Articles from the October 17, 2019 edition


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  • Odessa, ACH ranked 1st, 2nd in 1B football

    Cheney Free Press|Updated Oct 23, 2019

    ODESSA – Two Lincoln County football teams sit atop the Associated Press' Class 1B football rankings again this week. The Odessa Tigers hold onto the No. 1 spot, while league rival Almira/Coulee-Hartline is ranked No. 2. The only other Eastern Washington teams sitting in the Nos. 1 and 2 spots are both in Class 1A. The Royal Knights are ranked No. 1 and La Salle Lightning of Union Gap is ranked No. 2. Here are the rest of the rankings in the Week 8 AP poll: Class 4A 1. Lake Stevens 2. Kennedy Catholic 3. Camas 4. Graham-Kapow...

  • Cheney, Airway Heights sued

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Oct 22, 2019

    CHENEY – The cities of Cheney and Airway Heights are the recipients of two separate lawsuits totaling $20 million that claim a court commissioner used by both municipalities is not capable of rendering a verdict against a defendant because she lacks a law degree. Spokane attorney Kevin Roberts filed the tort claim — $5 million against Airway Heights and $15 million against Cheney — after Airway Heights Court Commissioner Terri Cooper sentenced his client, Shonto Pete, to 90 days in jail in a court case last week. In the compl...

  • Medical Lake JROTC program continues to excel

    Lee Hughes, Staff reporter|Updated Oct 18, 2019

    MEDICAL LAKE - High school senior Brennan Hart's goal is to attend the United States Naval Academy and study nuclear engineering. His parents are Air Force veterans. "The think I'm trying to rebel," Hart deadpanned with a straight face. Tall and erect, Hart carries himself with a self-disciplined bearing and no-nonsense demeanor that renders the idea of a personal rebellious streak seem laughable. His bearing is unusual, according to Chief Master Sgt. Albert McGowan,...

  • Blackhawks runners take down East Valley

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    CHENEY – The Blackhawks cross country teams notched their first dual meet wins on the road last week, sweeping East Valley on Tuesday at the Knights course at Liberty Lake Regional Park. The Cheney boys breezed to a 17-46 win, landing all seven varsity runners in the top eight slots while the girls repeated the performance in their 15-48 victory. The wins moved the boys’ record to 3-0 in Great Northern League meet action while the girls improved to 2-1. Freshman Samantha Hab...

  • Blackhawks shut out East Valley, prep for Clarkston

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    CHENEY – The Blackhawks football team returned to the win column with a 21-0 shutout of East Valley last Friday night in Greenacres. Alex Long threw for a pair of touchdowns while Gabe Gerber capped the evening with a 1-yard score to help Cheney get to 1-0 in Great Northern League play, 4-2 overall. After both teams spent the first quarter and half probing each other’s weaknesses, the Blackhawks used a two-minute drill to get on the board right before halftime, with Long hitting Ryan Rieckmann on a 10-yard touchdown thr...

  • Cardinal XC remains top in state 1A

    Lee Hughes, Staff writer|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    MEDICAL LAKE – The Cardinal cross country boys crew remains the team to beat in the Northeast A League as they stayed the top-ranked team in the state 1A weekly coach’s poll after decisive victories in both a league match and a strong showing at a cross-state invitational. The Cardinals continued their league juggernaut when took their A game to Newport last Wednesday, Oct. 9, winning both varsity divisions against the Grizzlies by wide margins. The boys’ varsity left the o...

  • Time to hold this administration accountable

    Updated Oct 17, 2019

    It would be wonderful to see President Trump’s tax returns and a breakdown of all expenses of his and his family’s trips to their golf courses and hotels since taking office, along with a tally of the profits he is making while disregarding the Emolument Clause in the Constitution. How much has the security detail for Trump, his family members and Vice-President Pence cost us taxpayers, some now being used for campaign rallies for the 2020 election? In the meantime, he and his buddies are is so heartless they can’t provi...

  • Watson should step out of his flight boots - Letter to the Editor

    Updated Oct 17, 2019

    Like Frank Watson, I’m also a Vietnam-era, retired Air Force officer, with similar life experiences, and yet my values are very different. For example, Frank’s dire warning against the evils of socialism (CFP, 8/1/19) is interesting coming from a guy who spent much of his working life living under a model socialist system. One of my minor conundrums in getting through my first weeks as a civilian after retirement from the Air Force was deciding what to wear every day. The Air Force not only decided that for me, they also pro...

  • Hughes hits the issues on the head

    Updated Oct 17, 2019

    I commend Lee Hughes for his fine Write to the Point opinion column of Oct. 3, 2019. He documents the fallacies proclaimed by Frank Watson and Don Brunell. Unfortunately, the latter two gentlemen and others who write articles expressing the same thoughts are quite effective. As proof I offer the letter to the editor by Ms. Paula Thornton who suggests Mr. Hughes needs to study economics. Sadly, it is she who needs the course in economics. The minimum wage of the successful New Deal did much to speed the recovery from the...

  • Once useful to workers, unions have run their course

    FRANK WATSON, Contributor|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    The United Auto Workers Union strike against General Motors has entered its second month with no end in sight. They are using tactics developed years ago when the big three automakers ruled the industry. Rather than strike across the board, the union would target only one of the three. That way they could keep two-thirds of their members employed while they brought one to heel. Then they would use the results to bargain with the other two. I’m not sure those tactics would work today. Times have changed. Big corporations a...

  • Reject dishonest vehicle taxes, vote yes on I-976

    TIM EYMAN, Contributor|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    Taxpayers are getting ripped off, everybody knows it, and politicians refuse to fix it. That’s why 352,000 voters signed petitions to get Initiative 976 on the ballot. Taxing a $10,000 vehicle like it’s $25,000 is fraud. I-976 repeals the dishonest vehicle valuation schedule that politicians are currently using to artificially inflate our vehicle taxes. If a private company was price gouging its’ customers like this, the government would shut it down. But here, because it’s the government taking more than they should with a...

  • Snow knocks out power on West Plains - in October

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    CHENEY – A freak October snowstorm knocked out power to over 4,000 electrical customers on the West Plains overnight last Tuesday/Wednesday, Oct. 8-9, resulting in school delays and closures throughout the county and downed tree limbs that in many cases are still lying on the ground. Snow began falling around 11 p.m. Tuesday night, and by 12:30 a.m. most area electrical utilities were beginning to receive outage calls. When it was over, some areas in southwest Spokane C...

  • I-976, the newest car tab debacle

    Lee Hughes, Staff reporter|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    “Buy the ticket, take the ride,” or so wrote journalist Hunter S. Thompson in his book “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” While the context of Thompson’s comment was certainly different, on the surface it’s perfectly relevant for I-976, the newest car tab reduction effort placed on next month’s ballot by serial initiative activist and anti-tax campaigner Tim Eyman. His fourth effort to reduce the cost of taxing licensed vehicles in the state, if passed, would pull a $2 bil...

  • News briefs

    Updated Oct 17, 2019

    Cheney coat drive distribution coming CHENEY – With temperatures plummeting and early snow flying, it is that time of year again to distribute coats. The Cheney Community Coat Drive distribution is set for the following dates, times and locations:  Friday, Oct. 25, at Sunset Elementary School in Airway Heights, 12824 W. 12th  Saturday, Oct. 26 at Salnave Elementary School in Cheney, 1015 Salnave Road  Monday, Oct. 28, at Feed Cheney, Wren Pierson Community Center, 4th and C streets....

  • Gonzaga finishes new Silver Lake rowing facility

    Lee Hughes, Staff reporter|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    SILVER LAKE — Workers for Garco Construction were on-hand on Wednesday, Oct. 2 to assist North Idaho Maritime in installing dock sections on Silver Lake at Gonzaga University’s new boathouse that will house its men’s and woman’s competitive rowing teams. The project has been two years in the making acquiring the land, and obtaining various permitting for construction of the 11,800 square foot rowing facility and dock, according to Rob Kavon, associate director of athleti...

  • Medical Lake School District offers free mental health classes this school year

    Lee Hughes, Staff reporter|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    MEDICAL LAKE — The Medical Lake School District Student Support Services team is offering a series of MIND Your Health classes during the 2019-2020 school year. The season kicks off on Monday, Oct. 21, at the Medical Lake High School auditorium with “Lessons learned from my journey as an American Ninja Warrior,” a presentation by Spokane physical education teacher Sandy Zimmerman. Zimmerman gained notoriety when, at the age of 42, she became the first mother and the oldest wom...

  • Churches

    Updated Oct 17, 2019

    Cheney Congregational Church You are invited to attend services at Cheney Congregational Church on Sunday, Oct. 20. Pastor Matt Goodale will continue his series “Psalms: A Mirror for the Soul.” Following services everyone is welcome to remain for light refreshments in the fellowship hall. Last weekend the congregation, Goodale and many guests rejoiced in an Ordination and Installation Service. All enjoyed fellowship, refreshment, and conversation at the reception which followed. Children are welcome in Cheney Con...

  • West Plains Briefs

    Updated Oct 17, 2019

    Book group meets Oct. 22 The Cheney Library book discussion group will meet on Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. The book to be discussed will be the “Liar’s Club: a Memoir” by Mary Kerr. Debbie Roccanova will lead the group. A complete list of the upcoming books to be discussed is available at the front desk of the library. Please join us for refreshments and a lively discussion. Community Health and Fitness Fair Oct. 25 Cheney’s parks and recreation department is sponsoring a “Community Health & Fitness Fair” on Friday, Oct. 25, at...

  • Delbert Ray Turnbough

    Updated Oct 17, 2019

    Delbert Ray Turnbough died peacefully and suddenly Oct. 7, 2019. He was born July 10, 1948 to Elmer and Zula Turnbough. Delbert was the seventh of eight children, but the first born in Spokane after his parents relocated their family to the Northwest from Steelville, Mo. His favorite times were those spent with his family. He especially loved it when the Missouri family came to visit. Del graduated from Medical Lake High School in 1966. He went to work at Nabisco. In 1973 he...

  • Cheney Free Press staff win state awards

    Updated Oct 17, 2019

    OLYMPIA – The Cheney Free Press received several awards Friday night, Oct. 11, at the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association annual convention and gala at Hotel RL. Reporter Lee Hughes, former reporters Shannen Talbot and Paul Delaney, Managing Editor John McCallum and new Publisher Roger Harnack were all recognized. In addition, Free Press’ new freelance political cartoonist Brad Skiff took home awards. The Better Newspaper Contest showcases the best work in reporting, editorializing, photography, advertising, des...

  • Looking Back

    Updated Oct 17, 2019

    1 Years Ago Oct. 15, 2009 The Airway Heights Correctional Center added a sex offender treatment center for low-risk recidivism inmates. The Cheney marching band earned a second place finish at the Sounds of Thunder Pacific Northwest Championships at Joe Albi Stadium. Medical Lake was on pins and needles as state officials prepared a report that had the potential to recommend reductions or even closure of Lakeland Village and the Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women after the Legislature ordered a 1,500 bed cut in prison...

  • Cheney school board reluctantly adopts medical marijuana policy

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    CHENEY – The school district’s board of directors unanimously passed a new policy to regulate the administering of medical marijuana to children on school grounds. The measure, adopted at the board’s Oct. 8 meeting, allows only an authorized parent to administer the drug to a child who is also authorized to receive the medication by both a physician and the state’s Department of Health. The policy requires the drug be administered so that it is private and out of sight of others, not disruptive to the educational process...

  • Grant funding helping Medical Lake with street work

    Updated Oct 17, 2019

    By LEE HUGHES Staff reporter MEDICAL LAKE — The city is asking for bids from contractors to complete roadway projects funded by a $504,365 Washington State Transportation Improvement Board grant. According to the advertisement for bids, the single project will be divided into two schedules of work. The first includes repairing streets suffering from deteriorating asphalt, which will be removed and replaced and, where necessary, the subsurface materials beneath dig out and replaced. The project also includes mitigating s...

  • Cheney council supports I-976 opposition

    John McCallum, Managing Editor|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    CHENEY – The City Council has taken a somewhat unusual step and entered the political arena to oppose a statewide initiative that would reduce motor vehicle fees to just $30. At its Oct. 8 meeting, the council adopted by a 7-0 vote a resolution supporting opposition to Initiative 976, perennial initiative generator Tim Eyman’s latest anti-tax effort. The initiative would not only reduce motor vehicle fees, it would also eliminate the 0.3 percent sales tax on vehicle purchases, lower electric vehicle and snowmobile fees, mod...

  • Dad's Day

    John McCallum|Updated Oct 17, 2019

    As part of their Homecoming activities, Cheney High School students came to school Tuesday dressed like their dads -- or a rough approximation of them. The Blackhawks take on Clarkston this Friday, Oct. 18, in the Homecoming football game at 7 p.m. at Tom Oswald Field....

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