Sorted by date Results 1329 - 1353 of 3198
Our state representatives Jeff Holy and Mike Volz of the 6th District, both Republicans, held a town hall meeting in Spokane on March 11. The majority of the questions were posed by articulate and enthusiastic teachers in the area, many from Cheney and Medical Lake. Our representatives assured the attendees that the authority of the federal Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, would not impact education in Washington State. Volz said in response to a question about vouchers undermining public education, “What they do at t...
President Donald Trump likes to be known for his deal-making, and now he has the opportunity to make deals that can impact world peace and security, not just real estate or other business deals for his profit. North Korea would be a great place to start. Former President Barack Obama described North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs as the most pressing international security problem when he briefed Trump just before leaving office. Obama, who scored impressive diplomatic successes with the Iran nuclear a...
In 2003, Gov. Gary Locke (D) faced a 10 percent revenue hole in the state’s budget. He also stared at a sluggish economy still reeling from the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. People were reluctant to fly and airlines stopped buying Boeing jets. Locke faced either recommending substantial tax increases or finding a new way to allocate state tax revenues. He turned to Minnesota’s former commissioner of finance, Peter Hutchinson, who helped his governor balance the budget by...
Sometimes things come to your attention that you feel the need to comment on, but don’t want to say too much. To provide a means of expressing these sentiments, whether it’s a good job to somebody or a “Come on man” as the popular ESPN segment goes, the Cheney Free Press has started a “Cheers and Jeers” space on our Opinion pages. It’s pretty simple to use, and we encourage you to do so. It can be something or someone who you feel should get a little community recognition for doing something positive. It can be the same thing...
As lawmakers in Olympia inch toward adjournment, they must keep in mind the total added costs of new taxes on our state’s economy. It is not just about the taxes and fees they impose. They are working against an April 23 deadline to enact a two-year financial plan and find sufficient funding for it. Unlike Congress, states must balance their budgets. While the funding decisions are generally contentious, this year legislative tension is high because Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and l...
By the time this column hits newsstands or your mailbox, I will have celebrated my 32nd birthday. Turning 32 years old isn’t as grand as hitting the 16-, 18-, 21-, or 30-year-old milestones, but I like to think of every birthday as a special occasion to celebrate with friends over some good food and adult beverages. It’s also a time where I like to reflect on the changes — good and bad — that have come my way over the years and look back at how my perception has changed on certain issues. As the late, great Muhammad Ali sai...
Two bills pertaining to alcohol consumption while driving are weaving their way down the highway in the Washington State Legislature. Senate Bill 5037 would drop from five to four the number of driving under the influence infractions to finally be charged with a felony. And House Bill 1874 lowers the legal blood alcohol limit from the current .08 to .05. At last check SB 5037 had moved to the House for consideration and HB 1874 never made it out of committee and its future for this session is uncertain. The Cheney Free Press...
I appreciate that the paper published an article about the change in the snow plowing ordinance, evidently in quick order. I appreciate the fact that this winter was not normal, seeing we’ve had more snow than usual and the coldest temperatures in nearly 40 years. I also appreciate that the (Cheney) City Council and Police Department want the streets as clear as possible for the safety of vehicles on the road. However, I seriously wonder if the new ordinance won’t lead directly to greater non-compliance of the ordinance. Thi...
I found the recent article describing changes that the Cheney police department has proposed in order to enhance future snow removal (“Cheney changes plowing ordinance,” 2/16) to be interesting as it suggests that safe pedestrian travel is a priority. My experience as a pedestrian during the winter in Cheney has been quite the opposite. If there is an ordinance that compels homeowners to clear their sidewalks, it is not enforced. Many sidewalks have just thawed, having been snow covered since early December, and some of tho...
There’s a concise, straight forward answer to Mr. Delaney’s 2/23/17 op-ed question, “Is freedom of the press really the issue here?” The answer is yes! Mr. Delaney obfuscates the issue with tired conservative arguments and laments, but when the President of the United States says that the nation’s news media is the “enemy of the American people,” then you’re darned right freedom of the press, and the First Amendment broadly is the issue. I agree with what Will McRaven, a retired Navy admiral and University of Texas system ch...
We are an angry society. Not all of us, but a lot of us sure seem to be upset at something or someone or both at some point in time for some reason or reasons. I don’t understand why we have so much vehemence towards people, places and things that likely haven’t really done anything to harm us, but we do. This isn’t a recent phenomena. It’s been building for years, it’s just that now this anger seems to have permeated much of our culture. A florist in Pasco gets angry about being asked to sell flowers to a gay couple fo...
Remember the old saying: Hindsight is 20-20? If only Washington voters had followed Gov. Albert Rosellini’s tolling plan to build, maintain and replace our state’s major bridges, we would have replacement funds today. Now, lawmakers in Olympia are scrambling to find the billions needed for the new I-5 bridge connecting Vancouver and Portland. Predictably, tolling needs to be included in the funding scheme, but it is still a political hot button. Rosellini, the Seattle Dem...
Last week Rose Kline reminded me of her earlier rants against President Trump going back at least to August 2016. Norm Luther also reminded me of his past efforts. I do not know either of these two, but do know that Norm is a longtime Democrat operative who routinely mails multiple copies of his efforts to local Eastern Washington newspapers. In Rose’s letter, I noted 17 slurs, opinions and charges made against the president. Of those, at least three are demonstratively incorrect (Muslim ban, Israel, Australia) and at l...
As thanks is given to voters for the successful passage of the Cheney School District $52 million bond for schools (Feb. 14), I hope gratitude will extend to Bill and Sue Johns who passionately expressed — at their own expense — cost saving ideas regarding this bond and its predecessor in 2015. The Johns were not the only voices offering different opinions but they were faithful to highlight cost considerations. Cheney taxpayers are now responsible for $131 million ($79 million in 2010, $52 million in 2017) in school bon...
Do you value your public lands? Our public lands are a part of our American identity. They provide vital sustenance for fish and wildlife and for people. Do you remember your first visit to Mount Rainier? How awesome was that? How about to Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge? I remember both. My first trip to Turnbull was in the fall when flocks of tundra swan were flying over, whooping and circling to come in for a landing on the Pine Lakes. The image is in my head as if it were yesterday, though 43 years have passed. You...
A “friend’s” Facebook post recently made a plea to “Hug a journalist today! There’s a reason Freedom of the Press is the FIRST Amendment to our Constitution. Stand up for that freedom and don’t let anyone try to take it away from us!” It was accompanied by a graphic to “Stand for press freedom,” an obvious hint that somehow recently — after Jan. 20 I’m guessing — the media in this country is being persecuted or censored and fears losing its First Amendment rights. Seems...
Some thoughts, now that the Cheney School District’s $52 million capital facilities bond has passed. As of Feb. 21, the bond had received 61.08 percent approval, needing just 60 percent to pass. According to the Spokane County Elections website, just 25 ballots remained to be counted, with the next count coming Feb. 23. It would take roughly 71 no votes to turn that 60 percent approval into 59.99 percent, thus failing the bond. Not likely to happen. So, what has happened? The good news for students, parents and district s...
It is with deep appreciation that I recognize receipt of a generous donation to the Cheney Depot Society from the estate of Yvonne Chatburn. The donation will go to support the goal of the Society to relocate, restore and repurpose Cheney’s 1929 Northern Pacific Railway Station. Ms. Chatburn’s gift will be matched by an equal donation from our major benefactor, Peter O. Hansen, M.D., currently practicing in Kenai, Alaska. The society welcomes all to contribute to the cost of relocating and restoring our historic depot. All...
I have been blessed to have friends from many countries throughout the years, and believe it would be great for our country and the world for others to have those opportunities as well. Being immersed in university environments since the age of 18, and living overseas for 17 years, I have gradually accepted the belief that we are all brothers and sisters. Since Muslims seem to be on the radar right now, I remember with great fondness the graciousness of Muslim families — from Pakistan, Indonesia, India, Nigeria, Libya, Palest...
It’s a dream come true for terrorists. Without any effort of their own, they have been given the best recruiting tool possible: the U.S. president. One constant of Donald Trump’s ego-maniacal, unstable behavior is his belief that he can intimidate anyone to follow his directives. Obviously it has the opposite effect on terrorists. Even before he was the presumptive Republican nominee for president, ISIS recruited terrorists using videos featuring his call to ban Muslims from the U.S. How much more effective this rec...
As long as Mr. Donald Trump is in office, all people’s lives are at stake worldwide because he has no idea what he is doing. He has congressmen raising their eyebrows and other people on the hill, they are not sure how to deal with him and all his craziness. The Muslim ban, and it is a ban, Israel and now Australia, who have been there for us. There is no strategy in anything he does, he is so erratic, so very wishy-washy. There are more people worldwide who are completely confused than not. His words and actions are t...
Recently, some of America’s most respected statesmen announced a different strategy to reducing carbon pollution — one which is based on incentives as opposed to penalties. Believing that carrots work better than sticks, the Climate Leadership Council (CLC) announced a new plan to enact a federal tax on carbon emissions with an accompanying payment program to U.S. citizens. The centerpiece is a “carbon dividend” which, as they put it, would increase the disposable income...
Sometimes a trial balloon on an idea should be floated, and this is one of those from the Cheney Free Press editorial board. This balloon is labeled as follows: What would happen if the eligibility age for Medicare was dropped from 65 to 60? Granted there are many factors to Medicare eligibility, not just age, and there are four different parts. But just for the sake of discussion, what if it was just a blanket reduction in age to 60, with all else remaining the same? And what about moving the retirement age up too, making...
The Airway Heights area only has one school. Sunset Elementary was built in 1951, belongs to Cheney School District and is the oldest school in the district. There is not a middle school or high school in this community. Not one school has been added to this area for 66 years! For the third time CSD has placed a bond on the ballot to expand Cheney High School while ignoring requests to build a high school closer to the Airway Heights area. Generations of children have been negatively affected by this indifference. Re-write...
Is this a hostage situation? In the previous bonds Cheney School District asked only for money to fund renovation to our high school. The latest bond proposal adds classrooms and security measures to our elementary schools. Why weren’t these included on the two previous bonds? At what point did the district have an “ah-ha” moment? Imagine it. “Hey, there aren’t secure entrances to the older elementary schools and look they are using portables!” These needs appeared to be hiding in plain sight. Using the elementary...
