Remote Surveillance Trailer in Moses Lake, WA

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake High School has been named a 2025 “School on the Rise” by the Association of Washington School Principals (AWSP) and the Association of Washington Student Leaders (AWSL). The annual statewide recognition honors schools making exceptional strides in culture, leadership, and student success.

This year’s distinction recognizes the sweeping transformation underway at Moses Lake High School, where students, staff, and administrators have come together to foster an inclusive and resilient learning environment.

“Moses Lake High School didn’t just change its mascot—it changed its future,” said Principal Sheila Kries. “We’ve worked hard to build a culture where every student belongs, every voice matters, and every day is a great day to be a MAV.”

The school’s journey began in 2022 when it retired its “Chiefs” mascot at the request of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and adopted the “Mavericks” name. The decision sparked a broader cultural shift focused on belonging and shared leadership.

Key student-led initiatives include:

These programs have contributed to measurable improvements in student attendance, increased participation in ASB, stronger ninth-grade on-track rates, and a deeper sense of belonging among students.

Despite recent setbacks, including two failed levies in 2024 and budget challenges, the school community remained resilient. A successful levy in February 2025 helped restore vital student opportunities and brought new momentum to the district.

Moses Lake High School is one of just 42 schools across the state to receive the “School on the Rise” recognition in 2025.

For more information about the Schools on the Rise program, visit https://awsp.org.

To learn more about Moses Lake School District’s initiatives, visit www.mlsd161.org.

Andrew Spark, co-owner of Sun City Cycle & Sports in Moses Lake, stands with his personal e-bike at the shop’s grand opening. JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD

MOSES LAKE — The Columbia Basin has a new place to buy, sell or repair bicycles.

“It was a service we wanted to offer the city of Moses Lake that it didn’t previously have,” said Andrew Spark, co-owner of Sun City Cycle & Sports. “I've had a lot of people walk in, not really to buy anything, just to say ‘We're so happy you're here now. We don't have to take our bikes to Wenatchee, Tri-Cities or Spokane.’”

Sun City Cycle opened in June at 312 S. Division St., in the former Sears building, and held its grand opening Wednesday, with refreshments and a Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting. Spark’s partner Jeremy O’Neil described the shop’s approach as a four-legged stool: bicycle repairs, new bike sales, assorted sports and cycling equipment and consignment sales of good-quality used bikes.

“We feel like in Moses Lake and surrounding communities … there's stuff in people's garages that could be turned around, others could use them, give them a second life,” O’Neil said.

Spark is a lifelong cycling enthusiast, he said, and has been a certified bicycle mechanic since 2017. He gained that certification at the United Bicycle Institute in Oregon with an initial two-week course, followed by one-week courses in shocks, wheel building and disc brakes. O’Neil isn’t a repairman, but he’s been cycling all his life as well, he said, and he saw a need for a bike shop in the area.

“The opportunity to partner up with Andrew came up and I couldn't pass it by,” he said. “There was a great need … We just wanted a place where people could come in and maintain their investments. During the pandemic, there were a lot of bikes being bought, and in Grant County now they have a place to bring those that are probably in need of a refresh on their derailleurs or brakes or tires or chains.”

A large part of Sun City Cycle’s work is with electric bicycles, a technology that’s been growing for several years. Those bikes are pedal-propelled but have electric motors to assist the rider when pedaling gets difficult. E-bikes, as they’re called, don’t come cheap but the prices are improving, Spark said.

“The technology is going up and the prices are coming down,” Spark said. “… Everybody's almost perfected the e-bike now and the prices are coming down, so you get a better quality bike at a cheaper price these days, compared to five years ago when the first ones came out.”

Sun City Cycle stocks e-bikes by Aventin and Giant, mostly in the lower price ranges, Spark said.

“They're very affordable,” he said. “They're right around $2,000, which is a good price point to start for people who are interested in e-bikes recreationally.”

For the folks who take their biking seriously, the bikes in the $5,000-and-up range are available by special order, Spark said.

“Cycling on a normal bicycle is fun, but cycling on an e-bike is even better,” he said. “When cycling gets hard and when you’ve got your workout in, you can start using the assist to get back home or get back to your vehicle if you're parked … When I go mountain biking up at Beezely (Hills) on the trails over there, I can cover three times the ground that I could (on a traditional bike).”

“E-bikes are really extending the enjoyment that riders are having,” O’Neil said. “I can speak for my mom, who loves to ride, and there was a time where that was difficult. But the e-bike has magnified how much time she's been on the road and on her bike. She rides more than I've ever seen her ride before.”

The consignment bike stock is small right now, Spark said, but he and O’Neil expect it to grow as word gets out.

“As long as they're bike shop-quality bikes, we'll take them in on consignment,” Spark said. “Usually people are upgrading (or) their kids are growing out of bikes, and so we'll take their bikes in on consignment and get them a bigger bike. And sometimes they want to go from a regular mountain bike to an e-bike and that's a way to do it too, to cut some of the cost down a little bit.”

Sun City Cycle & Sports312B S. Division St.Moses Lake, WA 98837509-298-1220Tues-Thurs: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.Sat: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.https://bit.ly/SUNCITYFB

COURTESY PHOTO/INCIWEB/CHRISTOPHER KIRSCH

MOSES LAKE – The fires below are burning nearly 139,000 acres across Washington as of Thursday afternoon. This is around 9,000 acres more than Monday and 29,000 more acres than last Thursday.

Fires that showed a lot of growth over the week include the Lower Sugarloaf Fire, which grew around 3,000 acres, making it the largest fire in the state. The Labor Mountain Fire also had growth of around 7,000 acres from Monday to around 17,000 acres as of Thursday.

These fires were causing air quality concerns regionally. As the Columbia Basin goes into the weekend, there are several cities where the air quality is unhealthy for sensitive groups until Monday.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, sensitive groups include people with lung or heart disease, older adults, children, teenagers, pregnant women, minority populations and outdoor workers.

When the air quality is unhealthy for sensitive groups EPA recommends making outdoor activities shorter and less intense. It also recommends watching out for symptoms such as coughing or shortness of breath. For those with asthma, be sure to keep medicine readily available. For those with heart disease, if symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath or unusual fatigue happen, EPA recommends reaching out to a health care provider.

To look at the current air quality in the area, visit AirNow.gov.

Three largest fires:

Lower Sugarloaf Fire: 31,049 acres. 27% contained. Chelan County. Started Sept. 1. Lightning-caused.

Rattlesnake Fire: 21,845 acres. 96% contained. Lincoln County. Started Sept. 2. Undetermined cause.

Bear Gulch Fire: 19,981 acres. 5% contained. Mason County. Started July 6. Human-caused.

Other fires:

Crown Creek: 14,192 acres. 93% containment. Stevens County. Started Aug. 29. Lightning-caused.

Katy Creek: 4,680 acres. 93% contained. Stevens County. Started Aug. 30. Lightning-caused.

Labor Mountain: 17,181 acres. 7% contained. Kittitas County. Started Sept. 1. Lightning-caused.

Lynx Mountain: 8,979 acres. 56% contained. Ferry County. Started Sept. 2. Under investigation.

Martin: 188 acres. 50% contained. Chelan County. Started Aug. 27. Under investigation.

Overon Road: 10 acres. No containment. Grant County. Started Sept. 25. Under investigation.

Perry: 1,772 acres. 61% contained. Whatcom County. Started Aug. 27. Under investigation.

Pomas: 3,533 acres. 45% contained. Chelan County. Started June 13. Lightning-caused.

Snow Peak: 1,100 acres. No containment. Stevens County. Started Sept. 1. Lightning caused.

Tacoma Creek: 3,960 acres. 86% contained. Stevens and Pend Oreille counties. Started Sept. 1. Under investigation.

Tunnel Creek: 558 acres. No containment. Jefferson County. Started Sept. 6. Unknown cause.

Wildcat: 9,411 acres. 7% contained. Yakima County. Started Aug. 25. Under investigation.

Air quality:

Air quality labels are decided by the air quality index number. Between zero and 50 is good, 51-100 is moderate, 101-150 is unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151-200 is unhealthy, 201-300 is very unhealthy and above 301 is hazardous.

Ephrata – Thursday: moderate, 83 Air Quality Index. Friday: unhealthy for sensitive groups. Saturday: unhealthy for sensitive groups. Sunday: unhealthy for sensitive groups. Monday: moderate.

Moses Lake – Thursday: moderate, 80 Air Quality Index. Friday: moderate Saturday: moderate. Sunday: moderate. Monday: good.

Othello – Thursday: moderate, 54 Air Quality Index. Friday: moderate Saturday: moderate. Sunday: moderate. Monday: good.

Quincy – Thursday: moderate, 83 Air Quality Index. Friday: unhealthy for sensitive groups. Saturday: unhealthy for sensitive groups. Sunday: unhealthy for sensitive groups. Monday: moderate.

Ritzville – Thursday: moderate 53 Air Quality Index. Friday: moderate Saturday: moderate. Sunday: moderate. Monday: good.