After his arrest Tuesday on suspicion of official misconduct, the case against former Wapato mayor and city administrator Juan Orozco was thrown out of the Yakima County Superior Court in a preliminary hearing.Read More
The city administrator in the Yakima Valley town of Wapato stepped down last month after a lawsuit from the state Attorney General’s office alleged he used his influence to enrich himself. And now other city leaders are being pushed out.Read More
A city official in Wapato has resigned following allegations that he used his former position as mayor to enrich himself. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued the official, Juan Orozco, in June for violating ethics and open meeting laws. Read More
The only thing unique about this twice-weekly child play space, buried deep in a state Department of Social and Health Services office in Yakima, are its customers: families in crisis. "When they come into this room and are here for a while you see the shoulders drop," Maria Vasquez said. "They relax. They settle. They smile."Read More
On Dec. 26, 2017, Myrna Cloud’s 23-year-old cousin went missing on the Yakama Nation reservation in Central Washington. D. Lloyd’s body was found in a rural part of the reservation four days later. The murder is still under investigation. Read More
The Natural Resource Management Act includes a little of everything — meant to satisfy public land interests all over the country.
The land-conservation measures have received a lot of attention. But there are other provisions in the bill concerning the Northwest, among them wildfire risk, research and air quality resources, hunting on public lands, water management for Read More
For six years, Yakima County has been dealing with a complicated problem – nitrates in the groundwater. This month, after missing two other deadlines, a group of citizens tasked with finding a solution finally came up with a plan. For about 2,000 people, that’s good news because they’re closer to clean water. But some critics aren’t so sure. Read More
More people than expected are drinking water that could be harmful to their health. That’s according to a new study that looked at a water contaminate that’s been an issue in one of the Northwest’s most productive farming regions.Read More
For six years, Yakima County has been dealing with a complicated problem – nitrates in the groundwater. This month, after missing two other deadlines, a group of citizens tasked with finding a solution finally came up with a plan. For about 2,000 people, that’s good news because they’re closer to clean water. But some critics aren’t so sure. Read More
The Washington State Department of Health released its annual report on HIV and AIDS this week, pegged to the Dec. 1 World AIDS Day. According to the report, 14,000 people are HIV positive in Washington, on par with past years.Read More
Emily Washines was 18 years old when she was crowned Miss National Congress of American Indians. Yakama tribal councilmembers and elders sung a warrior song for her and then extracted a promise. Tribal leaders had something in mind. They wanted Washines to remember a message about a little-known war that wracked the Northwest in the 1850s. Read More
Recently, 18 Filipino veterans received Congressional Gold Medal replicas at the Filipino Community Hall in Wapato, Wash. All but two were awarded posthumously. Read More
Almost 40 years ago, Scott Nicolai started his stream restoration career taking logs out of the water. A project that’s putting more than 6,000 logs back into remote streams across Central Washington.Read More
Some Washington Latino-owned businesses say they were wrongly put on a list that claimed they were against I-1631, a state ballot initiative seeking to tax carbon emissions.Read More
It’s September, so the hops harvest is in full swing in Washington’s Yakima Valley. At the Carpenter family’s farm in Granger, workers are making their way between rows of trellises, pulling down vines and feeding them into a sorting machine.Read More
Smoke from wildfires is blanketing much of the West. That's ruining some crops and may be stunting others. And it's making it difficult or unsafe for laborers to pick the harvest.Read More
Maria Gonzalez started at DeRuyter Brothers dairy in February 2015. At the time, she was the first and only woman working as a milker. For Maria, working there was a step up in career and pay. But it also meant facing sexual harassment from a male coworker. It ended with losing her job. Read More
You’ve probably seen and felt it this week: a blanket of grey haze over large parts of the region. Smoke from wildfires in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and California has led to poor air quality, causing health experts to caution: minimize your exposure. So how do people who work outdoors fare? Read More
Yakima will soon be home to the largest farmworker housing complex in Washington. The revamped FairBridge hotel officially opened Friday, June 1, and the first guest workers will be housed there beginning June 11th. Read More
In the Columbia Basin, communities are pushing back on recreational marijuana by leveraging county regulations – regulations like Benton County’s new “Sight and Smell Ordinance.”Read More
May Day demonstrations happened around the Northwest May 1, including in Latino-concentrated Yakima. The peaceful gathering focused on immigration reform. But the turnout was low compared to previous years with only a couple hundred people there. Read More
May 1st marks International Workers’ Day. In Yakima, May Day organizers are pushing last-minute flyers before their march on Tuesday. They hope for strong turnout from farmworkers, the immigrant community, and Latinos. But some are worried the political climate will affect attendance.Read More
Most people think of asthma as a city kid problem — but it turns out rural kids are just as likely to have asthma. And the children of the people who grow our food are especially vulnerable. Researchers at the University of Washington and the Yakima Valley Farm Workers’ Clinic are working on a new approach to solving the problem.Read More
Central Washington is an agricultural powerhouse. In the summer, it’s often dominated by headlines of fires (and smoke) affecting the region. But from the Columbia River to Cascade Crest, from Canada to Oregon, there’s a lot going on. NWPB Yakima Valley correspondent Esmy Jimenez talks with news manager Scott Leadingham about deeper stories she's covering.Read More
Yakima County Commissioners voted this week to officially close a road at the base of the slow-moving Rattlesnake Ridge landslide in Union Gap.Read More
Going on a date on Valentine’s Day can be fun and full of decisions – where to eat, what to wear. But for members of the Yakama Nation in Central Washington, it can be complicated when trying to date within the relatively small tribal community. Read More
The emergency is over for now at Rattlesnake Ridge near Yakima. The state says a major, sudden landslide is no longer imminent, and Yakima County has lifted its evacuation order and told residents they can move back home. But that’s easier said than done. 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
It started with a crack. Then it got bigger. Then video footage from a drone let everyone have a bird’s eye view of how the Rattlesnake Ridge slide outside of Union Gap, Washington, was coming – or sliding – along.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
The slow-moving landslide on Rattlesnake Ridge in Washington's Yakima Valley points to a larger problem plaguing the region: affordable housing. When residents were told to move away from their homes in the slide area, there were few places to go.Read More
The James Beard Foundation recently announced five nationwide winners of its prestigious awards in the America’s Classics category. One is right here in the Northwest, tucked away in the hills of Central Washington. The tamales are, well, award-winning (and delicious).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
Residents below Rattlesnake Ridge outside Union Gap are considering their next move if a slow-moving hillside in Yakima County collapses during the next several weeks.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
Six years ago, Jose Luis Mendoza lost part of his left leg, and with it, the ability to work as a farm laborer. He now has a lawyer trying to help him get full compensation from the Washington state Department of Labor and Industries.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
