NEWS UNBROKEN
DAILY NEWS 7-10-2024
[THEME MUSIC] We've made it halfway through the week. Thanks a lot for joining us. It is Wednesday. I'm Eric Carpenter. And this is K-C-V-L-K-C-R-K. Well, get ready. It is going to be even hotter today than yesterday, once again into triple digits. That means try and stay out of the sun. Don't be doing strenuous activities outdoors. Drink plenty of liquids. And if you do have to work outdoors, do take some breaks, get in the shade or an air conditioned area. And again, drink plenty of water. Make sure your livestock, your animals, your dogs, your cats that everybody has plenty of water available. It is going to stay hot today. It's going to stay hot all the way through the weekend into next week. We're going to look more at that weather forecast, that coming up in just a little bit. Don't miss the two children's musicals this summer at Woodland Theatre, July 19th through July 28th. The jungle is jumping with a jazzy beat in Disney's The Jungle Book. Kids, specially adapted from the classic Disney animated film. Plus, Mean Girls Jr., a hilarious musical from book writer, Tina Fey, adapted from Fey's hit film Mean Girls. For more information, go to woodlandproductions.org. Tickets are on sale now at tix.com or pick them up at the Callville Chamber of Commerce. And if available, at Woodland Theatre. Before the showings, see you at the theater. A public hearing held yesterday, discussion, and there was a decision with the City of Callville Zoning Board of Adjustment. It was for a conditional use permit application by Northeast Washington Alliance for a proposed crisis stabilization facility. While it was standing room only for the four hour meeting, a lot of public comment, both for and against the plan, to move a current facility into the Stevens County Public Works Building with New Alliance taking over that space. The meeting was the-- this was the only hearing on the agenda for today, the only action taken. There were some amendments made to the proposal. Later this week, we'll be hearing more about this plan and the meeting. But the decision basically voted on by the Zoning Board to approve all four board members voting in favor. The board chair, Chris Montgomery, Sandra Wilma, Jerry Cabbage, and Jeff Pitts, discussed the details with the City Planner-- the guy over in Sandpoint, Aaron Qualls. The room was full with over 50 people present, making comments, and listening. All three Stevens County commissioners were present, along with Sheriff Brad Mankey and a variety of business owners from around the area. Again, throughout this week, we'll be talking more about what they're going to be doing. They have taken one more step toward finalizing, moving forward with putting in this crisis stabilization facility. Well, we've had reports, quite a few reports, from around Colville of Bear sightings this year. And last week, we had a moose wandering around in town. Well, when should you report a bear sighting? Here are some answers to that question from the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Hi, my name is Candice Holberg. I'm the Wildlife Conflict Specialist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife out of the Colville office. We get asked a lot of questions from the public. One community member called this week to ask if there's a bear sighting, should they report it? That's a great question. And the answer depends on what the sighting involves. If the bear wanders through and moves along fairly quickly, there isn't generally a need to alert WDFW. If the bear damages chicken coops, beehives, or causes other property damage, or causes trouble, or hangs around too long, it's best to let WDFW know so that we can reduce the chance of it becoming habituated. Habituation is defined as a behavioral tendency, wherein wild animals become accustomed to unnatural components of their environment. An example of this would be bears feeding on human waste and trash. If there is anything unusual about the bear is another time to report a sighting. You will always want to report that because it's helpful to WDFW staff to make management decisions. For instance, if it hangs around and doesn't move along, then it's on for an extended amount of time. So this would be more than a few days. Seems sick. Or you think it's a grizzly bear rather than a black bear? Please let us know. You can go to our website to see what are the differences between black and grizzly bears. Some of those identifying marks are not the fur color. It can be the shape of the face. The rounding of the ears is a characteristic of grizzly bears. Long claws that look like fake nails and a distinctive hump on the back are all characteristics of grizzly bears. So don't use telt color as a way to determine whether it's a grizzly bear or a black bear. If you want to report, there are a couple ways you can report bear sightings, both black bear and grizzly bear. You can call WDFW at 360-902-2936 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, including holidays, except for Thanksgiving and Christmas. So that number again is 360-902-2936. Outside of those hours, you can contact state patrol at 509-227-6560. You can also contact any of our regional offices to report those sightings as well. A reminder that if you do live in bear country, it's important to take steps to prevent bears from loitering around on your property by putting away things that could be an easy meal for them, such as pet foods, trash, receptacle bins, bird feeders, and barbecues. And if you have chickens or beehives, the easiest way to protect them is to run an electric fence around them. Most farm and ranch or hardware stores sell the equipment, also on Amazon is a good resource, and it's fairly easy to assemble. Just make sure that you ground the fence with a grounding rod and you're using an energizer with more than 0.7 joule output to be effective. Anything less than that will not work and you're just wasting money. More information on preventing conflicts with bears is on our website at wdfw.wa.gov. Type bear in the search bar in the upper right hand corner of the page and you'll be provided with lots of other resources. If you have questions for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, send it to communications@dfw.wa.gov or call 509 563 5495. Please include an email address or a phone number because you can win a prize for asking questions. There'll be a random drawing each week of people who submit questions. If your name is drawn, you can win a can of bear spray to take with you on your outdoor adventures. If you have a question for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, send it to communications@dfw.wa.gov or you can call 509 563 5495. Please include an email address or phone number because you can win a prize for asking questions. There will be a random drawing each week of people who submit questions. If your name is drawn, you win a can of bear spray to take with you on your outdoor adventures. Discover incredible savings during our biggest sale of the season from sleek, modern designs to a timeless classic. Find the perfect piece to elevate your space. Hurry into Saunders Furniture and save up to a staggering 70% off on select furniture. Don't miss this opportunity to bring style and comfort home. Visit Saunders Furniture today and let us help you create the home of your dreams. Sail in soon. Well, we all know that it has been extremely hot. It's been very dry. Well, due to those conditions, all fires at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area are prohibited, effective, midnight tonight. This fire prohibition is until further notice. No open flames are permitted, no fires, no fire rings, no fire boxes, no shoreline fires, charcoal fires, no tiki torches, incent burners, candles, pellet smokers, no propane campfires. The only thing you can use are self-contained propane or gas stoves or lanterns. That is allowed during the full fire ban. The ban on fires is to help reduce the possibility of human-caused wildfires during the high summer temperatures and dry conditions. Along with the very hot temperatures, well, it's creating a problem on some roadways, the Department of Transportation had to shut down State Route 11 to just one lane yesterday. Concrete panels buckled due to the extreme heat. Both the north and southbound traffic had to be alternated in one open lane, as crews worked to repair the roadway, causing backups and delays. They'll be making more permanent repairs once the temperatures cool down. This is a fairly recent event where Washington roads buckle and the cement cracks under the intense summer conditions. They found during the Pacific Northwest record-breaking heat dome in 2021. They had some road failures. As the temperatures fluctuate, the slabs of concrete that make up the roads expand and contract. Well, highways and other heavy use thoroughfares generally leave just enough room between the slabs of concrete so the materials can expand in the hot weather and contract in the cold weather. But when we reach previously unforeseen temperatures, more slack may be needed for the concrete. When the room between the slabs runs out, the road buckles and damages itself. When it gets really, really hot, like it hasn't been that hot before in quite a long time, the slabs expand too much. The University of Washington professor of civil engineering says there's no more room to expand. They just push up against each other and then they pop. For roads made up of asphalt, instead of concrete, it's just kind of the opposite. When you get really hot weather, the asphalt can soften up in the extreme heat. And you remember a while ago, I was talking about how commercial real estate in the Seattle area was plummeting in value? Well, they had another sale this week. The Colosseum Theater, it's in downtown Seattle. It was sold at, again, a substantial discount. The county records show, it's reported by the Puget Sound Business Journal, the building at 5th Avenue and Pike Street sold for $8.9 million. Well, that may sound like a lot of money, but the last time this building sold was in 2007 when it sold for $13 million. So not a good way to make any money right now if you have commercial real estate in King County or in the Seattle area. What we are watching very closely is there are a number of regional banks that have a lot of commercial loan exposure in the downtown Seattle market. There are growing concerns about the financial stability of some of those regional banks. I hope that that's not what I'm talking about next when we talk about the economics of downtown Seattle. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. I hope that's what I'm talking about next week. 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Vagan Brothers Lumber specializes in forest improvements and thinning treatments that add value to the forests for people, products, and the environment. We are currently purchasing saw logs, tonn wood, chip wood, and also timberland. Contact Vagan Brothers today at 509-684-5071 or for more information, go to www.vaganbrothers.com. Today's local weather forecast brought to you by Callville Auto Repair, your local Napa Auto Care Center. They provide expertise in everything they do. Whether you need routine service, a check engine light diagnosis, well you can count on them. Callville Auto Repair, they'll do it right. Make an appointment by calling 509-684-3581 or see them at 505 South Maine. Sunny, hot, about 101 this afternoon, clear overnight, 96 on Thursday and Friday, 95 Saturday Sunday into Monday. It might only get to 93 degrees, still all sunshine on Tuesday. Callville Auto Repair, they specialize in Dodge Ford, Chevy Diesel Repair and Maintenance. Want to find out more? Give them a call, 509-684-3581. Midweek Wednesday, good to have you with us. Do try and stay kind of cool today. Find a nice air-conditioned spot or at least some shade. Enjoy the weather. Looks like it's going to stay sunny and hot all weekend on end to next week. Eric Carpenter with you on KCVL, KC-RK.