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CHENEY – Hoping the agreement leads to better internet service in the city, the City Council appears ready to approve an agreement with telecommunications provider Ptera to lease the company strands of dark fiber optic cable owned by the Cheney Light Department. The potential contract was brought to the council for approval at its Nov. 12 meeting, but after discussion, the council asked City Administrator Mark Schuller and staff to go back to Ptera to “tweak” some of the language and return it for consideration at the Nov....
SPOKANE – It was, for all intents and purposes, the perfect shot. With Cheney and North Kitsap locked in a tight, scoreless opening-round state 2A girls soccer match last Wednesday night at Gonzaga Prep in Spokane, Vikings forward Audrey Zinn possessed a loose ball in front and to the left of the Blackhawks net, just outside the 18-year box. Briefly in the open between a couple Cheney defenders, Zinn punched the ball up and floating towards the goal, just low enough to waft u...
ELLENSBURG - After coming back at the end of the regular season to land a spot in the state championships, the Lady Blackhawks were eliminated in two matches last week to end the 2019 season. "Heading to the state tournament was a great accomplishment for this team," head coach Heather Zorrozua said. "It is a big deal getting there and the excitement and hype of this experience seemed to get the best of us." Cheney first faced the formidable Northwest League's Burlington-Ediso...
BOISE, IDAHO – Cheney High School cross country runners competed at the Nike NXR Northwest Regional Championships last Saturday at Eagle Island State Park. Running as Team Pacific Pod, the Blackhawks boys placed 56th out of 114 teams from throughout the Northwest while the girls were 42nd out of 79, both competing in the 5,000 meters open invitational MERG race. Senior Bas Holland was the only Cheney runner to compete in the 5,000 meters championship race, placing 17th overall out of 212 runners with a time of 15 minutes, 5...
FEDERAL WAY – Sophomores Janie Richards and Jade Gere along with freshman Asia Gere led the Blackhawks girls swimming team to a seventh-place finish in competition last Friday and Saturday at the 2A state meet in Federal Way. Cheney tied Lindbergh from Renton — who the Blackhawks narrowly lost to in a dual meet in September — with 136 points. Richards captured the 500-yard freestyle state title with a time of 5 minutes, 18.99 seconds, bettering her preliminary time from Friday by 15/100ths of a second. She also swam to a fou...
Consider a contrast in images, if you will. First, picture in your mind a high school football game; say it’s a long-standing rivalry between two teams. Bragging rights are at stake and the tension is high. The young, pubescent athletes are all geared up, blocking and tackling each other, their helmets making a loud hollow popping noise as they collide with one another. Now picture a large defensive player losing his cool, getting into a shoving match with a much smaller q...
If the gutless Congressional Republicans thwart President Trump’s impeachment, then my Democratic presidential primary vote goes to the candidate most likely to defeat him. Jackie Robinson’s pre-election endorsement of Richard Nixon versus Jack Kennedy (1960), Robinson later called mistaken, determined my first presidential vote. That initiated my invariably policy-centered voting, recently Democratic, but defeating Trump is now my paramount goal. Many share my emphasis. A recent poll showed 57 percent of registered Dem...
As the struggle for immigrant rights continues to be fought across America, new battlegrounds may come into view, and then fade from public attention. For many months, our border drew intense scrutiny, as family separations shocked and horrified millions. Recently, the fate of DACA and 700,000 Dreamers moved back briefly into headlines, as the Supreme Court took up arguments over the Trump administration’s efforts to terminate the program. What hasn’t yet come to full attention, however, is the struggle over the future of...
The all-female space-walk was front page news for several days until it was replaced by a story about a female squadron commander at Fairchild Air Force Base. The reality of capable women shouldn’t be a news splash. The attributes for becoming an astronaut or a military commander have nothing to do with gender. I look forward to the day when everyone realizes that. Our country seems to be lagging behind the rest of the world in accepting women in the role of national leaders. Maybe we just need the right individual to b...
The Washington Bankers Association has taken the mantle on an issue all state taxpayers should be outraged over — the Legislature’s use of title-only bills. In the waning days of the 2019 legislative session, lawmakers in Olympia used their “title-only” stunt to enact new taxes without proper debate, public review or comment. Indeed, Democrats even had the galleries cleared and the doors barred to prevent the public from watching the shenanigans. Title-only bills are just th...
OLYMPIA – Bankers are suing the state Legislature for enacting unlawful taxes under a “title only” bill. On Nov. 5, the Washington Bankers Association, represented by former State Attorney General Rob McKenna, filed suit over House Bill 2167, a title-only tax increase passed in the waning hours of the 2019 legislative session. House Bill 2167 was introduced April 10 and only included one sentence: “The legislature intends to enact legislation concerning tax revenue...
1 Years Ago Nov. 19, 2009 Construction of the Washington State Veterans Cemetery in Medical Lake continued in advance of a planned Memorial Day opening The Cheney girls soccer team blanked both Prosser and Ellensburg to earn a trip to the state 2A soccer Final Four in Puyallup. Members of the Cheney Parks Board discussed at a meeting the failure of Proposition 1, a bond measure that would have funded a 50-acre city park. Although it gained over 50 percent voter support, it failed to reach the 60 percent super majority requir...
STONINGTON, CONN. – The U.S. Coast Guard Foundation has announced that Cheney High School senior Sarah Arnold is a recipient of a Coast Guard Foundation Scholarship. Arnold, who will attend Eastern Washington University, was one of 128 members of families of the Coast Guard who received a scholarship in 2019. In its 29 years of operation, the Foundation program has awarded more than $5.4 million to over 1,100 college-aged young adults to help families of Coast Guard members achieve their goals of higher education. F...
John Wesley Wilson passed away Nov. 10 at Lincoln County Hospital in Davenport, Wash. He was born Jan. 28, 1948, in Omak, Wash. He was preceded in death by his wife of 40 years Cherie. He leaves behind his mother Irene, his siblings Connie, Kenneth, Gilbert and Robert, his children Patrick, Chris, Gillian and John II and 13 grandchildren. John grew up in Washington and Alaska. He served and medically retired from the United States Army, was a mechanic and a horse breeder. As... Full story
Book club meets Nov. 25 Nov. 25 is the date of the next Friends of the Cheney Library Book Club meeting. Sue Grover will lead the discussion of the book, “The Secret Garden,” by Frances Hodgson Burnett. The meeting is open to everyone. See you at the library on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 6:30 p.m. ML Kiwanis bingo Nov. 22 The Medical Lake Kiwanis is hosting a bingo night on Friday, Nov. 22 between 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. at Hallett Elementary School, 524 S. Hallett St. The event is open to all. There will be a special kids bingo game with... Full story
Cheney Congregational Church Cheney Congregational Church invites you to join us in worship during this season of Thanksgiving. Worship services are at 10 a.m. this Sunday. Pastor Matt Goodale will be officiating. Children’s Church is available during services for those who would like to attend. We also have a children’s area in the sanctuary. Following services we will have our annual Thanksgiving dinner with plenty of food and conversation. This is a wonderful time of fellowship and thanksgiving. Cheney Congregational Chu...
FOUR LAKES — Hollywood and the usual entourage of actors, crew and equipment descended upon local watering hole The Bullhead tavern last week to film the indie movie “All Those Small Things,” starring James Faulkner, perhaps best know for his role as Randyll Tarly, the evil father of main character, Samwell Tarly, in “Game of Thrones.” Written and directed by Spokane filmmaker and screenwriter Andrew Hyatt, the plot involves long-time British game show host Jonathan Robbins,...
MEDICAL LAKE — Do you believe in miracles? Whatever your answer, between Dec. 12 – 14 you have the opportunity to hear one story that witnesses — including physicians and emergency medical services personnel — later called a miracle. On Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 19, 2015, 14-year-old John Smith and two of his friends walked out onto the ice of Lake St. Louise in St. Charles, Mo. — and fell through. While his two friends were quickly rescued, John disappeared, sinking b...
MEDICAL LAKE — Medical Lake middle and high school band teacher Craig Johnson was recently awarded the Spokane Youth Symphony’s 2019 Carolyn Hage Nunemaker Music Teacher Appreciation award on Nov. 3 at the Fox Theater. Johnson, a 24-year music teacher — 20 in Medical Lake — received a $500 check made out to Medical Lake High School for use in the high school band program, according to Jennifer O’Bannan, symphony executive director. “He’s had a quiet, behind the scenes, great i...
CHENEY – Westwood Middle School teacher Lucas Jensen received the Educator of the Year award at the West Plains Chamber of Commerce’s “Best of the West” gala at Northern Quest Resort and Casino on Nov. 9. Jensen, an eighth-grade science teacher at Westwood, was nominated by Principal Erika Burden and Assistant Principal Tami Skillingstad. He also advises Westwood’s Sea Perch underwater robotics club and took two teams to Washington D.C. last year for nationals. “Lucas Je...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS – The Cheney School District Board of Directors unanimously adopted a policy at their only meeting in November, held at Sunset Elementary School, which allows service animals to be used for the first time in the district’s eight schools. While no discussion was taken at the Nov. 13 meeting in Airway Heights, the board did get an overview of the new policy from Assistant Superintendent Tom Arlt at its Oct. 23 meeting. According to Arlt, the district has received several requests and a few attempts to allow dog...
MEDICAL LAKE — Principals at a recent Medical Lake School District board meeting shared student learning data and optimistic plans for improving their individual schools. Lyra McGirk, a 12-year teaching veteran of alternative schools, and director of Medical Lake’s alternative school, Endeavors, was more pragmatic in her assessment. “We have students that come to us with trauma,” she said, noting that the number was “significant.” As a result, the school’s goals are often dif...
A skater in the 8 and under game looks to receive a pass in action last Saturday between teams from the Moses Lake Youth Hockey Association and the Spokane Warhorse Hockey Association at Eastern Washington University’s University Recreation Center....
The Cheney Free Press will be closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 28-29, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. Therefore, we will be laying out the Nov. 28 issue on Monday, Nov. 25; printing and mailing on Tuesday, Nov. 26, for delivery Wednesday, Nov. 27. Deadlines for submittal for the Nov. 28 issue have changed. Legals must be submitted to the office by noon Friday, Nov. 22. Classifieds must be submitted by 11 a.m., Nov. 22. All submitted editorial content — including churches, public service announcements and letters to...
CHENEY – For the city’s public safety chiefs, additional personnel is the number one item needed to address issues in the two department’s 2020 budgets. For Police Chief John Hensley, adding a police detective to handle the ever increasing investigation needs and another police officer to deal with overtime top the goals for the coming year. Hensley also hopes to replace two aging patrol vehicles and the outdated and worn exterior video cameras downtown — the latter through a Spokane County grant. The additional personn...
