Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 28
Airway Heights received some welcome news late last week from the Washington state Legislature regarding the state budget. City Manager Albert Tripp said the Legislature included $2.7 million for purchasing land in Accident Potential Zone Two. Included in the land is residential property that resides in the flight path to Fairchild Air Force Base. “This is a huge win for the region and also for the city,” Tripp said at the Monday, July 1, City Council meeting. The city and other non-profit agencies are currently in the proces...
Medical Lake’s AA American Legion coach Kerry Kelly was concerned some rust might build up on his team after some time off. His fears proved to be unfounded as ML scored a doubleheader sweep of Northwest Christian 15-1 and 8-7 last Friday in a pair of games played in Colbert where both games produced fast starts. “You worry a little bit after having some time off if there’s going to be a little bit of rust on the frame,” Kelly said. “But they came out swinging.” Medical Lak...
Cheney’s AA American Legion baseball team got the bats going big time last Wednesday getting both a pair of baseball victories, and maybe a little payback, routing the Northeast 49ers 17-6 and 12-4 in games played at Deer Park. The wins were the SummerHawks’ fifth straight and improved Cheney’s National League record to 8-5, good for second place, behind 13-1 Shadle Park. Cheney handed SP its only league loss so far. “We’ve been hitting the ball well,” head coach Randy Elam...
Cheney High School announced in a news release that it has hired Chris Dunn to be the new high school boys’ basketball coach. Dunn replaces Joel Soter who left after two seasons to take the head coaching job at Rogers High School. He’ll likely be able to give Dunn some help as the Washington State University graduate teaches math at the District 81 school in Hillyard. Dunn, who is the son of former Cheney School District Superintendent Mike Dunn, played basketball at Sha...
It was billed as an exhibition game, which means it could have been a ho-hum deal with a who cares outcome. But last Thursday’s baseball game between the Cheney AA American Legion SummerHawks and the Spokane Blue Devils Senior Legion baseball teams was a mixture of some fun, but a place where both teams got work done at the Ballpark in Cheney. The visiting Blue Devils won the contest 9-4 where three former Blackhawks/SummerHawks – Drew Henry, Austin Harding and Tyler Gus...
1 Years Ago July 10, 2003 One and a half years after a head-on crash killed five Cheney residents on SR 904, the grassroots effort to improve safety on that stretch of road became reality with the beginning of the Memorial Highway Traffic Safety Project. Budgeted at $250,000, improvements would include turn lanes, rumble strips, and better lighting. A petition drive to get a measure on the ballot that would increase utility taxes and help pay for the return of funds for the Cheney Parks and Recreation Department likely came...
Maureen Becht Thompson Maureen Becht Thompson, a mother, grandmother, registered nurse, community organizer and wife of 62 years to Dr. Norman Thompson, died Friday, June 7 at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. Born Nov. 15, 1930 in Ontonagon, Mich. to Hazel and Al Becht, she graduated as valedictorian of Bayfield High School in Bayfield, Wis. She attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth where she trained to be a registered nurse at St. Luke’s Hospital. She met her future h...
Norman V. Vigfusson Eight-two years of life. With his loving family around him, Norman V. Vigfusson passed away peacefully at the age of 82, after a courageous battle with cancer. Though our hearts are sad, we rejoice that he is now in Heaven with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Norm was born in a farming community outside of Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada to Eirikur and Gudrun Vigfusson. Life on the farm was good and wholesome for his family of nine. He graduated from the... Full story
Larry Montague Larry passed away June 20, 2013 in Spokane, Wash. He was born June 1, 1924 in Spokane to Edward and Louvenia Montague. Larry was raised in Mondovi, Wash, moved to Cheney in 1930, graduated from Cheney High School in 1942 and went on to attend Eastern Washington College of Education (EWU). Larry joined the U.S. Navy in 1943 and returned to Cheney in 1946. He worked for Standard Station, Inc. from 1947 to 1950 and operated his own Texaco Station from 1950 to... Full story
Emmanuel Lutheran Church Emmanuel Lutheran Church celebrates the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost this Sunday, July 7. Join us at 9 a.m. for Bible study. All are welcome to worship at 10:30 a.m. Fellowship follows at 11:30 a.m. A “two-site” Vacation Bible School will be held Monday, July 15 through Friday, July 19. “Live Love(d) will be the theme for this year’s program. The Lutherhaven staff will lead the children through a week of learning, games, crafts, and activities. Emmanuel Lutheran Church will host children who wil...
Everybody has a story to tell. Shelly Wheeler’s story ranges from periods of happiness to deepest hurts. Through it all she said, “I have looked on the bright side of things. I was born in Denver Colo. I had a rough childhood. We moved a lot. I would just get to make friends and we would move again.” Shelly discovered a talent that has entertained many people. She said, “I love accents. I can do most of them. When we lived in Texas I picked up the Texas accent. I can do most o...
CHENEY June 23 Third-degree malicious mischief was reported on the 300 block of Nolan Brown. A car was damaged. June 24 A suspicious circumstance was reported when a man turned in what he believed to be drugs to the Cheney Police Department. Third-degree theft was reported on the 700 block of Second Street. A lawn tractor was taken. Third-degree malicious mischief was reported on the 1100 block of First Street. A car was damaged. June 25 Videos were found on the 100 block of College Street. A suspicious circumstance was...
Recent opinion polls demonstrate a deepening distrust of the federal government. That’s not an altogether bad thing. Our nation’s founders recognized that most human abuses are the result of government. As Thomas Paine said, “government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil.” Because of their fear of abuse, the Constitution’s framers sought to keep the federal government limited in its power. Their distrust of Congress is seen in the governing rules and language used throughout our Constitution. The Bill of Rights...
So plucky little NSA rat Edward Snowden is safe in Russia, a country that has apparently started to give free speech lessons to America. Beautiful. We used to want to beat the Rooskies in the Olympics; now they’re hiding out our whistleblowers, gaining the kind of moral high ground you don’t get by winning the gold in women’s powerlifting. In the United States, if you kill 25 people at the behest of some organized crime “boss” and you turn rat, we cuddle you, give you a new name and ship your ratty self to the suburbs of Omah...
The Department of Labor & Industries has changed the amount of time doctors can prescribe narcotics (opioids) for injured workers without agency authorization from 12 to six weeks. After six weeks, L&I insurance coverage for opioids will depend on doctors’ use of best practices. The required best practices include monitoring whether workers are recovering their ability to perform normal activities and screening them for risks of side-effects or addiction. “These changes will improve pain treatment for injured workers as wel...
There are 1,338 words in the Declaration of Independence, 356 of which will likely be highlighted as our country celebrates its 237 years of existence this week. Of those 356 words, most of the attention is given to just 55, and of those, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” get the lion’s share. But the rest of the document announcing our separ...
The Medical Lake School District board of directors approved an increase in the sports and season ticket prices for the 2013-14 school year. Among the reason for the increase includes the district needing two officials instead of three for basketball. “We’ve had a lot of increases in officials costs,” Veltri said. The price increase, she said, is also issue for auditors who might look at the lower ticket prices as a gift of public funds. “We need to be comparable to other school districts in the state,” Veltri said. The schoo...
Last year, the Medical Lake School District was busy gearing up for its first year heavily immersed in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). This summer will be just as busy as the school district moves into the second of its three-year STEM grant from the Department of Defense. The grant is helping fund a math and study skills class to all incoming eighth-graders and freshmen who might be interested in boosting some of their skills. The hands-on program...
Faced with financial uncertainties due to the lack of a state budget the Cheney School Board enacted three resolutions at its June 26 meeting designed to keep the district operating until state funding for the 2013-15 biennium comes through. The first resolution declared the existence of a financial state of emergency for school years 2013-14 and 2014-15 and directed Superintendent Dr. Debra Clemens to develop and recommend a modified education program to deal with the emergency. The modified program could include reduction...
Spokane County Commissioner Al French has been elected secretary by the board of directors of the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington (MRSC). As a result of his election, French will automatically become MRSC vice-president in 2014 and president in 2015. The MRSC is a private, non-profit organization based in Seattle. Their mission is to promote excellence in Washington local government through professional consultation, research and information technology services....
The trumpeter swans on Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge have recently increased the size of their flock with some new additions. Above, the family on Middle Pine pond take a leisurely swim....
OLYMPIA – The Washington state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced June 29 that there would be a statewide burn ban on all DNR-protected lands beginning July 1 and running through Sept. 30, 2013. The burn ban will apply to all forestlands in Washington under DNR fire protection, which does not include federally owned lands. Each year, DNR strives to keep all wildfires under 10 acres. Already this year, DNR has had 57 wildfire starts simply from escaped outdoor burn piles, which have burned approximately 202 a...
Cheney firefighters survey one of the vehicles damaged in a two-car collision last Wednesday near Safeway on SR 904. The minor-injury crash caused traffic to back up for a period of time....
The Cheney School District board of directors heard a recommendation to renovate the district’s high school at their only meeting in June last Wednesday night. Directors were also offered an alternate plan presented by one of the members of the Citizens Facility Advisor Committee that would be about a quarter of the cost of the proposed $44.9 million plan adding more classrooms, relocating administration offices and expanding the commons area while also building a new gym and a 700-seat performing arts center. Committee chair...
The city of Medical Lake is receiving a big upgrade to its utility billing system which will allow customers the opportunity and convenience of paying bills online. The wheels for the software conversion started moving three or four years ago, City Administrator Doug Ross said. Working in earnest over the past year, the city is in the final stages of beginning to accept utility payments online through Vision Municipal Solutions and Invoice Cloud. “It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “We’ve looked at this for a long time...
