Regional News

Washington’s U.S. senators say they’ve asked President Joe Biden to approve a major disaster declaration for eastern Washington towns that were burned by wildfires last fall. Those include the Whitman County town of Malden, which lost about 80% of its homes.

Then-President Trump never responded to two disaster applications from Governor Inslee.

UPDATED: Friday, 3 pm with response from Idaho House Republicans. 

Idaho’s governor today [Friday] blasted legislative leaders who are pressuring him to end the state’s 10-month-old emergency declaration because of the coronavirus.

Those leaders believe the governor has overstepped his power. They’re proposing a variety of bills aimed at moving some of his emergency authority to the legislature.

A potato processing plant in the central Washington town of Warden burned down in a dramatic overnight fire Thursday. 

By early Friday morning, emergency responders had evacuated nearly a third of the homes near the plant. Flames were licking a large tank of ammonia, and firefighters feared it might explode. 

“This was a very large fire,” Kyle Foreman with the Grant County Sheriff’s Department said. “Certainly one of the top 10 in my career.”

QUICK LINKS:

–Washington Vaccine Information Page

–FindYourPhaseWA – Washington Vaccine Phase Finder

A Spokane legislator is promoting a bill that proposes changes to Washington’s public health system.

Representative Marcus Riccelli [D-Spokane] says the legislature has allowed funding for public health to erode over the years, which leaves it vulnerable when it’s most needed. His legislation received a hearing Thursday before the House Health Care Committee.

A Washington legislative committee heard testimony Wednesday on a bill that would allow businesses shuttered by the pandemic to partially reopen.



More than 1,600 people signed up to weign in on legislation that takes aim at Governor Inslee’s latest re-opening plan.

As President Donald Trump prepared to leave office, his Department of Energy was celebrating that a new analytical lab was “ready to operate” at the Hanford Site in southeast Washington.

The lab, being largely constructed by DOE contractor Bechtel National, Inc. is part of a low-level radioactive waste treatment facility meant to make glass logs out of the hazardous goo.

The push to vaccinate more people against Covid in Washington is putting health care providers in an interesting situation.

Dr. Chris Dale, the chief quality officer at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, says the uncertainty about supply has some hospitals holding onto Covid vaccines so they have enough to administer second doses, while others are giving as many first shots as they can.

The state of Washington, hamstrung as many states have been by a slow distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, will deploy the National Guard, set up mass vaccination sites and create a new public-private partnership to lead a renewed effort to get the vaccine into the arms of people.

The move comes as the state prepares to immediately advance to the next phase of people eligible for a vaccination beyond health care workers, first responders and those living and working in nursing homes.

Although it hasn't snowed much in recent weeks at lower elevations, the snowpack in the mountains seems to be pretty close to normal this year.



The Spokane-Coeur d’Alene-St. Joe Basin snowpack is at about 92% of normal.
 To the north, the Kootenai-Pend Oreille Basins are at 104% of normal for this time of year.

Hundreds of elderly drivers put their cars in line way before dawn for the opening day of a first come, first serve drive-thru COVID vaccination clinic in Sequim, Washington. The scene provided a dramatic illustration of eagerness among many seniors to get the coveted shots. Hospitals in other medium-sized and smaller Washington communities that have opened vaccination appointment lines to all seniors in recent days report being swamped as well.

Washington’s salmon are “teetering on the brink of extinction,” according to a new report. It says the state must change how it’s responding to climate change and the growing number of people in Washington. 

The Covid inoculation effort in Idaho is picking up steam. Right now, it's in a transition point, says state public health administrator Elke Shaw-Tulloch.

“The health care personnel, long-term care facility will continue to go forward as we continue to work through our vaccines. But now it’s time to start opening up to front line essential workers and people age 65 and over,” she said.

Central Washington University has become the latest of the state’s regional universities to announce a leadership change.

Thursday the Ellensburg university introduced Dr. James Wohlpart as its new president. Wohlpart comes from the University of Northern Iowa, where he is the provost.

Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward on Thursday declared a civil emergency as a result of Wednesday’s windstorm. Officials say the designation helps the city qualify for money needed to move and clean up debris that has some effect on public safety.

Crews from the region's utilities are back at it this morning [Thursday], working to restore power to tens of thousands of homes and businesses in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.

Avista says Wednesday’s windstorm caused at least 1,600 outages in its service territory, knocking out electricity to about 70,000 customers. As of this morning, the utility says more than 45,000 are still not connected.

The U.S. House voted 232 to 197 Wednesday to impeach President Donald Trump for a second time.

To keep Washington from facing another devastating fire season, Public Lands Commissioner Hilary Franz is asking the state legislature to create a dedicated fund for firefighting, forest restoration and community response.

Idaho state officials have announced which groups of people are next in line for coronavirus vaccines.

Governor Brad Little made the announcement on Tuesday.

A new Idaho legislative session has begun with a tradition done in a different way.

In normal times, Governor Brad Little would appear before a joint session of the legislature on opening day and deliver his State of the State address. But in this pandemic, he gave his 30-minute speech in a television studio with no interruptions for applause.

People age 70 and older as well as some people living with an elder will be next in line for the COVID-19 vaccine in Washington. The state Department of Health on Wednesday provided awaited details for whose turn comes when to get the precious and scarce shots.