Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 42
West Plains Chamber of Commerce Executive director Kathleen Schreiber stepped down from her position March 31, but didn't have to go to far to begin her next career opportunity. In fact, she moved two doors north of the chamber's offices on First Street in Cheney. Schreiber leaves the chamber after five years to become the director of marketing and community relations at Cheney Federal Credit Union, a financial institution that began in 1951 in a drawer at Eastern Washington S...
Captain William Allen of the Medical Lake Fire Department never thought he would win the West Plains Chamber's "First Responder of the Year" award, March 20 at the organization's awards banquet, let alone be nominated for the honor. He was nominated along with Cheney police officer Chris Oakes and Cheney firefighter Lt. Tim Steiner. "First to be nominated with those guys (Oakes and Steiner) was really an honor," Allen said. "When they said my name at the West Plains' award cer...
On the surface, co-chair of the Committee for the Support of Good Schools Richard Harris’ remarks to the Cheney School Board during the public comment portion of the board’s Feb. 25 meeting likely went unnoticed. In advocating for rerunning the $44.88 million Cheney High School expansion and renovation bond after its near passage in the Feb. 10 special election, Harris said he was “able to look up” voter turnout numbers for the election that revealed only one-third of registered voters in the district, who were also parents...
A small seed planted four decades ago has grown into a strong and healthy tree, and perhaps, a forest. Sprouted from the idea that Medical Lake boys could use an outlet for their energy, and a place where they might learn life lessons, the Mat Maulers Little Guy Wrestling program was born. They conclude their 33rd season this Saturday, April 4 staging the 28th Annual Jason Crawford Memorial Tournament at the Spokane Convention Center. The event will likely attract over 3,700...
The only thing that went wrong for the Cheney High School softball team last Saturday at Clarkston was they missed a pair of extra points and gave up a safety. The lack of four varsity starters for the Bantams due to the school’s early spring break turned a Great Northern League doubleheader into more of a football game type score as the Lady Blackhawks demolished Clarkston 24-2 in game one and 26-0 in the nightcap. Cheney head coach Gary Blake said one of the missing Clarkston players was the team’s No. 1 pitcher, the effect...
In a couple years, Cheney High girls track and field head coach Tom Stralser thinks the group of young Blackhawks he has now will be very similar to the team he had two years ago - one that entertains thoughts of bringing home state hardware rather than just beng satisfied with scoring a few points. The 2015 Blackhawks are a young team, but have the good fortune in Stralser's mind to be blessed with a needed growth component - senior leadership. "They (seniors) compete and...
It took second-half efforts to do it, but the Cheney High boys soccer team completed the first round of Great Northern League play with a perfect 4-0 mark with victories over Clarkston and West Valley last week. The wins run Cheney's regular-season league consecutive game winning streak to 45, with the last loss coming April 14, 2011. That mark was threatened on Thursday at West Valley. The Eagles were the more inspired squad early on; controlling the game's tempo against a...
Robert "Bob" James Norman Bob was born in Spokane, Wash. Feb. 28, 1955 to Max and Norma Norman. He passed away March 26, 2015 after a long battle with cancer. He was the youngest of three boys. Brothers Terry and Michael, along with Bob, grew up in the Shadle Park area playing sports. Bob attended Ridgeview Elementary, Salk Junior High, and graduated from Shadle Park High School in 1973. He was also a member of Boy Scout Troop 115 and earned the highest award of Eagle Scout in... Full story
Edward "Tom" Presnell 1923 – 2015 Edward "Tom" Presnell passed away on March 29, 2015 at the age of 92 in Spokane, Wash. Tom was born on Feb. 2, 1923 to Karl and Etta Presnell in Cheney, Wash. He graduated in 1941 from Cheney High School. He served in the U.S. Army for two years and was discharged just after World War II. Tom was a Past Worthy Patron of the Eastern Star, Past Worshipful Master of Temple Masonic Lodge No. 42, a member of the Scottish Rite Bodies and the El K... Full story
Cheney Community Church Worship with us as we celebrate the season of Easter. Friday evening, April 3, 6:30 p.m., Cheney Community Church will host the Good Friday service for the West Plains Community Churches. The service is open to everyone. Our Easter Sunday service is at 10 a.m. Luke 24:34, “The Lord is risen indeed!” Come celebrate with us. Nursery care is provided for infants and toddlers, with children’s church available for elementary age children. Middle school and high school teens meet 3-5 p.m. on Sunday after...
On Saturday March 21, over 50 Latter Day Saint youth and adult leaders from Cheney and Medical Lake volunteered four hours of their time to clear Salnave Park of pine needles. The volunteers worked hard and had fun learning to put service to others ahead of themselves while also discovering the path to happiness. According to Rick Engel, city of Cheney park supervisor, it was one of the best workdays in his career. He has been with the Cheney Parks and Recreation Department...
1 Years Ago March 31, 2005 The Cheney Police Department was actively pursuing grants to cover the $1,200-$2,000 per unit cost of defibrillators that officers would carry in patrol cars to use in case of emergency. Youngsters from both Cheney and Medical Lake took part in annual Easter egg hunts and collected some 3,000 eggs in events sponsored by the local Kiwanis clubs. Medical Lake’s bats came alive in a 19-2 season-opening nonleague baseball victory over Cheney, scoring nine runs in the third inning. Cody Wagner had four...
City of Cheney • April 2, Coal and Oil Train Meeting, United Church of Christ, 423 N. Sixth St., 7 p.m. • April 3, Baby Play and Learn Storytime (ages 0 – 18 months), community library, 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. • April 3, Free AARP Tax-Aide, community library, noon – 5 p.m. • April 4, Community Conversation, community library, 10 – 11:30 a.m. • April 6, Dance Class, Wren Pierson Community Center, 7:15 – 8:15 p.m. • April 7, Senior Light Fitness, Wren Pierson Community Center, 9 – 10 a.m. • April 7, Spokane Transit Authorit... Full story
CHENEY March 23 Kyle B. Aldan, 26, was arrested for a warrant out of Whitman County for possession of a controlled substance, and a Spokane County misdemeanor warrant for driving while license suspended (DWLS) on the 300 block of Cedar Street. Rape was reported on the 300 block of Erie Street. A 15-year-old male was arrested for fourth-degree assault/domestic violence. March 24 Domestic violence/verbal dispute was reported on the 1000 block of Second Street. Police assisted Child Protective Services on a case on the 2300...
Thank you to the Cheney Free Press for your opinion on the Cheney School District’s bond issue published in last week’s Cheney Free Press. I attended the last school board meeting and was appalled by their lack of response to a taxpayer’s comments living near Snowdon Elementary. She stated she was a single parent, owned her home, a workingwoman and receiving treatment for cancer. When she asked the district to reconsider the bond of $44 million for 20 years, there was no response from the school board or school admin...
Given all the frothing by hawkish U.S. Senators about Iran’s possible development of nuclear weapons, one might think that Iran was violating the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). But it’s not. The treaty, signed by 190 nations and in effect since 1970, is a treaty in which the non-nuclear nations agreed to forgo developing nuclear weapons and the nuclear nations agreed to divest themselves of their nuclear weapons. It also granted nations the right to develop peaceful nuclear power. The current negotiations in whi...
There’s no question that there will be an increase in train activity passing through Cheney and the West Plains in the near future. There is a $26 million shuttle loading grain terminal scheduled to be built at the intersection of Craig and Medical-Lake-Four Lakes roads. Grain cooperatives organized under Highline Grain LLC will assemble and load 110-car unit trains. Burlington Northern Santa Fe engines will pick up these trains and haul them back to BNSF lines intersecting at Cheney via the Eastern Washington Gateway b...
When it comes to selling the Cheney School District’s surplused administration building, the district’s school board members likely hope there’s truth to the saying “Third time’s a charm.” For the third time in a year and two-thirds the district has a purchase offer for the Fisher Building, which began life in 1929 as Cheney High School. The board agreed to a proposed agreement at its March 25 meeting with local developers Rob Brewster and Ron Wells to sell the building for $949,500, which is 90 percent of the building’s...
After most Medical Lake Middle School students have left school for the day, several of their classmates sit quietly in a classroom, hovering over a chessboard and waiting for their opponent's move. The Medical Lake Middle School Chess Club had its final meeting, March 30, with a mini-tournament where students showed off the skills they learned in the last couple of months. Paul Ryan, a parent volunteer and the club's adviser started a chess club at the elementary school...
The jump shots, jams, spikes and digs are done for the season at Reese Court. But the competition heats up in a different way this weekend at Eastern Washington University’s basketball and volleyball arena with the Pacific Northwest FIRST Robotics Competition Championships. More than 1,200 high school students across Oregon and Washington will compete in teams for titles and the ability to move on to national competition later this month in St. Louis, Mo. — and vie for the...
Cheney train meeting April 2 There will be a meeting at Cheney’s United Church of Christ to discuss the issue of coal and oil train traffic through the city. The meeting takes place April 2 (Thursday) at 7 p.m. at UCC, 423 N. Sixth St. STA open house April 7 Spokane Transit Authority is hosting an open house in Cheney on April 7 to provide public information on three-tenths of 1 percent sales tax increase to fund needed maintenance and improvements to STA’s system. Among these improvements is a proposed new West Plains tra... Full story
Spokane Transit Authority hosted an open house March 24 in the Irv Leeds Center at Spokane International Airport, March 24, for its “Moving Forward” proposition with the hopes of gaining feedback from the community. The proposition, which will appear on an April 28 ballot, proposes a three-tenths of 1 percent increase to local sales tax to help pay for improvements to STA’s service and projects. STA’s plan has several proposed projects for the West Plains, including increasing service to Airway Heights, direct service...
The Medical Lake Citizens Deer Advisory Committee took another step in educating the public at its March 28 "No Deer Feeding" seminar. Formed in late October 2014, the committee's main objective of creating an ordinance that prohibits residents from intentionally feeding wild animals was approved by the City Council back in December. "The committee worked vigorously to change the wording of the ordinance to get it passed by City Council," committee chair Russ Brown said....
In order to prevent electrical outages, the city of Cheney has hired a contractor to trim trees near power lines in Cheney. Tree trimming will begin in April and will continue through May. If there are trees near power lines needing to be trimmed or removed, please contact the Light Department at 498-9230. Please do not attempt to trim trees near power lines as this is extremely hazardous. Only qualified, trained personnel should perform this work....
The combination of light snowfall during the winter months and March rainstorms have had little impact on the various wastewater treatment facilities in the West Plains. Steven Cooper manages the Medical Lake wastewater treatment and reuse facility, which collects waste and water from the Medical Lake, Lakeland Village and Eastern State Hospital. Similar to last year, Cooper said there were some increases in the water the plant collected in recent months, but not as much as...
