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DISTRICT 6 -- Incumbent Republicans Mike Volz and Jenny Graham were on their way to victory in the 6th Legislative District after Tuesday’s initial election results. The district was the most heavily contested of any legislative district in Spokane County. Volz led challenger Zack Zappone for Position 1 by a vote of 51% to 48.89%, totaling 38,742 to 37,146. Graham’s lead was slightly more comfortable, as she led challenger Tom McGarry for Position 2 by a vote of 52.83% to 47.04%, totaling 39,847 to 35,482. The twi...
A Spokane father casts his ballot Tuesday morning as his daughter plays at his feet in the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. Spokane County Auditor Vicki Dalton said more than 900 people voted at the temporary location on Monday, and she expected more than 3,000 Tuesday. Dalton said she expected county turnout to be over 90%....
MALDEN – More than 150 derelict and burned-out vehicles have been removed from the fire-ravaged area in the month since the Sept. 7 blaze. “The community’s really worked hard to get those cleaned up,” Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said. The Whitman County Sheriff’s Office ran VIN numbers after the fire to get paperwork necessary to have the vehicles declared as junk and begin the removal process. Myers estimated 150 cars have already been removed and headed to recycling...
CHENEY – U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials have announced they will be conducting prescribed burns on the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge from now through February, 2021. Inland Northwest Refuge Complex fire management specialist Ken Meinhart said the controlled burns will be taking place on a total of approximately 375 acres of Refuge land. Meinhart identified four major areas, a 185-acre section in the southwest corner of the Refuge, a 150-acre area along the northern boundary east of Cheney-Plaza Road, one in the c...
MEDICAL LAKE – The state Department of Ecology is proposing “three major” changes to its permit that allows lake managers to use pesticides and chemicals to treat noxious weeds and algae such as Eurasian milfoil. “Very often… the most effective way to treat it is to use a pesticide to initially melt it down and then go with hand pulling or harvesting to keep the population down after the pesticide treatment,” Water quality general permits supervisor Nate Lubliner said. “It’s really the fact that we’ve got that tool while s...
FROM STAFF AND NEWS SOURCES SPOKANE – The Historic Flight Foundation will open its museum at Felts Field on Wednesday, Nov. 11 for Veterans Day. All veterans who visit that day will be given complimentary admission and a personal tour of the vintage aircraft collection. On this special occasion, the Historic Flight museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Veterans are encouraged to wear something from their time in the service, with stories about their experience w...
CHENEY – School district students and staff are planning a time-honored tradition of recognizing veterans on Nov. 11 — it’s just that they are planning on doing it a different way. With Covid-19 protocols keeping most schools shuttered to all but the youngest learners, students at Cheney and Westwood middle schools along with Cheney High School have been busy putting together virtual presentations for Veterans Day. The presentations will take the place of in-person assemblies — currently prohibited — but will have all of th...
Luann Marie (Hylle) Newberg was born Oct. 30, 1941 to David and Dolores Hylle of Miller, South Dakota. LuAnn, the oldest of seven children, grew up in the Black Hills of South Dakota, in the small town of Custer. She joked that she got to play on Mt. Rushmore, race spike-tired cars on frozen lakes, milk rattlesnake venom and was proud to say she even got to babysit for the creator of the Crazy Horse monument. Shortly after graduating from high school, she pursued and married...
Cheney Congregational Church Greetings from Cheney Congregational Church! Join us on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. for worship. We are currently worshiping inside our sanctuary at a limited capacity and with many precautions. Bring a jacket, as we will be leaving some doors and windows open to ventilate. A live stream of the service will be available as well. If you would like to learn more about our COVID-safety plan, you can visit our website, www.cheneycongregational.org. Emmanuel Lutheran Church Greeting from Emmanuel...
Kenneth Charles Mosbarger, 74, went to be with the Lord, on 27 Oct. 2020 in Spokane, Washington. He was born on Nov. 29, 1945, in Kalispell, Mont. to Ole Gunderson and Eileen Tunks Mosbarger. Kenny graduated from Flathead High School in 1964 and attended Flathead Community College. In 1966, he joined the U.S. Army and completed Basic Training at Ft. Polk, La, and Finance School at Ft. Benjamin Harris, Ind., where he was trained as a Finance Specialist. Following training, he...
OLYMPIA – Despite a parental uprising over an “inclusive” sexual education mandate, Referendum 90 was passing after an initial election night tally Nov 3. Approval of R-90 reaffirms a law passed by Democrats in Olympia last spring that requires all public schools to start teaching a sexual education curriculum, which includes alternative lifestyle intimacy, in all grades starting with kindergarten. The initial count showed the measure had 1,916,159 supporting votes state...
COLFAX — Incumbents Sen. Mark G. Schoesler and Rep. Mary Dye are leading the races for 9th Legislative District positions. Schoesler, R-Ritzville, is running unopposed after Democratic candidate Jenn Goulet dropped out of the race. Scheosler received 7,805 votes in the first count, and Goulet 6,077 votes. Dye of Pomeroy, the Position No. 1 lawmaker, is running against Libertarian Brett Borden. Dye leads with 8,824 votes; Borden trails with 4,071 votes after the first count. M...
Last Friday, Oct. 30, it looked like Halloween 2020 would not yet be another victim of Covid-19 as hundreds of happy children and (relieved) parents drove around Cheney collecting candy. More than 20 CMA-member (Cheney Merchants Association) businesses and individuals participated in this holiday event. Some were in costume; others were not but all who joined in (as giver or getter) had a wonderful and safe time celebrating Halloween. Whether or not this becomes a new tradition to Cheney, it was rewarding to see how many of...
AIRWAY HEIGHTS – Several residents tuned in to council’s legislative session Nov. 2 to voice their concerns with drivers mowing down residential West 1st Avenue at high speeds…sometimes, at freeway-level paces. “We’ve been having numerous individuals come through at 60-plus miles an hour, from Russell (Street) all the way through (to Hunter’s Crossing),” resident Linda DeLong said. “They’re passing through so fast, that I almost got hit twice coming out of my garage, once c...
COVID-19 is taking a serious toll on chronically ill Americans, particularly those with severe neurological conditions. Bipolar disorder and schizophrenia-related brain illnesses increase the risk of contracting and recovering from coronavirus. Unfortunately, a recently finalized rule from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could make it even more difficult for these vulnerable Americans. The rule gives health insurers more flexibility in how they calculate patients’ out-of-pocket expenses. If insurers e...
This month, President Trump signed an executive order to reduce Medicare spending on prescription drugs. For each medication, Medicare will pay no more than the lowest price available in other developed countries. President Trump has been true to his campaign promises. I voted for him in 2016, and will again in 2020. However, in this case, the administration identified the right problem, but chose the wrong solution. Drugs cost less in other nations for one simple reason — their government-run health systems impose price c...
WEST PLAINS – Prior to last March, Cheney School District Superintendent Rob Roettger didn’t even know who the Spokane County health officer was. That changed as the onset of COVID-19 prompted weekly meetings between area school superintendents and Spokane Regional Health District Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz. So, when Roettger heard last Friday that Lutz had been fired, he was surprised. “We work with him frequently in discussing plans and next steps,” Roettger said. “We had scheduled him to come to the school board this Wedn...
CHENEY – For the second time, the City Council has postponed the third reading and final passage of the city’s capital facilities plan — with both postponements stemming from council members’ desires to call for additional studies. The second postponement came after a proposal by Councilman Vince Barthels to conduct an “efficiency/effectiveness evaluation” of the city’s public safety, specifically police and fire departments. Barthels made the suggestion at the council’s Oct. 27 meeting, following a request by Councilman P...
CHENEY – The school district has instituted a second phase of re-opening its facilities to students whose families are prepared to return to in-person instruction, bringing in first-grade students this week followed by second-grade students next week. First-graders returned to in-person classes on Monday, Nov. 2, with half the students appearing that day and the other half on Tuesday, Nov. 3. All first-grade students were onsite beginning Wednesday, Nov. 4. An asynchronous learning day for students was held Oct. 30, along w...
MEDICAL LAKE – Principals and assistant principals from Hallett and Michael Anderson Elementary schools, Endeavors High School, Medical Lake Middle School and Medical Lake High School presented their plans for improving their respective schools to the board Oct. 27. Each principal discussed successful achievements their schools saw in 2019-2020 and gave areas their schools need to improve in. Hallett Elementary principal Kristen Kuster shared that third-through-fifth-graders trended upwards in success in math, while f...
MEDICAL LAKE—Peggy Schweikhardt participated in her last school board meeting Oct. 27 after serving on the board since 1989. She was most recently vice president of the board, working with board president Ron Von Lehe. She notified superintendent Tim Ames of her resignation in September. “I’ve been on for 30 years. It feels like it’s time for me to move on and do other things with my life,” Schweikhardt said. She said that both of her sons having graduated high school signified to her that it was time to resign. Her eldes...
SPOKANE — Eastern Washington’s two incumbent Republican congressional representatives were leading by large margins following the initial general election tally Tuesday night. In the 5th Congressional District, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Spokane was leading Democrat Dave Wilson, 195,907 votes to 133,419 (59.4% to 40.4%). In the 4th Congressional District race, Rep. Dan Newhouse of Sunnyside was leading Democrat Doug McKinley of Richland, 126,355 votes to 67,533 votes (65...
SPOKANE – Spokane County voters were backing Republican President Trump in his re-election bid by a narrow margin following an initial count in the general election.’ Meanwhile, the state was leaning toward Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Here, 126,675 votes, or 49.3%, have already been counted for Trump and 122,188, or 47.55%, had been tallied for Biden. Only two counties in Eastern Washington — Whitman and Walla Walla — were supporting Biden. Statewide, Biden was leading...
OLYMPIA — Gov. Jay Inslee declared victory in the general election Tuesday night, Nov. 3, over Republican challenger Loren Culp. “I cannot express the honor I feel to be elected to a third term as governor,” Inslee said, celebrating victory even more than a million ballots have yet to be counted statewide. “The people of Washington have given my administration a unique place in history, and I will work hard for you every day, just as I have for the past eight years....
SPOKANE COUNTY – Republicans have maintained their lock on the county commissioners board as both incumbents Josh Kerns and Mary Kuney won re-election Nov. 3. Kerns won his second term with a 12-point win over Democratic challenger Ted Cummings in the Commissioner District 1 race representing the north county. Kerns notched 55.97% of the vote to Cummings 43.90, 136,293 votes to 106,896 votes. In the District 2 race, Kuney enjoyed a larger almost 17-point win over Democratic challenger David Green, 58.05 to 41.79 %. Kuney r...
