January 26, 2017 – Sixteen members and one guest heard a presentation from Cheney School district administrators Rob Roettger, Sean Dotson and Kassidy Probert.  They distributed the final plan for the district levy that will be on the ballot in early February.  The dollar amount has increased;  all elementary schools and the high school would get additional classrooms and all schools would have re-designed, more secure main entrances.  Some money is also expected to go to purchasing additional land for a future school.

 

January 19, 2017 - Icy roads impacted our meeting; only 11 members and one guest attended and our scheduled speaker did not come out from Spokane.  We shared stories about past bad winters that we experienced here or elsewhere.

 

January 12, 2017 – Cheney Police Chief John Hensley spoke to 16 club members and one guest.  He began by thanking us for our support and helping to pass the 2016 levy lift.  About $46,000 was applied to the purchase of 3 fully equipped all-wheel drive cars.  In 2017 they plan to execute a lease-to-purchase for 2 or 3 additional vehicles.  New body armor and vests have been purchased.  One officer has been added and the goal is to have no officer alone on any shift. 

In 2016 code enforcement responsibility was transferred from the fire department to the police department.  Since June there have been 680 code enforcement cases leading to 400-500 letters.  Only 3 tickets were issued and 4 cases are still outstanding.

He discussed 2016 crime statistics.  Thefts were up 8% over the previous year due to a rash of car theft/break-ins done in June by 3 people.  If those crimes were removed from the count, there would have been a 22% decrease in thefts.  He said they are able to recover some car theft items by checking Craig’s List. 

He was asked if there were any open carry gun issues in Cheney and also about concealed carry permits.  He said there were no service calls related to open carry. Concealed permit application process information is available at the police station and the number of applications has increased in the last year.

 

January 5, 2017 – Sixteen members heard a weather update from member Bob Quinn.  He reported that we had 6.9 inches of precipitation in October, which made it the wettest October in history.  The oceans are warming which leads to more moisture and more precipitation in winter.  The arctic air is here and will bring snowfall that will bring us to average snowpack in the mountains. 

He said that another ice age is due, geologically speaking  and will be rapid (less than 100 years long).  Ice age triggers include the relationship of sun and earth, tilt of the earth, etc. 

Member John Taves has started “Snow Angels” to recruit volunteers to help clear walkways for citizens who are unable to do it for themselves.  He can be reached at 509-559-5670.