Sorted by date Results 1711 - 1735 of 3216
During a May 6 community forum on increasing train traffic through Cheney, Cheney resident Pamela Gray brought my attention to a large, dead, pine tree at the end of I Street in downtown Cheney. She even brought a picture of the tree to pass out at the meeting. At the close of the forum I spoke briefly with Gray and indicated I would see what could be done about removing the tree. After I finished talking to Gray, Ross Lane, regional public affairs director for Burlington Northern Santa Fe, introduced himself to me and...
Before pointing too many fingers at our beleaguered Secret Service agency and its recent foibles, we should consider its success so far in its bottom line responsibility: to keep President Obama and family alive and injury-free. Interviewed during Obama’s 2012 visit to Portland, Ore., the Secret Service reported that “Obama faces more death threats than any other president. More than 30 a day.” (Portland Oregonian, 7/28/12). This is consistent with the big spike in U.S. hate groups, spread quite evenly over all states excep...
Exercise great care when lighting fireworks I’ve had extensive emails with city officials here in Medical Lake about my concerns of Fourth of July fireworks being allowed in this extreme drought season that we are experiencing. There have already been serious fires all around this area. Anyway, the way it looks now is that fireworks for private use will be sold legally, and used as desired once again here in Medical Lake. I just hope that all citizens will make sure their fire hoses are up and running, and will exercise g...
"Who wrote that?" It's a question I often receive regarding our in house editorial feature "In Our Opinion." I get it enough, and lately from several readers, that it probably means it's time to reiterate how we go about producing the weekly opinion piece, and maybe a couple other things as well. As I said, "In Our Opinion" is produced here at the Cheney Free Press. It's the product of discussion from our editorial board, the members of which are listed in our mast at the bottom left corner of this page. It works like this....
It’s going to be another hot and dry summer for the West Plains, which means there are plenty of chances for wildfires in the area. It’s late June and we’ve already seen some wildfires in the region, including last week’s 145-acre blaze at Fish Lake, east of Cheney. There have been 306 wildfires this year, according to the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Washington has already taken some precautions to address the wildfire season. Earlier this month, DNR imposed a burn ban on DNR-protected lands east o...
The federal crop insurance program provides an agricultural safety net, and crop insurance premium subsidies were created to increase usage of these risk management tools. The federal government subsidizes, on average, 62 percent of crop insurance premiums annually. Crop insurance guarantees income year after year, but does not require much at all in terms of good soil and water conservation. And nothing in the federal crop insurance program prevents or discourages the increased planting of marginal land or land that is unsui...
What starts out as a simple dispute can sometimes grow to unimaginable proportions. In the last week, many eyes across the nation have been fixated on Rachel Dolezal, the recently resigned president of Spokane’s NAACP chapter and a part-time African Studies professor at Eastern Washington University. Dolezal, who is originally from Montana, has been under the microscope after her parents revealed to the media that she is white with a trace of Native American heritage and alleging that their daughter has been portraying h...
Once again the nightly news broadcasts, both national and local, found a story that they could not get enough of. On June 5, a McKinney, Texas policeman, Cpl. Eric Casebolt got caught on cellphone video strong-arming a 14-year-old girl to the ground as he helped to quell a disturbance stemming from a pool party held in this Dallas suburb of 150,000. The problem was, along the way, Casebolt briefly drew his weapon, quickly holstered it, and then returned to try, with the help of 11 other McKinney Police Department officers to...
I’m not sure how to take this whole Bruce Jenner, now Caitlyn Jenner, thing. I won’t recap how a former 1976 Olympic male decathlon gold medallist became a 2015 female talk show and magazine personality. You’d truly have to have returned from a desert island to not know the story. I never gave the transgender/gender change subject much thought until last fall when the Cheney school board considered changes to its non-discrimination policy. The new language recommended by the Washington State School Directors Association propo...
From 1960 to 2014, the average house size has more than doubled from 1,200 to 2,600 square feet, automobile ownership has gone up from 1 to 1.7 per household and the percentage of household income spent on food has dropped from 17.5 percent to 9.6 percent. In addition, we take longer vacations, retire younger and have a plethora of electronic and other products that didn’t exist in 1960. The reality is that all segments of society, from the poor to the middle class to the richest 1 percent, are better off today than ever b...
It’s that time a year when we map out our summer getaways. But as you plan to visit destinations that are maybe far away, or even foreign, think about ratcheting things back a little and remember what might just be in or near your backyard. The West Plains has events that both need your patronage, and maybe even some help, too. If you missed Cheney’s third-annual Mayfest, staged May 29-30, an opportunity passed you by to connect with businesses and neighbors. The event, one of a number that showcases Cheney, was well att...
Cheers to teachers in Cheney and Medical Lake, plus a significant number of other educators who chose not to disrupt the lives of their real bosses, the taxpayers — and more importantly students — to be part of recent statewide rolling walkout orchestrated by the Washington Education Association. Intended to rattle the cages of lawmakers, WEA and their members want more money devoted to multiple fronts in education, but so does everyone else. In the lead-up to the May 27 demon...
Change the name of the geographical area, throw in the names of the major participants and one could say we are back in the days of the then — so called “advisors.” It was the spring of 1968 — and Tet was near. My company was assigned to locate the main Army advisor on the “Street Without Joy,” as he was the main liaison between MACV and the ARVN division assigned to that area. He sat there on his canvas field chair with his cooler filled with ice and beer, along with his faithful M-1 Carbine and PRC 25 for radio contact to...
One thing is for certain — and that is the release of the Washington House of Representatives 2015-2017 budget proposal on Monday shows there are still signs of life in Olympia among our elected representatives. That may be a small comfort to K-12 educators around the state who have been trying to send a message to legislators to do something about education via everything from emails to one-day teacher walkouts. Both the House and Senate proposals would add between $1.3 billion – $2.2 billion for educators’ compe...
I would like to thank the Cheney Free Press for having the good heart to print the article in the Opinion section of the paper titled “This war on police officers needs to stop.” This was in the May 14, 2015 edition. Police officers in our communities and across our nation put their lives on the line to preserve order in our society that we might have a sense of peace and safety where we live. For those who want to criticize, try walking in their shoes. Would you be willing to stand against vandals, thieves, the violent, the...
What fun we’ve had here in Medical Lake having a popular TV show filming right here in downtown. I’m sure some citizens have been a little disgruntled, driving out of their way to get to businesses, but only a block or two at most. Just to watch the many people, the vehicles and the trailers it takes to make a show. How exciting. Joyce Callaway Medical Lake...
The treatment of mentally ill patients has undergone radical changes in the past 150 years, and not always for the better. Unfortunately, public health treatment remains grossly underfunded and consequently care is fragmented and places a huge social burden on American communities. People with mental illnesses range from perfectly functional individuals, to those with severe disabilities who are unable to care for themselves. The role of government is to serve as a safety-net and to help dysfunctional, impaired people who may...
At the Center for Rural Affairs, we’ve heard from farmers across the Midwest and Great Plains about negative impacts of federally subsidized crop insurance for over a decade. A farm safety net is important to help family farmers mitigate risks, but there are real concerns with the current crop insurance program. The federal government subsidizes crop insurance, paying 62 percent of premiums, on average, in 2012. Insurance policies are sold and completely serviced through 19 approved private insurance companies. Not only d...
Reprinted from the Orange County Register The House this past Thursday adjourned for its week-long Memorial Day recess leaving uncertain the fate of three provisions of the USA Patriot Act scheduled to expire June 1. Sen. John McCain, the Arizona, Republican, told CNN on Friday that he expects the House to interrupt its recess “for a few hours” to pass a short-term extension of the expiring provisions. “I think,” said McCain, “one thing we all are in agreement in (is) we can’t shut down the entire operation.” But no one is...
I would like to comment on the Mother’s Day Luncheon at the Cheney Care Center on Sunday, May 10. I was invited to attend with my mom, as a guest and was amazed at how pleasant the whole event was. Everyone was made to feel special by the wonderful staff. The residents enjoyed being seated, as they would have been with reservations in a nice restaurant. The staff prepared an amazing meal that was enjoyed by all. Cheney is so fortunate to have a Care Center that is so personal for everyone. The staff is professional, f...
If you’re a sports fan and are looking for something to take your mind off the bad news that’s happening in athletics, look no further than in your neighborhood — and I’m not referring to the college students throwing flying discs in the street. Teams and individual athletes from both Cheney and Medical Lake high schools have had successful seasons this year, including several district and state championships. With spring sports winding down, we’ll soon be seeing summer clubs hit the pool, soccer pitch or field, including...
In the May 7 edition of the Cheney Free Press Mr. Norm Luther states that Jesus never talked about homosexuality. Mr. Luther may be right, to my knowledge Jesus never used the word homosexual. Mr. Luther uses this detail as justification for his feeling that the Supreme Court of the U.S. should allow same sex marriages. Unfortunately for Mr. Luther, Jesus does describe what a marriage is in Mark, chapter 10. Please read it. There is no misunderstanding that Jesus is talking about marriage as a union between a man and a...
Quick — somebody get the name of the bus that just ran over Eastern Washington University women’s basketball head coach Wendy Schuller and her program. And get the names of those individuals who tossed her under that careening, out-of-control coach. Wait, we have those — Cece Pearl, Marly Anderson, Haley Saner, Kiana Brown and Jade Redmon. Schuller’s coaching style was implicated as the reason, or part of the reason, these five players chose to leave the Eagles program en masse in a story published May 14 in the Spokesm...
We all walk out the door every day and never know what lies ahead, but rarely do we ask ourselves, “will we come home?” That might ring differently for members of the law enforcement community as it seems police officers have proven to be noteworthy targets lately. The deaths of four police officers at the hands of criminals with guns in the month of May have brought the problem into the national spotlight and conversation. And what is generally something that only happens someplace else hit close to home May 5 when Coeur d’A...
This is a fact: You can’t walk around Eldon Pueblo without stepping on a piece of history. For those who don’t know, Eldon Pueblo is an ancient Native American ruin about a mile east of Flagstaff in Northern Arizona, which is where I spent most of my spring break vacation. It was the home of a people known as the Sinagua, as are the cliff dwellings in the nearby Walnut Canyon and Wupatki national monuments. Actually, Northern Arizona is an archeologists dream when it comes to ruins with societies that were thriving over 800 ...
