Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 44
Cheney Police Department Sgt. Chad Eastep has been awarded the medal of valor from the National Chiefs of Police Association for his actions at a December 2015 apartment fire that saved property and lives. Police Chief John Hensley presented the award to Eastep at the City Council's Feb. 23 meeting in front of family, friends and fellow officers. Hensley said the award is "important and prestigious." "I think I've only awarded five or six (medal of valor) in my 22 years as a p...
Cadet Justus Boyd pours himself a drink from the non-alcoholic grog bowl during the EWU Fighting Eagles Battalion's Dining Out event, Feb. 20. Boyd had to drink from the grog as punishment for leaving the dining room without permission....
The sounds of drilling and printing can be heard from Portable 2 at Cheney High School after classes are over. The Cheney High robotics team, dubbed the Blackhawks - named after the school's mascot - is preparing for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Stronghold competition. Cheney will be one of many teams competing in the competition where an alliance of three teams uses their robots to capture an opponent's' tower. Robots start in the neut...
In a news release, Eastern Washington University President Dr. Mary Cullinan announced that Dr. Scott Gordon is the university's new provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. Gordon's appointment is effective July 1, 2016. Gordon comes from the University of Southern Indiana (USI), where has served as the Dean of the Pott College of Science, Engineering and Education since 2005. He has a comprehensive track record in all aspects of academic administration, including...
Cheney's Max Beasley, 3, brought the first buttercup of the year to the Cheney Free Press office, Feb. 17, earning $5. Beasley found it on his grandparents' property on Long Road....
Sarianne Winters, 12, was the first girl to bring a buttercup to the Cheney Free Press, Feb. 22, which earned her $5. She found it at her house on Mullinix Road....
Medical Lake High School senior Ben Smith has always enjoyed working on automobiles and his passion could possibly take him to Louisville, Ky. Smith, who is enrolled at the NewTech Skill Center in Spokane, took first place in the second-year level of the automotive service category at the regional Skills USA competition Jan. 30. He will travel to Tacoma to compete in the state competition at the 2016 Washington State Leadership and Skills Conference March 31 - April 2. If...
Public safety agencies across America face the same problems as other employers — finding enough qualified workers. The difference is our safety is increasingly at risk. Law enforcement leaders are working harder at recruitment, yet they are drawing fewer applicants. Big city departments are not alone. It is the same story in smaller communities such as Leesburg, Va., where the number of applicants dropped 90 percent over the past five years. A decade ago, the Seattle P...
How’s this for bad choices? A recent study by a Harvard group contended with the position of U.S. intelligence agencies that tracking possible terrorists was becoming more difficult because there are too many “dark spots” — places where data can be encrypted to prevent tracking. Harvard “reassured” the FBI, CIA and others that new technologies embedded in common objects will provide (or already provide) plenty of additional tracking opportunities. What are these? How about toothbrushes, toys (yes, Barbie dolls), televisions...
One of the laws being proposed in this legislative session is House Bill 2313 and its companion measure Senate Bill 6157, which aims to increase the minimum legal age of buying tobacco and vapor products from 18 to 21. Currently, Washington residents 18 years and older can legally buy tobacco and vapor products. According to wording in HB 2313, the Legislature recognizes that many people who purchase cigarettes for minors are between the ages of 18-20. Raising the minimum legal age to 21 will decrease the legal access minors...
Eastern Washington University will host the sixth annual No Fear in Love six-mile race, Feb. 27, at 6:45 a.m. at the campus mall. In a news release, Karen Bontrager, founder and organizer of the No Fear in Love Race, said the impetus of the race stemmed in part from the murder of Yeardley Love, a University of Virginia (UVA) women’s lacrosse student-athlete who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, former UVA men’s lacrosse player George Wesley Huguely V. During the investigation, police found evidence of domestic violence bet...
The Cheney School District announced that Denise Templeton, special education paraeducator and lunch supervisor at Westwood Middle School, has been named the Classified Employee of the Year. Templeton started her career with the school district in 1979 as a teacher aide at Cheney Junior High School. The district shifted to a middle school system and Templeton continued to serve the students of CMS until she transferred to Westwood when it opened in 2012. The Classified School Employee of the Year program recognizes one...
When any of the five starters on the floor begin to tire for the Eastern Washington basketball team there's a sixth man - or more - who sits on the bench and eagerly awaits their time to contribute. But Eagles' head coach Jim Hayford has an entirely different team he can call on in another way to make his program a success, the Sixth Man Club. And to be truthful, among the members of the group are some dedicated women, too, all who stand out in their red and white sweaters....
The next time Eastern Washington University students or residents toss their empty water bottles or printer paper into one of the blue recycle bins around campus, they should know those materials will help the campus in more than just its recycling efforts. EWU and its Recycling Department are participating in the annual Recyclemania competition for the eighth year. According to its website, Recyclemania is an eight-week competition and benchmarking tool for college and university recycling programs to promote waste...
Cheney High School announced the names of its students of the month for January. Students are listed as follows by student name, department and grade level. Taya Compton, world languages, sophomore; Jalen Cooks, social studies, sophomore; Hannah Devine, vocal music, senior; Luke Huguenin, language arts, senior; Riley Klauss, business, sophomore; Aijia Loffredi, health and fitness, freshman; Lucille Lunde, art, senior; Martha Lunde, math, sophomore; Laura Ortiz, family and...
The Cheney High School Drama Club staged an adaption of “Little Women,” Feb. 18-20, in the Little Theater. The play is based on the Jane Austen novel that focuses on the lives of four sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March — and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. From left to right: Danika Gray as Amy, Tea Joe Hickman as Meg, Alex Pfaff as Mrs. Marsh, Jonelle Winner as Jo and Jerika Adams as Beth....
Spokane County Golf Courses are getting ready for another exciting season. Hangman Valley Golf Course opened its driving range and putting green starting on Monday, Feb. 22 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. The full golf course will open Friday, Feb. 26 on all permanent greens except for the 16h green. MeadowWood Golf Course opened Wednesday, Feb. 24 on all permanent greens and one temporary on the 16th green. Liberty Lake Golf Course opens Friday, Feb. 26 on all permanent greens. Spokane County introduced several new rates this year t...
At a Feb. 22 meeting, the Spokane County Board of County Commissioners unanimously appointed former Spokane City Councilwoman Nancy McLaughlin to represent County Commission District One. The seat was vacated at the end January when then-Commissioner Todd Mielke accepted the job of CEO for Greater Spokane Incorporated. The appointment process required that the Spokane County Republican Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) meet and vote for three nominees to fill the vacant elected office. The three selected were McLaughlin,...
Cheney Library hosts Dr. Seuss birthday celebration Kids of all ages are invited to the Spokane County Library District’s birthday celebration for America’s favorite reading teacher, Dr. Seuss. “Come 1, Come 2” will take place at the Cheney Library on Sunday, Feb. 28, from 2 – 4p.m. The library district has invited local celebrity readers to attend the celebration, including Otto from the Spokane Indians, Swoop from Eastern Washington University, Fireman Tim, Miss Cheney Rodeo Allison Douglas and the Lilac Royal Court. These...
In what was a short meeting, the Airway Heights City Council followed suit with the city of Cheney by supporting legislation that would increase the number of Spokane County commissioners. At its Feb. 16 meeting, council approved a resolution supporting House Bill 2610 and its companion measure Senate Bill 6514. Both would require non-charter counties with populations of 300,000 and more to establish a redistricting committee by Jan. 31, 2017 and divide the county into five commissioner districts. It also requires those...
Starting this week, former Spokesman-Review award-winning cartoonist Milt Priggee will be providing his unique insight into current events on the Cheney Free Press Op/Ed pages....
Cheney residents in the Salnave area should soon begin seeing some site preparation work on the city’s newest apartment complex. Salnave Glen Apartment was approved in September 2015 on condition that the developer acquires a forest practices application from the state Department of Natural Resources. The need for the application is that the site of the $7 million, 72-unit complex on West First Street just east of Salnave Park is covered with a sizeable stand of trees. In an Aug. 20 Cheney Free Press story, Bob Anderson, D...
In the only action item on a very short agenda, Medical Lake’s City Council unanimously approved accepting a $214,873 Transportation Improvement Board grant for street work this summer. The money, which comes from motor vehicle fuel tax revenue, will cover the overlay of portions of four streets. The work will be 1,000 feet of pavement on Broad Street from Lake to Barker streets, 600 of Howard Street from Fourth Street to Brooks Road, 1,200 feet of Sherman Avenue from Barker Street to the city limits and 1,000 feet of S...
Cheney Care Center resident Flossie Dickey looks on as her granddaughter Sarah Williamson and 92nd Air Refueling Wing commander Col. Brian McDaniel pin United States Air Force wings on the 110-year-old, who celebrated her birthday by checking out a Fairchild Air Force Base KC-135 Stratotanker last Friday. Besides receiving her wings, Dickey also was made an honorary airman for life by Fairchild, and received a set of dog tags along with other Air Force gift...
Airway Heights' officials are feeling pretty good about one of the city's legislative priorities. If their feelings are correct, the city will begin to take steps towards something residents have wanted for a long time - a sports complex. Of the nine issues officials and council members presented local legislators in Olympia last month, the idea of funding for a sports complex to attract "economic development by improving quality of life" seems to have gained the most...
