NEWS UNBROKEN
DAILY NEWS 8-22-2024
We've made it to Thursday, good to have you with us here on the radio. I'm Harry Carpenter and this is K-C-V-L K-C-R-K. Man, it seems so strange to still be talking seriously about the primary election we had. The latest count last night, the seventh legislative district race for position number one, Andrew Engels, still of course with the commanding lead for first place. Nearly 48% of the vote. But who angle is going to run against? Still kind of in the air. Tegan Levine with 24.78% of the vote. Sue Moody with 25.28% of the vote. Well, that is just over a 200 vote lead now for Moody and unlikely that is going to change. So we're not ready to say it'll be Moody on the ballot, but that's what it looks like right now. Now, on a statewide race, Hillary France, of course, decided to exit the job of Public Lands Commissioner in order for a chance to be in the U.S. House of Representatives. Seven people competed in the primary to be the new head of DNR. Well, here we are two weeks later and the race is still undecided. In fact, just 16 votes separate second place from third place that the top two vote getters, they move on to the general election. So you will former U.S. Representative Jamie Butler, a Republican. She get the most votes, 23,000. Her challenger has yet to be determined due to the 16 vote margin in King County. The King County Council Member Dave up the Grove, a Democrat, had grabbed the lead over Republican Sue Pedersen, the 52 vote margin statewide. There's one of the tightest statewide races in the last 20 years. Both campaigns are pushing for a recount with that race too close to call. There still are several thousand votes to be counted according to the Secretary of State's Office. Another 9,000 ballots have already been challenged. Well, if there is a recount, it's going to take another 10 to 14 days to confirm. Now, if Pedersen advances to the general election, she and Butler will make history with a general election victory as the first Republican woman elected as Commissioner of Public Lands. The victor would also be just the second Republican woman to hold a statewide office in Washington state. Hillary France, she has been the Department of Natural Resource Director since 2017. Now, one other race of note, Bob Ferguson, of course, he is departing the Attorney General Post, he's running for governor, had the majority of votes in the primary election. Pete Serrano, the Mayor of Pasco, he has a commanding lead, 42% of the vote to be the next Attorney General, while Serrano would be the first Republican to serve as Attorney General since Rob McKenna in 2012. U.S. Attorney Nick Brown, a Democrat, is going to face off against Serrano. He received the second most votes with 35%. So, we'll see what develops some particular, very close race, as far as the DNR Lands Director, all across the state, right down to a handful of votes. And again, at this point in time, it looks like Moody will face Andrew Engel in that District 7 position one race. But other than that, no major changes, Hunter Engel still with nearly 35% of the vote. Rocky Dean finishes second with 27% of the vote, Pat Bell at 24%. A huge thank you to everyone who shopped during Saunders Furniture Inventory Reduction Sale. Your support made it a tremendous success, but don't forget, they're still timed. Enter our drawing for $500 in free furniture you have until August 31st to drop your entry. Thank you for being part of the excitement we couldn't have done it without you. Enter by August 31st for your chance to win Saunders Furniture, where amazing deals and great customers make all the difference. Yesterday, we heard some information about the fat stock sale that will be happening Saturday, two in the afternoon at the Northeast Washington Fair. While we learned that with the hot summer weather, it can affect the weight of animals, and that could mean some animals will not make it into the big sale. Today, we learned more from Scott Nielsen, President of the Stevens County Cattleman's Association, about how animals qualify for the auction. At the fat stock sale, the way that works is the fair and the barn superintendents decide what animals qualify for the fat stock sale. That's not a cattleman's function. Those rules are pretty clearly written in the fair book. Those animals have to qualify. A lot of times, the kids don't know if they're going to qualify until they actually get to the fair. The barn superintendents, they're judging those animals, and then they're placing them one to 75 or whatever. That's our sale order. We're supposed to be selling the best one first, the second best one second, but they're the ones that make those decisions. It's between the barns and then their judges that are judging the shows. They're judging them in the market classes, specifically on, you know, the first one that sells should be a little better than the second one, and that's the way that should be working. We really have nothing to do with that. They hand us the list, and we sell it. They have a proper carcass. They need to be to at least a certain weight, and so it could be a certain weight to be able to make the fat stock sale, and that's what they're doing when they're at their judging them. They're judging the carcasses, and they have to be a blue ribbon or a red ribbon animal to go to the fast sale. If they're a white ribbon animal, they don't get to go in. Generally, I don't think it has to be necessary to have at least, but generally those white ribbon animals aren't making weight. You know, when it's really hot, it can be a lot harder to get the animals to eat properly. That can be true. I guess we really won't know until the day of the fair. I will tell you, I am confident that we're going to have more animals than ever. The barns I've talked with, especially the dogs. There's a lot of hogs, and the hogs are hard to weigh, so I think a lot of times these kids don't know what their animal weighs, so they bring them in and are able to weigh them at the field. And they do have to fit into a specified guideline. And so I'm sure there will be some of those. They won't make it in the same for the beef, but there's ways they can get weights. They've got tapes. It'll give you a good idea. And for beef, they usually have a pretty good idea where they're going to be. Frankly, if they're not ready for butcher, they shouldn't be being sold in the sale. With all that said, there will probably be some light animals this year, but I am pretty confident we're going to have our biggest sale ever. And it's going to be a lot to fit in there. So we're going to try and move things right along. We're going to follow up with Scott after the fair. Find out more about this year's numbers for the big fat stock sale. The Cattlefall 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. I do have reports of a fatal accident here in Stevens County up Aladdin Road. So far, we have no information from the Stevens County Sheriff's Office on that accident, but if you have any information regarding a fatal accident last night out Aladdin Road, you let us know. Drop us an email news at kcvel.com. We'd love to pass that information along to you. What would the fair be without all the kids' projects? Animals are a big part of the fair and the sheep are a good example of project animals. They even produce wool. Here's an update on this year's sheep barn. This is Tuna Cox, and I am the superintendent of the sheep barn along with my husband Ron. And we're looking forward to this year at the sheep barn. We have a number of extra entries this year, so that's exciting. We'll have a full barn. We have some folks that are going to bring in some wool breeds, so they're a little bit different than just the market lambs, but we have a good number of market lambs coming in and the local FFA chapters have kids doing sheep this year. So that's exciting to have more participation there and looking forward to a good year. All of the barns are pretty full this year, so lots of kids are participating, so that's exciting. And then we do have some adults that are bringing in some animals too, so that's awesome. Some of the things that we have going on in the sheep barn is we do have a Latin ladies lead competition that is actually going to be on Thursday night at five o'clock. And that's where everyone will dress in a wool outfit of some sort. They can have a costume, but it needs to be made out of wool as well. And they have the different categories for ages, and then they have to show a U-LAM, which is a female lamb, an older sheep, as long as it's a female. And they lead them in, they write up a little speech about their outfit, whether they made it or bought it, and a little bit about their sheep. And so then they'll be judged on that, and awards will be given, so that's Thursday night at five. And then showing starts at nine o'clock on Friday for all of basically the other showing, which is the fitting and showing in the market lamb and our reading classes, so that will be a busy day on Friday. So those are the main big things. There's the fat stock sale that will be happening on Saturday, so everybody will be selling their animals on that day. And that is going to start a little earlier this year at two, so hopefully everybody can adjust and make it to the fat stock sale on time. We have the Parade of Champions, which is all of the champions who have won anything in all of the barns, and they can lead their animal and announce what they have won in the grandstands, and that's at ten o'clock on Sunday, so they do that. All the animals at the fair, they've got events for people to watch. You can pick up a fair schedule and see all the different places and the times for the different events. Don't forget the Parade of Champions in the arena. That comes up Sunday morning, ten o'clock, also the main fair parade goes along Main Street. They'll line up up by the pool about nine o'clock. The parade gets underway Saturday morning at ten. Twelve individuals, they were taken into custody in Chelan and Douglas counties. This back July 26th to 28th, a multi-agency operation. This ended up in the arrest of people that were from Leavenworth, East Wenatchee, Port Orchard, Wenatchee, also Spokane Valley. Involved in that investigation, well, they were assisting the investigation, was the Stevens County Sheriff's Office. It was dubbed Operation Net Nanny. This was the 22nd operation spearheaded by the Washington State Patrol Missing and Exploited Children Task Force and Internet Crimes Against Children Affiliate. The online world, kind of a dark and dirty place at times and the state patrol and in this investigation aided by a number of sheriff offices, including the Border Patrol and prosecuting attorney's offices, but the Stevens County Sheriff's Office did aid in that investigation that led to 12 arrests. A quick update on that Upper Ruby Fire. That's about five miles west of blue slide over in Ponderay County. U.S. Forest Service, Colville National Forest Land. About 220 acres, the last report there, both air and ground resources are on the scene. A type three team now in place, they will be coordinating with the local emergency management. But again, that fire is still burning over in Western Ponderay County towards Stevens County on the Colville National Forest. The wicked drive fire. That was down in the corkscrew Canyon Road area south of Ford. That's still reported at 65% contained in 698 acres. It's in the mop up stages. Again, that is one of the many fires started by lightning strikes. Also, the six mile fire at 113 acres, the stranger Creek fire at 66 acres marked at 10% contained. And again, they were found as lightning strikes from Sunday's lightning storm. They are burning in timber logging slash tall grass fuels. There are still road closures reported in effect, the Insulium Highway near the Insulium Community Center. Also, the level one evacuations that just being aware of your surroundings in effect for the twin lakes area. Join Colville together, a main street program for 4th Friday on August 23rd. This family friendly event features vendors along Maine and Aster, a downtown art walk starting at three and free kids crafts at the library from three to five thirty, then cap off the evening with live music by midnight run from five to eight in heritage court music sponsored by the Vincent Fund. Then you can head on down to the Northeast Washington Fair for some fair fun. It's 4th Friday in downtown Colville. Don't miss it. If you plan on going to Europe, one place that is probably not the best to go to if you go on a cruise, and that is to take in Venice. In Venice, where I spent yesterday, then I'm going to spend today. There are no vehicles. You get to Venice via the train. And you will find thousands of restaurants, thousands of art galleries, everything from paintings and pictures to glassware to jewelry to photos, and numerous cathedrals and churches built in the 1500s. Easy, spend three days in Venice, and you'll still not likely see it all. This trip to Venice, I had planned on again visiting the oldest casino in the world, not this trip. The company that owns that building has built a newer casino that is open every day, but the original, the classic casino, three stories high, is now only open Friday, Saturdays and Sundays. So not being here on one of those days, it is not going to be visited this trip. I've been there before. I've not been on the top floor, which is where the fanciest of the table games are, also the most expensive. But other than that, a lot of walking, one big thing, if you've been to Venice before, you know the canals were extremely polluted. They had not a good smell, and you could, you know, they just were not good at all. The water quality in Venice has improved tremendously. It's well worth your visit. So if you're going on a cruise around Europe, maybe plan and before the cruise, after the cruise, it's going to cost you some money. It's not cheap in Venice, but the architecture, the art, the food, the people, the walking around and taking the water taxis, and even a gondola ride, think it's something that you might enjoy. Why not have great water? Fogel pump and supply can give you great water. Water free of that rotten egg smell, heavy metals like uranium, arsenic and lead. With products like the Reionator and special filters, Fogel pump and supply can deliver pure, good tasting water to your home. Just bring them a water sample, or Fogel will take one for you. So why settle for just water? Have great water, soft and free of things that sometimes spoil your water. See Fogel pump and supply, the water professionals. It was another free fall day for the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners took an early one-nothing lead with a run in the second inning, but then they gave up two in the third, one in the fourth, five more runs in the fifth. Final with the sweep, the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Mariners, eight, four yesterday. The Seattle Mariners, they need a day of rest. They'll get back underway. Right now the Mariners, seven games out of the wildcard spot. So the free fall is continuing here late in August. Mariner baseball, and they've got some exciting games. Maybe it'll be a great September. Mariner baseball is on 92.1 KCRK. Today's local weather forecast brought to you by Benny's Call Hill Inn. Okay to get 915 South Maine. Benny's offers 105 rooms of various sizes and accommodations, plus who can forget the pool, which is open to the public. Call 509 684 2517, make your reservation today. Partly sunny skies a high this afternoon of 87, 47 overnight. There is a slight chance of a few showers on Friday, a high of 84 showers, possible thunderstorms Friday night. A 40% chance of some showers on Saturday, 67 are high, 70 the high on Sunday, Monday 74, back up to 78 by Tuesday, 77 and sunshine on Wednesday. Give them a call, make a reservation. That's Benny's Call Hill Inn, 509 684 2517. Thanks for joining us here on a Thursday kickoff day for the Northeast Washington Fair. I'm Eric Carpenter, and this is KCVL, KCRK.