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COLFAX–With Gov. Jay Inslee's order for hospitals to suspend non-essential services, local hospitals are tightening their financial belts in preparation of the shutdown impacting their bottom line. "Just like everybody, we're going to have to take a hit," Whitman Hospital and Medical Center spokeswoman Laurie Gronning said. Rural hospitals are seeing very few coronavirus cases. Elective medical procedures have been shutdown. And rural residents have been told to stay away f...
CHENEY -- School district officials have announced that #BeTheLight" event will take place Friday, April 17, to honor the graduating class of 2020 members who have lost their spring quarter events, sports and school year associations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event will take place at 8:20 p.m. when the lights at Cheney High School's Tom Oswald Field will be turned on for 20 minutes. As with similar events around the region and nation, residents are invited to drive by...
OLYMPIA – In a joint appearance Monday afternoon, April 6, Gov. Jay Inslee and Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal announced the extension of school closures for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. The order keeps both public and private schools closed in accordance with the governor’s original order on March 13. The governor’s proclamation prohibits in-person instruction through June 19, with exceptions for students with disabilities and English language learners for whom distance learning would prese...
OLYMPIA -- Beginning this Sunday, Washingtonians currently ineligible to receive unemployment benefits may get a chance to receive financial help. In a press conference this afternoon with Gov. Jay Inslee, Employment Security Department Commissioner Suzi LeVine said the state will begin to implement provisions of the federal C.A.R.E.S Act expanding unemployment benefits to independent contractors and others who typically don't qualify for benefits – including those who don't have the usually required 680 hours. Other a...
SPOKANE – Greater Spokane Inc. (GSI), Avista, Inland NW Partners and other organizations supporting the regionwide business recovery efforts under the umbrella initiative InlandBizStrong, are hosting a Telephone Town Hall on Friday, April 17 at 11 a.m. Pacific Time. The call is a live question and answer format where participants can ask questions directly to the leaders of two important Washington State agencies – the Department of Commerce and the Employment Security Division – engaged in the economic recovery of our regio...
CHENEY -- Eastern Washington University President Dr. Mary Cullinan has announced that the university's June13 commencement will be switching from an in-person ceremony to an online format as part of protective measures to slow the spread of the COVID-19 disease. “This year, unfortunately, the global pandemic has forced us all to reset gatherings, celebrations, and holidays,” Cullinan said in an April 15 news release announcing the change. “We can’t hold a traditional Commencement ceremony this spring.” The ceremony...
OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee and Department of Corrections Secretary Stephen Sinclair have announced plans to release up to 950 state inmates from facilities who are part of population vulnerable to COVID-19, including nonviolent individuals due to be released within the coming weeks and months. The move comes after a state Supreme Court ruling April 10 instructing the Department “to take all necessary steps to protect the health and safety” of incarcerated individuals in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and submit a repor...
GARFIELD — A local man was booked into Whitman County Jail on Monday afternoon for eluding, driving with a suspended license and three warrants. Andrew Arland, 34, of Garfield, turned himself into deputies after several hours of eluding law enforcement on dirt roads on the east side of the county. The chase began about 11 a.m. when Garfield Town Marshal Joe Handley observed Arland driving a Toyota Tercel with a dented hood in town, a report said. Aware that Arland was w...
RITZVILLE - The Columbia Basin Investigative Team has identified the man shot and killed by police Saturday night as Shawn Lee. Lee, 49, hometown not released, was shot in the parking lot of Love's Travel Stop and Country Stores, 1370 N. state Highway 261, by officer Jeff Lane, said a report on the shooting released this morning. Lane is on paid administrative leave, standard operating procedure for an officer involved in a shooting. According to the report, Lee was passing...
OLYMPIA -- Washington, Oregon and California governors announced they have agreed on a shared vision to reopen their states economies and provide unified efforts to control COVID-19 in the future. The pact is based around dealing with the severe acute respiratory disease sweeping the nation and the world that is built on three principles: Health of residents, using science and data instead of politics to drive decisions and being more effective through a unified approach. "We are announcing that California, Oregon and Washing...
SPOKANE -- The Inland COVID-19 Response Team's Food Continuity Task Force is working with area agencies to provide access to resources in Spokane County for those experiencing food and meal needs. My Spokane 311 and the task force, together with community partners such as Greater Spokane County Meals on Wheels, 2nd Harvest, United Way and the Spokane Regional Health District are collaborating on development and delivery of a "Food and Supply Needs" program, according to an April 10 news release. The program will be used to...
Gov. Inslee’s order closing K-12 schools for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year brought an end to any hope for a possible abbreviated spring sports season. In an email statement Monday night, April 6, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association clarified that all in-person extracurricular activities and athletics were cancelled through the rest of the school year, including regular-season and post-season contests and practices. The WIAA noted the move, done to attempt to slow the spread of the severe a...
CHENEY March 30 Abraham D. Clawson, 26, was arrested for fourth-degree assault/domestic violence on the 200 block of West 3rd Street. Fourth-degree assault/domestic violence was reported on the 1500 block of 1st Street. An abandoned vehicle was reported on the 700 block of 2nd Street. A gray, 2004 Chevy Malibu was impounded. March 31 A mental health issue was reported on the zero hundred block of Alki Street. Subject was involuntarily committed. A 15-year-old female was reported as a runaway juvenile on the zero hundred...
By JOHN McCALLUM Managing Editor CHENEY – If it’s spring, it’s time for some discolored water. Water Department crews begin flushing the city’s water mains soon, a needed annual practice often resulting in discolored water emanating from residents’ faucets. While not confined to just one area, Public Works Director Todd Ableman said most discolored water calls come from the Salnave area around well 5. “That seems to be our most problem area,” he said. “Well 5 is heavy in iron content and we get most our problems there....
Cheney Congregational Church Praise God that the church is not confined to four walls and a steeple. We are the church. And during this strange and anxious season we will continue to be the church, even though we cannot gather together in person. While we are no longer able to share smiles, shake hands and enjoy each other’s company for a time, we are still able to stand with one another and support each other as needs arise. One of the primary ways we care for one another right now is by staying home. This is a burden we are...
The April 13 Medical Lake Library Book Club meeting has been canceled until further notice. Also, the library will not be conducting its book sale scheduled for April 17-18....
Remember way back when in the 1960s when, upon returning to the classroom in the after summer break that your teacher might have asked you to pen a few paragraphs on “How I spent my summer vacation?” The past few weeks got me thinking about a hybrid version of that assignment I call “How I spent my COVIDcation, subtitled “Things I did NOT and did do while sheltering in place.” Turns out there’s a pretty sizeable list with some good and other activities not so much. Where...
The Cheney Food Bank – your community food bank to help those in need – is open on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. the first four Wednesdays of the month. During the months of January-March, we served 316 households totaling 681 people. Currently, there is need for high protein foods such as peanut butter, canned tuna, and chili. We are grateful for those who call us (235-2325) to ask about donations (dry goods and/or monetary). Monetary donations are most appreciated since they allow us to purchase needed food. If you...
The governor has just extended the stay at home orders. Since hospitals, doctors, nurses, first responders, care givers, school and others will never say they have enough supplies, then the order will be extended again and again. They can always say that more people will die if we do not stay confined at home. All humans die eventually of something as you can see from the obits. COVID 19 is just another way. I have seen many die from the flu, vehicles accidents, disease, wars etc. Let’s shut down everything to be c...
CHENEY – Cheney Care Center residents appear to be free of any signs of the severe acute respiratory disease COVID-19. After a positive report of the disease in a resident of the skilled nursing portion of the facility was reported last week, Care Center officials got some help from Multicare, who came by on Saturday, April 4, and tested all skilled nursing residents. "All of our residents are negative for COVID-19," Executive Director Keith Fauerso said Monday, April 6. The r...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS – The Kalispel Tribe of Indians has filed a $21.27 million lawsuit against companies including 3M and Tyco Fire Products along with the United States government over chemicals used in firefighting foam that have contaminated drinking water sources in Airway Heights. The lawsuit filed Monday, March 30, in federal court in Washington joins others around the country dealing with alleged harmful effects of polyfluoroalkyl substances, referred to as PFAS, used in firefighting foam and other products. Fairchild A...
CONTRIBUTED BY INSIDE EASTERN Spring has sprung and the temperature is warming, but in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, people have been asked to stay home to help slow the spread of the virus. School are also closed, leaving families scrambling for ideas to not only continue learning outside the classroom, but also keep kids entertained. Nigel Davies, a scientific instructional technician in the Eastern Washington University’s Geology Department, has an idea that may help. He calls it, #ExploreOutoor. Davies is using t...
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