Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 48
The Medical Lake boys' basketball team had a rugged week as they sought to knock Freeman out of first place in the Northeast A League. But losses by a mere two points on two different nights, 54-52 at Newport, Jan. 24 and 67-65 at home versus No. 1 Freeman - in overtime - shattered that goal. "A bad luck shot on our end, and a terrible first quarter, and we're looking at upsetting two great teams," Medical Lake head coach Noel Hachtel said. Read the full story...
Medical Lake's girl's basketball team extended one streak, and ended a long dry spell last Friday, Jan. 27. With wins over Newport, 41-27 on Jan. 24, and Freeman, 47-27 on Friday, the Cardinals ran their winning streak to 14 and in the process clinched their first Northeast A League regular season title since 1990-91, a span of 26 years. Read the full story here....
Eastern Washington University celebrated Chinese New Year Jan. 25-27 with several events. On Friday, members of the Spokane Lion Dance Team performed the lion dance. The dance is performed during Chinese New Year and other holidays as a way to bring good luck and drive away evil spirits. Adjunct professor Chiu Hsin Lin also led guests in singing "Gongxi, Gongxi," which is the Chinese New Year song while Carlos Alden, host of Spokane Public Radio's "Nacho Celtic Hour," plays...
Cheney and the West Plains appear to have a unique individual in their midst if the desire is to learn how to play the piano. Nataliya Westermann operates a studio out of her home in Cheney and brings some impressive credentials to her students after moving recently from Hawaii. Westermann, originally from Ukraine, majored in the study of classical piano while living in her hometown of Odessa. It took her seven years of study at the musical academy to earn a diploma. "I was...
Spoken word artist Natalie Patterson read several of her poems and shared stories with Eastern Washington University students and customers at The Mason Jar, Jan. 25. Patterson was the first guest artist of Eagle Entertainment's Coffee House series....
Cheney High School was built for how many students? The district says it is still 900, and I say by 1994 it was brought up to 1,200. Let’s go back to 1972. According to the Cheney Free Press ( 3/23/72), the capacity was about 900. In 1983 according to the Cheney Free Press (3/3/83) a bond failed for 20 new classrooms serving 1,200 students. In 1992, after two bond failures, a bond that I worked on passed, which doubled the size of the high school and added 23 classrooms (Cheney Free Press (1/16/92). This brought the c...
I want to share my thoughts about the bond supporting the Cheney School District. My husband and all of his siblings graduated from Cheney High School in the 1970s. They all felt that they got a good education. I moved here from Western Washington when I came to school at Eastern Washington University. I’ve lived here for many years now and have seen my son graduate from Cheney High School in 2007. My husband, Jim, and I both felt that he got an excellent education and so does he. While I haven’t supported every proposal tha...
After a month and a few days into life in Washington state where the minimum wage took a hike upward from $9.47 to $11 per hour on Jan. 1, it was time to see what was happening. Statewide the measure passed by just under 60 percent, and not at all surprising, voters in King County, where a $20 bill vanishes instantly for a sandwich and a beer, I-1433 was up by 72-28 in a Seattle Times report. As the guy who covers business here on the West Plains, this is, and will be a subjec...
There are many reasons for voting “Yes” on the 2017 Cheney School District facilities bond this Feb. 14. For starters, the $52 million price tag, $54.2 million before subtracting $2.2 million in unhoused student funding from the state. Yes, that is more than the $44.88 million the district tried twice to pass in 2015. But if you’re comparing those numbers, you’re not comparing apples to apples. That 2015 bond was for work at the high school only. To be accurate, you must subtract the $18.25 million for 25 more classro...
Eastern Washington University celebrated Chinese New Year Jan. 25-27 with several events. On Friday, members of the Spokane Lion Dance Team performed the lion dance. The dance is performed during Chinese New Year and other holidays as a way to bring good luck and drive away evil spirits....
NEWS SERVICE REPORTS Greater Spokane Incorporated, in partnership with the West Plains Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce are leading a delegation of nearly 100 area business, community and education leaders to Olympia, Feb. 1-3. Representatives from businesses and organizations of all sizes throughout the Inland Northwest will advocate on behalf of the region to provide a unified voice to legislators. GSI’s entire 2017 “State Legislative Priority Agenda” includes policies and fundi...
Medical Lake Middle School honored six students for the Partners Advancing Character Education (PACE) award for December. December's trait is caring. Students received certificates and T-shirts and were treated to a lunch, sponsored by Pizza Factory, Jan. 7. From left to right: Nico Ehman, Tim Thompson, Natalie Salinas-Sanders, Kylie Pepperman, Aaryn Taschler and Damien Valdez....
The Medical Lake School Board went through a light agenda at its Jan. 24 meeting. During his report, Superintendent Tim Ames informed the board that there are no confirmed mumps cases in the school district. According to the Spokane Regional Health District (SRHD), there are 112 confirmed cases in the county. Forty-eight percent (54) of the cases are children ages 10-19 years old. Ames said in the event that there is a case of mumps at one of the buildings, the district would send out a notification letter. After the second c...
So far, the Cheney School District hasn't been impacted by the mumps outbreak hitting other area districts - but it hasn't been unaffected either. At its Jan. 25 meeting, Superintendent Rob Roettger updated school board members about recent measures the district has taken in response to the outbreak. Roettger said he received a call on the Martin Luther King holiday, Jan. 16, from Kristi Thurston, district student support services director, that a possible case of mumps had...
Have historians overemphasized the slavery issue as a cause of the Civil War? That’s the question posed to four Cheney High School students in instructor Steve Arensmeyer’s AP U.S. History class on Friday, Jan. 20 — two tasked with defending the argument and two opposing it in a debate in front of the class. And that isn’t the only debate topic Arensmeyer has presented his students. Among 31 total subjects, students can pick things like “Was the Confederacy defeated because of its ‘Loss of Will?’” or “Did the Bank War caus...
Task force seeks information on car theft fugitive The Spokane Regional Auto Theft Task Force (SRATTF) has probable cause to arrest William Anthony Vesely, 30, for theft of a 2012 Jeep Wrangler, theft of a 2016 Forester Forest River motorhome (valued at $111,000), burglary, vehicle prowl, criminal trespass, hit and run property damage and reckless driving. Vesely also has a $30,000 felony warrant for burglary, and a $1,000 misdemeanor warrant for driving with a suspended...
Caitlin Butcher (right) presents Medical Lake Middle School teacher Carey Schwarzer with the MVP award after the "Hoops for Caitlin" charity basketball game. The Green Machine, comprised of middle school and Michael Anderson Elementary school staff, defeated the Pink Team – Hallett Elementary and high school teachers – 37-34. All proceeds raised from the game went to help the Butcher family....
By AL STOVER Staff Reporter One way the Airway Heights Planning Department is working to improve efficiency around its office is by switching its permitting software. During its Jan. 17 meeting, the Airway Heights City Council approved a service contract for staff to purchase “Permit Trax” permitting system and equipment, and a new server for the department. Development Services Director Derrick Braaten said his department has been searching for new permitting software for quite some time. The department had previously use...
It’s tax filing time, and Violet Lincoln, Cheney coordinator for AARP’s Tax-Aide program, wants those using the free service to know there are some changes. Specifically, one major change. The Internal Revenue Service has switched tax providers, ditching Taxwise, which they used for 15 years, for Taxslayer. Because of that, there is a new requirement that all filers must provide their Social Security cards when they come in to use the service. Previously, Tax-Aide filers just had to provide their prior year’s return — if...
Medical Lake residents may notice something different about the city’s street lights in the coming months. During the Jan. 26 Planning Commission meeting, City Administrator Doug Ross announced that Avista Utilities will install energy efficient light-emitting diode (LED) lamps in the street lights within city limits. According to Ross, the bulb replacement is being done through the state Transportation Improvement Board’s Relight Washington program. He said he learned about the program from Gloria Bennett, the Northeast Reg...
The Cheney Free Press is putting together a special section in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of Fairchild Air Force Base. The facility started as Spokane Army Air Depot, and has served as a key part of the Inland Empire community for decades. If you served, know someone who served or have stories and insights into the history and operation of Fairchild, please contact John McCallum at (509) 235-6184....
For Rosario Rodriguez, President Donald Trump's executive orders on immigration - authorizing construction of a U.S–Mexico border wall and imposing entry restrictions on residents from seven predominantly Muslim countries - strikes very close to home. The Eastern Washington University political science major is the daughter of immigrants living in Sunnyside, Wash. Rodriguez said she also has Muslim friends and friends who are LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, q...
The city of Airway Heights recently received a $50,000 grant from the Washington Community Economic Revitalization Board. The grant will fund a feasibility study to develop a master plan for industrial-zoned property south of 21st Avenue, which Development Services Director Derrick Braaten called the "Airway Heights Industrial Center." According to the state Department of Commerce's website, the CERB grant program provides funding to local governments and federally-recognized...
Unable to find money in the city’s 2017 budget, the Cheney City Council gave approval at its Jan. 24 meeting to the Municipal Court to apply for grants to help fund a domestic violence victim’s advocate. Court administrator Terri Cooper has requested to apply for two, $5,000 grants, both from the Department of Justice’s Office on Violence against Women. The first is from the Criminal Justice Responses to Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking Grant Program while the second comes from the Rural Sexua...
The Green Machine, comprised of middle school and Michael Anderson Elementary school staff, defeated the Pink Team – Hallett Elementary and high school teachers – 37-34 in the Hoops for Caitlin charity basketball game. All proceeds raised from the game went to help Caitlin Butcher and her family....
