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As climate change concerns grow, researchers are turning to small tree farmers for help. Actually, they have been helping for nearly a century, but their efforts have largely gone unrecognized. For decades, the American Tree Farm program has emphasized sustainability and managing lands for water quality, wildlife, wood and recreation. Now, it is adding climate change. According to the American Forest Foundation, families and individuals collectively care for the largest...
ST. JOHN - A local sprint boat race team that ended a qualifying run after landing upside down in Webb's Slough rebuilt the top half of a motor and finished the high-speed event inside the Top 8 on Saturday, June 19. Sprint boat racing pits a driver and navigator against a maze of channels. At speeds reaching more than 80 mph, the driver concentrates on making 7G turns as the navigator memorizes the course and directs the driver using hand motions. More than two dozen North...
Two added to EWU women’s basketball roster First-year Eastern Washington University head women’s basketball coach, Joddie Gleason, has announced two more Eagles that will join the squad this fall. Jordyn Boesel, a 5-9 guard out of Okanogan, Wash., heads to Eastern Washington as a graduate transfer after four years at Saint Mary’s College in California. Devynn Warns is a 5-7 shooting guard out of Renton, Wash., where she attended Liberty High School. Boesel joins the Eagles after four seasons at Saint Mary’s College in Cali...
CHENEY — The City Council is considering putting an ordinance on the November ballot to once again lift the property tax levy lid in order to fund public safety needs. Council was schedule to debate and vote on the ordinance at its June 22 meeting. Cheney voters originally approved lifting the lid from its then $2.40 per $1,000 of assessed property value to its maximum amount of $3.10 in 2015. The lift went into effect in 2016 — and over the past six years has generated almost $2.65 million in funding for police and fire need...
MEDICAL LAKE - The city's parks are getting extra attention this summer. The Medical Lake City Council approved an extra duty service contract at their June 15 meeting. The contract will allow duty officers to patrol Medical Lake parks on weekends. This contract comes after reports of violations on the public property. Dogs and alcohol are not permitted on park grounds, a rule not everyone has followed during their visits. "We get a lot of visitors, some local and some from ou...
CHENEY — Two new journalists have joined the Cheney Free Press newsroom. Riley Kankelberg, 20, of Camas, and Scott Davis, 23, a Spokane native, began covering news in the Cheney, Medical Lake and Airway Heights areas last week. “It’s exciting to have two new journalists dedicated to covering local news,” Publisher Roger Harnack said. “We’re looking forward to seeing them blend their journalism education with digital and social media skills. “I look forward to engaging with loc...
WEST PLAINS — When fire left an Airway Heights family without a home, local fire agencies and a business stepped in to provide some much needed resources. Airway Heights Fire Chief Mitch Metzger said they responded to a fire at the home of Erika Saucedo on May 21. The single-mom and her two kids weren’t home at the time, but arrived soon after being notified. The fire destroyed the kitchen in the family’s single-wide home, with smoke damage ruining the rest of the their belon...
FAIRCHILD AFB — Fairchild Air Force Base is listed among the victims of a $3.5 million family housing scheme, the Justice Department announced on June 9. Two former managers from the Balfour Beatty Communities pleaded guilty to falsifying documents while providing maintenance services for on-base family housing between 2013 and 2016. Bonuses for exceeding service deadlines were claimed in writing, despite the work not being completed. Rick Cunefare of Glendale, Arizona, and Stacy M. Cabrera of Converse, Texas, pleaded g...
CHENEY — Planning Commission members unanimously approved a motion on June 15 to amend R-3/multifamily zoning to allow an additional 3rd unit on 5,000-square-foot lots, only if the developer builds all three units in one bed/one bath configuration. Initially introduced in April, Cheney senior planner Brett Lucas told the commission that “the studio apartments and one bedroom are going to be less of a party house because there’s less space. That’s kind of the concept or the intent.” An accompanying benefit of the adjustmen...
The newly confirmed U.S. trade representative, Katherine Tai, is about as qualified as a person can be for the job. Which is a good thing, because she already faces a series of challenges. They aren’t necessarily the trade issues that grab the biggest headlines, like tough new negotiations with major rivals. In fact, one of the most important tasks for Tai is simply enforcement of existing deals with close U.S. trading partners. Well-thought-out, well-enforced trade deals benefit all Americans, ensuring lower prices for c...
Where did the main stream media report the major atrocities taking place in Israel and occupied Gaza? Of course, we heard about the bombing and destruction of the building housing Associated Press and Al-Jazeera and numbers killed, but we haven’t heard much about the “roof knocking,” the targeted killing of Palestinian doctors, the purposeful destruction of the Covid lab in Gaza, the “squatting” of non-Arab Israelis (many of which are American citizens) in Arab-Israeli homes in Jerusalem and other human rights violation...
July 28, 1939 - June 10, 2021 Sally Sue (Graff) Tibbitts died peacefully in her sleep on June 10, 2021 from dementia. She was born on July 28, 1939 in Union Gap, Wash., an only child of John Graff and Sue (Borseth) Graff. Sally graduated from Yakima High School and Washington State University with a degree in Physical Education. She married Thorne Tibbitts, from Spanaway, Wash., whom she met at WSU and they were happily married for over 62 years. She might be remembered as... Full story
Summer breeze makes me feel fine Blowin’ through the jasmine in my mind The refrain from a song by Seals & Crofts always heralds summer’s joys for me. I listened to it while writing this piece. “Summer Breeze” reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. Now my mind drifts to 1972. I was nine years old and I remember soaking up sunshine & pool water at the Bern Township pool. I’m taken back to that delightful, simple time when anything was possible and everything was perfect. Reverie. I’ve just closed my eyes again Climb...
Cheney Congregational Church Greetings from Cheney Congregational. We welcome you to join us on Sunday mornings for in-person worship at 10 a.m. Masks are required. In July we are finishing a new sermon series, “Four Greek Words Every Christian Should Know.” Join us to see how learning the ancient Greek language can help illuminate scripture in fresh ways. At the end of July we will begin a series titled, “The Church and Mental Illness.” Kids have their own “Discovery Team Time” during our services with crafts and Bible l...
MEDICAL LAKE — The City Council’s June 15 meeting covered several hot topics in preparation for summer. The council accepted the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Funds from the Federal American Rescue plan. The total amount will be distributed in two checks, one in 2021 and one in 2022, for a total of $1,386,249. The council will discuss their spending plans in future meetings, but Mayor Shirley Maike expects to continue investing in the city’s economic development. Both J&M LLC Fireworks and Tom & Celia Griffey Firew...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS - On Monday, June 14 Spokane County Fire District 10 honored West Plains Recruit Academy 2020-2 who completed their 12 weeks, over 220 hours, of fire and hazmat training. Most of these volunteer firefighters have also earned their National Registry EMT certification and wildland certification and are responding to incidents. Spokane County Fire District 10 is now taking applications for the Fall Academy that begins in September....
The Founder's Day Marketplace was held at the Medical Lake Middle School soccer field in Medical Lake, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 19, 2021. While there was no parade this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, residents showed up in full force for the market and vendor's fair....
MEDICAL LAKE — The Fourth of July is only a few weeks away, and with it comes the age-old question over the fate of an iconic celebration. That celebration can continue as usual this year, at least in Medical Lake. Two firework permits were approved during the June 15 City Council meeting. J&M LLC Fireworks will be operating in the empty lot at 111 W. Brooks Road. You will find Tom & Celia Griffey Fireworks operating at 215 E. State Route 902, near Harvest Foods. While both retailers were given the go-ahead, the a...
Cheney High School Class of 2021 speakers Kayli Lucas and Dawson Heuett take time to remember their classmates and the special moment of graduation the modern way — by taking selfies during commencement ceremonies last Friday at Northern Quest Resort and Casino. Lewis and Heuett were part of the largest class to ever graduate from Cheney. Editor’s note: This photo was previously run June 17 and is being re-run to correct a last name typo...
CHENEY — An Eastern Washington University athletics department already saddled with an ongoing deficit and cuts to its budget, now has a potential $5 million lawsuit hanging over it following the filing of a lengthy tort claim brought by former women’s basketball coach Wendy Schuller. Among the charges in the June 18 complaint brought against EWU, and athletics director Lynn Hickey in particular, Schuller contends her March 31 firing was unjust. But Schuller goes on to mak...
CHENEY — The Blackhawks Season 3 (winter) teams wrapped up competition with some playoff action last week. Boys basketball They may have finished 0-12, but Cheney’s last game of the season was one of its better ones. The Blackhawks battled back from a 26-14 halftime deficit by outscoring Lewis and Clark 16-11 in the third quarter, only to fade down the stretch in a 63-50 loss in a Greater Spokane League 4A/3A consolation game June 16. The Tigers outscored Cheney 26-20 in the final eight minutes. Josh Whiteley led Cheney wit...
MEDICAL LAKE — With Oscar Harris scoring 12 points and Ashton Hamilton-Becker adding 11 the Medical Lake boy’s basketball team ended its season with a 50-27 thumping of Riverside on June 19 in a consolation game of the Northeast A League 2021 spring tournament. Earlier in the week Medical Lake played and lost a high-scoring tiebreaker game to Lakeside 86-81 in overtime. The Eagles (5-6) came on in the fourth quarter outscoring the Cardinals 24-12 to force overtime. Harris led...
SPOKANE — There’s a red flag waving at the proposed sale of Spokane County Raceway to the Kalispel Tribe. And now, pursuant to Washington state laws, and according to a June 15 news release, Spokane County will hold a virtual public hearing on Tuesday, June 29 at 2 p.m. to declare as surplus and dispose of 243 acres of “Raceway Property,” to the Kalispel Tribe of Indians, a federally recognized tribe. On May 5 it was first announced the tribe had made an offer of $4.75 million...
MEDICAL LAKE — After weaving together a six-game winning streak to nail down the No. 3 seed in the 2021 Northeast A League tournament the door quickly slammed shut for Medical Lake’s girls last week. Plagued on both nights by poor field goal shooting the Cardinals lost twice, 42-33 at Deer Park (June 18) and 50-41 against Colville (June 19). “We struggled with shooting only 22%,” head coach Kyle Lundberg wrote in an email regarding the Deer Park game. If there was a definin...
CHENEY June 14 Third-degree theft was reported on the 100 block of North 9th Street. A bicycle was stolen. Angeline Noel, 25, was arrested for fourth-degree assault/domestic violence on the 1000 block of Betz Road. Third-degree malicious mischief was reported on the 200 block of South Cheney-Spangle Road. A vehicle’s windshield and window were damaged. Domestic violence/verbal dispute was reported on the 200 block of South Cheney-Spangle Road. June 15 Domestic violence/verbal dispute was reported on the 300 block of Clay S...
