News

CHENEY Sept. 18 Third-degree malicious mischief was reported on the 2300 block of University Lane when weather stripping on a vehicle was damaged in an apparent break-in attempt. Domestic violence was reported on the 600 block of Second Street. Dispute was verbal only. Jarred M. Young, 22, was arrested on a warrant from Washington State Patrol stemming from a driving under the influence (DUI) arrest. Sept. 17 A civil problem was reported on the 600 block of West Third Street when a dispute developed over a private party...

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 signs in front read “Summer 2008,” but due to a slight delay in spacing arrangements, Rockwood Clinic Medical Lake Family Practice won't be opening its new building until December 2008. Rockwood practice manager, Colleen Kirk confirmed on Sept. 17 that in an effort to secure additional space for a new facility, located in the lower level of the Mosby Property-owned professional building at 725 N. Stanley Street, the original summer deadline clinic officials had planned for got pushed bac...

By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Following the direction of comments taken from Betz Park meetings, playgrounds at some Cheney parks will have a new look as some of the existing equipment has become outdated and no longer meet safety standards. Pending City Council approval of the $145,000 project, Cheney Parks and Recreation director Paul Simmons said the decision to install the new equipment comes from two sources. Some of the feedback from public meetings indicated members of the public would not support the new 50-acre park...

By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter David Beseler couldn't find a church that is proactive and had an outreach emphasis to it, so he is establishing one that does. He and his family have been to a number of churches, but didn't feel there was an exciting church that was impacting the community. So he founded Crossroads, a Christian, non-denominational church that is currently set up in Windsor Elementary. For the last 18 years, Beseler has been a prison chaplin for Washington State Department of Corrections and is also a...

By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter When Lake City Assembly of God's popular daycare center, Wee Lambs, reopened its doors Sept. 3 following a 10-week renovation, returning families who hadn't been inside since last spring couldn't help but do a double take. Onlookers told director, Gerri Johnson, the appearance of the 26-year-old center appeared and felt “more school-like” than before with its spacious hallways decorated with large-scale murals, new tiled floors and added classrooms. The office no longer doubled as a central sup...

By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Cheney has another bakery, and although the Italian desserts offered are of a select variety, they go beyond spumoni and tiramisu. Jewel Baccarella started Pizzelles Plus in the basement kitchen of her home last month. The kitchen has been retrofitted by Bob Cattadoris to commercial standards to include three sinks, a hand washing station, bacterial resistant flooring and shatterproof lights. Baccarella started learning to cook Italian when she married her husband Pete, 30 years ago. Jewel said...

By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter The scarcity of availability of off-campus apartments in Cheney will likely ease with The Grove opening this fall, but with enrollment at Eastern Washington University increasing steadily that may not be enough. More apartments may become available soon if another apartment development is approved by the city of Cheney. Spokane-based construction company, Lanzce Douglass, has submitted a set of plans for a 51-acre, multi–phase apartment complex called Eagle Point that would be built at the e...

CHENEY Sept. 12 Raymond C. Schmitt, 47, was arrested on the 500 block of West First Street for second-degree driving while license suspended (DWLS). Sept. 11 Second-degree theft was reported on the 2700 block of Bethany Street when a wallet and purse were taken from a vehicle. Michael V. Murphy, 68, was arrested at Cheney Municipal Court on a warrant for failure to comply with a court order. Third-degree malicious mischief was reported on the 2300 block of First Street when a padlock was damaged. Sept. 10 A blue bicycle was...

By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Memories—can you put a price on them? Photographer Lana Burnette believes they're priceless and shouldn't cost a fortune. That's the slogan behind her home-based photography business, Priceless Photography By Lana, which she opened last spring in the basement of her Medical Lake home. On her business's online home page, www.priclessphotographybylana.com, Burnette says she has 20 years experience doing photography work throughout the Spokane area. A Medical Lake High School graduate, Burnette s...

By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Residents will soon notice a slight change in Cheney, high above the roof tops. The city of Cheney has a new city flag, which can be seen in the council chambers and will soon be visible atop flag poles at the Police Department, the Public Works building and at City Hall. Planning commissioner Graeme Webster and Cheney Police Cmdr. Rick Campbell designed the gold-fringe bordered flag, which features the city logo in a white field, with dark blue fields to the left and right of the white. City...

By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter West Plains yogis who've missed having a place to practice their yoga for the past year can dust off those mats at last. Medical Lake Parks and Recreation is taking sign-ups for a new twice-a-week, 12-week series of yoga classes starting Sunday, Sept. 14, to be taught by certified instructor, Christine Braaten. It's been about a year since the department's Hatha yoga program, which started in 2005, ended. Class regulars made inquiries about when it might return, and news of its reintroduction pr...

By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter The city of Cheney is preparing a request for proposals to obtain a consultant to help with rewriting the comprehensive plan, which has been on hold since May due to the Community Development Department's a heavy summer work load. Community development director Brian Jennings said the rewrite has been put on hold to evaluate how the department will accomplish the project. Completing the rewrite became more out of reach since the onset of the busy construction season. “Realistically, we don't hav...

By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Airway Heights added on to its expanding residential community with the first phase of a new subdivision, Traditions, getting approved by the City Council last Monday. Traditions will be a single-family subdivision located north of 6th Avenue, west of the Sunset Crossing subdivision. The approved phase will add 40 new homes in what will be a four-phase project of 190 total homes. One acre of land is set aside for a neighborhood mini-park, which the project's development company, Viking...

CHENEY Sept. 4 Identity theft was reported on the 500 block of Patterson Street. Identity theft was reported on the 500 block of North Sixth Street. Sept. 3 Mikeal R. Gray, 22, was arrested for unlawful discharge of a laser. Anthony C. Bell, 43, was arrested at Mitchell's Harvest Foods for third-degree theft/shoplifting when he was caught stealing beer. Bell was also arrested on a warrant from Lincoln County. Edward W. Bonine, 18, was taken into custody at Cheney Municipal Court on a court commitment for two local warrants....

By JOHN McCALLUM Editor If Eastern Washington University officials seem excited about this year's incoming freshmen class it's for a very good reason. Actually, make that several reasons. EWU Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services Larry Briggs told the university's board of trustees that Sept. 8 numbers showed the university's new freshmen class 146 students above last fall's 10th day freshmen numbers. Eastern officials said Monday, Sept. 15, that 1,495 new freshmen were registered and had confirmed attendance,...

CHENEY Aug. 29 Second-degree malicious mischief was reported on the 700 block of West First Street when damage to a vacant apartment was discovered. Aug. 28 A vicious animal was reported on the 3000 block of Meadow Glen when a dog bit a child. The incident was referred to the animal control officer. Third degree theft was reported at Cheney Trading Company when a blue bicycle was stolen. Kim A. Scharnhorst, 22, was taken into custody at Cheney Municipal Court on a court commitment from a probation violation stemming from a mi...

By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Medical Lake Police Sgt. Joseph Mehrens was placed on administrative leave on Aug. 21 after city officials were informed of a temporary restraining order issued against Mehrens by an unidentified employee. The employee filed a criminal complaint against the sergeant through Spokane County Sheriff's Office, alleging sexual misconduct. The city issued a press release last Friday confirming local authorities are investigating allegations against Mehrens at this time. The county announced also on Fr...

By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter The city of Medical Lake will save some of the costs of advertising when it comes time to bid public works projects with values of $200,000 or less with the mayor and City Council's approval of a shared small works roster agency contract with non profit group, Municipal Research Services Center (MRSC), on Aug. 19. The new contract allows the city to bid up to five capital projects annually for a $100 fee to use MRSC's shared small works roster system, which will manage the necessary advertising...

By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Earlier this summer, Dan Stadtmueller instructed his youngest daughter, Elizabeth, 17, to establish an account for his business, the Cheney Thrift Store. Beleaguered, she complied. The next day, he surprised his daughter, who is going to be a senior at Cheney High School, with the business license to the store, making her the proprietor. Elizabeth said she was a bit taken by the change. “Owning the store is not what I had in mind,” she said. “I didn't want the store.” Her father, who has own...

By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter When Ray Brouillard decided to step out and open his own Cabinet business, he wanted a product that was lower cost and still had the quality of the higher end companies; an overwhelming task in a business reluctant to budge on price. After two years, Willow Bay Cabinets is still going strong. After working construction for 25 years Brouillard decided that he needed to consider doing something else. He had been doing strenuous work like framing buildings and setting roof trusses; work that takes...

CHENEY Aug. 22 Third-degree theft was reported on the 300 block of Fourth Street when gasoline was stolen. Aug. 21 Suspicious circumstances were reported on the 700 block of Cedar Street for what is a possible theft. Aug. 20 A teal bicycle was found on the 100 block of West Second Street. Second-degree theft was reported on the 300 block of West First Street when a purple bicycle was stolen. The bicycle was later recovered. Residential burglary was reported on the 800 block of West First Street. A television, VCR, a...

By DAVID TELLER Staff Reporter Traffic on SR-904 was down to one lane for 20 to 30 minutes on Aug. 21 as units from fire District No. 3, the Washington State Patrol, Spokane County Sheriff's Office and the Cheney Police Department responded to what was originally reported as a one-vehicle rollover, with the victim not breathing. A Reardan, Wash., man was transported to Sacred Heart Medical Center with minor injuries when he lost control of his truck, briefly sending it airborne twice before it came to rest of the shoulder of...

By CARA LORELLO Staff Reporter Citizens of Airway Heights may soon get curbside recycling service from Sunshine Disposal if the City Council agrees to amend its current contract Sept. 2. On Monday preceding a public hearing on the issue, the Council heard information from Sunshine sales representative Dustin Bender and Dan Evans on what the company is proposing they change with their current three-year contract to include curbside residential recycling services. The city renewed its contract with Sunshine in July. Curbside...

By JOHN McCALLUM Editor Spokane County Fire District 3 was awarded a $5,000 grant on Aug. 18 from natural gas pipeline company Trans Canada as part of their Community Investment Program. Fire District 3 Fire Chief Bruce Holloway said the grant would be used to help fund the building of a rehab vehicle for the district. The vehicle will provide firefighters a safe and comfortable place to rest, eat, and clean up a bit while working for extended periods on fire lines. Holloway said the district has the vehicle right now, and...