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Cheney's varsity soccer team will have to give up the number one spot in the league following a disappointing 3-1 loss to East Valley in a Great Northern League match on Oct. 11, but still managed to defeat Pullman 1-0 thanks to a deflected own goal. The Lady Blackhawks (8-6, 6-4) just couldn't keep up with East Valley's physical offense, spending much of the game trying to equalize following a goal by the Lady Knight's Taylor Richardson in the eighth minute. Cheney junior...
I never thought I would be a dog person. Growing up, my mother was afflicted with devastating allergies that prevented us from having pets. As a teenager, I liked other people's animals, but was more confused by them than anything else. (Why is your cat always hiding under the bed? Why does your dog bark at the ketchup bottle?) Then I got my first dog. It's amazing how animals can change our lives. Not only medically - though pet ownership is shown to reduce blood pressure,...
The Lady Blackhawks volleyball team had an inconsistent week, losing 3-2 to Clarkston on Oct. 2 after a vicious battle but easily overcoming West Valley on Oct. 4. The team battled into the fifth set in an away Great Northern League match against Clarkston (5-4, 4-3,) but the Bantams’ momentum and home court advantage got the best of Cheney (6-5, 3-5,) head coach Heather Zorrozua said. “Clarkston was a rough match for us,” Zorrozua said. “They’re a great team and they have one player who will get you.” Zorrozua was referri...
The Lady Blackhawks varsity soccer team overcame Clarkston 2-1 in a Great Northern League game on Oct. 2, but struggled to find their footing against West Valley Oct. 4. Junior defender and forward Mackenzie Huotari was a standout on the pitch against Clarkston (5-6, 2-5,) scoring both goals for Cheney (7-5, 5-3) and ultimately securing them their victory. The Lady Blackhawks were down early in the sixth minute, but were able to come back in the second half and deliver the win. “We were still shorthanded, especially since o...
The Cheney High School girls swim team thoroughly thumped Selah at their Oct. 9 meet, sweeping the competition 123-49 and winning every event. Freshman Janie Richards gave a particularly strong showing, taking the top spot in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:03:24, a state qualifying time and a new team record. She also snapped up the first place finish in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:07:31 with junior Echo Mecklenburg taking second in 1:12:75. "She had a great day," said head...
I grew up in a pro-football household. Every Sunday, Monday and Thursday was spoken for, and often the other days were filled with pre- and post-game analyses. The game featured heavily in the background of every holiday gathering and weekend barbecue for years. Professional football was one of the constants of my childhood, yet it’s getting harder and harder to support the organization that oversees it. As the 2018 season progresses, the absence of certain players has been blatantly obvious. Many of those players were s...
Last week I was granted the privilege of spending some time at the Airway Heights Fire Department with a few of its on-duty volunteer firefighters. The day I was there, they didn't receive an onslaught of incessant calls, giving volunteers downtime to clean the station, service fire vehicles and work on training drills. That makes sense, since according to national estimates, firefighters spend just 1 percent of their time engaged in active firefighting. But when that alarm di...
Cheney residents looking at the state's 2018 test scores may be alarmed, as the average score on standardized assessments for incoming sixth- and ninth-graders nosedived from the mid-70s to the low 40s and 50s. But Cheney School District officials insist all is not as it appears, chalking up the dip in scores to changing testing standards thanks to the recently instituted "Common Core" curriculum. Cheney students haven't lost knowledge and teachers haven't stopped teaching...
The Airway Heights Police Department engaged in a high-speed vehicle pursuit on Oct. 3, chasing a suspect in multiple stolen vehicles all over the city before apprehending him along Highway 2. The pursuit began on South Lawson Street when 29-year-old Bryan D. Gilbert-Maple stole an unattended silver Mitsubishi that was left running in front of a residence, according to a news release. Police followed Gilbert-Maple for several blocks but terminated the pursuit near Sunset Elementary. The stolen vehicle was traveling at more...
A tree goes up in flames during the early stages of Tuesday's fire along First Street in south Cheney. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze within 2-3 hours with the help of local Fire Boss air drops....
The Lady Blackhawk’s volleyball team showed impressive hustle and skill in what head coach Heather Zorrozua called “a moral victory” in their Sept. 25 league match against East Valley, followed by a Sept. 27 loss to Pullman and a solid presentation in the Sheridan Classic last Saturday. The team lost to East Valley 3-2 but “performed phenomenally,” Zorrozua said. “Sometimes it’s hard to control all aspects of the game, but the girls were amazing and we learned a lot about what we’re capable of,” she said. “They set the bar...
The Lady Blackhawks soccer team struggled mightily with player absences last week, but still overcame a disappointing loss to East Valley to pull off two wins against Pullman and Deer Park in rapid succession. The team was missing four starters, including senior keeper Melissa Aris, due to illnesses and family emergencies. Plus, two players have been stuck on the bench in recent games — one because of a concussion and another while recovering from a knee injury. Head coach Nels Radtke pulled up three junior varsity players t...
The Airway Heights Fire Department hosted a hands-only CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) class for the public on Sept. 27 at the Skate Ribbon in Spokane’s Riverfront Park, partnering with the local American Red Cross to teach community members invaluable life-saving skills they can use in an emergency. Fire Chief Mitch Metzger emceed the event, and told participants that 70-80 percent of the time, CPR is performed on a loved one. “Hands-only” CPR is CPR without mouth-to-mouth breaths. It is recommended for use by peopl...
The Airway Heights City Council made quick work of a short agenda at their Oct. 1 meeting, presenting a community excellence to a local business and authorizing new equipment purchases in preparation for the winter. To kick off the meeting, the owners of La Presa Mexican Restaurant accepted the city’s fourth annual “Business of the Year” award, recognizing notable Airway Heights businesses. The winner is voted on by employees, customers and community members. Following this, City Manager Albert Tripp presented a budget updat...
Cheney High School’s Future Business Leaders of America club has a lot to celebrate this week as one of their own hits a prestigious milestone. Cheney junior John “JT” Gasper was recently selected for a significant appointment as the executive director of the National Secretary’s Council for the 2018-2019 school year, overseeing communication and student outreach for the national organization. As the council’s director, Gasper will be managing other FBLA members from across the country, handling social media and bringing...
The city of Airway Heights finalized a property purchase last week of a building to be used for firefighter housing and training, according to city officials. The city acquired the identical building behind the Airway Heights police station at 13315 W. 13th Ave. for $230,000. The structure will eventually be a facility expanding the resident program for the Airway Heights Fire Department, Fire Chief Mitch Metzger said. The new building will be transformed into a home for a small crew of volunteer firefighters, who will be...
As mega-corporation Amazon builds its 600,000 square foot Fulfillment Center on the north side of Geiger Boulevard, many West Plains and Spokane County residents are asking: Why here? Why us? The tech giant has the resources to build anywhere in the world, so what was it that caused them to purchase nearly 80 acres southwest of the Spokane International Airport for what will be the largest single-site employer in the county since Kaiser Aluminum in 1946? What exactly is the...
The Lady Blackhawk’s varsity soccer team outmatched Mt. Spokane in a non-league game Sept. 22, emerging victorious 3-0. “We really outplayed them the whole game, which was interesting because we thought it would be a tough one for us,” head coach Nels Radtke said. The team has been working on their shooting and saw that borne out in Saturday’s game with five shots on goal. One of those shots landed in the first seven minutes, scored by junior midfielder Emma Scott with an assist by junior midfielder and forward Kaitlin...
Despite an illness affecting multiple players, the Lady Blackhawk’s volleyball team came out on top in their Sept. 18 league match against West Valley, winning 3-1 in four sets. Juniors Shelby Draper and Riley Potter made a standout team yet again, Draper with 16 kills and Potter with 33 assists. Sophomore Avery Stark also came through with 22 digs and six kills, while Madison Duilio had four aces and 19 digs. Head coach Heather Zorrozua was very satisfied with their performance, she said. “We saw a lot of great things, and...
Sexual assault should not be a partisan issue. That’s not a statement I ever thought would have to be spelled out in black and white, but rather a given based on human decency. But here we are. It’s a statement that seems to have been forgotten in the wake of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s bid for the Supreme Court, which has been fraught with accounts from multiple women accusing him of sexual misconduct. Professor Christine Blasey Ford came forward earlier this month to accuse Kavanaugh of attempted sexual assault, while just...
The Cheney School District School Board resolved issues ranging from contract disputes to construction timelines at their Sept. 19 meeting, approving a new two-year contract with teachers and addressing a variety of new policies. The board first heard an enrollment report from Jamie Weingart, the district’s director of finance. She presented the board with numbers reflecting a growing sixth-grade class. The district was anticipating a total enrollment of 4,655 students for this year, but as of the beginning of the school y...
Cheney teachers officially have a new two-year contract in which the district devotes 11.92 percent more money to educator salaries. The new contract was ratified by Cheney Education Association members on Sept. 17 and was approved by the school board at their Sept. 19 meeting, where Assistant Superintendent Sean Dotson called the agreement “a win-win.” According to contract documents, district employees will be placed on the appropriate step of the updated salary schedule according to years of experience and education earned...
The water tower in Sunset Park is getting a makeover this month as the water tower recoat project kicks off in Airway Heights. After several years on the docket, the city is finally tackling the project, removing old paint and primer from the water tower and giving it a fresh new look. The water tower transformation was originally planned to take place a few years ago when paint began to peel and the tower started to look unsightly, Airway Heights Public Works Director Kevin...
As city officials plan to invest more than $20 million in transportation projects over the next six years, the Airway Heights City Council approved a plan to employ a governmental affairs firm to lobby in partnership with the community for local priorities. At its Sept. 17 meeting, council members discussed the benefits of using a lobbying firm to assist the city with fundraising, particularly with parks and recreation and transportation projects. “Working with a firm like this could take fundraising to the next level,” Cit...
With new businesses moving into Airway Heights and bringing their employees with them, local real estate experts are predicting that rapidly increasing property values will only continue to rise. The city is experiencing an uptick in both commercial and residential real estate, plus a tightening rental market indicating that supply just isn’t keeping up with demand on the West Plains. Two multi-family unit complexes called Basalt Ridge and Galina were recently completed in the northwest area of the city and there’s more on...
