Hope Fire surpasses 3,200 acres
State resources are now being deployed against a fire burning in Stevens County.
The Hope Fire near Evans started yesterday afternoon, about 12 miles southwest of Northport.
And as of last night, Stevens County Emergency Management estimates the fire at 3,200 acres and growing.
The state fire marshal says the blaze is burning in grass, brush and timber and threatening homes.
Level 2 and 3 evacuation orders remain in place, and the Red Cross has set up an evacuation shelter at the Kettle Falls Middle School, which will reopen at 9:30 Wednesday morning.
Officials report the Meenach Fire near Spokane Falls Community College has been fully contained.
All evacuation orders for the area have been lifted. The school says normal operations will resume today.
Spokane Valley to increase opioid exposure punishment
Spokane Valley City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Tuesday night upping the punishment for exposing someone to opioids or other drugs.
It’s now a gross misdemeanor to cause anyone to come in contact with fentanyl or other controlled substances.
A previous version of the ordinance only protected children or dependent adults. The new measure now includes anyone as a potential victim.
But Spokane Valley City Council member Laura Padden questioned who else might be at risk.
"But what about expanding that to people like bus drivers or people on a bus who can’t get away—and that’s endangering them," she said.
Spokane Valley City Council Member Ben Wick pointed out that the Valley relies on the Spokane County prosecutor to bring cases forward.
"It does come down to whether the prosecuting attorney’s office will enforce or file those cases on our behalf but very supportive that we’re doing this." he said. "And also, encourage us to have communications both with the county and our neighboring jurisdictions to have more of a unified voice in doing this."
Wick said there has been interest from the County and other cities in the area to codify similar ordinances.
Washington faces deepening drought conditions
Washington is in the midst of its third consecutive year of drought.
Farms in the Yakima River valley have been hit hardest.
Some are getting just half of their normal water allotment.
But signs of the dry conditions are everywhere—from low streamflows affecting fish to drier soils increasing the risk of wildfires.
The state Department of Ecology declared drought emergencies for much other state, including almost all of Okanogan and Ferry Counties.
Caroline Mellor, Ecology’s statewide drought lead, said in six of the last 10 years, Washington experienced low snow pack and drought conditions.
Even for people in urban areas that seem untouched, she says there are things you can do to help conserve.
"Drought is no longer a one off here in Washington, it's part of our regular life and regular cycles," she said. "And folks should be prepared for it and think about it when they buy plants, or think about setting up their garden."
The state provides emergency relief to drought in the form of emergency funding for public entities and expedited transfers of water rights.
58 laid-off Boeing employees return to work
Some Boeing employees are heading back to work after losing their jobs earlier this year.
The workers’ union found that 58 employees were wrongfully laid off.
Rich Plunkett, who works for the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, said the union discovered that Boeing was using outside workers to do work the laid off employees had been doing. That was a violation of the SPEEA members’ contract.
"In the event of a layoff, a reduction in force, those personnel who are employed as industry assist must be let go before like-skilled, SPEEA represented employees," he told NWPB.
The employees will be paid for lost wages and benefits. The union said that amounts to just under $2 million.
Boeing did not respond to requests for an interview.
Trump admin finalizes decision to leave Columbia River salmon restoration plan
It’s official: The federal government has withdrawn plans to recover imperiled salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin.
In 2023, the Biden administration put decades of court battles on hold and asked for more ways to save salmon runs.
That included looking at how to remove the Lower Snake River dams, plus supplementing the energy, transportation and irrigation infrastructure from the four dams.
Now, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation have withdrawn those plans. The agencies posted an official notice in the Federal Register this week.
Biologists say the Lower Snake River dams are a reason some salmon are careening toward extinction. Tribes and salmon advocates say backing out of this plan will make it harder to find a compromise.
But, some dam advocates wanted in on talks that happened between the groups involved in court battles. Now, those groups say more people could be included in future discussions.
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Reporting by Owen Henderson, Eliza Billingham, Bellamy Pailthorp, Lauren Gallup and Courtney Flatt.