Sorted by date Results 1986 - 2010 of 3200
Anyone sitting through the Jan. 14 hearing on a proposed marijuana growing and processing facility in Cheney likely took away any number of observations. What struck me was the emotion those opposing the facility projected during testimony. The heartfelt desire for maintaining a good, strong, family-oriented community wasn’t just expressed, and expressed well, but was a virtual physical presence. But several statements caused me to pause and wonder – how well do we really know our community. How well do we really know tho...
Alexandra Ammonette’s letter of Jan. 9 calling for support of alternative energy sources and a carbon tax seems more an emotional plea that a logically consistent argument based on fact. She begins with a false claim, “We know we can’t keep polluting our atmosphere with fossil fuels without causing a destabilized climate system.” Sorry, but we don’t “know” that. Many of us speculate, theorize and give out opinions, but the science is not settled. Based on that claim, she calls for bipartisan support to “stabilize it...
There are legitimate reasons why we voters have been a lot more willing to trust the tough job of president to governors -- 11 separate times, with Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush -- rather than senators, which occurred only once in the 88 years between 1920 and 2008 with John F. Kennedy. Like mayors, governors actually do something. We hold them accountable for the decisions they make about how to spend taxpayer money. They decide through whose neighborhood the new highway...
The news cycle and what garners the attention of editors, producers, talking-head anchors and reporters is a crazy and most unpredictable thing. Sometimes it’s actually driven by events that affect people. Like the bitter cold that gripped much of the nation recently and let us get to know about a term – the Polar Vortex – most all of us had never heard of before but has been around forever. Other times it’s pure timing, such as the chemical spill that last week threw a stenc...
My deepest appreciation and thanks to the citizens of Medical Lake and nearby areas who have helped get my mini-van equipped with the wheelchair lift I needed installed and new tires. Just a few practice runs this week of loading and unloading my wheelchair and you’ll be seeing me actually driving it. Thank you, again, for this loving and wonderful blessing. Joanna Williams Medical lake...
If there could be guarantees that lifting the almost 40-year-old ban on exporting U.S. crude oil would drastically reduce gasoline prices we’d say doing so should be a no brainer. Lift the ban. Unfortunately there are many factors that determine the price of gasoline at the pump besides supply, including predictions of possible weather conditions that could impact production, political turmoil and speculators making guesses. All of this means that while the price of oil per barrel might drop the price of gas we put in our c...
If you saw the Snow Angels article on the front page of this paper Dec. 26 or read about them in the Cheney Connections that came with your Janurary 2014 utility bill, then you will understand why I wish to thank my snow angel, John Taves. On Dec. 21, 2013. a “secret shoveler” from last winter and I cleared my 120-plus foot sidewalk along Oakland Street before 8 a.m. That evening I returned from babysitting to find a berm of compact snow and ice covering two-thirds of the walk. Hoping for a big melt from the weather, I put...
The public needs to be aware of a Public Hearing Notice that was in the Dec. 26 edition of the Cheney Free Press, in the legal section, page 7, section 2, regarding Cheney Hydroponics wanting to build a structure for the production and processing of recreational marijuana. The public is invited to attend this hearing, to call or to write to our city officials. This hearing will take place Tuesday, Jan. 14, at 2 p.m., at Cheney City Hall in the City Council Chambers at 609 Second St, Cheney, Wash. Cheney Hydroponics is interes...
The last two issues of the Free Press have had great opinion articles about the problems of our economy, if you are for unrestrained capitalism. Last week Don C. Brunell of the Association of Washington Business proclaimed his usual dislike for over regulation by government. While acknowledging that some regulation is necessary, he attacks the Affordable Care Act, the Washington Department of Ecology for “pursuing new water quality regulations” and Governor Inslee for advocating “California-like climate change regul...
Editor’s note: The following letter is in response to an OpEd piece by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers that was published in the Dec. 15, 2013 issue of the Tri-City Herald Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Tri-City Herald, Dec. 15, p. C1) writes that to get jobs we need to promote economic certainty, champion bipartisan compromise, and reduce regulations. The fossil fuel industry, and politicians who support it, say that without coal, oil, and natural gas, our economy will collapse. But we know we can’t keep polluting our...
Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize. One of the most striking aspects of his acceptance speech is the hope he expressed in humanity’s ability to overcome war. This was no mere idealism on his part. Less than five years earlier, the world had come to the brink of thermonuclear destruction because of Cuba. The United States and Soviet Union eventually diminished their threats and, in 1963, signed and ratified an agreement to end the open-air nuclear testing that was blanketing the planet with radi...
I would like to address this open letter to Senator’s Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell and Congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rodgers. I just wanted you to know how very unhappy and disgusted I was to learn that you supported the “Murray-Ryan” budget bill. This bill takes way $6 Billion dollars over the next 10 years from retired military members. As a 30 year Veteran myself, I felt that this was a slap in our faces for the service that we provided to our country. You and the rest of the “Do Nothing Congress” needs to be reminded...
The New Year is traditionally a time for reflection and renewal. A shiny new year lies ahead, full of promise. The New Year is a time when people pledge to change their lives: lose weight, stop smoking, be a better parent, work harder, work less. Regardless of your situation, the New Year holds the opportunity for a fresh start. Our nation needs a fresh start. We are now entering the fifth year of the economic “recovery,” the slowest on record since the Great Depression. Whi...
Every year around this time my cable provider sends me a letter that’s tantamount to fraud. This letter I receive is, for all intents and purposes, an extortion letter wherein a faceless media titan threatens to hornswoggle me out of a few hard-earned bucks. I know a good bamboozling when I see one, but I prefer to be the bamboozler and not the bamboozlee. Every December, the promotional period with my cable provider comes up and right along with it so does my monthly rates. My cable company always sends me a letter in a...
If it looks like a countrified hillbilly redneck and acts like a countrified hillbilly redneck, expect it to talk like a countrified hillbilly redneck. View the rube as a small part of this great country’s multicultural population. The unfathomably successful A&E show “Duck Dynasty” isn’t about ducks. It’s about a God-fearing, rural Christian family that doesn’t give a darn about modern sensitivity. Millions of TV viewers gawk at the rags-to-riches inventors of to-die-for duck calls. The show has generated billions (w...
Not that it wasn’t predictable, but the federal government, fueled by new “Monitoring the Future” data collected by the University of Michigan on behalf of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), is reporting a rise in the illicit use of marijuana among high school students. Shocking. Did we really believe the loosening of restrictions on marijuana sales, possession, and use – including those related to “medicinal marijuana” – were to have no effect on those we have worked so hard to protect from the ravages of su...
With your help, Christmas Gifts for Cheney Kids was able to provide gifts for 197 local children in 84 families, through Cheney Outreach. In addition to gifts and cash donated by local individuals and businesses, several organizations contributed. Special thanks to Spokane Valley Kiwanis for books from their Book Bank, RSVP Knitting Group for caps, gloves and blankets, a PEO group for gifts, and Zumiez for jackets, hoodies, blankets, socks, caps and gloves. Thanks also to major cash donors Thrivent Financial for Lutherans...
Do you think the Obamacare rollout raises important questions about government mandates, confusion, penalties and just how well bureaucrats can manage complicated issues? It’s not the only one. There are a number of similarities between Obamacare and an energy mandate known as the “renewable fuel standard.” Just consider: The federal government mandates consumers use both products (health insurance and renewable fuels), because the vast majority of people otherwise wouldn’t. It sets the guidelines for what must be used, a...
It’s that time of year again when we all make those New Year’s resolutions, most of which we have a hard time following through with. So instead of suggesting that you, our readers, quit smoking, lose weight, be better stewards of finances or an endless list of other “To-Do’s,” the Cheney Free Press editorial board thought we’d take a different approach. That would be a series things our community might consider to tackle in 2014. First off the challenge goes out to the city of Cheney, which should be resolute in 2014 to put...
I’ve never been a big believer is superstition, but now I might be. Granted I am aware of avoiding walking under ladders and mindful when a black cat skitters across the road in front of me. And for whatever reason, the undershirt worn beneath my hockey shoulder pads air dries after each skate, but does not hit the washer until after the season is finished. I don’t think that’s superstitious but just a matter of not permanently tainting the washing machine for all our tidy...
StageWest Community Theatre has ended its brief but successful production of Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol.” We had a good turnout for our dinner theatre and all the patrons complimented Mike Hartman from Willow Springs Restaurant for the delicious food that he prepared, thank you Mike for your support. One elderly man commented on how our performance brought back pleasant memories of the times that he spent at actual radio programs in his youth, another patron explained that she had never ever liked “A Christmas Carol...
Last week the U.S. taxpayer took a $10.5 billion hit to the wallet when the Treasury Department sold its final shares of General Motors stock and closed the books on its bailout of the troubled automaker. In the end, the government recouped $39 billion of the $49.5 billion it spent to keep GM from closing its doors in 2009. Yes, the amount of money is likely small compared to the impact the loss of an estimated 1 million workers associated with GM might have had on the economy at the time, potentially turning the recession in...
Sometimes you can’t help but feel like you hit the jackpot. The “Slightly West of Spokane Artists Studio Tour” members feel exactly that way after our fourth annual tour on Nov. 30. We certainly feel lucky that Mother Nature cooperated with “no snow” for this time year. We also feel more than fortunate that we live in an area that supports the arts. A solid turnout with enthusiastic attendees was a win-win situation for the artists and those taking the tour. Speaking of winning – our two raffle winners, Marsha Hein (Spang...
Authenticity “And what sort of lives do these people, who pose as being moral, lead themselves? My dear fellow, you forget that we are in the native land of the hypocrite.” Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Authenticity is one of the most important qualities to teach young people. To be truly who you are, to be comfortable in your own skin and to walk your talk, is essential to not just personal happiness but is also requisite for building a better, more just and humane world. Unfortunately, teaching authenticity is...
On Dec. 3 the Washington State Patrol announced it was taking a new direction in the way it screened applicants for employment. In the past, applicants might have been eliminated if it were found they had received a teenage drinking violation, smoked marijuana in the past three years or accidentally got caught using prescription drugs that were prescribed for someone else. Now, in order to have a larger pool of applicants for the 223 positions projected to become open over the next four years, the State Patrol is relaxing tho...
