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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...
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...
CHENEY - Fire Department officials are pursuing another engine upgrade, but this time are looking to the federal government for funding assistance. At the Feb. 9 meeting, City Council gave approval to Fire Chief Tom Jenkins to pursue a Department of Homeland Security Fiscal Year 2020 Assistance to Firefighters Grant to apply for $210,000 to purchase a new Type 5 wildland fire engine. The grant would provide for the engine, training and equipment out fitting of the vehicle, and require Cheney to assist with a 5% - $10,500 - ma...
CHENEY – School board members got a bit of good news at their Feb. 10 meeting in the form of graduation rates that exceeded high water marks for the past five years. Data and Assessment Director Carol Lewis told the board that overall graduation rates for students in the district hit 91.5% in 2020 - the highest since the 87.5% in 2017. Lewis said this was in spite of the state allowing districts to grant waivers for graduation credits to students struggling with required c...
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...
MEDICAL LAKE -- The City Council voted unanimously at its Feb. 16 meeting to decline an offer by national retail firm Dollar General to purchase city property at the intersection of West Brooks Road, State Route 902 and North Lefevre Street. Dollar General originally approached the city offering to purchase the property, site of the former Ball and Dodd Funeral Home and used for a variety of purposes by the community, in early January, offering $200,000 for the land. The city originally purchased the property in 2002 for...
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...
CHENEY – City officials are in the process of updating the 10-year parks and recreation comprehensive plan — and they want to know what residents think and would like to see in the way or recreational opportunities and amenities. To that end, the city has posted a 2021 Parks Survey – Questionnaire online they are asking residents to complete. The five-page survey, which takes about 5-10 minutes to fill out, asks users for demographic information, parks and/or recreation progr...
WEST PLAINS — Cheney and Medical Lake school districts’ Educational Programs and Operations levies were passing with comfortable majorities on Tuesday night — but not quite as comfortable as similar levies three years ago. According to Feb. 9 special election results from the Spokane County Elections Department, Cheney Public Schools’ Proposition 1 EP&O levy was passing with a 55.21 % yes vote, while Proposition 2, a Capital Facilities Levy, was receiving 57.68 % of the vote. In Medical Lake, Proposition 1 was ahead by a 56...
WEST PLAINS — Cheney and Medical Lake school districts’ Educational Programs and Operations levies were passing with comfortable majorities on Tuesday night – but not quite as comfortable as similar levies three years ago. According to Feb. 9 special election results from the Spokane County Elections Department, Cheney Public Schools’ Proposition 1 EP&O levy was passing with a 55.21 % yes vote, while Proposition 2, a Capital Facilities Levy, was receiving 57.68 % of the vote. In Medical Lake, Proposition 1 was ahead by a 56...
CHENEY – A sweep of regional rival Idaho not only extended the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team's winning streak to five games but – with a little help – propelled the Eagles into first place in the Big Sky Conference. Balanced scoring and a 13-5 second-half run helped push the Eagles past the host Vandals on Thursday, Feb. 5, 89-75 while hot second-half EWU shooting led to a rout of the visitors, 90-64, on Saturday. Coupled with a Weber state sweep of fo...
CHENEY — The Planning Commission is advancing two ordinances, one dealing with residential occupancy and one with water conservation measures including landscaping limitations, to the City Council for consideration at upcoming meetings. Both ordinances were subjects of several meetings and public hearings held in 2019 and 2020, but tabled after COVID-19 pandemic health and safety protocols limited public governmental meetings. Occupancy has generated the most repeat complaints from Cheney residents. These stem mostly from the...
MEDICAL LAKE – Four candidates vying for a vacant seat on the dais introduced themselves and described what they expected to bring to council to current members at the Feb. 2 meeting. Health Wilbur, Howard Griffith, Chrystal Ortega and Chad Pritchard are hoping to be selected during to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation last November of Jessica Roberts. Roberts had just been re-elected to the position, and gave her resignation at the meeting on election night because she was moving outside of the city limits. H...
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University's volleyball team missed a golden opportunity to knock off the defending Big Sky Conference champions Northern Colorado Monday evening, Feb. 1, falling in a five-set thriller that featured 28 ties and 13 lead changes. Despite two sets being decided by extra points, the Eagles came up short against the Bears, 25-23, 13-25, 25-21, 25-27 and 14-16. "I'm so proud of them," Eagles head coach Leslie Flores-Cloud said. "We were so close and that...
CHENEY – City Council took a pair of steps last Tuesday night (Jan. 26) they hope will ensure transparency with city records and negotiations. The first was the approval of the two-year labor contract with the Cheney Police Guild. The agreement, which provides a 2% cost of living adjustment in both years along with changes to some of the document’s language, was originally presented to the council for approval at the Jan. 12 meeting. At that meeting, Councilman Paul Schmidt asked the contract be tabled and returned for con...
CHENEY - A couple of decisive scoring runs and a career day led the Eastern Washington University men's basketball team to a Big Sky Conference sweep of visiting Sacramento State in back-to-back games Sunday and Monday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. After a slow start likely resulting from a lack of practice the previous week, the Eagles used an 18-1 run - including a streak of 14 straight points - to stake a 37-22 lead at intermission and held on for a 68-60 win over the Hornets on...
CHENEY — In writing a book about preparation for war, former Cheney High School English teacher Darrelyn McDermott drew on her experiences. In selecting a title summing up those preparations, she drew on a more celebrated writer — William Shakespeare. With the latter, specifically Act 5, Scene 2 of his classic “Hamlet.” In it, Hamlet’s friend Horatio is attempting to persuade the Danish prince from engaging in a duel, fearing he will be killed, but Hamlet knows he is destin...
CHENEY – An aging connection’s failure led to a power outage early Sunday morning, leaving a number of customers without heat. According to Light Director Steve Marx, around midnight on Saturday, Jan. 30, a “hot tap” failed and burned through a main power line and tripped feeder No. 6 at the city’s main substation on Cheney-Plaza Road. A hot tap is a connection to a main power line which over time can fail due to the elements, wind and vibrations that can loosen the connection. “This creates small gaps at the connection...
CHENEY—School district officials and board members are bracing themselves for what the new year could bring in the form of legislation and funding adjustments — adjustments that could negatively impact operations. In presenting the financial update, Finance Director Jamie Weingart noted there wasn’t a huge change in the district’s fund balance at the end of 2020. The operating fund balance dipped slightly, dropping from $5,860,779 in November to $5,854,744 in December. Budget projections show it continuing to decline through...
CHENEY — The City Council approved several portions of an expansive remodel of the Finance Department space at City Hall as part of their busy Jan. 26 meeting. The council originally approved the beginning of the work at their Nov. 10 meeting, which included a $64,630 labor and materials bid from Big Timber Contractors, LLC. The city was also to provide about $34,000 of materials for the project, including an upgrade of the foyer’s HVAC system, roll-down fire-proof teller doors for the three new teller stations built where th...
