Sorted by date Results 255 - 279 of 331
April 7,1935 - June 4, 2013 Delbert was born in Wardner, Idaho on April 6 to Hazel (Randall) and Russell Gilliam. He often talked about rough times growing up especially losing his father in a farming accident when he was 12. He lived at Bayview Idaho while Farragut military base was being built. He started school in Kellogg where he attended first and second grades. At 8 years old his family moved to Four Lakes where he attended Four Lakes school when it was a two-room...
For the past 10 years, Airway Heights has been one of only a few thousand cities in the United States to receive a Tree City USA award. To make it 10 years in a row, however, carries some clout with it. J.C. Kennedy, parks, recreation and community services director, said applying for the award is an annual goal for the department. Only 3,400 cities across the country receive the award each year. In an effort to highlight the achievement, the city applied for a grant offered by the Washington State Department of Natural...
After years of planning, construction has finally begun on Aspen Grove Park in the city of Airway Heights. Located just east of Craig Road north of Highway 2, the park is in the adjacent area of Aspen Grove Third Edition. The park will eventually have access via Ketchum Drive, off of Sixth Avenue. Until that road is constructed, however, the main access comes from Craig Road. Approximately 8.5 acres in size, phase one largely includes a large amount of earthwork in order to...
A growing number of cases requiring public defense means some changes could be coming to Airway Heights’ Municipal Court in the very near future. At the Monday, April 1 Airway Heights City Council meeting the city’s public defender, Ronnie Rae, said a decision by the Supreme Court last year has impacted the number of cases he can take at a municipal level. With Airway Heights’ recent annexations, the number of cases he sees has increased. Rae said a voluminous number of cases are coming from Walmart and Northern Quest. The r...
By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Members of the West Plains Chamber of Commerce celebrated a year of growth at its annual meeting Oct. 4 held at Northern Quest Casino and Resort in Airway Heights. Representatives from area cities also spoke at the meeting to share their “State of the City” addresses with the region’s business leaders. Chamber membership has nearly doubled in the past two years, and revenues have grown by over 30 percent. While none of the municipal leade...
You're rafting what river and where? In September? Tieton River is a tradition that lives on and on and on after years and years By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter It's not often you'll hear where dams and river rafting are a compatible pair. Streams like the White Salmon and Elwah in Washington State have had, or are in the process of seeing ancient dams removed to return the rivers to as natural a state as is possible following a century of inundation. But when virtually every other river in the Northwest has dried to a...
Design provides new gateway to Airway Heights By JAMES EIK Staff Reporter The $3 million realignment of Sprague Avenue is nearly complete, with only superficial work remaining. Brandon Haugen, manager of Kalispel Development with the Kalispel Tribe, said the project was a joint effort between the city of Airway Heights and the tribe, and finished right in the expected timeframe of the summer of 2012. “The tribe and the city have worked for years to establish another gateway element into the city of Airway Heights and this r...
Flushing project's long-term goal keeping pipes clear could create short-term headaches By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Cheney's fire hydrants are about to get a workout. Starting next week, crews will begin the process of flushing out every hydrant in Cheney to clean iron deposits out of the city's 46 miles of water mains. The work, which will be done throughout the summer, comes in response to recent calls from residents about discolored water after a fire hydrant was opened without city authorization on the south end of...
Community garden expansion completed By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter More than two years ago Cheney Community Garden leaders Carl Ruud and Jon Ballester went to the Park Board to ask for help expanding water lines at the garden. There was demand for more garden plots, they said, but a lack of resources to fix the current irrigation system and extend it to serve the new plots. Parks workers finished the water line extension last week, shortly after Ruud's unexpected death. Ballester, the garden organization's...
By JAMES EIK Staff Reporter Progress on Airway Heights' 70-acre park moved forward last week, with a second meeting to hear what residents want its uses to be. The city's park board and those in attendance expanded on ideas that were proposed at the first meeting last month. Most of those ideas, according to parks and recreation director J.C. Kennedy, focused on passive, open areas that could be adapted for sports like soccer and rugby. In addition to requests for a dog park, many placed a high importance on versatility....
By JAMES EIK Staff Reporter The Airway Heights wastewater treatment plant is slowly building up to its full operating capacity. Initially projected to start accepting flows Oct. 6, the plant is now treating water at a low capacity. City Manager Albert Tripp said the plant is accepting a low level of wastewater, treating it, and then sending the treated water through its pipes to Spokane's regional plant, where the city currently sends its wastewater. “The end result of the wastewater we're treating is they're receiving w...
By JAMES EIK Staff Reporter The construction on Airway Heights' wastewater treatment plant is progressing on schedule for its final completion in mid-November later this year. Jeff Cochran, supervisor at the wastewater plant, said the building will begin to accept flows beginning Oct. 6. “We're in the process of testing, currently,” he said. “So we're testing individual components, doing freshwater tests.” Initially, the water leaving the plant will go toward Spokane. “As we start developing a process within this treatment...
New facility could put Eastern Washington University at the center of alternative energy education By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Rodger Hauge is convinced there's a revolution going on – it's just the average Joe doesn't realize it yet. The revolution is the growing use of renewable, alternative energy resources. Hauge wants to make Cheney ground zero for its promotion in the Inland Empire by creating the Eastern Washington University Center for Alternative Energy Education on 1.5 acres of land donated by the university west of R...
They built it for those who come; volunteers, Cheney employees help build field of dreams By JOHN McCALLUM Editor In the movie “Field of Dreams” a voice in a cornfield tells former-hippie and Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella that, “If you build it, he will come.” Build what and who will come Kinsella asks? He eventually figures it out, plowing under choice Iowa acreage to install a lighted baseball field. Who comes? Hey, do I have to answer all your questions? Watch the movie! In 2004 a group of West Plains folks dedicated to develop...
By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Cheney Mayor Tom Trulove has worn several different hats through the years. At last week's Cheney City Council meeting, he donned one he doesn't usually wear: he was taken aback, bowled over, at a loss for words as city staff told him he was the recipient of the Paul J. Raver Community Service Award from the Northwest Public Power Association. The award is given to an individual or a group that has worked toward the betterment of cities, states or regions, and Trulove said he feels unworthy to...
By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter The Airway Heights Kiwanis club approached the City Council March 21 with a proposal that would revitalize a long stalled drive to build a community recreation center. “Central to Kiwanis' mission is the belief that the most effective way to enhance a community is to enhance its children,” Kiwanis board member Kelly Osterberger told the council. “We feel that a recreation center would allow kids to learn, dream and succeed.” In 2005 the city tried unsuccessfully to pass a $5.5 million bond to...
Removing fire protection costs will lower water charges, but increase utility tax rates By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Airway Heights customers may see some changes on their water bill next year, including slight rate increases, but sewer rates should stay flat for some time. The city commissioned a study of utility rates to determine how adjustments might help pay for projects and maintenance if the economy stays stagnant. FCS Group consultant Ed Cebron presented recommendations to the City Council Monday, including...
By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Airway Heights' preliminary budget slices into most departments but it also provides necessary city services without increased costs, City Manager Albert Tripp told city council members Monday. The city expected an expenditures/revenues gap of approximately $225,000 next year because of the down economy, but Tripp said “creative solutions” at the departmental level reduced that discrepancy to less than $24,000. Department managers shared key aspects of their budget plans during a public hea...
Water conservation key in ML and AH, Cheney continues plugging leaks By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Water is a simple element that has caused countless headaches for West Plains cities, farmers and ecologists. While the cool summer has been a welcome respite from heavy irrigation for Cheney, Medical Lake and Airway Heights, water issues remain constant. Medical Lake and Airway Heights have experienced a loss of water level in city wells for several years, a phenomenon known as “groundwater mining” that occurs when water is...
Collapsed well being repaired while crews examine second well's reduced rate of production ##M:[Read more here]## By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Airway Heights crews expect to finish repairs on a collapsed municipal well by the end of this week before investigating why a second well hasn't been producing to its full potential. Early last week Airway Heights City Council passed an emergency resolution to bypass bidding requirements for acquiring a new pump and related drilling work at Well No. 8, which is located near 21st...
By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Medical Lake council members had the opportunity Tuesday to tell Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich their thoughts on how Spokane County deputies have performed since taking over the city's law enforcement last November. Knezovich listened to concerns over occasional missed calls and a perceived lack of police presence but said until recently he was unaware the problems even existed and that he needs specific information to deal with them. Knezovich pointed to a 6-month countywide incident report...
Part 4 of 4 – Six vie for position of Spokane County Assessor By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter The office of Spokane County Assessor is highly contested this primary election. Five individuals are challenging incumbent assessor Ralph Baker to lead the office that doles out property values to residential and commercial properties throughout the county. The top two vote getters will move on to the November General Election. The position has an annual salary of $88,350. Following are candidate biographies and answers to five q...
By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter Roos's red rug is rolling right along, and ahead of schedule too. The upgrade of Woodward Field – soon to be renamed Roos Field in honor of the $500,000 donation by the former Eastern Eagle and current Tennessee Titan – is well ahead of schedule following the conclusion of site preparation last week. The Roos donation was the catalyst for raising some $750,000 towards the project. “The project was officially two weeks ahead of time as of last Thursday,” Mike Davis, project manager said. The shi...
By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Fire completely destroyed a two-story house in the Malloy Prairie area south of Medical Lake Monday afternoon before spreading into an adjacent field and threatening a nearby wooded area. Deputy Fire Chief Bill Dennstaedt of Spokane County Fire District 3 said the blaze at 16102 S. Wood Road started around 3 p.m. and was caused when strong winds knocked a tree branch into a domestic power line, pulling the line and a service conduit from the house. The renter of the home promptly noticed a...