From Seattle To Eugene To Tri-Cities To North Idaho, The Same Story: It’s Hot And Getting Hotter

By NWPB News
People jump from a pedestrian bridge at Lake Union Park in Seattle on Sunday as a record-setting heat wave blasts the Pacific Northwest. CREDIT: John Froschauer/AP
Cities were reminding residents where pools, splash pads and cooling centers were available and urging people to stay hydrated, check on their neighbors and avoid strenuous activities. The National Weather Service in Coeur d’Alene said this week's weather “will likely be one of the most extreme and prolonged heat waves in the recorded history of the Inland Northwest.”Read More

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best Stepping Down Following Department Cuts, Months Of Protest

By NWPB News
Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said in a letter to the department: "This was a difficult decision for me, but when it's time, it's time." CREDIT: Elaine Thompson/AP
Seattle’s police chief says she is stepping down, a move made public the same day the City Council approved reducing the department by as many as 100 officers through layoffs and attrition. Carmen Best, the city’s first Black police chief, said in a letter to the department that her retirement will be effective Sept. 2 and the mayor has appointed Deputy Chief Adrian Diaz Read More

Northwest Mask Wars And Pandemics: Nothing New For Washington As Politics Of 1918 Return

By NWPB News
Volunteers wearing gauze masks at a street kitchen in Cincinnati serve food to children of families afflicted by the flu pandemic in the winter of 1918-1919.
In 1918 Walla Walla, the chief of police, refused to enforce a state mask mandate. He pointed out that he was going to meet heavy resistance and, anyway, that he had no authority to carry out a state directive, only city ordinances. Still, he also openly defied the instructions of the city’s health officer, J.E. Vanderpool, to follow the state health officer’s guidance.Read More
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