Sorted by date Results 76 - 100 of 2797
In 2013, the Cheney Federal Credit Union expanded its footprint on the West Plains. And on April 3, they got working on a new shoe. Officials of CFCU, and those associated with general contractor, Baker Construction, turned the first shovels of dirt in a branch project on Westbow Road near the Petro truck stop, essentially doubling the size of the institution from a brick and mortar standpoint. "We've been actually working on this for several years," chief executive officer,...
Like most municipalities in Washington state, the city of Medical Lake has been experiencing some trouble with the fallout from the high water levels resulting from the snowpack melt and recent rain. The National Weather Service recorded 4.07 inches of rain for March 2017, the second most for the month behind 2012, which had 4.56 inches. One of the issues from the increased water is water on roadways, which is seen across Spokane County. Like other cities, some of Medical...
The Airway Heights' Highway 2 Revitalization and Safety project continues to be developed, one piece at a time. During its April 3 meeting, City Council approved a request to contract with Studio Cascade, the city's land-use consultant firm on the Highway 2 project, regarding developing a "downtown plan." As they were developing the project, Studio Cascade broke Highway 2 corridor into six sectors to represent different levels of improvements based on factors, including...
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Spokane County Fire District 3 commissioners are asking residents within its boundaries to approve a one-year levy lid proposition on the upcoming April 25 special election ballot. If approved, the proposition would restore the district's $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value tax rate that has slipped in the past several years, and allow it to continue maintaining current fire operations while planning for needed equipment replacement in the...
Cheney’s City Council received a little issue education at their March 28 meeting, courtesy of city attorney Stanley Schwartz. Schwartz counseled council members on the “appearance of fairness doctrine,” in part to prepare them to conduct a hearing on a proposed rezone change for the Parkside Commons apartment complex. The owners of the land the proposed complex would occupy, Eastmark Corporation, want to change the zoning on the land bordered by North Eighth, Erie, Cedar and Oak streets from its current R-3 multi...
Sherridan Connors tests out a race track he built out of foam tubing at the kick off for Community Center Saturdays in Medical Lake on March 25. The program, held at the middle school and in partnership between the city of Medical Lake, the school district and Re*Imagine Medical Lake, had different activities such as volleyball, basketball and board games....
Several members of Cheney's Historic Preservation Commission got the chance to check on the progress of renovation work at the Fisher Building. The building, which served the Cheney School District as its first high school and finished as the administration building before being sold to the Eastmark Corporation of Seattle last November, is being transformed into apartments for Eastern Washington University students. The renovation work is taking place under the guidelines of...
The cast of StageWest's "Miracle on South Division Street" has a little fun. Pictured left to right: Mark Sheldon as Jimmy, Jamie Javorsky as Beverly, Kathryn Schafer as Clara, and Russia Demitro as Ruth....
Streets and fishing were the two main discussion items at the March 21 Medical Lake City Council meeting. Mayor John Higgins informed council that staff could end up spending a lot of money fixing roads that were damaged by water runoff and that there could be a “couple of budget amendments by the end of the year.” City Administrator Doug Ross added the street repairs would reduce the general fund’s ending cash balance. “Let’s say that we were going to have $800,000 (in the general fund) before,” Ross said. “We would take out...
Fairchild Air Force Base added several new aircraft and personnel under its umbrella of refueling wings in the form of the 384th Air Refueling Squadron. The squadron, also known as the "Squarepatchers," was officially welcomed to Fairchild during a March 23 relocation and assumption of command ceremony. Lt. Col. Sean R. McClune, the director of operations for the 92nd Operations Support Squadron, officially took command of the 384th during the ceremony. Commissioned in 2001,...
Due to a reporter’s error, a statement made in the March 16 story on the Parkside Commons public hearing was incorrect. The statement about sidewalks around the apartment complex being a “benefit (to) pedestrian safety on those sides of the street” was incorrectly attributed to area resident Mary George. It was an unidentified resident who testified at the public hearing that made the statement....
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor After almost two-and-a-half hours of public testimony over two separate days, 19 comment letters and several staff reports, the Cheney Planning Commission deadlocked on a vote at the March 23 special meeting regarding a rezone request for a student-housing apartment complex near Eastern Washington University. The decision, which stems somewhat from a vacant seventh seat on the commission, now moves to the City Council for final deliberation without a recommendation from the commission. Before the vote...
The Medical Lake Fire Department is looking to install a vending machine at the station. However, this vending machine will not dispense snacks or soda pop, but rather equipment and medical supplies that firefighters will use on call. The Fire Department plans to bring in a Fastenal-designed vending machine to the fire station. According to its website, Fastenal is a company that makes custom-made vending machines for businesses and organizations. These machines can dispense...
By the calendar at least, the winter that never seemed to go away officially ended March 20. But don't let that fool anyone. There's still plenty more of the wet to be experienced in the months ahead leading to summer. Maybe there's even some white? The past three months of winter - well 79 days at least since the calendar turned 2017 - have been wet and no one needs to remind any area residents of that. How wet was it? "Unusually wet," retired Eastern Washington University...
The good news on Monday was that the Spokane County Public Works Department hadn't added any area roadways to its list of closures over the weekend. The bad news that with more rain in the forecast, the chances that will change and the list will grow are fair to good. As of Tuesday, five roads in the West Plains and Marshall areas remained closed because of either water over the road surface, damage to the road itself or both. In Cheney, Betz Road east of State Route 904 to An...
The city of Airway Heights has authorized the sale of a portion of the $13 million unlimited tax general obligation bonds to pay for construction of an aquatic and fitness center. At its March 20 meeting, the City Council passed the first and only reading of an ordinance that authorizes the sale, issuance, and delivery of $3.2 million bonds. When City Attorney Stanley Schwartz asked why only $3.2 million in bonds was being authorized for sale, Clerk-treasurer Amy Gravelle explained that the city sold $9.515 million of the...
Traffic and safety issues took center stage at a Cheney Planning Commission public hearing Monday night on a proposed rezone to accommodate a 115-unit apartment complex near Hagelin Park and the city pool. Over two dozen people attended the hearing, most of them residents of the area where Eastmark Corporation of Seattle is proposing to build the Parkside Commons complex. The construction would remove 16 duplexes originally installed in the mid-1970s as military housing. The two parcels between Erie and North Eighth streets...
A softball floats in a flooded swale at the Cheney High School football field as the Blackhawks track and field teams in the background get set to practice last Friday. Rains and rapid snowmelt have made things difficult for area residents - including athletes looking for practice and playing space....
The Medical Lake Fire Department and several other agencies responded to a structure fire within city limits on March 14. According to Medical Lake Fire Chief Jason Mayfield, the Fire Department responded to a report of smoke at a residence on the 400 block of North Stanley Street at approximately 12:45 a.m. When crews arrived, they found a heavy amount of smoke and fire at the residence. Fire personnel's attempts to enter the residence were hindered due to the debris and...
At its March 13 study session, the Airway Heights City Council received a few updates regarding potential street improvements for the city. One of these updates focused on safety improvements at crosswalks on Hayford Road. At the request of council, Public Works Director Kevin Anderson said he investigated the feasibility and costs for improving the crosswalks on West Ninth and 12th avenues on Hayford Road. One proposal from Anderson would be to install rectangular rapid flashing beacons at both crosswalks. He explained that...
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor A recent study by the state’s Joint Transportation Committee ranked a city of Cheney railroad crossing among the top 50 crossings in Washington needing better separation between rail and vehicle traffic to improve safety, mobility and community impacts. But if you think that crossing is Betz Road and State Route 904, where city officials are proposing moving the existing tracks, you’d be wrong. That distinction belongs to the Cheney-Spangle Road crossing downtown, ranked 22 overall. As for the cro...
Spokane County Fire District 3 firefighter Connor Rose carries one of three dogs rescued from a fire that flared up in a unit at Presnell Trailer Court March 1. Cheney Fire Department Battalion Chief Ken Johnson said the trailer sustained moderate damage from the fire that appeared to be accidental. The occupants of the trailer were not home at the time. One of the dogs was injured and taken to a veterinary clinic. A fourth dog perished in the fire....
See a photo gallery from the event here. Fairchild Air Force Base turned 75 last Wednesday - and several hundred of its closest friends stopped by to celebrate. Fairchild began operations in early 1942, the culmination of community efforts that began in 1935 to get an Army Air Corps facility located in the area. Several years later, the Army also viewed Spokane favorably in its efforts to locate a base closer to the Pacific Ocean and interior flying routes to Alaska, but...
Cheney’s City Council has set the wheels in motion to consider creating an ordinance requiring residents and businesses to clear sidewalks adjacent to their property after a snowfall. Salnave-area resident Kathy Fleming approached the council during citizen comments at its Feb. 28 meeting about the need to keep sidewalks free of ice and snow during the winter. Fleming related a recent incident she witnessed where an older woman using a walker was walking down First Street — literally in the street — near Mitchell’s Harvest...
By JOHN McCALLUM Editor City of Cheney officials were informed in a letter received March 2 that electronics manufacturer Harman will be closing its manufacturing operations at its Cheney plant located at 2416 Cheney-Spokane Road. The plant, originally founded as XN Technologies by former Eastern Washington University computer science professor the late-Alan Hale and sold to AMX/Harman in 2006, will be laying off 86 employees in phases beginning May 4. Manufacturing operations will effectively cease on June 30. Cheney...
