NEWS UNBROKEN
DAILY NEWS 7-25-2024
[MUSIC PLAYING] Oh, what would the Olympics be without the controversy of a variety of cheating? Good day, good morning. It's kind of hazy. Smokey skies, fared moderate air quality here in Colville. Fires again today, topping the news. We're going to talk about a variety of fires and activities going on. We could be seeing gusty winds, certainly cooler with cold front going through. We're going to talk about all of that and more coming up. Thursday morning, Eric Carpenter with you on KCDL, KCRK. Hey, Colville, ready to transform your sleep? Discover the all-new Tempur-Pedic mattresses at Saunders Furniture, downtown Colville's sleep experts. Take the test dress and let our sleep experts fit you for the perfect mattress. Whether you're looking for a firm support or luxurious softness, Tempur-Pedic adapts to your body like no other. For over 15 years, I've trusted my sleep to Tempur-Pedic. Through every stage of my life, it's been there for me. Visit us in downtown Colville today and experience the Tempur-Pedic difference at Saunders Furniture. Your best night's sleep awaits. Take the first step towards better sleep. Visit Saunders Furniture in downtown Colville and let our sleep experts guide you to the perfect Tempur-Pedic mattress. Saunders Furniture, where comfort meets expertise. Well, there's good news, and there's not so good news. On the fire fronts, the bridge creek fire-- that is the fire that has been burning north of Keller. They have got good lines getting around that fire. In fact, they think within the next day or two, they will be able to get some of the firefighting crews that have been on the bridge creek fire, shifted over to the Swahwila fire. That is, Swahwila fire is not good news, but the bridge creek fire, they have made very good progress on that, monitoring the lines, and improving the fire line, where there's snags that could fall down on the roads in that and conducting priority structure protection. Good news on the bridge creek fire. On the other hand, the Swahwila fire-- there's a lot of things going on there. They went to a Level 3 evacuation area, including the community of Keller late yesterday. Now, they have not closed Highway 155, even though the land surrounding Highway 155 is on Level 3 evacuation. Well, they're using Highway 155. That's basically Nespillum to Elmer City for evacuations. They are not closing the highway at this time. They say State Patrol was notified of the Level 3 evacuation and are aware that they are not closing 155 at this time, that from the emergency management folks over it for that area in Ferry County. Well, Level 3 evacuations were issued due to threats posed by the Swahwila fire for the town of Keller and the entire surrounding area and community. The fire expanded to the Northwest with the increased winds midday and late yesterday. They are going to be watching it very closely for the next 24 hours. They are still expecting winds 20 to 35 miles an hour. They say the fire has a high probability of impacting the town of Keller. That means it is affecting the area immediately. They were going door-to-door, wanting people to pack, take their emergency items, and leave. They were making it clear they could not force people to leave their homes, but they were notifying every one of the dangers due to the wildfire. Gather up your family, your pets, take only your essentials that are needed, medications, important documents, and not to come back until the authorities say it is safe. Now, if evacuations set up at the Lake Roosevelt High School Gym at Cooley Dam, also they have opened a shelter at the Pascal Sherman Indian School at Omak, the two evacuation centers that are open. As of nine last night, and it ran all night long, the Keller Ferry went back into operation due to the fire and the evacuations. Those under evacuation in Ferry County can use the Keller Ferry to evacuate into Lincoln County. No travelers heading north will be allowed to cross. The Ferry is running outside of their normal operating hours and they had been not operating the last couple days due to the fire conditions, but they resumed operations about nine last night, ran all night, going to continue so people can get out of that area. The State Route 21 does still remain closed from the North Landing to Cache Creek Road. At the Keller Ferry is operational for people evacuating the area. No one allowed to be coming back across to the North. Join Caldwell Together, a Main Street Program for 4th Friday on July 26th. This family-friendly event features vendors along Main and Aster, a downtown art walk starting at 3 p.m. and free kids' crafts at the library from 3 to 5.30 p.m. Enjoy the bounce house and games thanks to Rento Chico. Then, cap up the evening with live music by Earl Ware from 5 to 8 p.m. in Heritage Corps. Sponsored by the Vincent Fund. It's 4th Friday in downtown Caldwell. Don't miss it. The Pioneer Fire. It is now over 30,000 acres. Chelan County Sheriff's Office says "Protecting Stehekin is a top priority." Now, Stehekin, depending on where you are in that remote area, it is anywhere level one, level two. They have been getting people prepared to evacuate. You either have to leave by air or boat. There's no roads in or out of that area. The Hazard Creek to Safety Harbor is in a level three evacuation. The Safety Harbor to Camus Creek, level two, and Camus Creek to Mitchell Creek at level one. The county says multiple attempts have been made to stop the fire well south of Stehekin, but the attempts have not been successful due to extreme fire behavior and steep terrain. So, they've still been evaluating numerous locations to try and stop the fire from reaching Stehekin, but heavy fuels and hazards to firefighters limiting visibility in those areas. The fire strategy is in place, but the complex incident management team took command of that fire late Sunday. And the sheriff says the county's working fore closely with the incident management team. They've been beside the Stehekin community from the start, providing strategy, also evacuation, planning input into wildlife management, talking with the residents. But it is getting rather dire because the fire keeps moving, and it will be an immediate fast evacuation if the fire gets much closer. The fire officials say the fire assistance force to Hekin is arriving more today to implement structure protection plans that on the west side there, out of Chelan on Lake Chelan, at Stehekin. The Kettlefall School District is currently seeking a skilled and reliable bus driver for the 2024-2025 school year. Accelerate your career in this high demand field. As a bus driver, you will be transporting students and staff on regular school routes and extracurricular activities, such as field trips. Be a part of our team and help us continue to provide safe and efficient transportation to our community. Apply online at kfschools.org or call 509-738-6625 for more information. Well, recently, an individual had to be helicoptered from Colville to Spokane because he had a rattlesnake bite. So we thought we would find out more about rattlesnakes and the various other snakes that are here in our area. Here's what Fish and Wildlife had to say. Hi, I'm Candice Holberg and I'm a wildlife conflict specialist in Northeast Washington out of the Colville office. I love snakes, even though I get to deal with the big charismatic megafauna, as we call them, large carnivores. There is a special place in my heart for ancibs and reptiles because they're so undervalued and understudied and they have some really cool adaptations and things that they do to help the environment. They're really an important part of a healthy ecosystem. And I've moved rattlesnakes so that they get away from people because they can eat thousands of rodents and mice each year, which really, really helps keep those diseases that can affect people and kill people at lower levels. And so they're such an important part of the ecosystem. So if you can tolerate them and not get scared, it doesn't mean that even as a biologist, I don't get, whoa, what was that? But you can safely move snakes, like our snakes, when they're scared to have a defense mechanism where they release this smell that smells very much like a skunk. And so you do have to be careful and they still have teeth, so it can hurt if you do get bit. But for the most part, if you move them early in the morning, if you live in a spot that you frequently get a lot of snakes, you can do snake kicks in the morning where it's nice and cool because they have to warm their bodies up. They're not like us. Snakes are ectothermic, which means outside temperatures is what their inside temperatures are. So that's when you'll see themselves sunning on rocks or things like that early in the morning because they're trying to warm themselves up. So you can move them and really you can just use a long stick, pick them up by the tail and then use the stick to kind of hold their head away from you and then just gently move them. They're so important for the ecosystem. I've been bit by a gopher snake and it doesn't feel great. They're similar in size to the Western and I'm a back rattlesnake that we have here, but they are literally way more aggressive, but you can move them. I would say depending on your location will depend on how many you're seeing. Usually good snake ears are predicated by a good rodent ear the year before. So hopefully it's actually an indicator that there'll be less rodents, which Rodentia, that group can carry a lot of zoonotic diseases. So diseases that are communicable to people. And so we do sometimes get reports of a higher congregation of different types of snakes. That's called a hibernaculum or sometimes breeding. But I wouldn't say this year we're receiving any more than normal if you think about kind of all of Eastern Washington. Usually that's a little further south that you'll see those. So like linking Connie and things like that. Not to say that they don't come up here. It's really habitat specific in locations that get warmer or are a little more sandy and rocky are usually places where rattlesnakes will be. Distinctively they have that really pretty diamond shaped head, the keeled scales that are duller in color. And that's how you can tell the difference, especially if there isn't a rattle on the rattlesnake. One of the interesting things about that is that a lot of people confuse gopher snakes with rattlesnakes. Another name for a gopher snake is a bull snake. And they have a very similar pattern as the Western Diamondback rattlesnake. The only way that you can tell the difference is their scales on the rattlesnake are keeled and they're kind of dull. Whereas on the bull snake or the gopher snake is its common name, it's a little more shiny because a lot of rattlesnakes now no longer have a rattle because think about it. If a lot of rattlesnakes have been killed and how are they identified because they rattle their tail. And so the ones that are reproducing are the ones that aren't getting caught for the most part. And so those rattles are reduced. And usually bull snakes or gopher snakes as they're called are actually more aggressive than rattlesnakes. Just give them space for sure. And just be a little bit more careful. One of the myths about snake venom is you suck it out and that's impossible. And so we always just recommend. If people are concerned that they're gonna be exposed to rattlesnakes to just call their local hospital and ask if they have it, most hospitals do not. And historically the further north that you get and the less likely they are to have it. So what we always recommend is that you call your local hospital and ask whether they have a dose or not. I know in Spokane several years ago, I was doing an outing in the poloose, which does have rattlesnakes. And I called to ask and deaconess at the time was the place that they would take somebody if they had been suspected to have been bitten by a rattlesnake. Now the venom, it reacts differently to people. So the Western Diamondback in particular isn't as venomous or damaging as some of the snakes that are down in the south. So it's not like, for example, like a black mamba where you have 30 minutes to get the anti-ventum, or you'll die, it's nothing like that. A lot of the times there's just a lot of swelling. You just wanna make sure that you get the swelling down and then they watch it to make sure that you don't have any skin necrosis or anything like that from the swelling. The rattlesnake here isn't as dangerous as, like I said, some of those other snakes further south of us where you have a very short time window. But most of the time, as long as you're getting in and getting the anti-ventum, if you're having a really bad reaction, some people don't have a reaction at all. Just wanna make sure that you get in. And if it's an animal, you can always call your vet and see if they have it. I would say up here, they're less likely to have the anti-ventum for people or for animals, just because they're not as common as what they are in the more dry climate. So down in the Columbia Basin and things like that. Anti-ventum also expires. So that's part of the reason why not a lot of places have it is because it does go bad after a short period of time. - I feel like I'm trivia night, I do really well. Dinner parties, maybe not as great. (laughs) - For top-notch service and unmatched choices in insurance products, you can depend on the folks at Guide Insurance Services in Callville for Home and Auto, Farm, Life, Health, Personal and Business Insurance Policies. Call for a free quote and take advantage of rates, benefits and services designed to give you more for your money. Call Guide Insurance Services today at 684-5850 or visit them at 621 South Main in Callville. - The initial reports yesterday afternoon was the highway 17 miles east of Republic was blocked. Well, it may have been blocked for a short period of time, but the state patrol got on the scene. It was an oversized load. A semi ended up on its side. And by about 2.30 or so, you could get around and the highway was not blocked. It was a non-injury accident of that over that semi that ended up on its side, 17 miles east of Republic on Highway 20 up in the Sherman Pass area. About 170 asylum seeking refugees living at a camp in Kent have been moved into temporary housing according to King County and the Low Income Housing Institute. Over the course of the past year, they have been shuffling this asylum seeking group from city to city within King County. The group primarily women and children, some young kids, infants, toddlers, they were sleeping out in the field during the heat waves. So they've been getting as many people as they can into housing. They are giving them rental units in the owned properties in King County. Also rental subsidies. The state has given King County $5 million already toward this group to address the refugee assistance. But now the investigation is that only small parts of that money were actually diverted to help the specific refugees. A recent move of 170 refugees funded with a 1.2 million in funding through King County. View it as a bridge funding for a larger program that is being built at the state level. They still have 40 to 50 refugees from Africa, Central and South America at the Kent camp at the state route 167 on ramp. The so far, 170 of the refugees in temporary housing, they're covering rent for about six months at which point they are expecting the state to take over their rent expenses. I say it's not permanent, but the method is necessary as these refugees are still awaiting approval from federal immigration on their asylum status. The federal subsidizing of housing, you have to be a legal in the country. So since the feds won't pay the state, they'll put up the money for housing, the illegals. The forced health message to all timber landowners, insects, disease and suppressed stands of timber have created an unhealthy forest environment that is susceptible to wildfire. Forest health is a concern to our community and to us at Voggin Brothers Lumber. To discuss the possible options available for your timber land, call our experienced forestry team at 509-684-5071 for a free onsite consultation or look us up on the web at www.vogginbrothers.com. Well, it hadn't happened for a while. Day before yesterday, the game I was over at a watch with the Mariners, at the end of the game, there were loud, loud, angry boos from the crowd. A day game yesterday, things were looking good, the Mariners had a one-nothing lead, one-nothing lead, another inning goes by, still a one-nothing lead. Mariners lose the game. Give up a couple runs late in the game. And apparently the crowd was even more boisterous than the night before, yesterday afternoon at the end of the game, very loud boos for the home Mariners. Not a good thing when you had a 10-game lead in the American League West back in mid-June. Struggling team offensively right now, pitching, still holding up pretty good. But between errors in fielding and not good decisions in how they are trying to hit the ball. The Mariners are struggling in some areas, hopefully they can get that ship all figured out and get back in stride because not only have they lost the momentum of having the lead in the American League West, they have very quickly lost the widespread support of the home crowd. You don't want to be getting booed as you are leaving the field at the end of the game. Mariners wrapped up the home stand was not good. They got one win against Houston and again get swept by the Los Angeles Angels, three straight losses. Heading off on the road. See if a road trip can get things going for the Mariners. Well, look at today's local weather forecast brought to you by LMK floors. Now you're going to find them south end of town, 1175B South Main and Colville. The chance sale is coming up right around the corner. It's August 1st, 2nd and 3rd. LMK is going to be offering 10% off all their stock inventory that is in their offsite warehouse. There's going to be some crazy savings on all their overstock inventory. It's kind of one of those once a year sales. You don't want to miss this one. Do something amazing, LMK floors. Hazy skies today, a comfortable 76 for a high. Our winds could get to 20 miles an hour here in the Colville area. And chilly 40 degrees overnight is what's expected. Tomorrow should be pretty nice, sunshine 82 degrees. Might even be a lot calmer winds tomorrow. 44 Friday night, 85. But again, because of the wildfires in the area, we're going to have kind of smoky skies on Saturday and Sunday. 84 on Sunday, 83 Monday. Now, there is the possibility of thunderstorms Monday night and Tuesday. And that is the real danger. Everyone in the area has been really good. We, you know, the fires over on the Colville reservation, lightning cause, they aren't human cause. We have not had any big human cause fires here in our area. And so let's continue to be really careful. The firefighting crews, you know, when we got big fires going on, we just don't have a lot more resources. So be careful. It's very dry out there. But be in the watch out Monday night and Tuesday when we may get some thunderstorms. And that means lightning strikes. Still going to stay really dry. There's only a 20% chance of any precipitation. I'll back sunshine on Wednesday and 84 degrees. All right, it's coming up right around the corner. August 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Don't miss the annual tent sale at LMK floors. Light winds out of the south this morning here in Colville, the barometer at 30.10. 68 degrees. We're not going to shoot up really high today. It's going to stay very comfortable, but we start the day off at 68. 737, did you watch the president last night? You know, they had a very scripted speech, certainly not written by Joe Biden. The speech writers were very deliberate in their wording and Joe made it through a lot of it pretty good. Now we'll see what the next weeks do because more and more of the old records of Harris are going to be coming out. All right, to be back with you in the eight o'clock hour, we've got to make some quick checks and see how a few fires are doing. I'm Eric Carpenter. This is Thursday morning on KCVL, KCRK.