Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 264
CHENEY — A local man will be arraigned for vehicular assault for his involvement in an Aug. 17 crash. Balwinder S. Lidhar, 57, was arrested on First Street for driving under the influence and vehicular assault after colliding with a motorcyclist later identified as Chancy Laughlin, 45, on First Street, documents said. At the scene of the collision, Lidhar reported to the responding officer that he had been northbound on First Street when he attempted to make a left-hand turn onto K Street, records show. After initiating t...
CHENEY — The Council unanimously approved, with one abstention, a resolution to sign a consultant agreement for the North Sixth Street and Betz Road Transportation Improvement Board Roundabout project at its regular meeting on Aug. 22. The Council, through Resolution F-177, authorized the Mayor to sign the consultant agreement with Parametrix Engineering. This agreement awards $132,000.00 for preliminary engineering and bidding services for the roundabout Project. This e...
CHENEY — A domestic violence suspect was arrested for felony/misdemeanor warrants, protection order violation, and possession of a stolen firearm on Aug. 23. On the morning of Aug. 23, officers reported to the 1000 Block of Betz Rd. The reporting party advised that her ex-boyfriend Jhea Whitney, 37, was at the location in his truck armed with a firearm, according to a police press release. Dispatch advised officers that Whitney had a felony warrant from Spokane Superior C...
CHENEY — The Council unanimously passed a resolution to award a contract for the residential street preservation project at their regular meeting on Aug. 22. “This is a different style of construction. They will grind the whole road surface out, regrade the subsurface, pound it down, do a concrete base treatment to stiffen up the whole structure,” Todd Ableman, Public Works Director, said. This stretch of road is near Crunks field, and in order to avoid incorporating poten...
SPOKANE VALLEY — The Council unanimously approved the establishment of the Spokane Regional Opioid Abatement Council at their regular meeting on Aug. 29. The purpose of the Opioid Abatement Council is to oversee monitoring, reporting, and dispute-resolution concerning how a municipality uses funds from the opioid settlements. Spokane County has presented an agreement for all participating local governments in the Spokane Region, which includes Adams, Ferry, Lincoln, Pend Oreil...
SPOKANE VALLEY — The City Council heard a staff report on the exploration of behavioral health programs and potential spending of allocated funds at their regular meeting on Aug. 29 In 2022, Council allocated $1,000,000 of ARPA funding to mental health and learning support for youth projects. “There are a number of programs worthy of funding and the impact of these funds could potentially be stretched farther by partnering with another entity or entities,” the staff repor...
SPOKANE — The Department of Labor & Industries has fined Amazon Inc., $85,800 for knowingly putting workers at risk of injury at their fulfillment center at 10010 W Geiger Blvd., Aug. 16. According to a Labor & Industries (L&I) press release, this fulfillment center is one of three other locations across the state which has been cited for similar violations. Amazon is aware of these hazards, the press release said, and that is why the most recent violation is considered ...
CHENEY — With a fire comes the need for a command post and camp to house firefighters and their support crews. For the Gray Fire, Northwest Incident Management Team No. 7, a Southeast Washington response team, set up operations at Cheney Middle School, 740 Betz Road, where it replaced state Department of Natural Resources managing the emergency. The team will be moving later this week due to the back-to-school timetable. Spokeswoman Heather Gibsen said Monday, Aug. 21, that the team is charged with managing the daily l...
MEDICAL LAKE — Eastern State Hospital and the Department of Social Human Services is now involved in two lawsuits initiated by two former employees, both of which have trial dates set in August and October, according to Spokane County Court documents. One of the lawsuits has been filed by Sheri Hendon, who is a licensed psychiatric social worker formerly employed by the hospital and alleges that she was retaliated against for filing a complaint against a supervisor, Deanna B...
MEDICAL LAKE — The City Council voted unanimously to approve two bids — one for soccer goal modifications and one for holiday decor. The approval came at the council’s regular meeting Aug. 15. Resolution 23-617, awarded funds for the purchase of soccer field goals from BSN Sports, LLC. in the amount of $11,107.80. The city required the purchase of new soccer goals due to deterioration of current soccer goals; and had previously published a request for proposals for new socce...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS — The City Council unanimously approved a $7,000 increase to the Sunset Park revamp design project budget at its regular meeting Aug. 7. The design project was approved in November of 2022 for $26, 500 and addressed safety concerns. The current condition of the park pathway system warranted the development of a design project to repair these pathways. The addition to the design scope of work includes adding electrical relay station and infrastructure. “We always end up having to rent electrical generators and...
CHENEY — The City Council unanimously approved a resolution Aug. 8 to purchase two additional body cameras for recently hired police officers. The Multi Bay Dock Bundle, purchased from Axon Enterprises, will cost $19,425.96, an amount to be dispersed over three budget cycles in 2023-25. Additionally, the cost is being added to a previously existing contract between the city and Axon which was signed in September 2021. The original contract included the purchase of 16 body cameras, but the hiring of two additional officers h...
SPOKANE VALLEY — The Council unanimously approved a $1,095,078 award to Family Promise of Spokane to provide homelessness services through its Valley FLASH (Fast-Leasing & Sustainable Housing) Program at their regular meeting on Aug. 8. On May 16, 2023, Council gave consensus to allocate $3,998,535 in funding to support affordable housing and homelessness efforts. Out of this general fund, $1,095,078 was awarded to Family Promise of Spokane. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law in 2021 and it provides f...
CHENEY — Cleanup of the diesel spill from the Chevron gas station at 2302 1st St. has transitioned from the response phase into a “toxic control phase” according to a report given by Fire Chief Tom Jenkins at the regular meeting of the City Council on Aug. 8 According to the Department of Ecology, the toxic control phase entails periodic monitoring of the site and different clean up methods About 85,000 gallons of emulsified water, that is, water which has been conta...
CHENEY — The Council unanimously approved a resolution to allow the Mayor to sign a memo of understanding on behalf of the city for the establishment of an opioid abatement council for the West Plains. “The long and short of this is that the city will receive some money to do some good to address the opioid crisis facing the country,” Administrator Mark Schuller said. The text of Resolution F-172 said that the people of the State of Washington and its communities have been...
CHENEY — The Cheney Farmers Market is now being held at Veterans Memorial Park, 612 Fourth St., on the second and fourth Saturday of every month until Oct. 14. Once held on First Street, the Cheney Farmers Market hosts a range of local vendors from around the city and across the West Plains. Colbie Monter, 17, is the Market Coordinator and facilitates communications among vendors and organizes each event. “This will be my first year doing this and it’s been great fun. Our f...
SPOKANE VALLEY – Jessica Yaeger was sitting in first place after the initial tally of ballots returned in the Aug. 1 primary election for City Council Position No. 2. As of Tuesday night, Yaeger had 5,788 votes, 51.85%. She was ahead of Rachel Briscoe with 2,897 votes, 25.95%, and Adam Smith with 2,374 votes, 21.26%. Only Smith could be reached for comment Tuesday night. “I’m very happy. I have spent zero dollars on marketing,” he said. “So, I am pretty excited. This isn’t som...
LIBERTY LAKE — One candidate has more than doubled all of his opponents in his bid for City Council Position No. 3. At the end of the first day of ballot counting Tuesday night, Aug. 1, Dan Dunne had 1,450 votes, 70.84%. Larry Marshall was in second with 392 votes, 19.15%, and Keith Kopelson was in third with 197 votes, 9.62%. Only the Top 2 candidates advance to the general election. Dunne could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. Despite being in second place, so f...
SPOKANE VALLEY – After the first day of counting ballots in the Aug. 1 primary election, a local woman tops the race for the West Valley School District Director No. 3 position. Amy Anselmo logged 1,380 votes, 55.67%, in the first night of counting. She’s ahead of John Dubois with 635 votes, 25.62%, and Tricia Phillips with 432 votes, 17.43%. Anselmo couldn’t be reached for comment. But DuBois said he’s excited about being No. 2 at this point in the election process; only th...
SPOKANE VALLEY – Rick Freier leads the race for Spokane Valley Fire Commission Position No. 5 after the first day of ballot counting Tuesday, Aug. 1. Freier has 8,622 votes, 53.37%, far ahead of George Orr with 3,772 votes, 23.35%. Freier could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. But Orr commended Freier for his lead. “I have to give it to Rick. He’s been working hard,” Orr said. “We’re all Americans, and though we disagree, we don’t have to be disagreeable....
CHENEY - State and local officials are continuing the clean up of a diesel fuel leak that reached Minnie Creek on July 20. The leak was traced to an underground storage tank and vault at the Chevron gas station, 2302 First St., last week. The state Department of Ecology, Cheney Public Works and GrayMar Environmental Services are still working to clean the area in and around Minnie Creek. The effort is now focused on changing the absorbent material used to slow the spread of co...
LIBERTY LAKE — One candidate has more than doubled all of his opponents in his bid for City Council Position No. 3. At the end of the first day of ballot counting Tuesday night, Aug. 1, Dan Dunne had 1,450 votes, 70.84%. Larry Marshall was in second with 392 votes, 19.15%, and Keith Kopelson was in third with 197 votes, 9.62%. Only the Top 2 candidates advance to the general election. Dunne could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. Despite being in second place, so far, Marshall said he was "very pleased at the results,...
SPOKANE VALLEY – After the first day of counting ballots in the Aug. 1 primary election, a local woman tops the race for the West Valley School District Director No. 3 position. Amy Anselmo logged 1,380 votes, 55.67%, in the first night of counting. She's ahead of John Dubois with 635 votes, 25.62%, and Tricia Phillips with 432 votes, 17.43%. Anselmo couldn't be reached for comment. But DuBois said he's excited about being No. 2 at this point in the election process; only t...
SPOKANE VALLEY – Jessica Yaeger was sitting in first place after the initial tally of ballots returned in the Aug. 1 primary election for City Council Position No. 2. As of Tuesday night, Yaeger had 5,788 votes, 51.85%. She was ahead of Rachel Briscoe with 2,897 votes, 25.95%, and Adam Smith with 2,374 votes, 21.26%. Only Smith could be reached for comment Tuesday night. “I’m very happy. I have spent zero dollars on marketing,” he said. “So, I am pretty excited. This isn’t something I had planned on being the first thing in m...
SPOKANE VALLEY – Rick Freier leads the race for Spokane Valley Fire Commission Position No. 5 after the first day of ballot counting Tuesday, Aug. 1. Freier has 8,622 votes, 53.37%, far ahead of George Orr with 3,772 votes, 23.35%. Freier could not be reached for comment Tuesday night. But Orr commended Freier for his lead. “I have to give it to Rick. He’s been working hard,” Orr said. “We’re all Americans, and though we disagree, we don’t have to be disagreeable. “I hope whoever wins does a great job.” Diane Wilhite was...
