The Liberty Lake Deep Dive

Liberty Lake is celebrating its 25th birthday with the nation's own 250th during the Founders & Fireworks event coming to Pavillion Park on July 4, 2026. Recreation coordinator Mickael Stevens returns to the microphone to cover everything that will be involved in the biggest attraction-filled 4th of July ever at Pavillion Park -- including what's being combined in from the elements of...

Recreation coordinator Mickael Stevens provides a preview of allll the enhancements happening with Liberty Lake's popular Touch A Truck event for 2026. And -- because that's not the only thing going on at the start of the summer -- he also shares details about the YMCA camps, InclusaFit fitness classes, and youth and adult USTA tennis camps that are joining the local traditional lineup of...

What was it like to try to build a new city's police department? Brian Asmus, the original chief of the Liberty Lake Police Department, tells the tales about some of the unusual things that happened in creating the LLPD from the ground floor after the city's incorporation in 2001. Find out how police staffing and resource acquisition worked during those first years, as well as some of memo...

Commemorating the city's 25th anniversary, original Liberty Lake mayor Steve Peterson joins us via Zoom to share what went on during the initial months of starting up the city's operations during 2000 and 2001. You'll hear about Steve's involvement in setting up an initial city hall (or two), how he decided to run to become the first mayor, and the hurdle involved in hiring city em...

In commemoration of the 50th running of the big Spokane Bloomsday race, meet the one resident of Liberty Lake who has done 'em all ... EVERY year! Brian Kenna shares his memories about being among the 1,200-plus people who were part of the first staging of Bloomsday, as well as a few of his favorite highlights from the event's past decades, a lot of insights about what it means to be one o...

Dan Maus, the city's urban forestry supervisor, re-emerges for the spring and provides another season's collection of tips for your outdoor plants and trees as the warmer weather begins. Plus, he dispels 5 misconceptions that people often have about trees. (And, yes, we play some of the Dan Maus theme song again!)

Ty Burns, the golf shop supervisor and one of the assistant pros at Trailhead Golf Course, fills you in on a trio of the special offerings at the local recreation site: The indoor game simulators, the men's and ladies' clubs, and ... glow golf! Plus, you'll learn a bit about Ty's background during our opening round of minutes in this installment's Q&A.

Shane Brickner served as Liberty Lake's mayor throughout 2020 -- which was his personal highlight among his community contributions that also involved several years as a volunteer officer with the LLPD as well as two full terms on the City Council. For this episode, retired chief Brian Asmus of the Liberty Lake Police Department sits at the microphone to share some of his professional and personal...

What are the most frequently asked questions people ask at the Liberty Lake City Hall reception counter? Tait Garcia, the person behind that window, provides you the questions -- and their answers -- in this installment of the show. Plus, you'll learn a little bit about Tait's role as the point person at City Hall. Among the questions covered here: Does City Hall have maps or guides of the...

Celebrate the 50th season of our Northwest's Seattle Seahawks and their 4 Super Bowl appearances through this conversation with Seahawks superfan Kyle Dixon (who also happens to be the Finance director at Liberty Lake City Hall)! Kyle provides an essential primer on some of the greatest past and present players for the Seahawks, and takes you through his mental playbook of the team's previous Supe...

Police Chief Damon Simmons widens the lens for you about the license plate-reading resources known as Flock cameras. What do they do, and what do they -not- do? How are they used, and how are they -not- used? Listen in and learn more about this public safety tool.

City administrator Mark McAvoy guides you through some of the new or enhanced services and programs that you'll be seeing in Liberty Lake as part of the city's 2026 budget. You'll hear about expansions to the city's police department, upcoming public arts projects, a preview of Liberty Lake's 25th birthday celebration, plans for street projects and the city's sidewalk master plan, park and golf im...

Previous Liberty Lake City Council member Hugh Severs was reappointed to the group in December of 2025, following a 4-year hiatus. In this episode, Hugh talks about his personal background, including being a young councilman during his initial 8 years, why he decided to apply for the vacancy that opened up just before the November 2025 election, and whatever else emerges from the grab bag of quest...

Officer Kyle Fritz of the Liberty Lake Police Department offers m-a-n-y tips on what you can do to prevent the theft of packages delivered to your home. He also offers recommendations about home surveillance equipment you might want to consider getting, what to do if you become a victim of porch pirates, and even how to prevent property theft from your car.

The long-awaited new restaurant in the clubhouse building at the city-owned Trailhead Golf Course is now in operation! We take the microphones to that site as Vanessa Orozco, owner of Chavelitas Pub Grill & Cantina, shares details about the new restaurant, including some of the considerations that went into developing its menu, as well as the interactions it has with Trailhead's golfers an...

Is there going to be a light display at Orchard Park this winter for the end of 2025? City Recreation coordinator Mickael Stevens clears up that question ... and introduces you to the new multi-activity "Home for the Holidays" that the City of Liberty Lake is staging this year. Listen to learn about "Winter Wonderland" ... "Battle of the Branches" ... "Deck the H...

Hear the presentation by Mayor Cris Kaminskas of the 2026 city budget message (Liberty Lake's much shorter version of a "State of the Union Address") as recorded during the City Council meeting of Oct. 21, 2025. It's a quick collection of Liberty Lake's achievements from the past dozen months and a forecast of city services for 2026 ... with brief bit of trivia about the Stat...

We're serving up a selection of different treats for our first-ever Halloween show! Jandy Humble and Mikayla Kittilstved of the Liberty Lake Municipal Library offer up a few of their recommendations of hauntingly great books for the season -- highlighting some picks for readers of all ages. Plus, you'll hear details about the library's highly popular Halloween party, and we'll even do a diversion...

What's happening with a new City Hall for Liberty Lake? Public Works director Ben Turner has the full status update on that as well as a couple of the other big projects that are on the Liberty Lake facilities master plan: the city's library as well as the police station.

City Horticulture Division supervisor Dan Maus brings his urban forestry expertise to a residential level as he offers great tips you may want to do as you prepare your yard and garden areas for the colder months of fall and winter. Dan also digs a bit into the background of what he does as Liberty Lake's urban forester. And ... you will DEFINITELY want to stick around to the very end to hear the...

City Hall's I.T. guy, Evan O'Malley, is back -- this time with some tips to help you be smart in avoiding some phone and online scams that could otherwise threaten your bank account. Plus, our trivia question includes some related useful information from the Liberty Lake Police Department to further help you prevent becoming a victim to those types of scams.

It's a history podcast episode this time about a longtime Liberty Lake tradition, as Bob and Sue Schneidmiller talk about the origin and early growth of the annual Labor Day weekend public concerts by the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. You'll hear this major community event is called the Lud Kramer Memorial Concert, some of the Schneidmiller's memories about the first concert in 2001, how they became...

Without question, THE most event-packed day at Liberty Lake each year is the annual Barefoot in the Park, which happens in 2025 on Saturday, Aug. 2, all day long at Pavillion Park. Mickael Stevens, the city's Recreation coordinator, gives everything you want to know about every attraction happening that day -- all in about the time it will take you to thoroughly enjoy any one single event on this...

Touch A Truck is the biggest thing to happen at Orchard Park each summer! Event organizer Jandy Humble drives you through the details on how Touch A Truck got started, how it has changed and grown throughout each year, and what new things visitors can expect for the 2025 edition (happening July 18, 2025). Plus, she'll share her memorable account about the very surprise arrival of the helicopte...

The summer of 2025 offers another season to enjoy some free outdoor movies in Liberty Lake. So, this episode not only offers you a rundown of which movies will be playing in 2025, but also some details about the cast (including several Star Wars alumni!), interesting production facts, plus as some quick reviews. Which movies get a "thumbs up"? Listen to find out!