News

Students and graduates from Eastern Washington University's two TRIO programs, Student Support Services and McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement, will gather next week to celebrate National TRIO Day. The federal TRIO programs (TRIO) are federal outreach and student services programs designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. This coming Tuesday, April 19, Eastern will hold a TRIO Day celebration starting at 2 p.m. in the reading room on the second floor of Hargreaves Hall....

{{more)) The first half of Spokane County taxpayers' 2011 property taxes are due by April 30 at the county treasurer's office as per state law. Payments mailed to the treasurer through the U.S. Postal Service must be postmarked on or before April 30. Payments dropped off at a US Postal Service box or station should be done early enough so they are postmarked by April 30. State law dictates county treasurers recognize only the cancellation date applied by the U.S. Postal Service to determine timeliness of payments. Payments...

Prevention measures to protect life and property are in effect April 15 through Oct. 15 on 12.7 million acres of DNR-protected lands OLYMPIA – Regardless of the snow and rain, wildfire season officially begins April 15, as specified by state law. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wants to remind people that dry and unhealthy forests continue to be a fire hazard. These fires can destroy homes and threaten the safety of the public and the firefighters who protect forests and communities. Nine forest f...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter A year-end report issued by Medical Lake Fire Chief Jeff Estes last week says repairs made to gear, tools and vehicles over the past few years have taken care of most departmental needs. “Our hope all along has been to provide the department with quality tools and equipment designed for the fire service that will outlast most of us on the department,” Estes said in the report. Fire apparatus is now up to speed with state equipment requirements, EMS units are fully fitted with all nec...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Last Monday City Manager Albert Tripp gave Airway Heights City Council a status update on two proposals in the state Legislature, one of which could bring more street improvements funding to the city. House Bill 1028 authorizes Washington cities and towns to ignore prison populations within city limits when determining eligibility for certain grant opportunities or when calculating the number of city council members they must have. Tripp said the bill, which affects only Airway Heights and...

By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Stars and Stripes Shuttle is once again serving Cheney and Eastern Washington University, and the business's original owner, Bill Thompson, will be driving the van. The business has a new van dedicated to Cheney, aiming to shuttle students and residents to Spokane and to the airport for less than the cost of a taxi ride. Stars and Stripes began in 2003 as a shuttle service for survival school students stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base. Thompson was a member of the Air National Guard at the...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter At last Tuesday's Medical Lake City Council meeting Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich heard councilmembers air their personal and collective views on the new county jail. Knezovich was joined by members of his staff and jail project manager, Lt. Mike Sparber, who gave the council a presentation before opening up the floor to comments. As a whole the council said there is no doubt that replacing Geiger Corrections Center is necessary, but most had several arguments against building the...

CHENEY April 4 Police are investigating a report of an assault on the 100 block of North Seventh Street. Jonathon M. Cantu, 19, was arrested on an outside warrant on the 2000 First Street. April 5 Adam C. Nelson, 19, was arrested for driving while license suspended on the 800 block of First Street. A hit and run collision occurred on the 400 block of Fifth Street. Police secured a rifle found in the attic of a residence on the 800 block of Cedar Street. A hit and run collision occurred on the 800 block of Fifth Street....

CHENEY March 21 A city well house was damaged with graffiti on the 200 block of Erie Street. A house window was broken on the zero hundred block of West Third Street. March 23 Police assisted the Cheney Fire Department with a suspicious fire on the 800 block of Fourth Street. A vehicle was spray painted on the 700 block of Fifth Street. A 12-year-old female was arrested at the Cheney Middle School for assault. March 24 A 16-year-old female was arrested at the Cheney High School for assault. Damon J. Ashe, 28, was arrested...

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...

By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter As the last remnants of snow melt away in Cheney, city leaders are asking residents and businesses to band together for some spring cleaning. The fourth annual Cheney Clean Sweep will be held throughout the city April 23. The event, started by the Cheney Police Department to clean up streets and yards post-winter, this year aims to bring neighbors together to pick up garbage, get rid of their junk and beautify public areas in the city. Cheney's Community Development and Solid Waste departments...

Four Lakes family opens ambitious new business next week By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Over the past seven months a local couple has transformed a long-vacant Airway Heights bowling alley into their dream – a family restaurant and activity center that will offer everything from Foosball to southern cooking. Four Lakes residents Robert and Stephanie Brasefield said it's taken a lot of work to clean and remodel the 1950s-era building behind Zip's Restaurant at 1500 S. Russell St., which six years ago was home to the Trade-A-...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Two Medical Lake businesses are closing this week – the Wagon Wheel Tavern and Stone Cottage Collections – but the owners of both say they'll retain a foothold in the West Plains business community. Citing the slow economy and an exceptionally hard year, Wagon Wheel owner Amber Duell chose to shutter the iconic local watering hole this Wednesday, March 23. In the spring of 2009 she and business partner Steve Herndon resurrected the tavern at the corner of Lake and Lefevre streets, but les...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Due to a low member turnout at their March 16 meeting, the Spokane Transit Authority board of directors deferred a final decision on service changes scheduled to take effect in September. “They felt that this is an important issue and they wanted all the members present before making a decision,” STA communications manager Molly Meyers said. Meyers said four of the board's nine members were absent last Wednesday, all excused, including Medical Lake City Councilwoman Brenda Redell, Spokane Val...

CHENEY March 14 Jonathon M. Cantu, 19, was arrested at the 300 block of Betz Road on a local warrant for possession of stolen property. Cody E. Gilliams, 22, was arrested on the 700 block of West First Street for violation of a no-contact order. Prescription medications were stolen from a vehicle on the 700 block of West First Street. A fence post was stolen from the 2200 block of First Street. Damage to a vehicle was reported on the zero hundred block of North Sixth Street. A wallet was stolen from Cheney High School....

From March 4 through April 16, Eastern Washington University's Get Lit! Programs is hosting “The 2011 Big Read for the Inland Northwest,” thanks to the Spokane Public Library, Spokane County Library and Fairchild Air Force Base Library. The point of the Big Read is to draw communities together around a single book through a month of related literary events. Get Lit! Programs selected Tim O'Brien's “The Things They Carried” because it exemplified this year's festival theme of “Telling the American Story.” This award-winni...

CHENEY Feb. 21 Financial fraud—unauthorized use of a debit card—was reported on the 100 block of West First Street. Feb. 22 Tires were slashed at Cheney High School. Feb. 23 Sarina M. Walker, 21, was arrested for shoplifting at Cheney Trading Company. A one-vehicle collision with minor injuries occurred on the 500 block of First Street. A one-vehicle non-injury collision occurred on the 100 block of Paradise Road. A one-vehicle non-injury collision occurred on the 1100 block of Oakland Street. A two-vehicle non-injury col...

National League of Cities president James Mitchell, Jr. announced the appointment of Airway Heights Mayor Patrick Rushing to the NLC 2011 Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Advocacy Committee. This committee has the lead responsibility for considering NLC federal policy positions in the areas of energy, clean air, solid and hazardous waste, water quality and supply, national wetlands and endangered species. In a press release Rushing said providing clean air, solid and hazardous waste disposal and building...