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The Airway Heights City Council faced an extensive agenda at its Aug. 5 meeting, honoring local legislators and hearing a presentation relating to a proposed Highland Village development resolution. Council first unanimously passed a resolution honoring the 6th District’s legislative delegation, comprised of Sen. Jeff Holy, Rep. Mike Volz and Rep. Jenny Graham, for their work during the 2019 legislative session. Airway Heights received significant funds from this year’s session, including more than $5 million for the Hig...
Last week, spurred by the crimes of former U.S.A. Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar, two U.S. Senators released a 235-page report summarizing an 18-month investigation into sexual abuse in sports. But the senators — one a Democrat from Connecticut, the other a Republican from Kansas — haven’t stopped there. Richard Blumenthal and Jerry Moran have also released a bill that goes beyond the benign admonitions of past legislation and instead details concrete steps to prevent crimes like Nassar’s from happening again and from go...
The West Plains Fire Academy is once again accepting applications for new volunteer and career firefighters, and local fire officials say it’s hoping to foster a new, more regional focus. Spokane County Fire District 10 Division Chief of Recruitment & Retention Deb Dodson said the academy is seeking aspiring firefighters — particularly ones that live in the district for which they are applying. “People think they can’t be firefighters, but they can,” she said. “They can be farmers, truck drivers, teachers, anyone with an int...
The Cheney School Board’s July 31 meeting was a swift one, as multiple staff members delivered reports on matters essential to the future of the district. Superintendent Rob Roettger said the district has been working with Davis Demographics, a K-12 school planning, consulting and mapping firm. The firm is in the process of releasing a report estimating Cheney’s student population projections over the next 10 years. According to Roettger, the finalization of the report has been postponed to early September, but preliminary da...
One would think a small-town garlic festival would be the least-likely candidate for the site of unspeakable violence. But that illusion was shattered Sunday, July 28, when three people were killed by a gunman at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California. Two of those murdered were children. At least 12 more were injured. The incident is yet another tally mark on the long list of mass shootings that have plagued the U.S. in recent years. It’s to the point where they don’t rattle the public anymore; news consumers sig...
Christopher Huntzinger ran a seafoam green cushion cover through an industrial sewing machine on Wednesday, July 17, tattooed hands confidently guiding stitches through the tough outdoor fabric. The image was one you might see in any artist’s studio or furniture shop, but with a few key differences — like the locked doors and gun-toting officers patrolling the halls. Because Huntzinger isn’t just a craftsman plying his trade. He, along with the 20-some other men in the room,...
Spokane County Fire District 10 welcomed a new fire chief this week, with its Board of Commissioners announcing the appointment of former Cheney firefighter Ken Johnson to the position. Johnson served with the Cheney Fire Department as a lieutenant and battalion chief for 17 years and served as interim fire chief for one year. He will take over from former District 10 Fire Chief Nick Scharff, who announced his retirement earlier this year after 42 years of service. Johnson will be responsible for the daily operations of the d...
For Cheney High School graduates Jacob Mager and Robby Stevens, a routine visit to catch up after high school turned into a business opportunity that would help them both down the path of entrepreneurial success. Two men in seemingly unrelated fields working in two distinctly separate parts of the country have come together, bound by their hometown roots, to complete a project that showcases the best of both their skills — and may be the catalyst for even bigger and better t...
Three unknowns are vying for the Airway Heights City Council Position 7 seat, currently held by Dave Malet, ahead of the August primary election. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Aug. 6 and 24 dropbox locations are listed on the county elections website. Final results will be made official on Aug. 20, setting the field for November’s general election. The Cheney Free Press asked all candidates to answer the same questions on issues facing the city in 150 words or less. Editor’s Note: Some portions of responses have bee...
Tucked away in a mobile home park off of Sunset Highway in Airway Heights, a drama worthy of a telenovela has quietly been playing out since late June, expanding to involve city departments, local officials and residents alike. What started as a routine code enforcement call has rapidly turned into a quagmire of issues code enforcement officer Kristina Blake says highlights the need for additional city code detailing rental inspection rules. Essentially uninhabitable Last mont...
The Cheney School Board is bracing itself for an onslaught of new students in the coming years as it heard details on a new enrollment report at its July 17 meeting. The report indicates the district may be facing a student population of nearly 10,000 by 2029, a prospect that Superintendent Rob Roettger joked was “just a little scary.” The report is still being completed and Roettger said more information for students and families would be available next week. The board also unanimously approved revisions to district policy N...
Cheney Public School’s director of student support services, Robin Andrus, will be leaving the district and school officials have hired Franklin Day to fill the position going forward, the district announced on Tuesday. Andrus has served in her current position for one year and was the assistant director of student support services prior to that, according to Assistant to the Superintendent Helen Page. Andrus has accepted a job at another district as a school psychologist. The district posted the job opening on June 17 and c...
Local officers have arrested the suspect in May’s fatal hit-and-run, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office announced in a press release last week. According to the release, Traffic Unit Corporal Jeff Welton developed probable cause to charge 24-year-old Trevor J. Stephan with leaving the scene of a fatal collision. The collision occurred May 16 on Hayford Road at Sprague in Airway Heights and resulted in the death of 39-year-old Jackson Lawless. Members of the U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offenders Task For...
The Airway Heights City Council zipped through their agenda on Monday, July 15, despite having barely enough members present to make a quorum. Only Mayor Kevin Richey, Deputy Mayor Doyle Inman and council members Steve Lawrence and Larry Bowman were present at the meeting, though the other member’s absences were excused. The council unanimously appointed Lawrence, Bowman and council member Veronica Messing to serve on what was originally listed in the agenda as an “Affordable Housing Ad Hoc Committee” While discussing that...
An Airway Heights shooting listed in last week’s Cheney Free Press police reports may have raised a few eyebrows, but local police said it was less concerning than it first appeared. Just after 9 p.m. on Wednesday, July 3, police received a report of a man in a vehicle shooting a gun in the air while the vehicle was driving down the 800 block of South Garfield Road. Witnesses reported hearing “two or three pops” coming from a silver sedan, Airway Heights Police Department’s Sgt. Robert Swan said. There was no propert...
Crime in Airway Heights increased 97.4 percent from 2017 to 2018, according to the “2018 Crime in Washington Annual Report” released last week by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs. Airway Heights experienced the fifth-highest increase in crime in the state among reporting agencies, according to the report. Leaders at the Airway Heights Police Department initially said they had not seen the report and could not comment, but later the same day offered comments on its contents. Sgt. Robert Swan said the...
I went out to dinner last week with a friend who had a hot take on the U.S. women’s soccer team’s recent World Cup win that was simultaneously hilarious and sad. After ordering our food, she looked up from her Bloody Mary and said, “It’s interesting that a country that doesn’t seem to care about women’s sports or soccer is so good at both.” While she was joking — I think — she makes a good point. Soccer overall has seen a decline in participation among American fans in recent years, according to the Sports and Fitness Industr...
Those following the news recently have probably heard of the Palm Beach multi-millionaire Jeffery Epstein, thrust back in the spotlight after more than 10 years this week when he was charged with sex trafficking and a horde of lewd photographs of underage girls was discovered in his home. The current charges have sparked questions about the apparent mishandling of the investigation into Epstein’s activities years ago, and the carefully constructed pyramid of protection he built to shield himself from federal prosecution. B...
In honor of its significant growth in student reading, math and attendance, Cheney School District’s own Betz Elementary was presented with a Washington State Recognized School award last month, one of just 137 other elementary schools in the state to do so. The award, based on state Smarter Balance Assessments, evaluated the school over the course of three years, ending with the 2017-2018 school year. Elementary state assessments are given to third, fourth and fifth-graders. On Thursday, June 6, the school was officially hon...
Spokane injectable-drug manufacturing and packaging company Selkirk Pharma Inc. is the latest business to set its sights on the West Plains, filing plans last week for a $30 million, 63,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. According to a predevelopment application filed with the city of Spokane, the facility will span more than six acres at 9110 W. Granite in the Pacific Northwest Technology Park just north of the Spokane International Airport, within the West Plains Airport Area Public Development Authority. The startup...
The highly-touted fireworks show at Northern Quest Resort and Casino fizzled July 4 when the show billed as the largest “between Seattle and Billings, Montana” sparked five brush fires and was cancelled nearly as quickly as it began. The Airway Heights Fire Department received the first call just after 10 p.m. Fire Marshal Nate Whannell said they dispatched six units and were able to extinguish the fires quickly, with just one acre succumbing to the flames. While attendees reported impressive fireworks at first, the sub...
The Airway Heights City Council had several issues to tackle at its July 1 meeting, including the filling of an open Planning Commission seat and the approval of a contract for police department body camera purchases. The council unanimously appointed city resident Mark Collins to the Planning Commission. The military veteran attended the meeting and said he hoped to be able to serve his community well. Also unanimously approved was a contract with Axon Enterprise. The Airway Heights Police Department sought council approval...
The Airway Heights Recreation Center will be hosting a county-wide meeting seeking public feedback on the six-year strategic plan for the county parks system. At the meeting, officials from Spokane County’s Parks, Recreation and Golf Department are seeking community input on the types of parks and recreational facilities, amenities and location the county should pursue over the next six years to align local needs with state planning guidelines. The event is being billed as an “Open House” with a casual drop-in format. The p...
A federal judge will soon decide whether future plans for the Spokane Tribe Casino will be put on hold as a lawsuit brought by the Kalispel Tribe continues. The Spokane Tribe took its first steps toward a long-term goal of a large casino resort estimated at $400 million in 2016 when it broke ground on a $40 million casino project. The site is located two miles west of the Northern Quest Resort and Casino, owned and operated by the Kalispel Tribe since 2000. The Spokane Tribe has long considered the 145 acres of land to be...
A fire on Friday, June 28, in Airway Heights required a response from nearly every agency in the West Plains when a mobile home and yard debris were consumed in a blaze that could be seen for several blocks. The call came into the Airway Heights Fire Department at 9:40 p.m., Fire Chief Mitch Metzger said. The incident was initially reported as a brush fire, leading crews to respond with a wildfire truck before heading to a nearby station to swap out their equipment for...
