News

Agreement gives city more active role in group that is examining water resource management on West Plains; city well repairs continue By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Airway Heights' City Council signed an agreement last week that will expand the city's inclusion in discussions of the Lower Spokane Watershed, which covers 883 square miles of Eastern Washington, including parts of the West Plains. City Manager Albert Tripp said the agreement gives the city an active roll in the development of a detailed implementation plan...

By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter If you're craving a midnight treadmill session tonight, you'd better own a treadmill. But come Oct. 1, a new fitness center in Cheney will allow the fitness-minded to work out at any time of the day or night. A Snap Fitness will open in the Cheney Plaza between 4-Ever Books and Subway next month. Franchise owner Jeff Spencer, along with partners Steve Watterson and Joel Crosby, wants to offer a convenient option for citizens who want a quick workout. Spencer became a Snap franchisee in 2007 afte...

By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter Three Cheney men were arrested in Marysville Saturday, Sept. 11 after they hijacked an SUV, holding the 39-year-old driver and his 16-year-old son at gunpoint. Chet M. Davis, Robin L. Davis and Jeffrey S. Saunders were booked into Snohomish County Jail for kidnapping and robbery. They claimed to be repossessing the SUV and another vehicle. According to a press release from the Marysville Police Department, witnesses called police around 9:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, saying they saw a man in a...

By JOHN McCALLUM Editor The official term for a radio station transmitter blowing up is “kaput.” At least that was what Eastern Washington University Department of Theatre & Film chair Marvin Smith e-mailed to the media in announcing that technical troubles had knocked the university's award-winning FM station off the air late Monday afternoon. Smith, who is also general manager of KEWU-FM, said the transmitter installed when the station boosted its signal from 100 watts to 10,000 watts in late 1986 had been “blowing up tu...

Get ready for an out-of-this-world experience at “Oktoberfest Galaxy Quest,” Eastern Washington University Libraries' annual fundraiser dinner and auction Saturday, Oct. 16, from 5-10:30 p.m. at the JFK library on Eastern's Cheney campus. Enjoy a buffet dinner with chicken, meatballs, salad and vegetarian hummus bars provided by Victor's, with a constellation of cupcakes by Marsells Cakes & Desserts. Get in line behind Han Solo and Chewbacca for wine and beer tasting courtesy of Latah Creek Winery, Walla Walla Vintners, Nor...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter A weekly lunch for Medical Lake seniors will kick off the season at a new location today, Sept. 16, and is scheduled to run through the last week of May, 2011. The Senior Nutrition Program, which has been held at City Hall for about 15 years, will now take place at St. Anne Parish Hall, 708 E. Lake St., beginning at 11 a.m. each Thursday. Bill Trout and his wife Pat are the head chefs and supervisors of the volunteer-run meal program, which is geared toward Medical Lake area residents age 55...

CHENEY Sept. 7 A blue bicycle was found on the 400 block of Fourth Street. A subject breaking windows in vehicles was reported on the 2300 block of First Street. Shane G. Tolliver, 21, was arrested for malicious mischief. Theft of a purse from a vehicle was reported on the 100 block of Second Street. Theft was reported on the 100 block of West First Street. Store employees stopped a suspected shoplifter before they left the store. Sept. 8 James H. Wilson, 21, was arrested on a Washington Department of Corrections felony...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Portions of Interstate-90 west of the Salnave Road exit were shut down on Monday for nearly 13 hours due to a semi-truck accident. A Washington State Patrol spokesperson said at about 5:45 a.m. troopers responded to where the truck had rolled onto its side and found the driver trapped inside the cab. Fire crews were able to cut the driver out of the wreckage and he was brought to Sacred Heart Medical Center and treated for minor injuries before being released Monday afternoon. The truck was...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Yoga classes will once again be offered at Medical Lake City Hall this fall through the city's Parks and Recreation Department, Thursdays and Sundays beginning Sept. 30. Certified yoga instructor Christine Braaten will teach the Hatha style of yoga for beginners and advanced students of all ages. She taught a class for the city in 2008, but last year was busy starting up East West Fitness World, a studio she opened with a partner in downtown Spokane. Braaten said yoga has been a big part of...

CHENEY Aug. 30 Theft of a car stereo was reported on the 500 block of Presley Drive. Taking a motor vehicle without owner's permission was reported on the 200 block of North Fifth Street. The vehicle was recovered in Spokane. Domestic violence was reported on the 1600 block of Third Street—verbal only. Aug. 31 Identity theft was reported on the 500 block of Scenic Heights. An iPhone and two iPods were reported found at Cheney High School. Sept. 1 Theft of a blue bicycle was reported on the 300 block of North Fifth Street. R...

By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Spokane Election officials certified the results of the Aug. 17 primary last Wednesday, Sept. 1, at noon, clearing the way for campaigning for the November general election to begin in earnest among the top two vote getting candidates in most offices. In the race for Spokane County Commissioner District 3, incumbent Bonnie Mager easily advanced to the Nov. 2 general election. The Cheney-area Democrat received 46.26 percent, 13,854 votes, and will face city of Spokane resident, Republican Al French. Fre...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter An investigation is ongoing this week into the cause of two fires at the same residence north of Medical Lake, both of which investigators have deemed suspicious. Spokane County Fire District 10 Chief Nick Scharff said that last Friday afternoon crews arrived at the residence, located on the 23000 block of West Thorpe Road, to see the attic and front of the house ablaze. They were able to contain the fire and crews determined the structure would be able to be rebuilt. At that time the 3,600 sq...

By BECKY THOMAS Staff Reporter The Stewart family has had a rough 2010, but by the end of it, they hope to have a brand new roof over their heads. Mark and Meg Stewart, both West Plains natives, had lived with their two young sons in a single-wide trailer on property they purchased in the Marshall area in 2005. The couple had always planned to build a house on the property, and the summer of 2010 was planned as the season of construction. But when Mark suffered a debilitating stroke days before the new year, Meg said she...

Cheney City Administrator Arlene Fisher has received the prestigious “Professional Finance Officer” award for 2010 from the Washington Finance Officers Association. It's the seventh consecutive year Fisher has received the annual award that recognizes achievements of professional service and ongoing continuing education and training of each individual....

CHENEY Aug. 23 Residential burglary was reported on the zero hundred block of Second Street. A laptop, guitar and iPod were taken. Meshion M. Woodruff, 18, was arrested for minor in possession of alcohol and shoplifting on the 1100 block of First Street. Aug. 24 Residential burglary was reported on the zero hundred block of Third Street. Nothing was taken. Aug. 25 Joshua M. Nelson, 24, was arrested for assault on the 600 block of C Street. Officers assisted the Spokane County Sheriff's Office with a stolen vehicle report. A b...

There were 11 pedestrian fatalities in Spokane County in 2009. There were 63 pedestrian fatalities in Washington state in 2008. More than 600 pedestrians have been killed on Washington state streets and roadways in the past eight years, according to data released by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission. The most common cause for vehicle/pedestrian collisions, according to the study, were people in the roadway where and when they didn't belong there. More than 500 of the deaths occurred when the pedestrian was not safely...

By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter A group of Medical Lake organizations and residents are planning what they hope will become an annual community service day with a cleanup of St. Anne's Cemetery on Sept. 11 at 10 a.m. Bishop Scott Zinn with Medical Lake's Church of Latter-Day Saints is one of the primary organizers of the service day, which will focus on a different project each year. He said the cemetery, which is northwest of downtown on South Brooks Road, was identified as needing some serious attention. “We wanted to c...

New $29.5 million facility will consolidate 13 Army Guard and Army Reserve units By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter Thursday, Aug. 27 marked the opening of the Armed Forces Reserve Center and Organizational Maintenance Shop at Fairchild Air Force Base, a building that will absorb 13 local Army National Guard and Army Reserve units. The $29.5 million, 30-acre project broke ground three years ago, brought about by the 2006 Base Realignment and Closure mandates that called for the consolidation of units previously assigned to...

The $5 million project is part of overall plans to develop 252 acres of tribes' nearby land By RYAN LANCASTER Staff Reporter The Kalispel Tribe expanded their Airway Heights holdings on Monday, Aug. 30 with the opening of an ultra-modern gas station/convenience store just south of their Northern Quest complex on Hayford Road. The $5 million project, which broke ground in March, is the first such venture for the tribe and part of a larger plan to begin developing 252 acres of Kalispel land nearby, according to Brandon Haugen,...

##M:[Read more here]## CHENEY Aug. 17 Identity theft was reported in the 1500 block of Fourth Street. A two-car non-injury collision occurred in the 1100 block of First Street. A purse was found in the 300 block of North Seventh Street. A 16-year-old male was arrested for domestic violence-related assault in the 800 block of West First Street. Malicious mischief was reported in the 1000 block of Salnave. A light was broken. Malicious mischief was reported in the 600 block of Fourth Street. Restroom buildings were spray...