Sorted by date Results 9 - 33 of 80
CHENEY - Spokane County Republican incumbent Al French was on his way to re-election to the commissioner District No. 5 seat in a close race against Democrat Molly Marshall. Early Nov. 5 general election returns Tuesday night showed French had secured 21,872 votes, while Marshall followed with 20,957 votes. Late-arriving ballots will be counted in the days ahead. French, a long-serving commissioner with a campaign focused on economic growth and infrastructure, initially...
CHENEY – After a 12-year absence, Cheney is home to a bookstore once again. Paperbound Books, 107 F Street Suite B, owned by Kate MacDonald, opened last month, offering a selection of used and new books, along with puzzles and some textbooks for college students. "I had a collection of 300 books when I was just twelve," MacDonald recalled. "Most of them came from thrift stores because we didn't have many bookstores around." After moving to Cheney, MacDonald noticed the town l...
COLFAX - Take a look at the Nov. 5 election map and the only place you'll see blue in Eastern Washington is Whitman County. Due to the influence of Washington State University students and faculty, Kamala Harris got a tepid nod to be president, edging former President Donald J. Trump by a mere 400 votes. At the end of counting Tuesday night, Harris received 5,748 votes in Whitman County; Trump received 5,343. But that's the only place east of the Cascades, Harris got the nod....
CHENEY – More than 1,200 children roamed the "Field of Dreams" neighborhood on Halloween night, gathering treats and thrills alike. The main attraction was "Field of Screams," a haunted castle set between two Victorian homes, drawing eager visitors from across the community. The castle featured ghostly figures drifting inside, while flashing lights illuminated the eerie decor outside, setting a spine-chilling scene. Kids navigated the haunted passages in pursuit of their u...
The Spangle community hosted its annual Trunk-or-Treat Halloween celebration on Thursday, Oct. 31. Dozens of rural youth turned out to take in spooky fun and treats offered by residents and businesses in the parking lot of Spangle Foods and Fuel, 315 W. Jennings Road....
CHENEY - Democrat Bob Ferguson is headed to the governor's mansion. At the end of Election Night counting, Tuesday, Nov. 5, Ferguson had a sizeable lead - more than 331,000 votes - over Republican Dave Reichert in their bids to replace Gov. Jay Inslee. Ferguson had 56.3% of the vote; Reichert had 43.5%. The race is closer in Eastern Washington, with Reichert leading in rural areas: Lincoln County: Reichert has 76.3% (3,961 votes), while Ferguson holds 23.4% (1,216 votes)....
— Editor’s note: The tally below represents what was available from Washington state at press time. Not all statewide and federal results had been reported. CHENEY — Here are the unofficial tallies for the first day of counting in the Nov. 5 general election as of press time: Iniatives 2066 Yes 51.22% No 48.78% 2109 Yes 46.79% No 63.21% 2117 Yes 38.31% No 61.69% 2124 Yes 44.51% No 55.49% U.S. President Harris/Walz 58.32% Trump/Vance 38.90% Kennedy/Shanahan 1.07% Stein/Ware 0.51% Oliver/ ter Maat 0.31% U.S. Senate Maria Cantw...
CHENEY — A woman died and a man escaped injury in a trailer fire Monday night on Vine Street. The name of the victim has yet to be released pending notification of next of kin. Fire District Nos. 3 and 10, police and Spokane County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the 10:45 p.m. fire, Fire Chief Tom Jenkins said. Jenkins and Police Chief Rick Beghtol said emergency crews arrived on the scene within 2-3 minutes of receiving the call. Firefighters immediately focused on rescuing the trailer’s residents. A man struggling t...
GEIGER HEIGHTS – A man arrested Oct. 30 after threatening to kill another man has already been released from jail. Jessie James Marshall, 39, faces two felony charges: harassment with threats to kill and possession of an unlawful firearm. Marshall was booked into the Spokane County Jail.on Oct. 30, but has since been released, jail records show. He was arrested after allegedly threatening to kill a man in his motorhome in the 10700 block of West Geiger Boulevard around 3:35 p.m. tjat day, records show. According to r...
Editor’s note: This is the seventh in a series of profiles of artists participating in the Slightly West of Spokane Studio Artist Tour set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 30. Look for more profiles in upcoming editions of the Cheney Free Press. MEDICAL LAKE — Pottery and a coffee. That’s what those on the Slightly West of Spokane Studio Artist Tour will fined at Stop No. 2, Roam Coffee. Amanda Shepard, 25, of Medical Lake, will share Stop No. 2, 116 N. LeFevre St., with artist Nicole Nutt. While Shepard will be showi...
SPOKANE – Incumbent Jenny Graham, R-Spokane, appears to have been reelected as the 6th District, Position No. 2 seat, defeating Democrat Michaela Kelso. Early returns in the Tuesday, Nov. 5, general election, showed Graham with 33,713 votes to Kelso’s 22,361. “I am grateful for the people who trust me to represent them in the next term,” Graham said. “I not only represent those who voted for me, but for all those who are in my district.” Kelso was unable to be reached for comment. Graham said she feels for struggling...
COLFAX - Incumbent Republicans Mary Dye of Pomeroy and Joe Schmick of Colfax are leading in their Nov. 5 general election bids to retain their 9th Legislative District House seats. In early returns districtwide, Dye is leading in the Position No. 1 race with 37,107 votes (66.29%) Challenger Patrick Miller had 18.747 (33.49%) at press time. In Spokane County, Dye leads with 16,065 votes (64.21%). Miller had 8,892 (35.54%). "It was a wonderful campaign, and I am really looking...
Airway Heights AIRWAY HEIGHTS — The Police Department reported the following arrests from Oct. 29 to Nov. 4: Oct. 29 Nikolaus A. Stiles was arrested in the 800 block of South Garfield third-degree rape. Nov. 1 Mitchell D. Hyams was arrested in the 1700 block of South Hayford Road for violating a domestic violence order of protection. Shannon M. Garcia was arrested in the 1200 block of South Hayford Road for first-degree criminal trespassing. Uriah M. Grossglauser was arrested in the 13600 block of West Sixth Avenue for s...
COLFAX – Michael Baumgartner is the heir apparent to the 5th Congressional District seat held by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers. As of press time on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, Baumgartner is was looking to defeat Democrat Carmela Conroy. The 5th Congressional District spans 11 counties including Ferry, Pend Oreille, Lincoln, Stevens, Whitman, Walla Walla, Garfield, Asotin, Columbia and sections of Franklin and Adams County. The seat has been held since 2004 by McMorris R...
OLYMPIA — Voters statewide are saying enough to government overreach on natural gas. In a preliminary tally in the Nov. 5 general election, Initiative 2066 was passing with 2,515,296 supporting votes (51.22%) and 1,227,068 opposing votes (48.78%). In Spokane County the measure had 121,278 (59.52%) votes in favor and 82,445 (40.46%) opposed. The initiative would prohibit the state Building Code Council from discouraging the use of natural gas in any building. It requires gas and utility companies, cities or towns that p...
COLFAX – A citizen’s initiatie to repeal the state’s capital gains tax appears to have failed. At press time on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, Initiative 2109 only had support from 923,017, (36.68%) voters statewide. There were 1,593,095 votes (63.32%) opposed. Initiative 2109 would have repealed an excise tax on the sale or exchange of long-term capital assets by individuals who have annual capital gains of more than $250,000. Some of those gains could come from the sale of homes and businesses, among other capital asset...
Fernandez overseeing refuges CHENEY — Juliette Fernandez has been named as the new chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System in Hawaii, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and the Pacific Islands. Fernandez’s district includes Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge; she was previously the project leader at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge complex, which includes four refuges along the Columbia River near Vancouver. City seeks for preservation grant CHENEY – The city moved is applying for a $6,500 grant to update the city’s historic...
CHENEY – The Planning Commission met on Oct. 14 to examine the potential impact of Washington State’s Missing Middle Housing Act, also known as House Bill 1110 (HB 1110), on local zoning laws and specifically discussed the possibility of tiny homes within the city. Commissioner Bill White asked, “It is my understanding that we have a new state code for provisioning three single-family housing units on a single lot. Are we trying to address that with our code?” Cheney City Manager Mark Schuller clarified that Cheney is curr...
CHENEY – The fire and police departments presented their budgets for 2025 to City Council during its Oct.22 meeting. Other city departments are scheduled to present their budgets at the Nov. 12 council meeting. In 2024, the Police Department operated on a $4.3 million budget. The department is asking for a slight increase to approximately $4.307 million for 2025. Meanwhile, the Fire Department is asking for a budget increase from just over $2.9 million in 2024 to around $3.1 million in 2025, reflecting a $202,500 increase. P...
Washington’s agriculture is a $12.8 billion business with 33,000 farms — and it runs on gasoline, diesel, and natural gas. The hundreds of big rigs hauling crops and food products are not electric. Even though new trucks have reduced CO2 and other pollutants, some politicians are hastily charging ahead to replace fossil-fueled trucks with unproven technology. According to 2021 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data, transportation was responsible for 30 percent of gre...
Were the Seattle legislators who said that farmers could afford to pay the state’s new CO2 tax right after all? A recent report from the Washington State Department of Licensing shows just 6.5 percent of funds set aside for farmers to collect a rebate on fuel taxes assessed by the Climate Commitment Act have been accessed. State Senator Joe Nguyen (D-Seattle) mentioned the low number of farmers applying for the rebates recently, highlighting it as evidence that the impact of the CO2 tax was small. It is, however, a bit glib...
Suicide has rocked my family. In memory of my child, Katie Thew, who battled chronic pain and died by suicide on Oct. 6, 2022, I offer this article to help other families avoid this grief. Rampant mental health challenges including depression, with more and more communities recognizing they lack adequate resources to help, inspired the creation of a month (September) devoted to suicide prevention which recently passed. Now our family is mourning another milestone, the two-year anniversary of Katie’s death. Each of us can l...
James "Jim " Wendell Cogswell passed away Sept. 25, 2024. He was born in Spokane, Wash., on Sept. 15, 1941 to Jack and Elsie Cogswell. He grew up on the family farm in Espanola, Wash., where he had many great memories with older brother, Warren, and younger, brother, Darrell, and sister, Janice. Jim and his brothers spent much time as young men working on cars out on the farm. Jim had a '69 Ford Fairlane and Darrel had a Ford Mustang. The boys used those cars to race against...
1 years ago Nov. 13, 2014 Cheney Parks and Recreation Department was one of 15 organizations in King, Pierce and Spokane counties recently honored by the Raikes Foundation for providing “high quality out of school time programs by young people as part of its Youth Program Quality Initiative.” Westwood Middle School students, staff and guests honored almost 100 men and women of U.S. armed forces veterans for their service at the school’s annual Veterans Day program on Nov. 10. Medical Lake cross country team won 1A state...
Who was she and why is she acting to weird? First impressions are important, and she makes an indelible one. The clothes are astonishing. She is not one to wear subdued hues, no gray, pastels or beiges for her. And she didn’t tiptoe around. No, she went everywhere taking giant strides as though she was heading to the finish line of a race, and coming in first, of course. In the same way, she greeted every day with gusto and curiosity, jumping out of bed and into whatever colorful costume brought her joy that day. For some p...
