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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...
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...
No time to shop? Don’t know what kids these days like? Christmas Gifts for Cheney Kids has dedicated shoppers who will do the shopping for you. Send a check (clearly marked Christmas Gifts for Kids) to Cheney Outreach, P.O. Box 444, Cheney WA 99004 right away, or drop off a check Tues. morning or Wed. morning at Cheney Outreach, 616 3rd Street, and Santa’s helpers will do the shopping on Dec.19. Parents whose kids have been registered by noon Dec. 18 will attend the distribution on Dec.20 and select gifts for their chi...
Sending my deepest appreciation to the citizens of the Medical Lake community and the local area for your support. You shall see me around town in the mini van, much sooner thanks to your generous donation. Medical Lake and the entire West Plains area is the most loving and generous place I’ve ever lived. Thank you, thank you – I cannot say it enough. Thank you. Joanna Williams Medical Lake...
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...
On behalf of the Cheney High School cross country program, we would like to thank the community of Cheney for their support of our sixth annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. There were over 360 walkers, joggers, and runners present for this community event which benefits not only the Cheney Food Bank, but also our cross country program at Cheney High School. We would like to especially thank Safeway, and the Cheney Trading Company for turkeys and food donated as door prizes for this event, as well as Jim Missel and...
I wanted to respond to your article in the Nov. 28 Cheney Free Press regarding Proposition 1. There are many reasons why this did not pass and I take exception to Al French stating that we the people of Spokane County didn’t fully understand what we were voting for regarding Prop. 1. I think the voters did fully understand what was presented to them, and could see through the scam that Prop. 1 was. The main reason was that most people in the county could not afford to raise their property tax. The second reason was that peopl...
We have less than two weeks left to get new unwrapped books and other gifts to one of the decorated boxes around Cheney for local kids who qualify through Cheney Outreach. There are two new collection locations this year, at the Cheney Library and Bank of America. Repeat locations are Mitchell’s Harvest Foods, Sears, Cheney Owl Pharmacy, Cheney Federal Credit Union, Cheney City Hall, Jarms Ace Hardware, Jazzercize, Apex Physical Therapy, The Wellness Center, State Farm Insurance, Cheney Trading Company, SNAP Fitness, C...
Nearly a month has passed since a special legislative session was called by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee. The job at hand was to try to wrangle together packages to fund major transportation projects and tax breaks to encourage one of the state’s foremost employers, Boeing, to keep building their world-class aircraft here. The roads fix never actually made the agenda, and the Boeing deal was made moot when on Nov. 13 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted overwhelmingly – by a 67 per...
Thursday is Thanksgiving and between now and then we will be told via a variety of media and by any number of individuals why and for what we have to be thankful. In many cases they will be correct. I’m not going to be one of them. Instead, I thought maybe I’d tell you of the things I am thankful for. To do that, I’m going to tell a story. Some of you know I go on mission trips to Guatemala in the summers. This is a story I heard firsthand from my trip in 2013. It’s about a town named Rivaco and a man named Jacinto. Rivaco...
By now you have probably seen the collection boxes around town for “Christmas Gifts For Cheney Kids”. Parents may register their children through Dec. 18 at Cheney Outreach, 616 Third St. in the lower level of the Wren Pierson Community Center on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 9 and 11:30 a.m. Call ahead to 235-8900 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings to confirm what you will need to bring to register them. Donations of new unwrapped gifts for ages up to 18 may be deposited in any of the many decorated col...
This editorial first appeared in the Nov. 20 edition of The Orange County Register. Forgive us if we don’t think it’s cause for celebration that the U.S. Postal Service on Friday, Nov. 15 reported a $5 billion net loss for its 2013 fiscal year – “a significant improvement over last year,” as our friends at the New York Times generously characterized it. No, a $5 billion net loss isn’t as horrific as the record $15.9 billion loss the USPS posted in 2012. But it’s still pretty darn terrible. And it marks the seventh strai...
