instruction Chris Reykdal in his letter at the beginning of the report. “To be very clear, it is my expectation that schools will open this fall for in-person instr...
CHENEY – Spokane County is not going forward in its reopening from COVID-19 restrictions any time soon. That was the verdict delivered to the City Council last Tuesday night by City Administrator Mark Schuller. It’s also the verdict presented at a Monday morning, June 15, press conference by Spokane Regional Health Department Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz — verdicts reinforced over the weekend by a state Department of Health report showing COVID-19 transmission on the rise in Eastern Washington. Schuller told the council that...
MEDICAL LAKE – The state Department of Transportation is cautioning motorists traveling Interstate 90 near the State Route 902/Medical Lake interchange to expect closures that could impact their travel time. Crews working for DOT are resuming work on the SR 902 bridge deck that spans I-90 as part of interchange upgrades and modifications. Motorists using the westbound lanes of I-90 should expect nightly closures between 9 p.m. -- 5 a.m. beginning June 15 and running through June 19. During the nightly closures, drivers at t... Full story
MEDICAL LAKE – While the bulk of this year’s Founder’s Day has been canceled due to ongoing concerns about the spread of COVID-19, at least one event has found a way to continue — albeit in a new format. Instead of pounding the streets and trails in and around Medical Lake, the annual Trailblazer Triathlon has moved to an online/virtual format that participants can compete in from the comfort of their neighborhood, favorite trail or park. Registration and competition began June 1, and runs through 11 p.m. June 30 — that’s wh...
In several past columns I’ve written about the need to preserve history. I’ve editorialized to preserve history, it’s often necessary to maintain that which we find offensive so we may remember and learn from the experience, hopefully not repeating the errors of our ancestors. As part of that, I’ve defended preserving symbols of the former Confederacy such as statues and flags. I’ve argued that, while painful, those elements remind us of periods of our national formation and psyche that we hope to not repeat. I’ve chan...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS – The City Council voted to advance approval of the final plat of the Arrowleaf Townhomes development out of their study session Monday night, June 8, for final consideration at the upcoming regular meeting June 15. In doing so, the council agreed the development had met all of the conditions set aside under law and in a proposed preliminary plat adopted via resolution on Feb. 4, 2019. Arrowleaf Townhouses is a single-family (R-1), duplex (R-2) subdivision east of Craig Road between Ketchum Drive and W...
CHENEY – Despite uncertainties with the economy, the Cheney School District’s ending fund balance has remained relatively stable. While tracking less than it did in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 beginning in February and running through April, the reserve cash fund needed to help pay operating costs is still above $3 million — a level it might approach at the end of this month. But after dipping to just over $4.5 million in March at the beginning of the COVID-19 school closures and economic shutdowns, the fund saw a resurgence in A...
WEST PLAINS – Construction is alive and well on the West Plains. That was the verdict at a May 28 West Plains Chamber of Commerce virtual meeting on the state of economic development — and continues to show evidence of validity in mid-June. Al French, Spokane County Commissioner and board chair of S3R3 Solutions, told the meeting that several developers filed plan reviews for projects, mostly Airway Heights and Spokane International Airport. That work has taken place even in the face of ongoing restrictions and lim...
CHENEY – The realization of a dream is just five city blocks away. That's the distance between where the former Northern Pacific Railroad Depot - a.k.a. the Cheney Depot - currently rests and its new home between Union and I streets on 1st Street. With some additional structural support and last-minute engineering adaptations to account for years of age, that distance will soon be traveled by the 91-year-old structure built by Northern Pacific in 1929 to acknowledge Cheney's s... Full story
CHENEY – Commencement exercises for the class of 2020 will be a five-day affair, culminating in a video to be run on June 12 — the original date for Cheney High School’s ceremony. At its May 27 meeting, Superintendent Rob Roettger gave school board members an overview of items to honor seniors, whose normal final year activities have been denied due to restrictions surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. The main part of the plan begins June 1, as seniors and up to five members of their immediate family arrive at the high...
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University’s Board of Trustees got a glimpse into the financial future of the institution at its May 29 meeting — and it’s not exactly very bright. Vice President for Business and Finance Mary Voves told trustees the university will be looking at revenue reductions in a number of areas, partly due to impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. The first reduction stems from declining enrollment — with operating revenue loss from this source estimated at $12 million. The university is budgeting...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS — At their June 1 meeting, City Council members unanimously approved emergency adoption of an ordinance authorizing the mayor to issue a civil emergency and order imposition of a curfew should the need arise. The ordinance — which required council approval to waive the standard process of holding three separate readings — was one of two introduced at the last minute Monday night. In creating the ordinance, City Attorney Stanley Schwartz said his office had reviewed a similar one recently adopted by the city...
