Sorted by date Results 1 - 24 of 24
CHENEY -- Eastern Washington University officials are reporting an uptick in cases of COVID-19 since instruction resumed in an online format Sept. 23. According to the university's Risk Management website, 64 students living off-campus in Cheney have tested positive for the disease since Sept. 6, with 41 testing positive the week of Sept. 20-26 and 13 testing positive the week of Sept. 27-Oct. 3. Additionally over the Sept. 27-Oct.3 timeframe, one student living in campus housing tested positive, five were positive who do...
MEDICAL LAKE--The school board officially approved the district's plan to slowly return to in-person learning at a special meeting Thursday, Oct. 1. Preschoolers and kindergartners will return Oct. 12. They'll be followed by first and second graders, but the district has yet to provide a specific date for when they can return. Superintendent Tim Ames said he hopes first and second graders can return at the same time, but that's presuming that the re-opening with preschoolers and kindergartners go well. Following will be...
fulfilled an item on his "bucket list" when he published a book on local history earlier this summer. A 1973 Sprague High School alum who retired in 2017 as the superintendent of the Sprague School District, Whipple said it was on his "to do" list to write a book about some of the stories his grandfather and father told him. "I've had them in my head for 20, 30, 40 years - a long time," Whipple said. "My dad always told me he was going to write some of them down when he retire...
MALDEN – Angry residents wanted an answer Tuesday on why the city's fire siren never sounded on Labor Day when the Babb Fire swept through town. During a meeting that attracted more than 150 residents, volunteers and government officials, several residents loudly demanded an answer. Among those residents is Vanessa Place, whose home was destroyed, leaving her, her husband and four kids living out of a travel trailer in the burned-out town. "It (the siren) goes off at noon ever...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS — Spokane Police confirmed late Thursday that a man suspected of burglary, assault and other crimes has died after being involved in an officer-involved shooting Thursday evening, Sept. 25. The shooting occurred near the Bell Motel on West Sunset Highway, across the street from the Rusty Moose. The suspect, who has yet to be identified by police, was wanted for reportedly firing a round into his ex-girlfriend's house in Northwest Spokane on Sept. 21, then returning Sept. 23 and pistol-whipping her. He was w...
CHENEY – While education is their preferred first choice, Cheney and Eastern Washington University law enforcement are prepared to take sterner measures with students who continue to violate safety protocols spelled out by the state and/or Spokane County Health District to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It's an effort, Cheney City Administrator Mark Schuller said, to avoid having happen to Cheney and EWU what occurred in Pullman when Washington State University students r...
CHENEY –Planning Commission members approved a preliminary plat application for a 46-unit residential development at their Sept. 14 meeting that could open the way for construction of more high-dollar value homes in the city. Parkside 2nd Addition would plat 31 single-family lots and 15 duplexes on 16.98 acres of property near the corner of Simpson Parkway and North 6th Street. The property, owned by Gordon Finch Homes, is currently zoned for R-1 (single family) and R-2 (...
CHENEY Sept. 14 Prescription medications were found and turned into the police station. Police assisted the Tukwila Police Department in returning a stolen firearm to its owner who resides in Cheney. A runaway juvenile was reported on the 100 block of Pineview Place. A 16-year-old male was reported missing, returning home on Sept. 15. A debit card was found and turned into the police station. Alyssa L. Raffini, 33, was arrested four fourth-degree assault/domestic violence on the 200 block of West 3rd Street. Sept. 15...
Cheney Congregational Church Greetings! Cheney Congregational is currently hosting outdoor Sunday worship services in our parking lot at 10 a.m. We have developed a Covid-19 safety plan that is in compliance with guidelines set up by the state. Masks are required and we are using social distancing among other safety precautions. We will be meeting outside in our parking lot for the foreseeable future. We encourage you to bring your own lawn chair, and we will have chairs provided. As the weather gets colder we invite you to...
Cynthia (Cindy) Marie Curry, age 60, passed away peacefully surrounded by family in Mt. Holly, N.J. on Sept. 9, 2020 succumbing to metastatic breast cancer. Cynthia was born in Portland, Ore. to Walter and Diane Edwards on Nov. 27, 1959. She was proudly an "Air Force Brat" with several moves as a child. After graduating from Cheney High School in 1978 she moved to Spokane working for Crescent warehouse. As an Air Force wife she moved to Anchorage, Alaska and later to Browns...
John Gilbert Reitmeier, age 79, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sept. 19, 2020. John was born on March 19, 1941, in Spokane, Wash. to Harry and Theda Reitmeier. John graduated from Cheney High School in 1959, their golden anniversary. After high school, John met his wife Judy through a mutual friend and they were married in June of 1964. After marriage, John worked with his dad as a welder in his dad’s welding shop before switching careers to operate Texaco and Shell service stations. John spent the last 21 years o...
The Sept. 28 Feed Cheney will continue as it has for the last several months. There will be a brown bag meal of prepackaged food distributed beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the Wren Pearson Community Center at 615 4th Street, along with a supply of groceries to see people through the month. The meal and groceries are free and no paperwork is required. Beginning with the Oct. 26 Feed Cheney, the meal and groceries will be distributed inside the multi-purpose room of the Wren Pierson Community Center, with just a...
CHENEY – Two Free Press Publishing employees will be recognized next month for their newspaper work. Publisher Roger Harnack and graphic artist Walter Willand are among the award-winners in the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s Better Newspaper Contest. While the actual awards have not been announced, they will be recognized for work in the categories of photography and special sections, according to the organization. They are being recognized for their work from April 1, 2019, through March 30, 2020. In add...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS-Residents needing farming, sporting and agricultural goods may be anticipating the arrival of the 95,000 square foot, 16-acre North 40 Outfitters location just east of the city limits off Highway 2 and Deer Heights Road. Construction began on the popular farm, ranch and outdoor company going in just north of Spokane International Airport at the end of August. "Full lines of feed, tack, animal health, fencing, hardware, tools, plumbing, electrical and automotive...
MEDICAL LAKE — Most unusual criminal activity in town for August boiled down to the Aug. 27 shooting on Howard Street, where one man was left in critical condition and two others were questioned and detained, Undersheriff Rob Sherar of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office reported to council at its Sept. 15 meeting. The council packet included the sheriff’s office’s monthly statistical crime review for August. The investigation regarding the shooting is still ongoing, but Sherar reported that the incident contributed to aggrav...
CHENEY – The 13th annual city-wide beautification program, Cheney Clean Sweep, is just around the corner and it will look quite a bit different than the previous 12 events. The first difference is obvious — it’s being held in October rather than the traditional beginning of spring in April. The reason behind that is also obvious — restrictions enacted to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In April, strict lockdown measures had been enacted by the state, closing businesses not deemed essential, limiting most people to work...
There’s a term that was developed in the academic field of peace research, and it deserves far more currency in political discourse and everyday language than it currently receives. It’s called “structural,” or indirect, violence, and, as the name implies, it refers to violence that is embedded in social structures or institutions. You can’t name a specific perpetrator as you would when an individual shoots, stabs, or suffocates another person. But structural violence inflicts no less harm than its direct counterpa...
What happens in China, doesn’t always stay in China. We learned that a couple of years ago when the Chinese stopped buying massive volumes of the world’s used paper, plastics and textiles; and, again last March when the coronavirus escaped Wuhan and spread across the planet. Like other nations, China is struggling with the deadly COVID-19 virus and suffocating under mountains of trash its residents generate each day. Wuhan hospitals generated six times as much medical was...
CHENEY – Eastern Washington University has selected The PICTOR Group of Reno, Nevada to complete an Athletic Review at the institution. The competitive bid process resulted in a $38,000 contract over the next six months. The consulting firm will conduct an independent analysis of the athletic department, a review that will look at all operations including budget and competitive standing. The process will include a review of all relevant documents, on-site visits, and interviews with internal and external stakeholders – inc...
SALT LAKE CITY – The following local residents have earned a degree from Western Governors University (WGU). The online, nonprofit university has graduated over 190,000 students from across the country since its inception in 1997. • Beverly Reed, bachelor of science, nursing • John Donado, bachelor of arts, special education • Joshua Alent, master of education, instructional design • Kadeem Smalls, master of science, curriculum and instruction • Matthew Bellmer, master of education, learning and technology WGU has recogni...
CHENEY – Early enrollment numbers show the school district has experienced a drop of almost 300 full-time equivalent students to begin the 2020-2021 academic year. The result could translate into a loss of $2.1 million in state revenue. According to a presentation at the Sept. 16 school board meeting, the district’s first week enrollment totaled 4,778.81 FTEs, 279.14 FTEs below the budgeted 5,053. Much of the decline came in lower grades, Finance Director Jamie Weingart said, with grades K-2 showing a total drop of 136...
MEDICAL LAKE — Gov. Jay Inslee handed out more coronavirus relief funds (CRF) obtained by the CARES Act to state municipalities Aug. 31, and the city was the recipient of an additional $75,075 as a result, bringing its total allotment to $225,225. City Administrator Doug Ross informed Mayor Shirley Maike and received consensus from council regarding his proposal for how to divide the funds at council’s Sept. 15 meeting. He stressed at the meeting that the money is not a check handed out to the city by the state, but is rec...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS — The two families that lost homes in the Bartholomew and Christensen road fires Aug. 27 and Sept. 7, respectively will soon be getting some assistance from the community. Wolffy’s Burgers partnered with Heights Church to host a spaghetti feed Saturday, Sept. 19, with 100% of proceeds benefitting those fire victims. The fundraiser brought in around $5,300, well exceeding the original goal of $2,000. “The community really showed up and showed tremendous suppo...
PDF