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##M:[Read more here]## By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Last week the Airway Heights City Council and the Board of Spokane County Commissioners each approved an agreement to trade county land for city utilities infrastructure and treated wastewater. A memorandum of understanding more than two years in the making gives the city about 70 acres adjacent to Spokane County Raceway along with first right of refusal to an additional 26.81 acres nearby. The county will assist the city in completing master planning for a sports comple...

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...

CHENEY Aug. 9 Malicious mischief was reported in the 200 block of Presley Drive. Grafitti was found on a door. Rape was reported in the 1000 block of First Street. The case was closed with no arrests. Theft of a book of checks was reported in the 1200 block of First Street. An 11-year-old male was arrested for assault in the 2200 block of First Street. A vehicle window was broken in the 600 block of Third Street. Malicious mischief was reported in the 200 block of Nolan Brown Place; tires on two vehicles were slashed. A...

Two Spokane cemeteries have lost as much as $25,000 worth of brass flower pots and urns to a thief in the past few weeks. During the weekend of July 24 a suspect or suspects stole 50 14-by-18-inch bronze flowerpots from Spokane Memorial Gardens at 5909 South Cheney-Spokane Road. The theft occurred between 5 p.m. the 24th and 8 a.m. July 27. A cemetery employee placed the loss at $9,000. Then, between 4 p.m. Aug. 6 and 8 a.m. Aug. 9 someone stole 270 6-inch bronze vases from the niches and crypts areas of Greenwood Memorial...

This year has seen higher numbers of lightning strikes than usual but fewer wildfires, DNR says The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) last week released a snapshot of the number of wildfires and acres burned on state and private lands that the department protects. With the aid of favorable weather conditions, a strategy of fast initial attack on fires by DNR and its partners has kept wildfire damage lower than average despite a higher-than-usual number of lightning strikes this year. The number of lightni...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter The West Plains Chamber of Commerce closed on a sale of the organization's former headquarters at 201 First St. in Cheney for about $50,000 in July. The Cheney building, on the market for months, was vacated in 2009 when the chamber offices were moved to the Bank of Whitman Building near Airway Heights. Benji Estrellado with Cheney Realty said he didn't have details on who bought the property or what they intend to do with the building, other than that the buyer is from Spokane. “We're p...

In their Monday, Aug. 16 meeting the Airway Heights City Council unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding with Spokane County that allows the exchange of utilities at the county's Raceway Park for a 70-acre portion of adjacent county land. Each party's estimated value of total contributions to the exchange equals $1,044,231. The city will now weigh when and how the property can be developed into ball fields and other recreational areas, while also considering how to place a recharge reservoir at the site for the...

Motorcycle ride to head out for Ellensburg from Northern Quest Aug. 28 By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Thousands of motorcycles are expected to converge on Ellensburg, Wash. on the afternoon of Aug. 28 from several starting points across the state, including one at Northern Quest Casino in Airway Heights. The first annual Northwest Ride of Dreams is the latest statewide effort organized by local law enforcement agencies to raise funds and awareness for local Special Olympics of Washington programs. Jennifer Suniga,...

As of Sept. 1 Spokane County Detention Services will enact new rules restricting incoming and outgoing mail to 5.5”x 8.5” postcards. Legal correspondence will still be accepted in envelopes, and inmates can still receive approved magazines, books and newspapers. All incoming and outgoing inmate mail has been inspected for security reasons in the past, and inmate privacy has been protected within the limitations of maintaining a secure facility. Those protections are not expected to change with the shift to postcards. The pri...

A thief apparently dug his way into the Inland Power storage yard at 10110 W. Hallett over last weekend and took tires and equipment worth about $5,500, a company spokesman reported. The employee told Spokane County Sheriff's deputy Ray Miller on Monday that it looked like the suspect dug his way beneath the chain link entry gate and then cut a fence in the back to remove a six foot fiberglass ladder, two aluminum truck tool boxes and 10 truck tires. Thieves have hit the yard several times over the years. Anyone with...

CHENEY Aug. 2 Theft was reported in the 2300 block of First Street. Officers assisted Child Protective Services in the 300 block of Erie Street. A two-car, non-injury accident occurred in the 700 block of First Street. An abandoned auto, reported July 25, was towed from the 300 block of Simpson Parkway. Aug. 3 A missing person was reported from the 1200 block of First Street. Justin C. Parris, 30, was arrested in the 600 block of Second Street on a local warrant for failure to appear on a driving under the influence charge....

By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter The Basement will soon be designated as a nightclub. While the word “nightclub” may inspire thoughts of drugs, scantily clad dancers and general debauchery, the bar's management and the Cheney Police Department have ensured that little with change at the 315 First Street bar. The Basement owner Jason Clerget said he lobbied the state Liquor Control Board for a nightclub license because the traditional “tavern” designation didn't work for his business. The Basement is known for late night,...

Workshops reveal perspectives of city leaders, set sights on current issues and outline future objectives By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter City of Airway Heights council members and management staff convened for two “strategic goal setting exercises,” July 9 and July 26, to address mutual concerns and objectives. Facilitating both workshops was Tom Agnew of Agnew Consulting, hired last year to oversee public relations and marketing for the city. Agnew specializes in teaching quality management techniques to business, gov...

Pair organize first Candlelighters Walk for Childhood Cancer Awareness around Medical Lake, Aug. 28 By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Shelly Schneider doesn't need a special month to remind her of the moment everything changed for her family, that day in 2006 when her then 9-year-old son Clayton was first diagnosed with lymphoma. But she and other volunteers are using the run up to Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September to spread the word about a fact that others may not know: cancer kills more children in the U.S. than...

By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Matt Irvin has an extensive resume in the restaurant industry. He's worked as a chef at several restaurants in the Inland Northwest, and even started a few of his own. But Irvin's resume isn't likely to grow. He said the restaurant he started in Cheney one year ago is the end of the line. “This is the last one I'm ever going to start,” he said. Immix, located at 122 College Ave., offers quick, simple lunches and upscale dinners in the evening. A Cheney native, Irvin said he wanted to offer a wid...

CHENEY July 25 Police arrested Shelby M. Wuesthoff, 18; Alix N. Reilly, 18, and three female juveniles on the zero hundred block of Third Street for third-degree malicious mischief. July 26 Police arrested Holly K. Keech, 44, on the 1300 block of Third Street for third-degree theft of dietary supplements. Police arrested Mathew F. Hobbs, 38, and Ian W. Campbell, 40, on the 100 block of West Third Street for third-degree theft/shoplifting. July 27 Police responded to a two-car, non-injury collision on the 100 block of West Fir...

Eastern Washington University interim provost Rex Fuller has named Richard Wilson, Ph.D, as dean of EWU Libraries. His appointment is effective on Sept.1. Wilson comes to Eastern from Boise, Idaho, where he has served as associate state librarian since 2000. In this capacity, he has worked with strategic planning and program evaluation, personnel functions and fiscal operations, information technology and the Idaho Digital Repository, projects and services for special populations as well as early childhood literacy initiative...

Local mother and daughter team open Farm to Market on busy stretch of Highway 2 By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Adrienne Benner and Colleen Kirk are hoping to turn the heads of Highway 2 drivers with Farm to Market, their newly opened antiques and collectibles shop just east of Fairchild Air Force Base. About three months ago the mother-daughter duo enlisted the help of their husbands to begin renovating a quirky one-room building at 14915 W. Highway 2. The small 100-year-old structure is easy to miss but hard to pass by...

Council also postpones decision on county land swap to look at funding, uses for property By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter In their Aug. 2 meeting Airway Heights City Council members unanimously opposed financing two Spokane County Raceway events with $19,000 from a city lodging tax fund designed to promote tourism. In May, Raceway operators requested $30,000 to support two summer drag racing series events. The Lodging Tax Advisory Committee, which oversees the fund, instead recommended council grant $9,500 to each event, but...

Cheney issues refunds to cell phone/texting while driving violators; Airway Heights and Medical Lake counsels still reviewing issue By JOHN McCALLUM Editor A failure to update a statewide traffic rulebook has led to one West Plains city reimbursing cell phone law violators while two others are trying to figure out what to do. The Department of Licensing began contacting local governments on July 23 to provide details on refunding drivers who paid fines for any of three infractions they may have incurred between 2007 and July...