Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 37
CHENEY — The Cheney Farmers Market is now being held at Veterans Memorial Park, 612 Fourth St., on the second and fourth Saturday of every month until Oct. 14. Once held on First Street, the Cheney Farmers Market hosts a range of local vendors from around the city and across the West Plains. Colbie Monter, 17, is the Market Coordinator and facilitates communications among vendors and organizes each event. “This will be my first year doing this and it’s been great fun. Our f...
CHENEY - The Jaripeo Rodeo and Dance had bulls and people kicking up dust in Bi-Mart Arena on July 30. The event is presented by Colima Entertainment and highlights Mexican rodeo traditions dating back to the 16th century. According to the company owner, the event is still relatively new, but has already grown. "It was a successful event because this was our third year doing this," Colima Owner Carlos Larios said. "We hope each year it continues to grow." "1,100 people...
SPOKANE VALLEY - People wanting to help the community were also able to find cold sweet treats during the July 29 Giving Back Spokane car wash fundraiser at Umpqua Bank, 507 Hallett in Spokane Valley. The treats were available because a local ice cream van was on site. Lemyn Welliver, nine year old daughter of Sarah Welliver, owns her very own small business, Lem's Pops. At five years old, Lemyn told her mom she wanted to run her own ice cream truck. The business is stationed...
MEDICAL LAKE – An old school band known as one of the regions premiere bluegrass bands will be taking the stage as one of the performances at the Blue Waters Bluegrass festival. Custer's Grass Band was originally formed in 1976, and they are noted as recording the first bluegrass album originating from the Pacific Northwest. That album includes special instrumental contributions by a Grammy winning fiddler from the northwest, Mark O'Connor. "We are really excited to have t...
MEDICAL LAKE – The annual Blue Waters Bluegrass Festival is coming back to Waterfront Park in Medical Lake August 11-13. According to organizers the weekend will be filled with live music, music workshops and vendors galore. Blue Waters is a non-profit group that started in 2002 that puts the show on every year, except for a brief two-year hiatus through the COVID pandemic. Being a non-profit means the group is fully funded by donations and community support. According to t...
MEDICAL LAKE – The Blue Waters Bluegrass festival is coming up quickly, and it takes a big team of volunteers to make the event happen according to organizers. According to Blue Waters President, Nick Burgis, the volunteers are an extremely important part of the festival. "Our volunteers help in nearly every aspect of the festival," Burgis said. "From setting up the stage to attending the front gate, we have a lot of volunteer opportunities." Volunteers can sign up as part o...
The Medical Lake School District has several contested seats as well. Gerri Johnson is leading the race with 49.51% for District Director 1, Lennelle Spillman is currently in second place with a slight lead over Bryan Musser. Johnson said she feels confident, leading by over 20 percent. “I’m feeling good and I’m excited,” Johnson said. “I am glad to have the support of the community. It’s been years of relationship building that has gone into earning their trust.” Spillman said she is feeling pretty good, but is confident...
Early primary election results have started coming in, and several contested races are on the ballot. The seat for Cheney School Board District 4 has John Boerger currently leading with 35.74%. Bill Hanson currently sits in second with 32.16%, and Rick Flynn has 30.86% of votes. Bill Hanson said he has learned a lot after deciding to run. “I am really excited to be at this point and holding on to second place,” Hanson said. “It took a lot of work to get here with all of the interviews and questions from voters. I am honor...
CHENEY — Here are the unofficial ballot returns as of Tuesday night, Aug. 1: Airway Heights City Proposition No. 1 (Library) Yes---410 No---173 Proposition No. 2 (Fire Station) Yes---452 No---131 Cheney City Proposition No. 1 Yes---885 No---434 School District Director No. 4 Bill Hanson John Boerger Rick Flynn Write-ins Direcgtor No. 5 Mitch Swenson Ivan Khala Bill Lathrop Write-ins Medical Lake School District Director No. 1 Lennelle Spillman---384 Gerri Johnson---663 Bryan Musser---282 Write-ins-- Director No. 2 Dolores P...
MALDEN — A family who lost their home in a Thursday morning, July 20, fire is asking for community support. “It’s like our whole life just disappeared,” renter Alysha Galindo, 35, said. “It’s so much to process.” Galindo lived in the home at 124 S. Main St. with Bobby Robbins, 37, and six children – Nevaeh, 15, Capryce,15, Skylar, 14, Danni, 11, Novah, 7, and Baynz, 6. They were left homeless and lost most of their belongings as well as cherished memorabilia, a Chevrolet Subur...
CHENEY – Firefighters have been working to contain the West Hallett Fire that started in the 6000 block of Cheney Spokane Road at approximately 1:30 p.m. on July 31. The most recent update shows over 200 acres have burned, and high wind gusts helped the fire to spread. According to Incident Cmdr. Craig Dibble, as of Aug. 1 there are 200 ground personnel assigned to the fire. The fire was still not contained as of 10 a.m. Aug. 1. It is still burning along the north side of t...
CHENEY - State and local officials are continuing the clean up of a diesel fuel leak that reached Minnie Creek on July 20. The leak was traced to an underground storage tank and vault at the Chevron gas station, 2302 First St., last week. The state Department of Ecology, Cheney Public Works and GrayMar Environmental Services are still working to clean the area in and around Minnie Creek. The effort is now focused on changing the absorbent material used to slow the spread of co...
The following incidents were reported by the Cheney Police between July 24-30 July 24 Verbal domestic violence incident at 300 Block of Erie Street. Jennifer R. Howerton, 41, cited for protection order violation at 300 Block of Erie. July 25 Second-degree theft at 2221 First St. David M. Stober, 50, cited for third-degree theft at 2700 Block of First St. July 26 Verbal domestic violence incident at 100 Block of Betz Road. 17-year-old male booked into Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center for a warrant arrest. Third-degree...
OLYMPIA - July 23 marked the date when several laws went into effect this year. Four of these new laws are based on bills prime-sponsored by 4th District Sen. Mike Padden. A law given the title ‘Kimberly Bender’s law’ was created through Senate Bill 5033 and reclassifies the crime of first-degree custodial sexual misconduct. This law is effective in situations in which a corrections officer has sexual intercourse with the victim. “We really need to make sure that our correctional officers and guards are fulfilling their d...
There’s no question the governor misled the people last year when claiming his cap-and-tax scheme would add “pennies” to the cost of gas once it took full effect in 2023. Gov. Jay Inslee has a degree in economics, as he reminded everyone at a news conference last week. And, yet, he assumed oil companies would simply absorb the added cost of complying with cap-and-tax? Inslee came up with a new lie at that news conference, as part of a feeble effort to claim his scheme has nothing to do with state gas prices being so high...
New ASB officers in Rosalia ROSALIA – Rosalia High School has a new slate of officers for its Associated Student Body for the 2023-24 school year. Thomas Place will be student-body president and Briley Smith vice president. Other officers include Secretary Kayla Eilertson, Treasurer Megan Maley and Historian Capryce Robbins. Feed Cheney partnering with high school CHENEY - Starting in September, Feed Cheney, the monthly free community meal, will be catered by the Culinary Arts class at Cheney High School. The grocery d...
Permaculture: A New Concept? Why do we make so much work for ourselves in the garden when we can practice permaculture? The history of permaculture dates back to when man, or maybe it was woman, noticed the seeds thrown on the ground from fruits and plants they ate grew new plants and trees. Evolution of gardening employed varied methods. Each more refined than the precious attempt. Gardeners cleared the land, artificially altered seeds and disposed of all plant debris. The ground became sterile and eventually blew away....
A childhood memory that has lived with me forever and I’m sure subconsciously had a part in shaping my life. When I was three years old, our family lived in a rented house on the outskirts of Curlew, Washington. That is a little cattle and logging community up near the Canadian border. Our house sat out from town where it met the open prairie. I can remember a covered front porch and a uard surrounded by a white picket fence. It was open range country. There was a herd of cows and calves that grazed close to our place. A c...
CHENEY – The West Plains Community Park is coming to Cheney, and the construction is expected to take place in 2024-2025. The park plan was put into motion when Spokane County Parks, Recreation and Golf received six million dollars in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act in November 2022. The money will be used for the land acquisition, planning, design, permitting and development of the site. The county has already acquired a 10-acre parcel of land in March of this y...
CHENEY – Local businesses have a lot of working gears moving behind the scenes that a lot of people may not generally know or understand. It is likely most businesses go through problematic periods in which they could use some help or advice. That is one of the reasons Kendra Wiiest formed her new startup that started serving the entire region on June 1. Profectus Business Consulting is based in Spokane Valley but serves the entire West Plains region. "I have been in b...
CHENEY—Several Free Press Publishing staffers will receive Better Newspaper Contest awards in October. At the Cheney Free Press, graphic artist John Myers, sports journalist Paul Delaney and Owner/Publisher Roger Harnack will be receiving awards. Part-time journalists Byrne Bennett at the Lincoln County Record-Times and Dale Brown at the Ritzville Adams County Journal have also been named as award-winners. The staffers will be receiving awards in reporting, photography and digital efforts. The company’s Whitman County Gaz...
While it proved to be a quick trip to the Washington State AAA American Legion baseball tournament in Centralia for the Spokane Cannons, one cannot forget this was the team's third consecutive berth for the team largely composed of West Plains players. Featuring a roster of six players from Medical Lake and five from Cheney, the Cannons represent the top tier of summer baseball in the area and their rise from mediocrity just several years ago has been a testament to the...
CHENEY – Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge is noted as an area spectacle for local hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. Local photographers flock to the ponds and trails to find wildlife throughout the park, and each season brings something different. One thing visitors can almost always find is some birds. One of the special events coming up at the park is happening August 18 from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. This is an early morning bird walk to specifically help people see and i...
BASKETBALL: EWU men’s basketball set for international tour The Eastern Washington men’s basketball team will embark on an 11-day tour overseas later this month, departing August 16 for a team-building trip with stops in England and Spain. With the goal of creating chemistry within the team and learning about different cultures and traditions, the Eagles will stop in London from August 16-19. They’ll play in an exhibition on August 18 at the University of Essex, about 40 miles southeast of Bury St. Edmonds, the homet...
PDF