Crews have finished drilling around 230 core samples in Priest Rapids Dam on the Columbia River in central Washington state.Read More
East of The Dalles, Oregon, the Substation Fire has charred over 50,000 acres and is still spreading. A lot of that charred ground so far is golden, soft white wheat. And when grain burns, farmers can lose a lot of money – even if they have crop insurance.Read More
From Bend, Oregon, to Ellensburg, Washington, there is a fire weather watch Friday for hot temperatures, low humidity and breezy weather.Read More
A large wildfire is burning outside of Naches, in central Washington. It started Sunday afternoon, and is called the Conrad fire. It’s currently estimated at more than 5,000 acres and about 20 percent contained.Read More
U.S. beef ranchers who voted heartily for President Donald Trump are getting a bit skittish about his trade wars. International tariffs are set to hit U.S. beef the first week of July.Read More
Oregon has already declared drought in several counties, and two more counties are under review by the governor's office. That's a common theme -- drought is stretching across the Western United States.Read More
American fruit growers are starting to ship more containers of fresh fruit into China again. In recent weeks, some fruit shipments were stuck in customs in China. Public radio has learned that special flights to bring Northwest cherries to China had even been canceled. But that squeeze now appears to be lessening.Read More
The U.S. House of Representatives recently failed to pass a farm bill and Northwest farmers are worried that the process is not plowing ahead.Read More
Outside of Leavenworth, Washington, crews have been working on a dam in trouble. Now, the irrigation district that owns the dam has installed a new 55-foot spillway of large rocks to reinforce the structure.Read More
The Northwest’s only commercial nuclear reactor went offline Friday morning in an unplanned event. The Columbia Generating Station went offline around 7 a.m. when its main power transformers automatically disconnected from the grid.Read More
The National Weather Service is predicting possible thunderstorms later this week around the Bavarian-themed town of Leavenworth, Washington. That could cause the Eightmile Lake Dam above the town to fail.Read More
Tribes across the West are trying to restore their forests and grasslands to the way they were before white settlers arrived. Their goal is to return traditional foods like roots, huckleberries and big game. But it’s a complex job.Read More
Crews are drilling deep into southeast Washington's Priest Rapids Dam on the Columbia River to find out the extent of damage after leaks were recently discovered. Read More
Washington Senator Maria Cantwell questioned the acting head of the U.S. Forest Service, Vicki Christiansen, this week. Among the senator's top concerns: There may not be enough air support for fires in the West this year.Read More
A federal watchdog agency said Wednesday that it's hard to prove that Hanford’s Waste Treatment Plant is safe. Read More
We’ve seen more wildfires burning into urban communities lately. But there’s a lot homeowners can do to protect themselves, according to top scientists at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab.Read More
East of the Cascades, wheat farmers say there has been plenty of moisture over the winter and all things point to a good harvest. But the price and demand for that crop is very much in question.Read More
In the wake of school shootings like Sandy Hook and Parkland, everyone from school officials and parents to first responders and politicians have looked for ways to protect children from gunfire. Now sensor technology originally made for missiles is being put to the test.Read More
Workers plan to tackle some of the nastiest waste on the massive Hanford cleanup site next month. The so-called K-Basin holds sandy, explosive, potentially flammable and highly-radioactive sludge stored in six large containers.Read More
A Yakama Nation leader, Russell Jim, has died. The 82-year-old was well-known by tribes and environmentalists across the nation for his fight to clean up Hanford.Read More
Priest Rapids Dam on the Columbia River in southeast Washington state has multiple leaks and structural problems.Read More
So how do you convince a Chinese customer to pay a bit extra for already-expensive fresh Northwest cherries this summer?Read More
The U.S. Department of Energy is launching a federal investigation into a demolition site at the Hanford nuclear reservation where radioactive waste from the site has been spreading in unexplained ways.Read More
In Central Washington, Grant Public Utility District officials have declared what they’re calling a “non-failure emergency” at the 1950’s-era Priest Rapids Dam northwest of Richland on the Columbia River.Read More
With China threatening to slap the United States with $3 billion in retaliatory tariffs, one group that is worried is Washington apple farmers.Read More
Northwest senators had a lot of questions for U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday. They grilled him on the safety of steel in a massive treatment plant under construction at the Hanford nuclear site.Read More
The U.S. Department of Energy is demanding thousands of pages of documentation from one of its top contractors at Hanford. They want to know exactly what grade of steel is being used in a massive radioactive waste treatment plant at the decommissioned nuclear site. Read More
Something has gone sour between Washington State University and a Seattle-based biotech company. It's over a new, highly-prized apple variety that has not yet hit the market.Read More
Prompt communication between workers and management at the Plutonium Finishing Plant did not occur, so radioactive waste continued to spread at Hanford. That’s according to a new report.Read More
Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation Wednesday, March 7 aimed at helping workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation. The law will allow workers who have been exposed to toxic chemicals or radioactive waste to more easily access compensation for medical treatment.Read More
The National Academy of Sciences is conducting days of meetings in Richland, Washington, this week. On the agenda is what to do with a lot of liquid radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Site.Read More
A doctor from Richland, Washington, was awarded the U.S. Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. It’s an honor that is often bestowed upon U.S. presidents.Read More
The recent bite of arctic air is causing real worry for Northwest fruit farmers. They’re fretting over their trees’ tender buds. And it all might get worse as things warm up.Read More
As many as 11 workers may have ingested or inhaled radioactive contamination at the Plutonium Finishing Plant demolition site at Hanford. Ten workers are confirmed to have tested positive and one needs more testing to confirm the results.Read More
Hanford workers have called a “stop work” at a demolition site over worries of radioactive contamination inside government vehicles. It’s the same site where government contractors have struggled to tame the spread of contamination all winter. Read More
East of the Cascades in Washington and Oregon -- it’s been about 5 to 10 degrees warmer than normal for most of the winter. And those usually warm conditions have buds on fruit trees and grapevines starting to “push,” or emerge early. That has farmers worried. Read More
Reaction in the Northwest was swift to President Trump’s proposed cuts to the cleanup budget at the Hanford Site. The budget request cuts $61 million from the budget for Hanford's Office of River Protection, and $169 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Richland Operations Office.Read More
The emergency seems to be over for now at the slow-moving landslide at Rattlesnake Ridge near Yakima. The state has taken down warning signs on the highway below. But for some, the drive is still nerve wracking. They’ve coined a phrase for driving quickly past the slide: “Shooting the Gap.”Read More
Lew Zirkle, a doctor in Richland, Washington, works with thousands of surgeons all over the world to treat injuries in poor or war-ravaged countries. He will receive the U.S. Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service—the highest honor the Defense department gives to a non-career civilian—by Secretary James Mattis later this month.Read More
The landslide on Rattlesnake Ridge near Yakima is likely going to be a slow one—it could take years or decades to fully come down. Now, residents can return. That’s the upshot of a new independent geology report commissioned by the state.Read More
Washington health officials have penned an uncommonly stern letter to the U.S. Department of Energy. It details concerns over the radioactive contamination spread at a Hanford demolition site.Read More
Radioactive waste keeps spreading at a demolition site at Hanford. This week officials have found more contamination on a worker’s boot, on a work trailer and a personal vehicle. Now, a rental car that’s possibly contaminated has ended up in Spokane.Read More
Two Hanford workers have tested positive for radioactive waste in their bodies. It happened at the Plutonium Finishing Plant—a massive factory being demolished at the nuclear cleanup site in southeast Washington state.Read More
The Yakama Nation is asking Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to declare a state of emergency for the Rattlesnake Ridge landslide. It’s a steep slope outside of Yakima that is moving slowly and clings above a small community, a railroad corridor, Interstate 82 and the Yakima River.Read More
After huge cracks appeared on Rattlesnake Ridge last year, geologists expect a landslide is coming at the mountain near Yakima. But they're having a hard time nailing down just when it will go.Read More
The discovery of high levels of radon gas has forced more than 100 workers at Hanford to move their offices. This follows a series of radioactive contamination issues at that same demolition project on the southeast Washington nuclear site.Read More
Emergency meetings are underway to discuss the threat of a possible landslide near Yakima. Dozens of federal, state, county and tribal officials are trying to work out a plan as this threat looms.Read More
There are about 50 residents in 15 houses and trailer homes on a crescent of land wedged in a depression between Interstate 82 and the hillside that’s cracking near them. According to measurements taken since October by the state and its consultant, the land above this community and Interstate 82 is starting to move more rapidly.Read More
Officials in Yakima County are strongly urging residents living below a shifting mountainside near Union Gap to evacuate. A huge crack that appeared on Rattlesnake Ridge last year is beginning to widen. Read More
Insitu uses engines built by Orbital Corporation to power its ScanEagle UAV. INSITU Listen Originally published Nov. 30, 2017 The unmanned aircraft industry cluster in the Columbia River Gorge is […]Read More
