Video: Uncovering the Fish Lake Trail

Photo essay- bike ride from Cheney to Spokane

I'll be writing an article about the trail from Cheney to Spokane soon. Here are some photographs that will accompany the story.
 

















Our view from the restaurant where we refreshed ourselves before catching a bus back to Cheney.

Avoid North Sixth- high school parking lot construction.
If you live in the neighborhood east of the high school, watch out for high speed traffic down North Fifth. It's a small section of North Sixth that is blocked off, but many confused drivers are detouring to Elm.

Community calendar items added on 3/24/11

The West Plains EXTRA has listed the following community events that we've added to the calendar on the WA@2.4K' blog.

March 27: Friends of Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge will hold their Fourth Annual Fundraiser Auction from 1 to 4 pm at the Lincoln Center, 1316 N. Lincoln St, Spokane, Wash. Tickets are $25 for members and $30 for nonmenbers. Food will include a pasta buffet with salad, dessert and a no-host bar. A silent and live auctions will also feature a number of items to bid on. For more information, please contact Joanne Powell at 999-2090, jopowell39@aol.com or Louise O'Leary at 235-4531.

April 2 and 3: The 22nd Cooper Jones Memorial Tour of the Frozen Flatlands. Saturday April 2, Time trials on Highway 904 in front of the Cheney Free Press. Later that day, a road race will go from the same area and end at the Fairview Cemetery on Salnave Road. Sunday April 3, a road race will run on roads near Chapman Lake and Williams Lake. For more information, please visit the Baddlands Cycling Club at http://www.baddlands.org/.

April 3: St. John's Lutheran Church of Sprague will hold their 26th Annual Sausage Feed from 11 am to 3 pm at the Sprague Community Hall at 3rd and C street in Sprague, Wash. Adults $9.00, 6-12 $4.00, 5 and under are free.

April 16 and 17: Eastern Washington University's 10th Annual Spring Shootout. The Campus Rec sponsored event brags double elimination and officials on all courts. Entries must be received by Friday, April 1. http://www.ewushootout.com/ or call 359-4836 for more information.

Cheney Fire Department to Display Piece of World Trade Center

The Cheney Fire Department has applied for and been awarded a piece of the World Trade Center. For more information, read The Spokesman-Review story.

Cheney man killed while crossing Highway 904

FOUR LAKES, Wash.—A Spokane teen struck Petrick P. Rogers on Highway 904 with a 1992 Ford Explorer. Washington State Patrol believes the Sunday night accident was weather related. For more information, visit the Krem2 multimedia story.

Rollover Accident at Betz and Micheal P. Anderson (Updated pictures)

Emergency vehicles are blocking off part of the intersection. If you need to get through the intersection, give yourself extra time. Click on any picture for a larger view.

Blizzard Blankets West Plains.

South Hill--Spokane, View from Cheney

Northeastern Hill, Cheney-- to the right as you head to the freeway on 904.

Betz Elementary and middle of Cheney



Condensation from my breath froze to my hair. It was 10 degrees with wind gusts up to 25. During my trek, two motorists stopped to ask if I needed a ride. They must have figured that only crazy people would be out
taking pictures.
 
Protection
Geoff Meyer ties a bandana to his face to protect against the blizzard conditions while snow blowing.
Adding to the Blizzard
Geoff Meyer blows snow in 10 degrees.

Blizzard Closes West Plains Schools

Updated 5:52 a.m.

EWU news twitter feed has announced that the university is closed.

Cheney School District has called students, saying school is closed due to "hazardous weather conditions."

Krem2 News has announced the closures of Reardan-Edwall and Medical Lake school districts too.

New Portable at Betz Elementary.

View from Ash street.

10:15 a.m., 2/10/11

Due to population growth on the West Plains, Betz Elementary is anticipating overflow students from Sunset and Windsor elementary schools. This overflow will continue over the next two years until the new elementary school is built on the corner of Holly and Hallett.

The Cheney School District projects the new elementary school will be occupied by Sept. 1, 2012.

A new portable was delivered on Feb. 9. Kent Martin, principal of Betz, expects a third portable building to bring the total of portables up to three. Each building houses two classrooms. The temporary building they've been using houses a classroom for resource room students and a district program called Student Connections.

View from alley behind Betz.

With the overflow students, Betz staff will have more difficulties scheduling the common areas such as the library, gym, cafeteria and computer lab. Martin says it will work--three portables is nothing in comparison to the seventeen portables added to the elementary school where he served as principal on the west side of the state.

Betz is the only elementary school in the district that still has room for portables. Martin says "Salnave's built out too." He explained that the city and country regulates how much water each property can have on site and how many feet the portables must stand away from other buildings.

Betz currently instructs 426 students. Projected numbers for next year's load will come this spring.

My goal for the year is to get in shape so I can get away from my car and see more of the world.

Dave McMillin has set some goals for 2011 too-- if by goals you mean ADVENTURES!

Check out his list of adventures on "The Cows are Watching."

New Hardware Store Coming to Cheney

Do-it-Best, a national hardware chain, is setting up shop in the Cheney Plaza by Pizza Hut. Rudy Torres, Building Permit Technician with the city was able to confirm today that a building permit is in process.

The closest Do-it-Best stores are on the South Hill at south Regal and another one on 29th.

We'll update this post with more information as it becomes available.

Cheney High School Solo and Ensemble Winners Heading to State.

Among the winners this weekend are the Cheney High School Percussion Ensemble, going to state for their fourth year in a row; Chris Knox, trumpet; Lauren McKinley, mallets; David Denenny, oboe; Lucas Barry, alto sax; and Jessica Ho, clarinet.

WA@2.4K' would also like to congratulate the first alternates to state: Danielle Gilmour, alto sax; Wesley Nanny, trumpet; and Caitlin Foster, bass.

The state competition will be in Ellensburg on April 29 and 30.

The Solo and Ensemble competition was Saturday at East Valley High School.

"Twisted Proverbs" by Lynn Glassock, performed by the Cheney High School Percussion 1 and was judged by Ron Crenshaw.



Critique:

Interview with Kenny Kemper from "Welcome to Cheney."

Eastern Washington University’s recent triumph over the Blue Hens has been a great thing for Cheney resident Kenny Kemper. He starred in a Campus Crusade for Christ (“Cru”) video featuring “Welcome to Cheney,” a two-year-old song by his previous band named Jehovah’s Whiteness in parody.

The five-year resident played the song for friends until Cru music leader Joe Vidot heard it. He needed a project for his sound production class and produced Kemper’s music on campus.

This year Cru selected Spokane for the location of its winter conference and Jason Randles, Cru staff member at EWU, as the master of ceremonies. Randles decided to use Kemper’s song in a video to introduce himself and where he was from.

Kemper says his music is influenced by secular rock, The Strokes and Brand New. Currently he’s into Ace Troubleshooter, Jars of Clay, DCtalk and old Audio Adrenaline.

If you’d like to hear more of Kemper’s music, go to Multiplexer’s Facebook page, Jehovah’s Whiteness’s Myspace page, and Vessel on Myspace Music.

If you missed "Welcome to Cheney," scroll down to the bottom of this post.

Fog yesterday, more fog forcast for today.

Pictures taken 1/25/11

Don’t Feed the Animals!

WA@2.4K’ welcomes journalism major and guest blogger Desiree Clark!

Don't Feed the Animals!

By Desiree Clark

Raccoon sightings are common in my Cheney, Wash. neighborhood. I have seen a raccoon at least a half a dozen times and others have seen paw prints and small raccoons. My neighbors nearby seem to shrug off any warning I give that they have moved in.

My neighbor, who lives below me, and I have started to refer to our friendly neighborhood raccoon as “Al.” According to Pelotes Island Nature Preserve, the name “raccoon” may have come from the Algonquin Indian word “arukun” meaning “he who scratches with his hands.” We figured Al was easier to pronounce. I am a night owl and apparently Al is the same.

My apartment has a laundry area in the basement of the house. Unfortunately, I am the attic apartment and have to go outside around the back of the house and down a cement stairwell to access it. While coming up from the laundry around 8 p.m. a few nights ago, I rounded the corner of the house and came face-to-face with Al.

Apparently I startled him, as he sure as heck startled me. He reared up on his hind legs and stood as tall as my chest. This is not saying much as I am only five feet tall. However, for someone my size to be reared on by a wild animal that is about the same size, I was freaked out with no escape nonetheless.

Turning around meant getting trapped in the cement stairwell and he was blocking my path around the house. Doing the only thing I could, I ran for the stairwell and pounded on my neighbors’ window. Al followed of course, and doing this catlike stalking move, he crept towards to stairs. I pounded harder.

By this point I was shaking uncontrollably and my neighbor was not answering. Al slowly moved forward and the front door of my neighbor’s house finally opened up. Man to the rescue. When the door opened up and my neighbor who is twice my size came out, Al ran over our fence and off to torment someone else.

I shook for about 30 minutes before shooting off an email to my landlord about Al. Knowing I needed more information about the animal, I looked further. I found out some interesting information about the wild animal population around Cheney.

A few days after the “incident” with Al, I approached the Eastern Washington University campus police for information. Officer Tom Barber, a 6-year veteran of the EWU police said there are many different wild animals around town including “owls, raccoons, cats (larger than a house pet), coyotes, deer and fox.”

Up until this point I was unaware how humorous my terrifying experience was for those that heard the story. Kudos to Barber for his almost poker face. All I was looking for was a way to get Al to move on. “We invaded their territory,” Barber said and he added that the best way to keep them away is to clean up your yard and keep garbage cans secure.

Still not folding to everyone’s chuckles, I googled it. You would be amazed (or maybe not) at the amount of information that came up. The best site was http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Raccoons. They have a cartoon video to basically tell “us dummies” how to get rid of raccoons.

There are many ways to keep animals out of your neighborhood. The obvious one has been mentioned, cleaning up your yard of garbage and keeping it secure. Taking in pet food at night and cleaning up debris will also help. Purchasing metal garbage cans with secure lids, placing weights on your garbage can lid, and washing your garbage can out are also ways of keeping the animals away.

My landlord was great about looking into the situation as well. She also said many people laughed while giving her information but was told to call Fish and Wildlife if the “problem” continued.

Since this terrifying experience, Al has thankfully disappeared. I have not placed rocks on my garbage or double bagged, but I carry a Maglite to do the laundry now. One of those big four- or five- battery Maglites. I really hope that Al lives a long life in someone else’s garage or wood pile or whatever. But I promise this, he will not be missed.

Have pictures of wildlife in your yard? Send them to WashingtonAt2400Feet@gmail.com, and we'll post them!

Slippery Streets, Icy Friday.

Listen to Cheney Police Scanner

Friday morning, people in Spokane county skated to work, school and play.

Waiting at the Bookstore

(Clicking on any of these pictures take you to a larger version.)

11:05 I'm at the PUB and getting in line. The line to get in has curled around the piano foyer. I'm standing at the bottom of the stairs.

11:10 The line seems to be mostly students with alumni interspersed. The bookstore windows are blocked off with large sheets of butcher paper, but I can see red and white Mylar balloons inside.

I text my friend, "Line goes up to landing!" I don't expect a response. She's been inside all morning, preparing for the big day with the other staff.

Fifty minutes to go. I count 58 people between the elevator and the stairs.

11:20 The line is almost to the second floor. A KHQ news camera shows up from the front of the line, filming us.

All these people have one thing in common. They are willing to wait for an extended period of time to buy a t-shirt.

I text my mom. I'm bored. I can't help it.

11:25 The line extends past the second stair to the top floor. Troy Kirby comes down the line, passing out his card to folks that he believes aren't students. Now is the time to get the deal on season tickets for next year. Thankfully, he passes me over--probably assuming that I'm a student-- even though I am a student and a parent.

Behind me in line, John Bigley, parent of senior Jessica Bigley, waits in line with his eagles cap. Apparently, I've missed the announcement that EWU will give customers 20 percent off for wearing their eagle gear today. We get to talking about the game and the publicity. "National champions and no one in the state recognizes them," he says. He emailed Joe Biden's office after the game. "'Thanks for the chicken dinner!' I never did hear back from them, of course," he says.

11:35 Mike Lemelin walks past. He says the line might go around the corner upstairs, but it's not outside.

11:40 People crowd into the foyer. The spirit picks up. We've almost gone the distance.

11:50 A band shows up and starts setting up. I recognize Garrett Stannard from church. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're going to play something boring," he says.

I know, ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.

11:53 The butcher paper is down.

11:55 "We Are the Champions" wafts through the crowd, played on an electric guitar. A woman walks through the crowd, handing out the words, but no one is singing. We're hooting and hollering and excited, but this isn't karaoke.

The game is replaying on a TV inside the bookstore. Bigley tells me that it's playing on the Baldy's TVs upstairs too.

12:00 Swoop comes out and mingles. The school spirit in the room is unmistakable. Students are calling to each other across the room, everyone but me is wearing red.

John Bigley, Swoop, Jessica Bigley

The doors are open, we head for the merchandise.

"This is like Black Friday all over again," a girl has appeared from nowhere and is now front of me. She's right. I think we're safe as long as it doesn't turn into something like a bridal sale.

When I get inside, I can't tell where anything is. Everyone has made a dash to my right, so I ask an employee. She says the shirts are everywhere.

They weren't. I grab a couple sweatshirts in the right size and push into the crowd. The mass of humanity next to the shirts is several people deep and they're grabbing stacks of shirts. I cling to my sweatshirts and make a complete circle around the cash registers.


Will I ever get to the t-shirts? What if I don't like the styles?
Some girls near me hold up their black shirts.

The sweatshirts in my arms are looking better in every moment.
There's no way I'll win against this crowd.

In line, a checker waves me over. "Considering it's you," says my friend behind the counter, "I'm going to slow down and rest a minute." If she was resting, I'd hate to see her at full speed.
I bump into alumni Michelle Best. This is her second trip to the bookstore today. She first came to the store at 7:30, unaware that there was a delayed opening. We walk out of the mayhem and into the warm January air. Prizes in hand, we talk of kids and plans for the weekend.
We don't compare purchases, but when I get my prize home, I know I've made the right choice.

Snow forecasted, followed by rain-Wednesday

Cheney resident stays warm during Wednesday morning snowfall.

Drivers navigate icy and snow on North Sixth.

View of North Sixth

A side street in Cheney shows garbage truck traffic but no plow.

A Cheney chicken coop shelters its occupants with a heat lamp.

Evidence of warmer weather

Intersection of North Sixth and Elm

Cheney High School VP Jim Missel, Athletic Director of the Year

Congratulations to Jim Missel, Vice Principal at Cheney High School, who has been awared the Great Northern League (GNL) Athletic Director of the Year.

The GNL sought a nomination, West Valley High School's Wayne McKnight threw Missel's name in. It was seconded and then voted on by the GNL athletic directors.

In Missel's 14-year history as an athletic director, this is the second time he's been nominated. His previous nomination came during his three-year position at Lakeside High School.

Missel's resume will be sent to Mike Davis of Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) District #7 to compete on a district level before going on to state.

Missel's nomination is not a surprise. During his tenure as CHS athletic director, he has supported activities and sports by getting the funding and guidance they need. He also works with parents and sends information to the press so the kids receive recognition.

"I'm still learning and I will continue to learn," Missel said of his job description.

His devotion to the students is outstanding as he has worked with students on limited budgets. He helps them by reducing fees and reducing program costs so barriers to after-school activies are minimalized.

"I want every kid involved in activites and athletics," he said.