Sorted by date Results 380 - 404 of 520
It's official: the Medical Lake City Council has approved an ordinance asking voters to give the thumbs up - or down - in August to a proposed annexation of city fire services by Spokane County Fire District 3. There was considerable discussion by council members during its April 2 meeting before the unanimous vote to move the ordinance forward. Councilmembers Ted Olson and Laura Parsons were absent from the meeting. Councilwoman Jessica Roberts, who said she supported the...
The Emeryville, California-based supermarket chain Grocery Outlet has submitted paperwork for a new store to be located on 1st Street in north Cheney. According to a Notice of Application dated March 21, the company is proposing to combine two separate lots, parcel numbers 23072.0096 and 23072.0097, located at 2603 1st Street into one parent parcel. The move would allow for construction of a 16,456-square-foot commercial building between the Verizon outlet to the north and...
1 Years Ago March 26, 2008 A lack of renovation funding and a failure to reach a maintenance and operations agreement led Eastern Washington University and the Cheney School District to consider closing Reid Elementary, a 50-year-old school. The Cheney library began offering an online tutoring service called Live Homework Help, allowing students and tutors to keep in contact via instant messaging. Cheney sought to formalize its banner policy, setting fees for advertising on local light poles. 20 Years Ago April 1, 1999...
Cheney’s City Council welcomed its newest member last Tuesday night, Feb. 26, as Vince Barthels was sworn in to serve on the Position 2 seat left vacant after the resignation of Doug Nixon in late 2018. Nixon, who served since 2007, stepped down due to his moving to a residence located outside of the city. A Cheney resident, Barthels has served on the city’s Planning Commission and as its chair since 2012. According to the city’s published application notice, individuals interested in serving on the council were to submi...
Cheney residents might notice something different in a couple weeks at the corner of 1st and I streets just south of downtown. Something will be missing — but its removal shouldn’t go unnoticed. Historic Preservation Commission administrative assistant Sue Beeman told commissioners at their Feb. 7 meeting that a house located on property purchased by the Cheney Depot Society is scheduled to be demolished in a practice burn by Cheney’s fire department on Sunday, Feb. 17. The removal of the house signals the first sign of pr...
Cheney’s planning department has issued a mitigated determination of non-significance for an application to combine two separate parcels on 1st Street into one for future construction of a church. The location of the parcels are 304 and 316 W. 1st, at the intersection of 1st and Salnave Road. No public hearing is required on the project, however a public comment period is open until 5 p.m. Feb. 13. The project applicant is Fellowship Baptist Church, which owns both parcels a...
The city of Cheney is holding a special meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5, to take public testimony on Ordinance X-58 that enacted a moratorium on development of land located along Alki Street, east of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific railroad tracks. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 609 2nd St. The six-month moratorium was enacted by the Cheney City Council on Dec. 11, 2018. The moratorium prohibits issuing any new “Development Approvals” on the land located east of Alki Street to...
By JOHN McCALLUM Managing Editor Cheney’s City Council approved 11 of 12 new ordinances on its Jan. 22 agenda in what constituted a major rewrite of some of its municipal code chapters on development and maintenance of property. The 12th measure, Ordinance X-38 on “Public Property and Facilities, was removed by a motion from Councilwoman Teresa Overhauser at the request of Public Works Director Todd Ableman, who said additional time was needed to better align the new requirements with those in the code’s Chapter 12 on stree...
Medical Lake schools band teacher Craig Johnson was concerned when he was called to high school principal Chris Spring's office, particularly when, as he entered, there sat a couple of his students. "It was funny how he told me," Johnson said. Seeing a couple of his students sitting there as he walked in to see Spring, Johnson was thinking "Oh no, what happened?" What followed was official word from his boss that Johnson had been singled out among dozens of teachers in the...
A fire that broke out along railroad tracks near Mullinix Road was quickly whipped by strong winds and consumed 30 acres of scrub timber and forced evacuations of businesses and the Peaceful Pines RV Park and Campground in south Cheney. The fire broke out around 4 p.m., with units from Spokane County Fire District 3 and Cheney Fire Department responding quickly to the blaze inside the city. The fire moved quickly north, with sudden plumes of black smoke mixing with the gray as...
Greater Spokane Emergency Management officials want the public to know what evacuation levels mean - and what to take with them when told to leave. The county agency has released a set of evacuation guidelines and an "emergency evacuation grab and go list" it hopes all residents will find helpful should conditions arise where they need to be prepared to leave their homes. The information is particularly applicable to residents in what GSEM program specialist Gerry Bozarth...
Cheney developer Steve Emtman is proposing a zoning change that would essential "swap" land designated multifamily on 12.1 acres of land along Alki Street to better accommodate construction of a 224-unit apartment complex. The changes would redistribute land around a wetland on the site by changing the designation of Emtman's property along a strip of Alki from R-3/multifamily residential to R-3H/high density multifamily residential. An equal amount of land along the northern...
Spokane County issues burn upgraded restrictions Hot, dry weather and elevated fire potential have prompted the Spokane County Fire Code official to issue burn restrictions for the unincorporated areas of the county. The restrictions went into effect Monday, July 16. The restrictions mean that unauthorized open burning and specified outdoor recreational fires (campfires, fire bowls and fire pits) are prohibited in the unincorporated areas of Spokane County until further notice. Any person(s) responsible for open burning...
Cheney’s planning department is asking the public to weigh in on two notices of application for project work — one of which is citywide. City officials are proposing creation of an “Institutional Zone,” an amendment to Cheney’s municipal code that would set forth design parameters specific to institutional structures such as schools, the fire and police stations, City Hall and Spokane County Fire District 3’s Presley Drive headquarters — the exemption being Eastern Washington University which is already covered under a “Publ...
Closing down the illegal West Plains kennel that animal control officers raided and rescued dozens of dogs on April 26 presented a challenge from the get-go. Perhaps the biggest was just confirming that a still as yet unidentified property owner on the 21000 block of West Bowie Road was selling dogs illegally. The “puppy mill” was quite isolated and “It’s fairly rural,” Ashley Proszek, Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Service (SCRAPS) field operations manager s...
Cheney police department Capt. Rick Campbell explained to the city’s Planning Commission at its Feb. 12 meeting why it’s a good idea for residents to make sure their grass is mowed and yards are free of debris. Campbell has been handling code enforcement duties since the department took over the responsibility from the fire department in mid-2016. The intent was to move away from a complaint-driven approach to enforcing compliance with the city’s list of 18 designated property nuisances to one that is more proactive — and...
A fire that destroyed a four-unit building at Cheney's Washington Square Apartments may have been caused by a lit candle and a cluttered computer desk. According to a report written by Spokane Fire Department investigator Lt. Steve Jones, obtained through a Cheney Free Press public records request, listed the official cause of the Aug. 5 blaze as undetermined. In the report, however, the resident of the unit where the fire began suspects it was a candle at her computer desk....
Cheney residents asked to keep streets clear of vehicles to aid in snow plowing City of Cheney officials are warning residents that if you park on the street, your vehicle must be moved if there’s a heavy snowfall this winter. Moving vehicles for plowing speeds up the process to make streets clear and safe for everyone, including school buses and emergency responders. According to the city’s “Snow Removal” ordinance, whenever two or more inches of snow accumulates on city streets, and so long as that snow remains unclear...
At the Nov. 6 Airway Heights City Council meeting, the council interviewed two applicants for an opening on the board left vacant by the resignation of Aspen Montelone. Veronica Messing, who had previously been appointed to the council, was chosen again. The other applicant, Arthur Bubb, had moved to Airway Heights a year and a half ago from California. He served on a school board for a school in California and a citizens committee and wanted to become more involved in Airway...
Candidates running for both mayor and seats on the Medical Lake City Council met citizens at a community forum Oct. 4 in the high school auditorium. Sponsored by Re-Imagine Medical Lake and moderated by Superintendent of Schools, Tim Ames, the forum attracted about 50 people. According to a Re-Imagine news release, candidates had two minutes to answer each of six questions prepared in advance. The audience heard from mayoral candidates Shirley Maike and Mikeal Suniga as well as council hopefuls John Paikuli, Monica Manza,...
The July 18 Medical Lake City council meeting had a full house. All went fine until the second reading of a proposed code on fire pits was scheduled to be read. At the June meeting, Councilwoman Jessica Roberts made a motion to table the proposal due to lack of notice. It failed with no second. At the July meeting, City Administrator Doug Ross asked Roberts in a belittling way, in my opinion, if she now had enough time to do her reading. She didn’t lose composure, answered yes, and preceded to school all in the chamber w...
Although school is out for the summer, the Medical Lake School District will have several courses and activities for students in July and August. During its June 27 meeting, the school board of directors approved the district's summer school and enrichment programs. Michael Anderson Elementary School will have its extended school year for special education students from July 31-Aug. 17. During that same timeframe, Hallett Elementary School will once again host its summer...
The city of Medical Lake received some additional funds to help with its summer street patching. During its June 20 meeting, City Council approved the state Transportation Improvement Board (TIB) fuel tax grant distribution agreement for the $23,274 the city received from the board’s 2017 Emergency Repair Program. The money can only go toward fixing the streets that were damaged from the moisture in winter and spring. City Administrator Doug Ross said staff will be renting the equipment and repairing the streets in early J...
Cheney police and Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services, SCRAPS, officers aren’t certain if two stray dogs were what killed a cat in the Golden Hills area last Wednesday evening, but are advising the public to keep an eye out for them nonetheless. In an email late on June 22, Kellie Yates said two “large, block dogs” had entered her home on Sunrise Drive by forcing open a heavy sliding glass door. She wrote that they chased her two cats through the house before “killing one of them at 7:44 this evening...
It’s official — the city of Airway Heights’ recreation center project has its design-build team. During its June 5 meeting, City Council approved the selection of Lydig Construction & ALSC Architects as the designer/builder for the project. Council also authorized City Manager Albert Tripp to execute the DBIA agreement and issue a notice to proceed on the project. The recommendation to select Lydig and ALSC came from the project’s evaluation committee after it scored the team’s management proposal. ALSC/Lydig was one of tw...
