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SPOKANE COUNTY – Halloween is one of the more popular holiday’s of the year, partly because of all the variety of public events — from parties to haunted houses and the traditional trick-or-treat excursions about the neighborhood. But in the year of coronavirus, this high-level of social interaction outside the household could also be recipe for spreading Covid-19, the lower respiratory disease associated with coronavirus that, according to the Johns Hopkins University Covid-19 Dashboard, has resulted in over 8.18 milli...
CHENEY – Police are looking for the individuals who caused over $3,000 of damage to sidewalks near Eastern Washington University's Visitor Center sometime Tuesday evening, Oct. 20. Cheney Capt. Rick Beghtol said city of Cheney crews discovered the vandalism around 8 a.m. today (Oct. 21) when they returned to the site at 6th and F streets to inspect their work. They found statements using derogatory and foul language gouged into several of the concrete panels - statements d...
CHENEY – School board directors received some good news at their Sept. 30 meeting when it comes to the district's finances. The first came in the form of enrollment – which is showing a rebound from the first official count date figures from Sept. 11 that showed enrollment down almost 300 full-time equivalent students. That early number of 4,778.81 FTEs was 279.14 FTEs below the budgeted 5,053, with much of the decline came in lower grades At the Sept. 30 meeting, Finance Dir...
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University’s Fall Festival for kids is going to be taking a one-year hiatus – hopefully. University officials have canceled this year’s event that invites area youth to come to and tour specific buildings on the Cheney campus in Halloween costume, during which staff members also in costume greet them as they walk by and pass out candy. The festival usually attracts several hundred children and their parents, but due to COVID19 restrictions on gathering sizes and sanitary requirements, traditional e...
OLYMPIA — New guidance released Oct. 6 by Gov. Jay Inslee’s office and the state Department of Health could provide assistance for the return of both school and non-school sports and activities. The updates to Washington’s “Safe Start” reopening plan address not only youth and adult sports but also outdoor recreation such as running and bicycling and water recreation facilities. “We’re doing this now because we have had ongoing conversations with businesses about how to do these activities safely,” Inslee said at an Oct....
CHENEY – Do you have questions about voting and what will happen when you mail your ballot? What are the positions of some of the candidates? And just why do we have an Electoral College? Eastern Washington University’s College of Social Sciences hopes to provide some answers to those questions with “Your Future, Your Vote” — a week-long series of teach-ins and candidate town halls taking place next week. “It’s something we do each election cycle,” College of Social Sciences Associate Dean Vernon Loke said. “We want to help s...
CHENEY – Construction crews will be soon wrapping up a project that should make pedestrian and bicycle travel safer in the neighborhood around Cheney High and Betz Elementary schools. The work improving sidewalks, crosswalks, curbs and adding extra signage is being funded by a grant from the Safe Routes to Schools Program, part of a national program with grant funding awarded from the Washington State Department of Transportation. Earlier this year, the school district receive...
CHENEY – City officials are planning to hold off for now on making a specific application for Community Development Block Grant funding from Spokane County. Public Works Director told the Planning Commission during a public meeting on the program on Monday, Oct. 12, that the city didn’t apply for any money from the program last year out of concern for funding levels in the Water Department reserve accounts. That remains true this year, with Cheney taking steps to replenish those levels through rate increases and fee res...
CHENEY – "Why do you need donations, you're a state-assisted school." It's a statement Eastern Washington University Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director of the EWU Foundation Barb Richey said she sometimes receives when making a pitch to a hoped-for donor. But in reality, the university wouldn't be where it is today without private donations - specifically one donation. In 1882, Northern Pacific Railroad CEO Benjamin P. Cheney was so touched by a...
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University is facing an outbreak of COVID-19 barely two weeks into fall quarter and the implementation of measures it and the city hoped would prevent large outbreaks from occurring. University officials said they have placed 130 people in quarantine or isolation the past week alone, with periods ranging from 1-2 days while awaiting test results to up to 24 days. They also confirmed that Spokane Regional Health District officials have notified them that two of the outbreaks involve fraternities l...
CHENEY – The City Council concurred with a recommendation from the Planning Commission and unanimously approved a preliminary plat for a 46-unit residential development at their Sept. 22 meeting that could bring higher-end homes to the city. Parkside 2nd Addition would plat 31 single-family lots and 15 duplexes on 16.98 acres of property near the corner of Simpson Parkway and North 6th Street. The property, owned by Gordon Finch Homes, is currently zoned for R-1 (single family) and R-2 (two-family) development. The d...
CHENEY – The Historic Preservation Commission approved an application for repair work on one of the city’s original homes that served as the residence for an early area pioneer and mayor. New owners of the I.J. Ballinger House — sometimes referred to as the Heyer Apartments — Cleveland Blaine, LLC filed an application for a certificate of appropriateness on Sept. 8. Cleveland Blaine, LLC owners Melissa and Matt Blaine listed four areas of work they were proposing for the structure: roofing, painting, decking and foundat...
CHENEY – By a unanimous 5-0 vote, the board of directors approved the Cheney School District's partial reopening plan at their Sept. 30 meeting. The plan, laid out for the directors at a Sept. 24 work session with few changes by last Wednesday, will allow kindergarten, special education and ECEAP (Early Childhood and Education Assistance Program) pre-school students - whose parents elected to do so - to return to onsite instruction. ECEAP pre-school students began returning t...
CHENEY – By a unanimous 5-0 vote, the board of directors approved the Cheney School District’s partial reopening plan at their Sept. 30 meeting. The plan, laid out for the directors at a Sept. 24 work session with few changes by last Wednesday, will allow kindergarten, special education and ECEAP (Early Childhood and Education Assistance Program) pre-school students — whose parents elected to do so — to return to onsite instruction. ECEAP pre-school students began returning to two, half days on-site instruction and two-hal...
CHENEY – The August fire that roared through the Williams and Badger lakes area left a scorched wasteland in its wake, consuming about 90 percent of the vegetation in its path including a large number of trees. That number was added to by a Spokane County decision to take advantage of a recent clearing operation and remove additional apparently healthy trees - a decision leaving at least one Badger Lake family perplexed and a bit frustrated. Paul and Jennifer Mitchell - who l...
CHENEY -- Eastern Washington University officials are reporting an uptick in cases of COVID-19 since instruction resumed in an online format Sept. 23. According to the university's Risk Management website, 64 students living off-campus in Cheney have tested positive for the disease since Sept. 6, with 41 testing positive the week of Sept. 20-26 and 13 testing positive the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3. Additionally over the Sept. 27-Oct.3 timeframe, one student living in campus housing tested positive, five were positive who do...
CHENEY – School district administrators laid out a phased return to in-person instruction to school board members at a special workshop last Thursday, Sept. 24, that if approved in a special meeting, Sept. 30, could have some students back in classrooms on a limited basis as early as Oct. 5. According to information presented at the workshop, special education students with disabilities and preschool for students in the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) could begin in-person instruction on Monday, O...
COLVILLE – Statistical fire starts in the Department of Natural Resources Northeast Region this year have exceeded a five-year average so far, according to a report from the DNR. On the flip side, acreage burned is below the five-year average, a figure skewed somewhat by the fact that almost 650,000 acres was burned in 2015 from Jan. 1 – Aug. 31. In the period ending Aug. 31, the four units that compose the Northeast Region have seen 494 statistical fires — 474 caused by human activity. The five-year average is almost 481.6...
CHENEY – While education is their preferred first choice, Cheney and Eastern Washington University law enforcement are prepared to take sterner measures with students who continue to violate safety protocols spelled out by the state and/or Spokane County Health District to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It's an effort, Cheney City Administrator Mark Schuller said, to avoid having happen to Cheney and EWU what occurred in Pullman when Washington State University students r...
CHENEY –Planning Commission members approved a preliminary plat application for a 46-unit residential development at their Sept. 14 meeting that could open the way for construction of more high-dollar value homes in the city. Parkside 2nd Addition would plat 31 single-family lots and 15 duplexes on 16.98 acres of property near the corner of Simpson Parkway and North 6th Street. The property, owned by Gordon Finch Homes, is currently zoned for R-1 (single family) and R-2 (...
CHENEY – The 13th annual city-wide beautification program, Cheney Clean Sweep, is just around the corner and it will look quite a bit different than the previous 12 events. The first difference is obvious — it’s being held in October rather than the traditional beginning of spring in April. The reason behind that is also obvious — restrictions enacted to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In April, strict lockdown measures had been enacted by the state, closing businesses not deemed essential, limiting most people to work...
CHENEY – Early enrollment numbers show the school district has experienced a drop of almost 300 full-time equivalent students to begin the 2020-2021 academic year. The result could translate into a loss of $2.1 million in state revenue. According to a presentation at the Sept. 16 school board meeting, the district’s first week enrollment totaled 4,778.81 FTEs, 279.14 FTEs below the budgeted 5,053. Much of the decline came in lower grades, Finance Director Jamie Weingart said, with grades K-2 showing a total drop of 136...
CHENEY – Despite winds, fires, smoke and a pandemic, work on relocating Cheney’s Northern Pacific Railroad Depot continues. The heavy lifting part of the project, which began in 2014, took place June 18 when crews from Mt. Vernon, Wash.-based movers DB Davis transported the structure from its former location along the railroad tracks near ADM Mills to its present and permanent home along 1st Street. Since then, the Cheney Depot Society’s project general contractor, Walker Construction, has been busy building the found...
NASHVILLE, TENN. – Born in Brazzaville, Congo to a white father and black mother, Karen McCormick has often found herself facing a decision when filing out employment forms. Particularly the part that asks about race. "OK, I don't fit in all the way here and I don't fit in all the way here," McCormick said of the selection boxes. "Where is the box for me?" The 2013 Cheney High School and 2018 Eastern Washington University graduate and aspiring country music artist has r...
SPOKANE COUNTY – Consider it two records we would just as soon have not set. Due to smoke from fires in California, Oregon and Washington that blew in beginning late Friday night, Spokane County set back-to-back records for the highest air quality contamination in record keeping going back at least to 1999, according to information from the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency. On Sunday, Sept. 13, a one-hour reading at the agency's reporting station on Monroe and Wellesley r...
