Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 264
Spokane County Fire District No. 3 responded to a single vehicle crash Monday afternoon on Cheney Spangle Road. The driver was uninjured....
FARMINGTON – Cryptocurrency exchange company FTX has filed for bankruptcy, and its stake in Farmington Bank may be redistributed. In March of 2022, an FTX entity, Alameda Research, made an $11.5 million equity investment in Farmington Bank, 103 N. First St. FTX has since declared bankruptcy. But that filing may not have a local impact, Farmington Bank Director of Business Operations Josey Booth said. “The challenging thing is that FTX is actually about 140 separate entities, o...
CHENEY - The first snow storm of the season moved into the area overnight, bringing several inches of snow and near whiteout conditions. All this more than 20 days before the first day of winter. Most schools across the region were on a 2-hour delayed start or had canceled classes for the day. Eastern Washington, too, had shuttered the campus and a scheduled men's basketball game had been canceled. Cheney School District initially called for a delayed start, but officials deci...
CHENEY - Wayne Dow, owner of Dow Excavating Inc., is out with his staff as they labor to to place the thousands of feet of lights for the Christmas season. "This is really about giving back to the community for me." Dow said. "I have lived here my whole life and I want to provide a bright spot through all the darkness." Speaking of the pandemic and how decorating the business's grounds helped to provide the community with a little extra holiday cheer, Kenzie Dow, Wayne's...
CHENEY – The 2023 budget proposal included requests for two additional police officers and a flying drone program for the city’s use. The budget proposal was given by police chief Rick Beghtol at city council meeting, Nov. 22. “We are currently authorized to have 16 commissioned employees, and we only have 14. So once we’re back up to 16, the new budget is asking for two more commissioned officers, which would bring us to 18.” Beghtol said. The budget lists a $300,000...
CHENEY – Full city plow underway, with eight plows and several employees on the ground working to clear the roadways and sidewalks. Todd Ableman, chair of city planning, said "We have just about everything we have, all the equipment and every employee, in the city trying to clear the snow." Ableman said that while everyone is working hard, he is trying be conscious of how hard the plow operators are working. "We don't want to overwork our people." He said. "The city will c...
CHENEY - Wayne Dow, owner of Dow Excavating Inc., is out with his staff as they labor to to place the thousands of feet of lights for the Christmas season. "This is really about giving back to the community for me." Dow said. "I have lived here my whole life and I want to provide a bright spot through all the darkness." Speaking of the pandemic and how decorating the business's grounds helped to provide the community with a little extra holiday cheer, Kenzie Dow, Wayne's...
MEDICAL LAKE – Concerned residents continue to decry the changes to the urban growth area location at Medical Lake city planning commission meetings. Nov. 17 The public comments section was opened at the start of the meeting and resident Tammy Roberson expressed concerns about the verbiage in the municipal code regarding wetlands and buffer zones. Follow up comments from resident Scott Holbrook also addressed wetland preservation and urban development. A resident who wished to remain unnamed said “I would be directly aff...
CHENEY – The date-rape drug rumors circulating EWU since October are a hoax. Officer Maria Fell of the Cheney PD filed for a warrant to obtain user information from the anonymous app YikYak. “The users who originally made the claims were investigated by the Cheney PD and they confessed that the information that they posted regarding the date rape accusations were false.” Interim Chief Rick Bechtel said. The users who posted on the app stated that they had seen a man named Thor pouring an unknown substance in drinks at a Kap...
CHENEY – The annual track meet, usually held at EWU, will be moved to Yakima for 2023-24 cycle. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) submitted a request for a proposal to hold the meet to sports commissions all over Washington. The Spokane Sports Commission did not submit a proposal. Justin Kesterson, assistant executive director of activities & eligibility at WIAA, said “We distributed a request for proposal for the venue for the next two years to the Spokane Sports Commission. We got a couple of bid...
Cheney Free Press Lucas Walsh CHENEY- A car accident involving a driver on Cheney Spokane Rd. resulted in an overturned vehicle approximately four miles outside of Cheney....
CHENEY – The remains of veterans who served in armed conflicts from the Spanish American to the Vietnam war were interred at the state veterans cemetery this week. This interment ceremony was the result of a collaboration between the Missing in America Project and Dignity Memorial. The purpose of the MiAP is "to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremains of American veterans." Dignity Memorial provided the several staff members on site and the means of transporting the...
CHENEY – A Cheney resident at 237 W 3rd St. allegedly called a crisis line help center in Spokane county with threats of self-harm, Nov. 16, and Cheney police responded. Interim police chief Rick Bechtel said “Yesterday’s incident on 3rd St. was indeed resolved effectively with the assistance of the George Unit from Spokane Sheriffs office.” Bechtel also commented on Cheney PD tactics for situations such as these. “We’ve always practiced deescalation at the Cheney PD, but we...
A Memorial Day weekend staple in Cheney and at Eastern Washington University for the past quarter century will have a new home in 2023. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association's 1A, 1B and 2B state track meet will move to Yakima and Zaepfel Stadium for its next edition, taking with it an estimated 1,600 athletes and an untold number of fans. The event will take place May 25-26-27 as part of a two-year contract. The Yakima facility had undergone a significant...
CHENEY – Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission has now filed charges seeking to revoke or deny officer Chad Eastep’s peace officer certification. Synopses of investigations conducted by both the city administrator and the police department from June 2021 to August of 2022, were forwarded to the CJTC. The purpose of this commission is “to establish standards and provide training to criminal justice professionals, including peace officers...and to certify, and when...
CHENEY – Brad Hemenway and Jeremy McSpaden open American Metal Forming at 10 W 1st St. Business partners for nearly 23 years, the two Cheney residents began renting the space which they currently occupy in January of 2022, and by August they had purchased the lot and the building. "We've worked together for a long time, but we owned separate roofing companies." When asked why they made the change from roofing to metal forming, the pair said that "A lot of people try to o...
Former Chief of police John Hensley admires a present from his wife at his retirement party, held on Nov 12....
CHENEY – Council was presented with a water rate study by FCS which addressed projections on revenue requirements and water rate plans for the current infrastructure and water supply. The rate re-design is being considered due to predicted increases such as inflation. Several options for rate designs were presented by FCS. Option one involves keeping the current water rate for multi-family consumer groups fixed for five years, dispersing the increase across other groups. O...
CHENEY - Officer Maria Fell will soon complete her filed training program, and plans to afterward work for the Cheney police department. Fell said “I am in the field training program. I completed the academy training back in 2021, and I was sworn in at Cheney PD back in July.” After being sworn in, Maria was assigned to this field training program, and at its conclusion will be allowed to operate independently in Cheney police force. “I wanted to work at the Cheney PD for a long time. I went to the academy in 2016 and worke...
CHENEY - Overnight snowfall across the county leaves many stranded on the road or confined to their homes. As per usual in the first snow, bus schedules are disturbed and commuters run late as residents try to navigate the terrain in town and on the highway. Nov. 4 Reports indicates that as many as three STA buses were temporarily stuck on 1st street and near the Cheney high school. Additionally, the slush immobilized several vehicles parked on Salnave road, 3rd street, and...
SPOKANE – Democratic incumbent Vicky Dalton is ahead with 51.9%, or 73,031 votes. Republican challenger Bob McCaslin is trailing with 47.9%, or 67,307 votes. Dalton, a certified public accountant and government finance manager, has been Spokane county auditor since 1999. The challenger, Bob McCaslin, is a public school teacher and volunteer. Dalton graduated with a BBA - Computer Information Systems from Idaho State University in 1984. From there, she would go on to become S...
CHENEY – Students at Kappa Sigma fraternity house party Wednesday night report being given an unknown substance in a drinking cup. Nov. 2. The fraternity house at which the event allegedly occurred is in Cheney, not on EWU campus. “That makes it a Cheney police job.” Interim police chief Rick Bechtel said. “Somebody saw a post on TikTok and reported it to the Cheney police and it is now under investigation.” Bechtel said that he then reported the investigation to Chief Jew...
CHENEY – Women’s Auxiliary will be hosting a dinner for veterans who are members of Post 72, to be held at the Wren Pierson building. The event begins at 5p.m. and ends at 7:30p.m. on Nov. 11. “We haven’t done it in a while because of COVID, but this will be the third dinner we’ve hosted.” Margy Foland, the First Vice President of the auxiliary, said. Cheney middle school students made thank you cards to honor the veterans, which will be given out at the dinner. Also in att...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS – The West Plains Chamber of Commerce “Best of the West” award ceremony recognized Airway Heights, Cheney, and Medical Lake residents and businesses, Nov. 4. There were four separate categories of awards; military, educators, business, and community. Educators of the year winners were Michelle Hill of the Medical Lake school district, and Katherine Potter of Cheney public schools. The military wards went to the 92nd Air refueling wing’s TSgt. Andy T. Nail; 141st...
Cheney Free Press Nov. 8 1918, Nov. 11 1921 An outbreak of deadly influenza eases grip on west plains cities Throughout the months of September and October, the residents of Cheney and other west plains communities had suffered with a deadly outbreak of the “disease.” Both local physicians and representatives of the army, whose personnel had also suffered greatly, addressed community fear and reported an ease in the number of cases. Additionally, officials commented on the...
