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FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE – The military leader who led U.S. Calvary troops to victory in the Battle of Four Lakes and the Battle of the Spokane Plains is being “canceled” on base. Base officials announced earlier this week that they are changing the name of the Fort Wright Village residential area and the Fort Wright Oval street to Lilac Village and Willow Loop, respectively. The neighborhood and street were named in honor of Col. George Wright, the decorated U.S. Army offic...
RITZVILLE – The Class 1A Medical Lake Cardinal boys will see how their brand of smash-mouth football matches up against a couple ranked Class 2B teams on Saturday, Aug. 27. The Cardinals travel to Ritzville for the annual Bronco Jamboree. The jamboree includes the No. 3-ranked Lind-Rtizville/Sprague/Washtucna/Harrington Broncos and the No. 9-ranked Davenport Gorillas. The Liberty (Spangle) Lancers, which received ranking votes but just missed the Top 10, are also playing t...
MEDICAL LAKE – Hundreds of bluegrass lovers turned out for three days of tunes Friday through Sunday, Aug. 12-14. The 20th annual Blue Waters music festival features several bands, including John Reischman and the Jaybirds, Lonesome Ace Stringband, Eli West, The Onlies, The eyer Family Band, Buck 99, King Trouble and the Cherry Pickers, Chris Luquette and The Grass Messengers, Monroe Bridge, and Jennie Anne Mannan, Karli Ingersola nd Caroline Fowler. Other entertainment i...
SPOKANE VALLEY – The deadline to apply for the 2023 USDA Conservation Stewardship Program is Oct. 13. The program is open to producers seeking technical and financial assistance with conservation efforts. Under the program, farmers can receive payments for managing, maintaining and expanding conservation measures like planting cover crops and buffer strips, as well as improving pollinator habitat. Farmers can also receive help with irrigation monitoring, herbicide application, grazing systems and more. Applicants will be r...
COLFAX – A local man has been named general manager of Papé Machinery Agriculture and Turf division. The firm has promoted Jeff Solbrack of Colfax to general manager of its Walla Walla Region. “Jeff has proven himself as an excellent leader and an effective problem solver with Papé Machinery members and our customers,” said Ryan Papé, president of Papé Machinery Agriculture and Turf. “We are pleased he has accepted this new position within our organization and look forward to watching him achieve great success.” Solbrack’s ca...
CHENEY – Voters in Spokane County Fire District No. 3 have approved the tax levy on the Aug. 2 primary election ballot. Proposition No. 1 passed with 3,960 affirmative votes (53.48%) compared to 3,444 negative votes (46.52%). The election results were certified by the county Canvassing Board on Tuesday, Aug. 16. The measure was one of three fire district levies on the ballot in the county. Fire District No. 4’s measure passed with 67.34% of the vote, while Fire District No. 13...
CHENEY – The Motel Cheney was destroyed in an overnight blaze early Tuesday morning, Aug. 23. Late Tuesday afternoon, city firefighters were still on-scene with a ladder truck and other vehicles at the 11-unit motel with full-time residents at 1502 First St. location. First Street remained closed between Mary and Pine streets and a demolition crew was expected to assist with cleanup. Officials said the fire began about 12:30 a.m.; nobody was injured. At least 26 units from C...
New Eastern Washington University President Shari McMahan got to meet and greet members of the West Plains Chamber of Commerce at that group's annual breakfast at Roos Field on Wednesday, Aug. 17. Football Coach Aaron Best also addressed attendees as the season-opener nears for his team, Sept. 3 at home against Tennessee State....
Saturday, Sept. 10 9 a.m. – Disk Dogs, dog competition adjacent to the Viking Restaurant 9-10 a.m. – Car and bike show registration 10 a.m. -4 p.m. – Car and bike show 11 a.m. – Parade 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. – Live music by The Old Dogs in the city park Noon – Lunch in the park Noon-3 p.m. – Railroad Depot Museum open 1-3 p.m. – Youth games and activities 3 p.m. – Sprague Days raffle drawing 3-5 p.m. – Style Show in the Community Hall 4-7 p.m. – Live music by The Old Dogs at the intersection of First Street and C Street S...
I love mornings like this. The sun was shining, a slight breeze blew and just a few people were walking in the park. Barker, my pride and joy mutt rambled along, sniffing the ground and chasing squirrels. As I ambled along, I noticed something shining out from under some leaves and dirt. I found a penny. I dug it out. It was shiny on one side, dull and dirty on the other. How interesting. I wondered what its story was. Maybe it’s good luck. I’m feeling luckier already. With a bounce to my step I continued my walk. It was jus...
ST. JOHN – Several families are combining their stage skills for three performances of "The Pirates of the Penzance" this coming Friday and Saturday. Directed by Eastern Washington University student Dominic Treis of St. John, the free performances will take place at Eccles Community Hall, 9752 state Highway 23. Show times are 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26, and 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27. Sound is being managed by Ken Treis. Jackie Widhalm and Danielle Treis handled c...
Benjamin L. Hunsaker, 63, a longtime resident of Salem, OR passed away peacefully on Aug. 6, 2022 at home in the arms of his family. Ben was born Feb. 9, 1959 in Mesa, AZ to Don E. Hunsaker and Fay Nichols, joining three sisters and a brother, he was the youngest of five children. Their family moved from Mesa to Crescent City, Calif., Eugene, Ore., Richmond, BC, and finally Cheney, Wash. Ben met DeAnna L. Lybbert there and after dating for only three months decided he wanted her for life. They began their married life June... Full story
In a recent op-ed, state Sen. Mark Schoesler, alluded to a new “bad law” that prevents law enforcement from pursuing criminal suspects in most situations. He cherry-picks a paragraph from an op-ed in a Seattle newspaper written by one of his senate colleagues, Marka Dhingra, who happens to be the first Sikh elected to a public office anywhere in the U.S.. (The Sikhs are a persecuted religious sect in India.) Also, she has been a deputy prosecuting attorney for King County for 20 years. I looked up her guest editorial and it...
I am the Washington State Coordinator for the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Frank Watson wrote a beautiful column in the recent edition of the Cheney Free Press. He offered kind words honoring the many volunteers who construct these quilts honoring our veterans and active duty men and women. I shared his column with all 450 members of the Quilts of Valor program in Washington and the comments were very touching. Cindy Hoover Olympia...
My husband and I recently got into a discussion about the differences in the labeling of chicken. He saw a post on social media outlining the supposed differences between “pasture raised,” “cage raised,” “cage free,” and “free range.” It is easy to get caught up in the virtuous marketing of “pasture raised,” “cage free,” and “free range” versus “cage raised.” It is easy to imagine flocks of chickens strutting through pristine green fields and foraging for their food, but too often food labeling is deceptive. The soci...
Gov. Jay Inslee responded to the national COVID-19 health crisis by closing the public schools in Washington state to in-person instruction from March 2020 to September 2021 and allowing them to reopen sporadically the fall of 2021. The governor also mandated the use of masks and other face coverings and implemented social distancing rules in daycares and schools from March 2020 to March 2022. We are now learning that two years of these strict policies have imposed long-term harm on the 1.1 million students attending...
SPOKANE – A local man is facing charges after an alleged alcohol-related crash at the Interstate 90-U.S. Highway 195 interchange on Friday, Aug. 19. Thomas L. Moyles, 42, of Spokane was injured in the crash and taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center, the Washington State Patrol reported. The crash occurred at about 5:10 p.m. as Moyles attempted to exit westbound Highway 195 and merge onto the northbound interstate, the patrol said. His 200 Jeep Grand Cherokee veered off the r...
CHENEY – The Police Department responded to the following calls for service from Aug. 15-22: Aug. 15 Cellphone found in the 100 block of Third Street. Bicycle found in the 600 block of First Street. Harassment in the 2400 block of Univsersity Lane. Aug. 16 Scott D. Sullivan, 26, arrested for driving while under the influence in the 700 block of C Street. Possible telephone scam in the 200 block of Gregory Drive. Civil complaint in the 1600 block of Second Street. Travis J. Kubik, 35, arrested on a felony warrant in the 600 b...
ST.JOHN – The 2022 Webb’s Slough sprint boat season wraps up Saturday, Aug. 27. The race is the second and final of the season in Whitman County. But it’s not the only thing happening. Thousands of campers are expected to file into the community beginning Thursday for a weekend of food, fun, camping and racing. Camping opens at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Webb’s Slough race site, Those planning on camping for the weekend should arrive during daylight hours. There is a fee to camp...
Football Eagles conduct first football scrimmage The offense rolled up 435 yards, 250 through the air with the other 207 on the ground in Eastern Washington’s first football scrimmage Aug. 19 at Roos Field. It was a result that left head coach Aaron Best wondering and concerned as his team prepares for its season opener Sept. 3 vs. Tennessee State at Roos Field. “I thought that we were consistently inconsistent,” Best said. “I don’t know if it was as much the defense making plays or the offense just wasn’t allowing th...
When Medical Lake High School went to hire another head football coach there were likely many capable candidates - and certain ah-ha moments in the interview process? But what may have set Nick Puzycki apart from the pack was having been part of the significant speedy turnaround at Sunnyside High School in the Yakima Valley? "His experience at Sunnyside and their program turnaround is significant," Medical Lake Athletics Director Dawn Eliassen wrote in a text message. The soon...
Like everyone else on the planet, Cheney High School head football coach Bobby Byrd certainly hopes COVID and its wide-ranging effects are firmly and far away in life’s rearview mirror. Even as the virus waned in 2021 allowing the return to football being played in front of fans, Cheney struggled through a 1-win, 9-loss season, its second in a transition to the 3A division of the Greater Spokane League. But there was a silver lining. “The good thing last year we had a sma...
A farmer uses his combine to harvest wheat last week near Latah. The wheat harvest is in full swing south and east of Cheney....
SPRAGUE – A local couple will share honors as the 2022 Sprague Days grand marshals. Dick and Claudette Sharp were selected to lead the Sept. 10 town celebration, which includes a parade, Renegade Restorations' car and bike show, a beer garden and more. The fun will last all day, organizers said, noting there is also a back sale, vendors in the park, family activities planned by Future Farmers of America students, a 3 p.m. raffle and music by The Old Dogs of Ritzville from 1...
Late summer of my 12th year delivered two life changing moments. The first was a brief and thrilling encounter with a mighty chinook salmon, whose massive form ascended the Skykomish river and bit the garden worm I was drifting for trout. The second occurred on the first day school when I witnessed the summer transformation of the girls I'd known since kindergarten. Like a mint bright chinook, the girls were suddenly mysterious and alluring, stunningly beautiful and...
