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Katharine Elsie Hardie (Copping) was born on Sept. 1, 1926 to George and Myra Copping in Glendive, Mont., where she was raised. She passed in the early morning hours of Dec. 28, 2015, with her immediate family at her side. Katharine was involved in 4H, belonged to the Order of the Rainbow and worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad until moving to Spokane in 1945 to attend Kinman Business University. There she met and married Delbert Hardie on May 30, 1948. The two lived in... Full story
Towing companies have found a windfall in the city of Cheney, and not from removing vehicles whose drivers were unsuccessful navigating slippery streets and landed in a ditch or snow bank. Beginning Dec. 28, Cheney’s Police Department tagged between 35 – 50 vehicles parked along city streets and right of ways, with 17 of those being towed so that city snowplows can not only clear the streets of new-fallen white stuff, but also to remove snow berms piled up along curbs. According to the city’s municipal code, the city plows...
In his rookie season as head soccer coach at Eastern Washington University in 2014, Chad Bodnar had plenty on his plate as he transitioned from the community college level in Walla Walla to NCAA Division I. Bodnar, however, saved some room for dessert as he also helped turn a struggling program around with an all-time record for Big Sky Conference wins with five and qualified the Eagles for the playoffs. The encore he delivered was even more impressive in 2015, especially...
For three years Vernon Adams had been off limits from being tackled by his Eastern Washington University football teammates in practice and scrimmages. All that changed Feb. 9 when the All-American Eagles' quarterback announced his transfer to the University of Oregon. He hoped to assume the job that was held by Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariotta who decided to skip his senior season and enter last April's NFL draft. EWU and Oregon would meet in Eugene to open their...
When Jim Hayford was introduced as the new head men's basketball coach at Eastern Washington University on March 29, 2011 he offered, "I think the future is bright." That prediction took four years to initially come to fruition as Hayford guided a talented group to a share of the 2014-15 Big Sky regular season championship and the school's first berth in the NCAA tournament in a decade. The effort was selected as the Cheney Free Press's No. 1 sports story in 2015. The Eagles w...
Washington State native, Verna Mae Miller MacQuarrie, passed away with her daughter, Janice, at her bedside, early Saturday morning, Dec. 19, 2015, at the Cheney Care Center. Verna was born near Oakesdale, Wash., to John and Mary Ann (Anna) Hall Miller, Nov. 11, 1911. After her mother's death when Verna was 4 years old, she lived with her grandmother in Spokane. She went to Holmes Elementary, graduated from North Central High School in 1930 and later from Kinman Business... Full story
Cheney United Church of Christ Pastor David Krueger-Duncan will preside at our Jan. 10 service at 10 a.m. Special music will be provided by soprano, Ryan Gunn. A coffee hour will follow in the church fellowship hall. Men’s breakfast will meet before services on Jan. 10 at 7:45 a.m. at Marketplace Cheney. Community support at our annual bazaar was much appreciated. Funds are being distributed to support UCC activities as well as to the community at large, including Cheney Outreach and Crosswalk. Emmanuel Lutheran Church E...
Feed Medical Lake Jan. 11 For their first meal of 2016, Feed Medical Lake is serving pepper steak, mashed potatoes and gravy, steamed broccoli and brownies at 223 S. Hallett St. Come join us on Jan. 11 at 5 p.m. for this free meal and take home a few free groceries. For more information call Joanna Williams at (509) 714-1150. Dance lessons start January The Cheney Hi-Flyers Dance Club offers beginning square dance lessons starting Monday evenings in January at 6:30 – 8 p.m. in Cheney City Hall (609 Second St). New students a...
Sutton Barn, located on the Eastern Washington State College campus, was placed in the National Historic Register of Historic Places in 1976. At the time, the college was using the barn for various bicentennial related events. It is now home to the Eastern Washington University Campus Police and is known as the Red Barn....
1 Years Ago Jan. 12, 2006 Dr. Rodolfo Arévalo was named the 25th president of Eastern Washington University Jan. 9. Six days after being stolen, Cheney High School’s victory bell was returned to the school. Cheney opened Greater Spokane League basketball play with a pair of losses, by identical 55-48 scores to Lewis and Clark and Central Valley. Jess Donnerberg led the Blackhawks in scoring with 12 and 16 points respectively. 20 Years Ago Jan. 11, 1996 Finding a way to improve traffic flow at the corner of State Route 90...
The story goes that when the U.S. Supreme Court made its ruling in the Partlow decision the state of Alabama was given a year to fix problems of overcrowding and other issues. And when they didn't act in a timely manner, money was taken away from the University of Alabama football program. The next day the Legislature met to restore funding to coach Paul "Bear" Bryant's Crimson Tide. The oppressive conditions present at Partlow School and Hospital, where upwards of 120 people...
On. Jan. 1, Airway Heights police arrested Ronald L. Smith Jr., 34, for first-degree burglary, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, second-degree possession of stolen property and four charges of theft of a firearm. It didn’t take long for the authorities to find him. According to Sgt. Robert Swan, Officer Matt Keetch responded to a burglary call on the 100 block of South Easy Street. The victim told Keetch his window was open and he had four firearms and other missing property. As Keetch was taking the report, h...
CHENEY Dec. 28 Third-degree malicious mischief was reported on the 400 block of North Fifth Street. A rock was thrown through a window. Seventeen vehicles were impounded due to snow removal on the zero hundred block of Third Street. Police assisted the Spokane County Sherriff’s Office with a shooting incident on Excelsior Road. Dec. 29 Accidental property damage was reported on the 600 block of First Street. A private company truck struck the Public Library. License plates were found on the 100 block of Paradise Road. Dec. 3...
With a new year comes a chance for new starts and for ways we can improve from last year. Here are some things the Cheney Free Press Editorial board would like to see in 2016. First, we would like to see more participation from the community at local meetings. The Airway Heights and Cheney city council meetings have little-to-no attendance from citizens. Residents who do attend only come to address council about an issue that affects them personally and they’ll leave after they’re done speaking. Medical Lake council mee...
Just before Christmas we learned that over the past 13 years some 3,200 inmates from the Washington State Department of Corrections facilities had been prematurely released. When I heard the news, the initial thought was at least this bureaucratic screw up didn’t result in the loss of millions, if not billions of taxpayer dollars. But it wasn’t long before the price became incalculable with the loss of lives. At least two deaths that we know of have now been the result of a so...
Hallett Elementary School student Taylor Dorcheus was doing more than just getting a haircut when she and her family went into Wispies Hair Salon, in Medical Lake, Jan. 2. She was going donating her hair to Wigs for Kids in honor of her cousin Charlie Pocklington. Dorcheus' mission to give her locks to charity began when Pocklington, 21, who lived in the United Kingdom, was diagnosed with sarcoma - a rare cancer that develops in the muscle, bones, nerves and soft tissue. She...
Washington FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics announced in a news release it will launch the 2016 competiton season with a worldwide kickoff event on Saturday, Jan. 9 at Eastern Washington University in Showalter Hall on the Cheney campus, 526 Fifth St. from 7 a.m. to noon. The kickoff event will include 31 teams. This event is one of 114 total kickoff events taking place worldwide. The 2016 season will include more than 158 teams, (4,50...
Coming in No. 4 in the 2015 Top 10 stories was the Cheney School District's $44.8 million proposed bond that failed twice when it went to voters. The ballot measure asked voters to approve an increase of 75 cents per $1,000 of assessed property tax valuation, raising the overall tax rate to a projected $5.79 beginning in 2016, where it would have remained until 2027, baring no other bond measures. It was the first of a two-part plan to expand and modernize the high school and...
The remodeling of Eastern Washington University’s Pence Union Building — known affectionately as the PUB — that has been on the horizon for a couple of years is finally happening. In February 2015, Eastern students voted 1,052-983 — a 51.2 percent vote — to approve a $65-68 per quarter PUB fee in the 2015 school year to help fund the remodel. The fee will increase to $80-85 per quarter starting in 2018, raising approximately $30 million to help pay for construction. In an earlier interview with the Cheney Free Press, fo...
Of all the events taking place in 2015, perhaps the one affecting West Plains residents the most was water, one of the reasons it was voted one of the Cheney Free Press's No. 1 Top-10 Stories of 2015 More specifically, the strain on local water systems due to a number of factors depending on location but mostly from a two-year-long drought affecting most of the state. Low snow packs contributed to a Department of Ecology finding that 48 of 72 watersheds in the state had water...
The Airway Heights City Council failed to elect a new deputy mayor at its Jan. 4 meeting, leaving the backup post open for the time being. Both candidates, Councilwoman Tanya Dashiell who was nominated by Mayor Kevin Richey, and current deputy mayor Councilman Steve Lawrence, nominated by Councilman Dave Malet, received three votes each from the seven-member council, with new Councilman Larry Bowman abstaining. Four votes are required to select a new deputy mayor. City attorney Stanley Schwartz told the council the position...
Smoke from huge wildfires burning in Central and Northeast Washington in August made life a challenge not only for those who live in those areas but also for residents in the rest of Eastern Washington, Spokane and the West Plains. Hazardous particulate levels forced people to stay indoors while schools and area universities had to adjust their outdoor sports practice schedules. In the two pictures above by staff reporter Paul Delaney, Roos Field is shown at top on the...
Cheney will pick up Christmas trees The city of Cheney will make its solid waste crews available to residents who wish to dispose of their Christmas trees. The trees can be picked up on the resident’s regularly scheduled garbage pick up day. Trees less than six feet long must be cut in half, while trees over six feet must be cut into thirds. These segments should then be placed alongside the resident’s garbage cart. An extra charge of $3.44 will be added to the next month’s solid waste bill. City officials advise resid...
When someone posts an offensive picture or comment on their personal social media account, it can ruin their professional life. Former Airway Heights Mayor Patrick Rushing experienced this in July when he came under fire for posting a comment on his personal Facebook account in response to a friend’s comment, comparing First Lady Michelle Obama to a “gorilla” and referring to President Barack Obama as “Monkey-man.” Rushing made a public apology and said his comments were not meant to offend anyone. The comment garnered...
Cheney residents bucked a couple of trends this past November. In this era of anti-tax, distrust of government, residents who bothered to vote in the Nov. 3 general election voted to place their trust in what local government officials were saying and promising and cast their ballots to tax themselves more to fund public safety needs. That’s why the Cheney levy lid lift issue is one of this year’s No. 1 stories in the Cheney Free Press’s Top-10 Stories of 2015. Cheney police and fire department officials have long been telli...
