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Sometimes it’s difficult to pin down a subject that you want to write about and your muse advises you to dig into the memory banks and churn out a story before deadline. I like to call these “reflective commentaries” where I look back on one or several memories — moments that are G-PG rated and suitable for all audiences — and ponder on some of the lessons I learned from those experiences. This week I’m lucky because winter sports have started, which means wrestling season has begun. High school wrestling has a special pla...
November is Native American Heritage Month, something that ought to receive more public attention in this area given our many ties to Native American culture. Native American Heritage Month began as American Indian Day in 1912 when Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca Indian and director of the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Rochester, N.Y., successfully persuaded the Boy Scouts of America to set aside one day for the “First Americans,” which they did for three years. In 1916, the state of New York proclaimed the second Sat...
Medical Lake, has had a problem concerning the deer population in its city limits for several years. Deer are nonchalantly roaming the city limits, eating all vegetation and, unfortunately, getting hit by drivers commuting in and out of town. The longer this goes on, the more likely that animals that prey on the deer will follow. The last thing we need are bears or cougars making themselves at home, as well. Not only is this problem taking a toll on the city, but it is becoming incredibly dangerous to drive after dark. The...
Last September not one Republican senator voted for a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Republican-leaning Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision and allow Congress and states to limit the amount and secrecy of money raised and spent in elections. Although a majority of 54 Democratic or Independent senators, against 42 Republican senators, voted to advance the amendment, it failed to garner the two-thirds vote needed to pass the Senate. Prior enactment of such an amendment would have greatly limited t...
It will be a warmer winter for many area families this year. The 18th annual Community Coat Drive was a wonderful success, with 311 coats collected locally and 238 coats distributed at four sites, Sunset Elementary, Salnave Elementary, Westwood Middle School and Feed Cheney. All of the coats not distributed were donated to the Cheney Community Clothing Exchange. Twenty-seven miscellaneous items were donated and distributed as well. First of all, thank you to Margie Lindner and the local Kiwanis who did all of the...
I don’t know about you, but I’ve found elections becoming ever more exhausting with each cycle. The nastiness, the bitterness, the name calling, the subtle and sometimes not so subtle insinuations of dark motive and agenda, the fear mongering, the half-truths and in some cases out right lying about issues and opponents is becoming oppressive and unhealthy. Elections are no longer contests of ideas between parties. They have ceased to be affairs where winners can truthfully say the voters have spoken, and while they have pic...
Several residents of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., gather in a public park to serve food to some hungry homeless individuals. Would this be considered an act of charity or a crime? Three of those residents — Arnold Abbott, and two south Florida ministers — are being charged with up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine in violation of a recent ordinance, according to the Associated Press article, “Feeding the homeless: Act of charity or a crime?” This Florida ordinance restricts public feeding of homeless people and was put into effect...
The ranks of our nation's veterans ebb and flow like the tides. World War II vets die at an unstoppable rate. The current war on terror adds daily to the number of our nation's heroes. West Africa, Syria, Somalia, Iraq III and various other locations around the world even some unknown to the public. Missions only mentioned in diaries or over beers. In five years we will have young veterans who were born after 9/11. In a recent class I asked one of my students how much pain we...
How did we come to this? State law says that schools cannot discriminate on bases of sex, sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity. It is a good law except when it violates common sense and the rights of others. Cheney School District is considering adopting a new nondiscrimination policy that addresses transgender student issues. Within the new policy is the transgender students’ right to access the restrooms and locker rooms with which they most associate their identity. The new policy reads: “The Dis...
Halloween, a night my children have been looking forward to for many weeks was almost cut short with tragedy. While crossing North Sixth Street in Cheney, near the CHS baseball field, approximately 5:45 in the evening, a vehicle with at least two young people failed to yield to our party of 7, prompting us to physically grab our 6 year old from continuing to cross. This SUV never even tried to stop or even slow down and it truly sent a chill down my spine as to what could have happened, if the adults in our party had not...
There it was, that familiar thump in the night. I rolled over in the bed in the darkness this past Sunday to check the time on my phone. A touch of the “on” button and 4:22 a.m. flashed back at me. While still groggy from being roused out of a pleasant sleep, I was reminded that Daylight Savings Time had once again passed into history and that 4:22 a.m. was really 5:22. As Standard Time arrived again it was nice to know there was at least one clock in my life that did not nee...
Flu season has begun, yet there hasn’t been the normal concern for the virus that there usually is at this time of the year. For several months, Americans have been concerned with the threat of the Ebola virus. Since the media announced that two Americans contracted Ebola while helping patients in Monrovia, Liberia, people have been in a panic about the virus spreading throughout the country. Although Ebola is serious in the Southwestern region of Africa, the chances of a person contracting it in the United States is low u...
As a mom and a retired Spokane County deputy sheriff of 19 years, I am very much looking forward to the changes that Mary Wissink will bring about as our next Spokane County Clerk. Mary has an informed vision for the future of our Clerk’s office because she has over 25 years of hands-on experience in the Spokane legal community. I first began working with Mary Wissink when she was judicial assistant in Superior Court for Judge Michael Donohue’s court. That was over 15 years ago. Over the years, Mary and I have discussed our c...
Cathy McMorris Rodgers is just another politician who has mastered the art of saying a lot, without actually saying anything. She cares more about getting re-elected than she cares about standing up for what is right. People claim that her critics lack specifics when in reality it is Cathy who lacks both specifics and solutions. Ask her about the economy and she responds with, “Well, we need more jobs.” Ask her about climate change and she says, “Well, I’m not a scientist.” Heck, ask her about anything and all you will get...
When Alene Lindstrand gets elected this year she will conduct an election audit. This will be the first independent audit in 16 years, which our current county auditor has failed to do. In addition, our current auditor lost a defamation of character lawsuit which may cost taxpayers upwards of half a million dollars. Obviously it is time for a major change in the county auditor’s office. It is time to vote in Alene Lindstrand as our next county auditor. John Ahern Spokane...
While the merger of United Airlines and Continental left a gaping hole at the ticket counter at SeaTac International Airport, frequent fliers are noticing an expansion of Delta and Alaska check-in stations these days. That expansion could mean a great boost to Boeing and Washington’s economy in the future — if state lawmakers hold the line on taxes and regulatory costs. According to airport statistics, those two airlines now account for half the passengers flying through Sea...
This issue of the Cheney Free Press is being hand-delivered to over 2,000 students in the Cheney School District this week. We plan to do the same in the near future in Medical Lake. The reason we are taking this step is no secret at all. The Free Press wants you to stay up to date with what’s happening across the big neighborhood that makes up the West Plains. And there’s no better way than with this newspaper. The Cheney School District is one of the largest geographically in the state of Washington. But depending whe...
The Democrats are really desperate if they had to get Heather Foley to do a TV ad for Joe Patookas. Get real people! Heather Foley never could find the time to come to Spokane for the Lilac Parade let alone care about what was happening in Tom Foley’s Congressional District. My husband and I worked the VIP stand for the Lilac Festival for over ten years and we only saw Foley once or twice in the entire time. Tom Foley cared so little for Spokane that his residence was a miniscule apartment which he seldom visited. Heather i...
Are some of us unworthy? Cathy McMorris Rodgers must think so. She worked with her party to let a two-decade old law, the Violence Against Women Act, expire in 2013. She did not support the Senate version of the bill that expanded protections for all victims. Instead, Cathy sponsored a bill with no protection for Native Americans, lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, and undocumented immigrants. Her version of the bill was defeated by the House 166-257, after which the House passed the Senate bill by voice-vote. When a...
It’s no question that deer are a hot topic in Medical Lake. Since I started working at the Free Press, I’ve heard Medical Lake residents complain about the deer that roam through the city. Folks get in an uproar about the damage these animals do to their property, as well as the potential danger they pose to the community — specifically children and dogs. The deer that roam the city tend to be docile, and are used to the presence of humans. However, I imagine that they would bite and kick anyone they see as a threat to themse...
When it comes to the state of the county’s law enforcement, there’s good news and bad news. The good news according to Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich is violent crime in unincorporated parts of the county has declined 56 percent and property crimes have dropped 8 percent. Knezovich said the department has been able to accomplish this by utilizing the Intelligence Led Policing Strategy — ILP in the acronym world. ILP utilizes data to define crime hot spots, enabling law enforcement to better target their preve...
As an Independent voter I have always put the value of good government over party politics. As County Commissioner my personal experience with Rob Chase as County Treasurer affirmed that Rob has the community’s best interest at heart. Rob recognized the need to reform state law so that those who fell on hard times could pay back their property taxes through partial payments. If not for Rob, many homeowners could lose their biggest asset if they can’t pay their back taxes in one lump sum. Now because of Rob, the county can...
As town hall meetings go, the Sept. 26 “Conversation with Cathy” with congressional 5th District Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers at Cheney’s Wren Pierson Community Center was definitely good political theater, if nothing else. But that’s part of the point — there was something else. A lot else, if you will, and too much to try to fit in one 704-word recap. One of the biggest “else’s” for me was how well prepared most of those in attendance were. A few were political operatives, if you will, such as Spokane County Democratic Part...
The Washington State School Directors’ Association recently made available its proposed legislative priorities for the 2015 legislative session. Delegates to the 2014 Legislative Assembly approved 45 new proposals, added 16 new proposals to WSSDA’s “Standing Legislative Positions” (SLPs) and amended three other SLPs. Delegates then ranked them, with the top three being: 1) Full funding of basic education (SLP), 2) Sustainable revenues for education funding (new) and 3) School construction funding (SLP). Washington is unique...
Headlines about former president Bill Clinton’s scandal, football player Ray Rice’s domestic violence incident, actress Lindsay Lohan’s drug and alcohol problems and Miley Cyrus’s drastic change in appearance, actions and attitudes splattered across every media outlet. These headlines continued to spread through every other channel of gossip. Everyone knew, and judged in one way or another. Much of society has become obsessed with and addicted to entertainment and pop culture — movies, music, TV shows, “reality...
