NEWS UNBROKEN
DAILY NEWS, SPORTS, AND WEATHER, FROM COLVILLE WASHINGTON... LIVE WITH ERIC CARPENTER!
We're getting really close. The 4th of July right around the corner coming up on Thursday. Good morning. Eric Carpenter with you. This is KCVL, KCRK. If you want to help out the blood supply shortage, you're welcome to do that today. It is the blood drive down at the Ag Trade Center. That'll be running 11.30 till 4.45. So today is the day for the blood drive to be here in Colville. By the way, if you are a blood donor today, you get a T-shirt. Thanks for your life-saving efforts down at the Ag Trade Center here in Colville. Last Thursday, it was a fatal accident right in Valley. The vehicle was traveling northbound on State Route 231, left the roadway, struck two signposts, and then hit a utility pole, came to rest against the utility pole in the roadway. They believe the state patrol says it was a medical incident. Brian Gilbert, a 59-year-old from Valley, was the deceased driver, was wearing a seatbelt and that. But I really do believe that it was a potential medical situation that caused that accident. The vehicle hitting the utility pole in Valley. 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 in to Sondra's furniture and save up to a staggering 70% off on select furniture. Don't miss this opportunity to bring style and comfort home. Visit Sondra's furniture today and let us help you create the home of your dreams. Sail in soon. Alright, let's find out more today from Vern Malinsky, the Avista Director of Electrical Engineering, about this public safety power shut-off program. It's part of their fire safety mode. It is underway now. So we will notify our customers if we're seeing the right conditions that could warrant a public safety power shut-off. We will be able to notify them before, during, and after an event. And we have a lot of different tools that we can use. We will use a newly created part of our outage map, which customers can find online or on our outage. At our, at our, our, our MyBista.com application. That will help show some of the areas that could be at risk. And we'll also be doing phone calls, text messages, emails, and other things. Again, before, during, and after the event. And we're continuing to work with our community partners to make sure that they're engaged and we're all in this together because this isn't just a utility challenge. This is really a community and a societal challenge. So we're working with all these different agencies to make sure that we can partner and create the experience we need for our communities and our customers. So when we talk about outage duration, that's a really key point. As these conditions occur, and in each outage and storm and situation is unique. So there's really no way to predict what the duration or impact could be. But what we've seen from others is that during a very significant event, there could be outage durations that extend beyond one day and end up multiple days. And the reason for that is, is because during a wildfire PSPS event or a fire safety mode event, when conditions are high and risk is high, we have to patrol every inch of that line. So we have to change how we would normally react and restore power during these high risk conditions, which takes more time. So we have to physically patrol every inch of that line and all the services to ensure that there's nothing that could possibly create an ignition or a spark event when we go to re-energize. And we also have to make sure that the weather or the storm front or whenever the conditions are increased enough, or we can safely do that without risk of another tree or limb or incident occurring right after we've come through and patrol. That's really the number one thing that's changed, is that, as we operate our system more sensitively, due to higher hunger risk, prolonged times in our re-energization process changes, and that takes more time. But it's in the name of safety, and that's the right thing to do. So when it comes to average durations and how long it takes to re-energize, it's so situational. We have feeders that are 366 miles long, and we have some that are two miles long. So when you look at where this risk could be and how diverse all these different areas could get when it comes to fire risk and the outages, it's really, really hard to predict, which is why it's so important that we engage with our customers, and we can communicate early with them, and we create an awareness that wildfire risk and some of the operational changes may be coming and trying to support everyone in readiness and preparedness, the heading into the 2024 wildfire season. Alright, Avista, of course, they provide electric service and natural gas, Eastern Washington, North Idaho, parts of Southern and Eastern Oregon. We're going to find out a little bit more about the fire safety mode, the service options to medically vulnerable customers, and vegetation management. We'll be shocking again tomorrow with the folks at Avista. Looking for a little comfort in your life? Call the expert, your carrier dealer. Carrier dealers are the authorities at getting peak performance from your heating and cooling system, so call your carrier dealer first. He has ways of making you very comfortable. Carrier, turn to the experts at ABC Heating and Electric in Colville at 411 West 2nd, or call Deb for an appointment at 684 2018, or go to abc-heating.com. While a lot of families look forward to gathering and celebrating over the 4th of July, I'm going to talk about the dangers of fireworks. We want everybody to be safe this holiday. The 2023 fire incidents from fireworks resulted in more than 12 million in property damage here in Washington state. Children under 15 make up over 22% of the reported firework injuries. So, you know, if it's possible, go view the fireworks at a public display. They'll have fireworks up at Northport down at Loonlike on Friday. If you do set off fireworks at home, some suggestions to stay safe. Of course, use legal fireworks. Also, good idea, have a bucket and a hose nearby. Supervised children around fireworks. You want to get rid of any defective fireworks properly. If you do have a defective fireworks, soak it in water overnight. Drain off the water, tie it up in a garbage bag, then throw it in the trash. It's a good idea. Don't be drinking too much. No alcohol while using fireworks. And you want to keep those fireworks and sparklers away from your body. Sparklers, you know, traditional thing for the kids to do and spin them around and make shapes and that with the sparks coming off. Well, they can reach temperatures of 2000 degrees. You don't want to have any contact with that sparkler when it is going. So just a few reminders coming up Thursday. We're just two days away here from the 4th of July. Art and tree farms. For nearly seven decades, we've been a part of Northeast Washington. Caring for our forest and helping to support the people in our communities. Now we've decided to step outside the box by creating Art and Tree Farms Timberland Consulting. Paving the way for us to help you. Whether it is questions on your timberland, needing equipment work done, or a vast array of other services, we are here to help. Visit us at Art and Tree Farms Timberland Consulting.com or call 509-684-2507. Contact us today for a free initial consultation. Well, there's a reason the Washington State Auditor comes in and audits everything from county to city governments to fire districts. Well, anything to do with money. Well, the State Auditor discovered a Washington State employee was committed fraud. The office says it is the largest internal misappropriation in a state agency that they have seen in 15 years. The state employee misappropriated $878,115 between 2019 and 2023. They worked at the Office of Administrative Hearings. So fraud in government offices, they say, normally starts with a series of small transactions. People use that as a test to see if they can get away with it. If no one detects it, then they start to exponentially increase the size of their charges. So nearly $900,000 in this fraud case, the charges were on a credit card. They were charged to a consulting business. That business was registered with the Department of Revenue, but it was in the name of the management analyst who worked in the Office of Administrative Hearings Fiscal Department. Just continued to run up the bills. A lot of it was a gambling issue and put a lot of that money right into casinos. The auditor, you know, you kind of know a lot of people hate it when the state auditor comes in and wants to review everything, but that's kind of a good reason why they look for things. And a Bellingham man, pleading guilty, he's embezzled some $75,000 from a nonprofit that he co-founded to help the homeless. The judge sentenced James Peterson, age 67, they get 60 days in jail, played guilty to one count of first degree theft at a felony level. The nonprofit is called Homes Now, not Later. They run and operate tiny home communities for unhoused people. They operate two tiny home villages, Unity Village and Swift Haven and Bellingham. Between June of 2027 and September of 2019, the first two years of that nonprofits existence, Peterson was siphoning off funds according to court records. He withdrew funds from the business banking account and spent the money at local businesses in Watcom and Skagit counties also used a good share of the money at area casinos. Voggin 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, ton wood, chip wood, and also timberland. Contact Voggin Brothers today at 509 684 5071. Or for more information, go to www.vogginbrothers.com. Kind of a rare day off in the middle of a homestead yesterday, the Mariners are back in action tonight, the first of three games against Baltimore. Five thirty pregame 640 first pitch. The Mariners have been struggling the past couple of weeks. They are still in first place. But by no means do they have that 10 game lead in first that they did have. So Baltimore, Maryland, or baseball tonight, that'll be on 92.1 KCRK. A look at today's local weather forecast brought to you by Floner Electric. You'll find them at 423 West first in Colville, Floner Electric offering a full range of services for residential and commercial remodels, new construction. Floner also offers electrical materials for sale to the general public called Floner Electric 509 684 8353. Mostly sunny today. We are going to have a little bit of wind. 79 the afternoon high 48 tonight 79 sunshine on Wednesday ready for the 4th of July holiday Thursday. 85 degrees with sunshine 91 on Friday 93 on Saturday 95 Sunday. In fact, it looks like sunny and hot weather into Monday with a high of 96 degrees going to be warm. Floner Electric, your one stop shop for all of your electrical needs serving the Tri-County area since 1992. Call 509 684 8353. Give him a call today for Floner Electric. We do appreciate your joining this second day of July 4th of July holiday coming up. Some of the government office is going to be closed on Friday. Make it a four day weekend for them. Eric Carpenter with you on KCVL, KCRK.