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By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Work is winding up at the Eastern Washington Veterans Cemetery and scores of services have taken place since its Memorial Day dedication ceremony. From June 7 to the end of last month 81 internments were completed and more than 900 individuals have now preregistered for burial, according to cemetery director Richard Cesler. “Lots of folks were holding on to cremains, waiting until we opened,” Cesler said, adding that every week the cemetery holds an average of 15 ceremonies for veterans or...
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor With the nation focusing more attention on alternative energy, one outlet for purchasing individual renewable power production is now available on the West Plains. Cascade Pacific Wind and Alternative Energy has become a dealership for Endurance wind turbines. Endurance is manufactured in Canada and is now beginning to make a presence in the U.S., Cascade Pacific president and project manager Darrin Arbogast said. An area resident since 1995 and an EWU graduate, Arbogast came into the small wind...
By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter It's widely known that the underground body of water that supplies fresh drinking water to Airway Heights, Medical Lake and Four Lakes has been in decline for years. The aquifer's subsurface geography has so far been extremely difficult to map, but research suggests basement rocks with a very low permeability, such as granite, are acting as a barrier to groundwater recharge, which is limited to between 15 and 19 inches of yearly rain and snowfall. Precipitation is though to flow between thick...
By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Medical Lake's City Council set water use efficiency goals during the Tuesday, June 15 meeting, as mandated every six years by the Washington State Department of Health. City Administrator Doug Ross reminded council that the city held a meeting last November to take public input on setting goals to meet the requirement. At least one goal must be set on the supply side and one on the demand side of the water system and each must be accompanied by a minimum of five actions for their attainment....
Intertie with Spokane moves forward as dry months approach, city officials to revisit how much water should be allowed per household By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter A wet spring has so far kept the need for irrigation low in Medical Lake, but city officials are looking for water solutions before shortages begin in the dry summer months. Medical Lake Mayor John Higgins said the city is getting closer to purchasing water from Spokane on a contingency basis via an intertie at Craig Road. The city has held about $100,000 for a...
By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Major work is wrapping up at the Washington State Veterans Cemetery just west of Medical Lake in advance of a Memorial Day dedication May 31. The cemetery broke ground last Memorial Day on 120 acres near Espanola and Ritchey roads, funded in large part by an $8.8 million federal grant. Administrative, maintenance and other buildings are now in place, with most landscaping and paving expected to be near completion by the one-year deadline. Cemetery director Richard Cesler said a few items are...
The following was produced by StatePoint Media It's one of springtime's most popular activities: preparing your yard for enjoyable summertime use. However, the rising scarcity of water across the country continues to drive up the cost of landscaping and gardening. In fact, more and more states nationwide are beginning to prohibit daily watering altogether. “Fortunately, there are an increasing number of efficient approaches to home landscaping that are surprisingly easy to get started, such as mulching and installing new n...
Project aims to enhance student learning while bridging the gap between school and community By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter It all started with a couple of teachers and a pipe dream. A garden now in the final planning stages on the campus of Medical Lake High School is the brainchild of health teacher Val Von Lehe and Dr. Laurie Morley, an instructor in the college of education and human development at Eastern Washington University. The two developed the idea of a “living laboratory” on school grounds as a way to int...
Medical Lake, West Plains water districts look to city of Spokane water connections as a way out of recurring drought problems By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter As West Plains officials prepare to meet the upcoming dry season they'll consider how the mild temperatures and scant snowfall of our recent El Niño winter might impact an already dwindling aquifer. “The lack of snow pack doesn't directly affect this area too much but in general terms it will lessen the recharge of groundwater out here,” John Livingston, mete...
Switch in winter's dry weather pattern will not be enough to fix our precipitation problems By PAUL DELANEY Staff Reporter If Eastern Washington University professor of meteorology Bob Quinn is correct it's going to be a good year to be a firefighter and a bad one for those who make their money river rafting. As the El Nino conditions that have brought us another record-setting winter – this one being a season of historically sparse snowfall – began to weaken, Quinn worked his weather Ouija board and sees a rough spring and...
Pine Lodge closure roller coaster, police contract dominate early 2009 news By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter January State officials recently announced they are likely to close Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women, the state's only all-female correction facility east of the Cascades, by February of 2010. News came after Gov. Chris Gregoire released a proposed 2009-2010 biennial budget calling for drastic cuts in spending to repair a $5.7 billion revenue shortfall. DOC...
By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Some communities know the debilitating effects of a building moratorium. Thanks to a recent upgrade to Cheney's wastewater treatment plant, that threat is far from city officials' minds. Though most people don't like to think about where the unmentionables go when they flush the toilet, plant operator Dan Ferguson understands just how important it is for a city to have ample wastewater capacity. He said the construction of the plant in 1994 spurred growth in the city. “We put our (plant) in, C...
After seven years of roadblocks, local developer's plans to blend nature, recreation and housing is finally beginning to take shape By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Steve Emtman has big plans for the piece of land he dubbed “Terra Vista.” Now, he says, some of those plans are finally becoming a reality. Emtman started planning the project in 2002 after purchasing the land east of First Street in Cheney. He said changes within the city administration, as well as varying trends in...
City's wastewater treatment plant, crosswalk, parks will advance this October By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter The Airway Heights City Council set the ball rolling last week on the second-phase of the new wastewater treatment plant and a safer pedestrian crossing on US Highway 2, both to begin construction in October. City manager Albert Tripp said the council rewarded a $26.8 million contract to AMCO General Contracting for Phase 1 B of the wastewater treatment project. Public works director Brian St. Clair said Phase 1 A of...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Members of the governance committee for the Eastern Washington State Veterans Cemetery met on April 1 for an update on the cemetery's design plans, and made a recommendation to the state director on veterans affairs which type of cemetery marker they want to use for burial plots. Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs director, John Lee, announced in March the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has asked project leaders and their hired design firm, JGM & Associates, to begin the...
By LaVERLE McCANDLESS Contributor Sunshine is welcome each and every day we have it. Slowly the mini-glaciers are melting which is great and the water is going into the ground. The amount of precipitation we have received since the big snow has been way under normal, which in turn leads all gardeners to think of ways to conserve on water. One of the first ways to conserve is to change from overhead sprinkling on all plantings to drip irrigation, lawns excluded. You would be to...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter During a Nov. 17 presentation at their regular meeting, Airway Heights City Council got an update on the status of the first phase of the city’s proposed water reclamation facility, a $44.5 million project that’s secured all funding for the first half of its initial phase of installation. Officials from Century West Engineering, the consulting firm that’s helped the city design the plant, reported that Phase 1A will go out for construction bids in spring 2009 and should begin construc...
By LaVERLE McCANDLESS Contributor Have you ever wondered where gardeners get their information? One of the most reliable ways is to get information from other gardeners in the same area about plants that really do grow in your area. Other ways are: Internet, catalogs, gardening books, garden club meetings, and television gardening programs. What do gardeners do when the gardens are put to bed? Oh, oh, I think I heard someone say, no more garden work for a while. You bet but...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Construction ended recently on the city of Spokane's 36-inch water transmission main along Craig Road and SR-902, and officials are proposing to provide the city of Medical Lake with service providing a number of conditions are met via an interlocal agreement. In a letter to Mayor John Higgins dated Oct. 14, Spokane Mayor Mary Vernor said pending an operational study of the city's water system, Spokane is prepared to accommodate the city's request for a wholesale seasonal supply of water if the...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Airway Heights City Council is taking steps to avoid water loss through lawn irrigation by adopting new restrictions prohibiting watering between the hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through the months of June through September. A resolution was passed on Sept. 15 to implement these new measures, which shall apply to any property receiving the city's water, public works director Bryan St. Claire explained. This includes residential, commercial and industrial properties, with exemptions for new...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter The city of Airway Heights received a $2.9 million water quality grant from Washington State Department of Ecology for its new wastewater treatment and reclamation project, which is currently awaiting construction. City officials were notified on Aug. 1 they were the recipients of this grant, which is the first allocation of a $5 million hardship grant that will go toward construction of the facility, to be located on a 75,000-acre plot south bounded by McFarlane Road on the south and 21st...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter What started out as a routine maintenance project on a well, has resulted in burnt, tired looking landscaping at Eastern Washington University. EWU associate vice president of facilities and planning Shawn King said he thought it was simply a matter of fixing a well pump with a short turn around, but he quickly found out he was wrong. King said the problem surfaced when the maintenance department noticed a problem in pumping rates on well No. 1, which is next to Showalter Hall. “Our nor...
By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter The staff and elected officiasl from city of Cheney addressed the public in a town hall meeting last Thursday, May 29. During the meeting, department heads from the city updated the public on what has been accomplished since the last meeting and what their plans are. Cheney Mayor Allan Gainer said economic development remains one of his primary goals for the city. He said the Cheney Merchant’s Association will be voting on their bylaws and one of the organization’s first projects is to get...
By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter A resolution implementing water use efficiency standards for the city of Airway Heights was approved by the City Council on May 19. The resolution is designed to reduce distribution system loses and consumption over the next two to six years. The resolution supports legislation under the state’s Water Use Efficiency (WUE) program, made effective in January 2007 by the state Department of Health, which promotes water conservation and establishes goals and measures addressing supply and dema...
By LaVERLE McCANDLESS Contributor What is happening in the world of gardening? A lot of new plant varieties and many of them are drought tolerant. Isn't this great news? Conserving water is on everyone's mind now and drought resistant plants are coming to the forefront. Drip irrigating is overtaking the sprinkler type watering. The greatest advantage of drip watering is you are not “watering the air” and loosing moisture due to evaporation, all the drips of the water go directly into the soil. However, no matter how hard you...
