Sorted by date Results 541 - 565 of 582
1 Years Ago August 3, 2000 A Spokane architectural firm will look into the feasibility of turning the Ball and Dodd Funeral Home at the corner of Second and G Streets into a new headquarters for the Cheney Police Department. The study Zack Butler will conduct will cost $12,000. Eastern Washington University announced that its application for a grant of $105,300 to assist downtown Cheney's revitalization was successful. The grant will fund a Small-town Main Street Community learning project. EWU student Brandon Moen has been...
By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter A Cheney daycare center was forced to close last week after a judge ruled the business owners were in default of their rent. This week, dozens of families scrambled to find care for their children. John and Jessica Jacobsen owned the Highlind Learning Center, 1420 First St. from March 2009 until a 72-hour eviction notice ordered them to close their doors April 2. The Jacobsens say they were caught in a fight between the building's owner and a couple who rented the building to the Jacobsens....
By BRANDON HOUSKEEPER Director of www.WashingtonVotes.org Since 2003 WashingtonVotes.org has provided concise, plain-English, descriptions of every bill, amendment and vote in the Washington legislature. Through our service, thousands of Washingtonians follow the day-to-day activities of their elected officials in Olympia and are being empowered to participate in the legislative process. Unfortunately for civic-minded citizens, the task of providing this service has proven to be more difficult this year than in the past....
1 Years Ago February 17, 2000 Cheney parks and recreation director Bob Hudson leaves the part of city government he oversaw for 24 years in a state of limbo. Mayor Amy Jo Sooy said Hudson's departure will spur the review of the department to see if changes in its structure can be made. The Medical Lake Fire Department recently released statistics on fire calls and found that they had fallen 44 percent to 49 in 1999, from 87 in 1998. If Cheney voters pass a $13.9 million bond issue for modernization of three schools, students...
2-year Medical Lake school board member begins her sixth four-year term, discusses what challenges the district is facing today By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Unlike many elected positions, school board members tend to do their duty without much public notice. Aside from a handful of education insiders, for instance, few people are probably aware that January is School Board Recognition Month in the state of Washington. But, as Gov. Chris Gregoire said when she christened...
##M;[Read more here]## Cheney closes 2009 by electing a new mayor and implementing new garbage collection service By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter July The Cheney Public Works Department reported to the City Council on efforts to better maintain the city's water system. A new well, No. 8, went on line in June and crews repaired nine different leaks throughout the city, reportedly saving 21 million gallons of water. The city is also installing radio-read meters to improve...
New lights will brighten campus streets, reduce costs, increase safety By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Drivers, walkers and other users of the streets around Eastern Washington University may soon notice their paths are a lot brighter. The university is in the process of upgrading much of the street lighting around campus; a $725,000 project designed to increase safety, as well as energy and maintenance efficiency while bringing the university into compliance with national glare and...
Over 700 students have been treated for flu-like symptoms, normal flu season not even here yet By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Despite trying to learn from other universities examples, setting up information hot lines and installing sanitation measures – even handing out pocket-sized bottles of hand sanitizers at a football game – Eastern Washington University is still getting hit hard by the flu bug. Whether any of the cases are of the feared H1N1 variety isn't known since only specific testing can identify the strain. But loc...
In politics, perception can often trump reality “Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build bridges, even where there are no rivers” – former Soviet premier Nikita Kruschchev. It's an interesting statement from a guy who used to lead a country that had no claim to actually having politicians. West Plains' residents are getting their dosage of politics and politicians early, beginning with this coming Tuesday's primary ballot. In Medical Lake, it's the mayoral competition, with four candidates hoping to make...
Assistant superintendent calls it a banner year By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter Medical Lake School District now has an updated set of maps – make that M.A.P. – to guide them in offering students a better education. Assistant superintendent Ralph Headlee presented the results from recently released spring Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests at last Tuesday's school board meeting. The presentation had the board enthused about the fact that the overwhelming majority of grades scored above national norms, and are con...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Despite a flurry of questions, the Cheney Planning Commission approved changing the comprehensive plan designation on a plot of land adjacent to the Cheney Care Center from general residential to multi-dwelling as the facility has plans to expand their operations. The approval also changed the zoning map designation that the property sits in from single family residential to multi-family residential. As part of the proposal, the Care Center director Keith Fauerso said the plan is to construct...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter A few vacant offices inside Medical Lake Police Department will be reserved for two detectives from Spokane County Sheriff's Office to conduct business in the West Plains, officials announced at last week's City Council meeting. The arrangement, City Administrator Doug Ross said, came after SCSO sent requests to the city asking if they had space available. “They've wanted to physically locate out here for some time,” Ross said of SCSO. The arrangement, he explained further, is also “to...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter The Cheney Planning Commission has a new task to master as the city draws near to hiring a consultant to help in the rewrite of the comprehensive plan. Each of the commissioners will become an “expert” in a significant subject area of the comprehensive plan as delegated by city planner Elisa Rodriguez, who had each of the commissioners draw from a hat, an element of the comprehensive plan they would oversee. Rodriguez explained to the commissioners that they would become familiar with their ele...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Secure It Self Storage is one step closer to becoming part of the city of Cheney. The land at E. 100 Betz Road, which is owned by developer Lanzce Douglass was presented to the Spokane County Boundary Review Board as an information item at its Feb. 9 meeting. According to a notice of intention filed Jan. 12, Cheney plans to annex 20.5 acres, consisting of two parcels. The notice also said affected agencies and interested parties have until Feb. 26 to invoke the board's jurisdiction. Contention o...
If the City Council approves, Cheney may have its own mini-version of an eye in the sky. Rather, make those two eyes. Cheney Police Chief Jeff Sale is requesting council members approve the purchase of a pair of pole-mounted cameras to be used to combat property crime downtown, specifically the stretch from F to G streets along First. The Police Department has the money for the cameras, thanks to a “use it or lose it” $69,000 federal grant. The two cameras would be mounted at College Avenue and First, high enough to pre...
Things are tough all over. They’re tougher if you refuse to accept them or are unaffected by what’s going on. Businesses are being usurped on a daily basis. My bank - the soon to be swallowed up Washington Mutual or WaMu - if you talk to the marketing nazis, is one of them, but some changes planned. “Great news!†comes the recorded voice on the bank’s customer service line. “Between March and July you’ll begin to notice changes we’re making to the automated system.†I can hardly wait. They, like many lenders...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Cheney Delights is looking to expand their menu with items that have a little kick. Delights owner, Fred Pollard said he is transitioning to a more traditional restaurant. He said building his business is a slow, evolutionary process of just trying to discover what people want or need in Cheney. “We made a conscientious decision to come in and try to find a way to have our business fit into the community,” Pollard said. Though his business has...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter While area schools were scheduled to return from Christmas break on Monday, Jan. 5, the weather inspired yet another “snowday,” which have become common in the last two winters. Cheney School District Superintendent Larry Keller explained how he determines a snowday. It begins long before anyone is thinking of school. He starts dialog at 2 a.m. with Cheney School District transportation director Paul Harris, who then goes out and inspects the school district's grounds and building conditions. Ha...
When I started at the Cheney Free Press about a year and a half ago, my editor John McCallum warned me to be careful about what I say and how I say it. “This job has a negative stigma to it,” he said. This became glaringly apparent when I went to a city government meeting recently. Before the meeting started, some people were just mulling around and socializing. When I walked into the room, someone said, “The media is here!” and they scattered like a cluster of cockroaches startled by someone turning on a light. In the backgr...
I'm going light this week on subject matter, so please do not expect any political endorsements or musings on stray shopping carts, public transportation or nosy neighbors behaving badly. No, this week's topic is the transition from summer to fall, and why it's a conflicting time of the year for me. Ambivalence is a good word to describe my state right now: sad and happy at the same time. I know, it's just the weather right? Well, fall makes it tough considering what we northerners experience, so I can't easily choose. Let's...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Paul and Tracy Gorum, who own Cheney's Gatto's, were awarded “Employer of the Year” from the Spokane County Community Services Developmental Disabilities Program. Tracy Gorum said she received notice of the award, which is signed the Spokane County Commissioners, from Career Path Services and received the award for diversity in the work place and commitment to hiring people with developmental disabilities. Currently, Gatto's employs Louie Chamber...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Residents will soon notice a slight change in Cheney, high above the roof tops. The city of Cheney has a new city flag, which can be seen in the council chambers and will soon be visible atop flag poles at the Police Department, the Public Works building and at City Hall. Planning commissioner Graeme Webster and Cheney Police Cmdr. Rick Campbell designed the gold-fringe bordered flag, which features the city logo in a white field, with dark blue fields to the left and right of the white. City...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Jaazz Salon and Skin Care Center makes its return to Cheney. The salon started in what is now a fraternity house on Greek row, and was at the time known as the Philena Apartments. It ws set up in the meager, 470-square-foot common area of the building. Since then, Jaazz has grown, being selected by the Inlander’s reader’s poll as the best salon in Spokane 10 times, six of them consecutively. In the 1980s, Eastern Washington University student Mark Brado went to Jaazz to get his hair cut....
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Sad isn’t something Dallas Bailey said her son often shows. But it was sadness staring back at her when the Cheney mom told him his blended-preschool teacher at Salnave Elementary School, Cindy Melhus, wouldn’t be returning to the class after spring break last April. “My son is asking why didn’t she say good-bye, will I ever see her again?†Bailey told a group of parents of students in Melhus’ class who had gathered at Cheney’s United Methodist Church on May 14. The parents were mobilizin...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Silver Lake’s public boat launch was temporarily closed on July 28 for renovations to improve and add new features to the existing facility, with plans to reopen access on Saturday, Aug. 23, according to a recent press release from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). The boat launch, east of Freeman Drive, is a regional access site maintained by the WDFW, which is the lead agency on the renovation effort. Signs announcing the closure are posted at the site. “A new concrete...