NCWLIFE Evening News

• The Common Ground Community Housing Trust is accepting applications for its affordable homes on Ninth Street in Wenatchee.• The Washington state Legislature has passed a bill to ban law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings.• The killer of a young mother in Moses Lake has entered a plea in her death.

•An East Wenatchee man is jailed after allegedly stabbing his girlfriend in the neck early this morning. The assault was reported just after 2 a.m.•The state of Washington and the federal government are expecting to pay roughly $180,000 dollars for temporary repairs on Beaver Hill, a steep and winding road grade just outside the town of Plain.•The Washington Legislature is sprinting toward a March 12th deadline to pass the new state budget, with a possible $2 billion dollar deficit despite the proposed millionaires tax.

• About 70 people gathered at Memorial Park in Wenatchee on Sunday to protest recent U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran, joining anti-war demonstrations held across the country.• The early access lottery is open for the North Cascades National Park. • There’s a new sheriff in town. Tyler Caille, the Douglas County undersheriff for the last seven years, was sworn in this morning by County Commissioner Dan Sutton.

• A Moses Lake man accused of murder in the death of his grandfather in 2024 has entered a guilty plea.• The veteran fire chief for the city of Manson and its surroundings has announced his retirement.• On Saturday, the Chuck Wagon Ministries food pantry will begin operations at the King’s Harvest Church of Christ in Wenatchee.

•An elderly Grant County man who plotted from prison to have his ex-wife and daughter killed cannot be released on medical grounds, despite documented health problems.•A Wenatchee 16-year-old was struck and injured by another teen Tuesday in the parking lot of Winco Foods, and now that driver is facing hit-and-run charges.•The Chopaka Lake and Cold Spring Campgrounds in Okanogan County are at risk of closure due to state budget cuts.

•A Manson business owner and his son no longer face federal charges for illegally importing emissions devices.•A Wenatchee Valley mental health counselor was sentenced Monday to one month in jail after inappropriately messaging or touching two of his clients — ages 14 and 18 — told police that he had inappropriately messaged them or touched them.•Central Washington lawmakers are working to put together funding for public building and infrastructure projects in the Wenatchee Valley.

•Progress is underway on Moses Lake’s new hospital building. Samaritan Healthcare says the new hospital location will be open for patient visits two weeks from now.•An 18-year-old suspect in a shooting last month in downtown Chelan has entered a guilty plea, but not to the shooting itself.•Firefighters were called this morning to a commercial structure fire at cryptocurrency mining operation near Pangborn Airport.

•The Wenatchee Valley Fire Department responded to emergency calls over the weekend to three different residential fires around the city, two of them in the Sunnyslope neighborhood.•Two different open letters submitted by Confluence Health physicians and former leaders continue to raise concerns about the health system's planned cancer center.•The Wenatchee Jazz Workshop has become a musical tradition in the Valley since it was established in 2000.

•Grant County authorities have released the names of the five sheriff’s deputies who fatally shot a Moses Lake man on Monday evening.•Douglas County PUD commissioners declared a maintenance emergency at their Renewable Hydrogen Production Facility at Baker Flats on Tuesday, and authorized General Manager Gary Ivory to negotiate new contracts for its hydrogen electrolyzer system.•A Wenatchee man was sentenced this week to a diversionary mental health program in lieu of jail this week, after pleading guilty to charges of arson and reckless burning.

•A former Sterling Junior High custodian accused of sexually abusing a student pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of third-degree rape.•On Monday, a segment of 8th Street Southeast in East Wenatchee will be closed from South Mary to South Nile Avenue.•The Washington Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that Amazon must stand trial in a civil case accusing the online retailer of contributing to suicides.

•Authorities have identified the man shot and killed by Grant County sheriff’s deputies on Monday.•Douglas County has a new sheriff, effective March 1st.•The city of Wenatchee has officially launched its new utility billing payment website.

•One man is dead after a police-involved shooting northeast of Moses Lake.•The Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center’s application to renovate and expand its facility is under review by the city.•Washington is looking for federal help in its cleanup from December’s atmospheric river event.

•A Wenatchee mother and her 9-year-old son were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, and by this afternoon, they had been removed from the United States.•Young would-be surgeons suited up Saturday and started exploring in the Matters of the Heart event, held at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center.•Commissioners for the Grant County PUD could decide the fate of the Crescent Bar golf course as soon as tomorrow.

•An apartment complex caught fire Thursday afternoon in Wenatchee, burning one unit in a duplex and displacing a family of three. The Wenatchee Valley Fire Department responded to a call at 3:33 p.m.•The city of East Wenatchee will close a portion of Fifth Street Northeast next week to begin infrastructure projects in the area.•The Building Better Tomorrows Foundation is sponsoring an Instrument Drive to benefit local student musicians.

•Congressman Dan Newhouse was one of six Republicans voting yesterday to block President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada.•Chelan County leadership visited the remote Lake Chelan village of Stehekin this week to learn more about the status of Company Creek Road and other damages from the December storms.•The Town Nissan car dealership in East Wenatchee, owned by the Barros and Lisson families, is shutting down one month from now.

•U.S. Highway 2 is now fully open between Monroe and Leavenworth for the first time in two months.•Rivercom, the emergency dispatch service for Chelan and Douglas counties, is well on its way to a new funding stream.•The city of Omak and NCW Libraries reached an agreement after a dispute over the status of the Omak Public Library.

•The U.S. Army Ranger accused of committing a mass shooting outside a Gorge Amphitheatre music festival will be tried in military court, rather than in Grant County.•One Confluence Health pharmacist went above and beyond for a cancer patient’s treatment last week.•The selection pageant for Apple Blossom 2026 is drawing near, and NCWLIFE’s Eric Granstrom has been getting to know all ten candidates for the Royal Court.

• The city of Chelan has issued a draft environmental assessment, looking at the impacts of a proposed runway relocation at Lake Chelan Airport. •The Top 10 finalists for Apple Blossom Queen have been making the rounds in the Wenatchee Valley, and now the time for their final pageant is drawing near.•The empty seat on the Chelan Fire & Rescue Commissioner Board has been filled.

•The Washington State Department of Transportation says the Tumwater Canyon segment of Highway 2 is expected to reopen in mid-February, a month earlier than expected.•An injured construction worker on the site of the Majestic Apartment project in downtown Wenatchee was rescued via a ladder truck yesterday afternoon.•A man who ventured onto thin ice this week at Fish Lake had a stroke of luck…•Go Hawks!

•Students from the Eastmont School District left school for a demonstration today against U.S. immigration policy.•Douglas County has launched an agricultural land analysis to evaluate its agricultural resource lands.•A man facing federal charges from local bank robberies in September is now charged in local court as well.

•Chelan County has asked Gov. Bob Ferguson to seek federal help for engineering and construction assistance in Stehekin.•Wenatchee police are searching for a woman missing since mid-January.•A transit bus was T-boned Tuesday by a pickup driver just outside Moses Lake.

•The man found guilty of shooting his former girlfriend to death on Badger Mountain Road three years ago appeared from prison by video yesterday to have two of his convictions vacated.•Roughly 188,000 people are now in line for a share of a $1.3 million dollar settlement from the Chelan-Douglas Health District.•Douglas and Grant County sheriff’s deputies cooperated Monday to arrest two people suspected of breaking into a property in the Palisades area.

•An Okanogan County man charged with the murder of his infant daughter was arrested Friday in Iowa.•A 49-year-old Chelan woman is dead after being struck by a pickup truck while she was walking on Highway 97 near Pateros.•The Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority says Dollar General has backed out of talks to build a retail development at the port’s Cashmere Mill District.

•Sheriff's Emergency Management coordinator Sgt. Jason Reinfeld said the body of 33-year-old David Gimlett was found Thursday in Peshastin Creek by a Chelan County Volunteer Search and Rescue team member.•Chelan County sheriff’s deputies and partner agencies were involved in a dramatic winter rope rescue earlier this month.•The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office will no longer accept cash or check payments for Concealed Pistol Licenses and DUI cost recovery fees.

•Vehicles in a tow yard alongside Highway 97A caught fire Wednesday evening in Entiat.•A man who shot and killed a Quincy teenager in 2022 must be resentenced for the murder.•The Badger Mountain Ski Hill is experiencing financial woes due to this winter’s lack of snow.

•An employee on a contractor crew hired by the Chelan County PUD has died along Lake Chelan after a utility pole collapsed underneath him.•The Chelan County Sheriff’s Office is seeking help locating 33-year-old David Gimlett, a Leavenworth man who has been missing since last week.•A DUI wreck outside of Omak injured three people on Tuesday night.

•The Wenatchee Valley ski community came out today to honor a local legend Otto Ross.•A Wenatchee man faces possible hit-and-run charges after allegedly striking a group of hikers with his pickup on Saturday, injuring a father and his 8-year-old child.•The East Wenatchee City Council is proposing changes to the city’s banner display policy.

•East Wenatchee police say a teen driver led them on a high-speed pursuit early Saturday morning, endangering bystanders and eventually crashing in the 800 block of Valley Mall Parkway.•Chelan County sheriff's deputies say they apprehended a suspect Friday night in a shooting that left one man wounded in downtown Chelan.•A winter rockslide closed a portion of Highway 155 in Grant County on Saturday, cutting off access to Steamboat Rock State Park for westbound travelers.

•A structure fire and a vehicle falling into an irrigation canal kept Wenatchee Valley firefighters busy on Thursday.•A Chelan County state legislator is speaking out against a bill that would bar Washington police departments from hiring any officers who joined ICE during the Trump Administration.•Another piece of the Confluence Parkway bypass project pulled into Wenatchee early this morning.

•A group of Chelan County Sheriff’s deputies have filed an $8 million tort claim against their employer, alleging Sheriff Mike Morrison demoted them for supporting his predecessor during the 2022 election.•The Ninth Street railroad crossing is closed until Friday morning while the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway completes track work.•A Grand Coulee man is charged with five counts of first-degree assault after allegedly firing a rifle at a group of boaters on the Rufus Woods Reservoir of the Columbia River.

•Chelan County is now among the Washington counties in line for federal disaster assistance, following December’s atmospheric river event.•East Wenatchee police say they’ve made two arrests in the theft of newly-delivered Amazon packages from a residential front porch.•A state representative from Quincy defended the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week, in a hearing on a Washington bill that would govern access to workplaces for immigration agents.

•Grant County sheriff’s deputies say they’ve apprehended an international scam artist who allegedly defrauded a local man out of more than $100,000 dollars.•Okanogan County sheriff’s deputies say they had to shoot and kill a dog that emerged from a suspect’s care and attacked them Monday.•Wenatchee Valley residents joined together for yet another public demonstration Monday in Memorial Park.

•A commercial semi truck driver is now charged with DUI after allegedly smashing his Freightliner into a state Department of Transportation snowplow on Interstate 90 near Kittitas.•An Ephrata man is dead and a fellow driver charged with DUI and vehicular homicide after two pickup trucks collided head-on Sunday northeast of George.•A Saturday structure fire in Grand Coulee destroyed a mobile home despite firefighters’ efforts.

•Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 39-year-old Ephrata man overnight for allegedly shooting another man early Thursday morning.•Wenatchee police say they’ve cracked a December robbery in which a customer made off with the contents of a cash drawer from the Union 76 gas station at Ferry Street and South Mission.•Stevens Pass Ski Resort has suffered from the unusually warm and wet winter.

•A convicted murderer will be back in Douglas County court next month after successfully appealing two of his lesser charges.•December’s heavy storms were hard on transportation structures throughout Washington, including the Wenatchee River Bridge.•Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority and Chelan County commissioners met Tuesday to review a proposed interlocal agreement for the Malaga TIF District.

•Two parcels within the Cashmere Mill District will become the home of a new Dollar General Store after the Port of Chelan County sold a portion of the former mill site to a retail developer.•Sheriff Sheriff Mike Morrison of Chelan County, Joe Kriete of Grant County and others have joined in opposing a piece of state legislation that would update the eligibility standards for their offices.•RiverCom 911 is hosting two public Q&A sessions so voters can get their questions answered about the emergency dispatch’s sales tax proposal.

•Storm damage has made Chumstick Highway a crucial route between Leavenworth and U.S. Highway 2, but even that bypass is suffering from the weather.•Jason Heinz resigned from his seat on the Eastmont School Board via a letter shortly before Monday night’s meeting began.•With the 2026 legislative session cranking up, a Grant County lawmaker wants to roll back taxes on specialty fuels, which he says are putting a pinch on farmers and transporters.

•A federal judge has overturned the $5 million dollar award to an East Wenatchee man who said he was the victim of on-the-job discrimination by the East Wenatchee Water District.•A federal judge in Seattle has blocked the Trump Administration from enforcing an executive order that would require all ballots to be received by Election Day and proof of citizenship to vote.•The 18-year-old driver who led police on a chase in a stolen vehicle through East Wenatchee was sentenced last week to 17 months in prison.

•A Wenatchee police officer says he was temporarily blinded by a handheld laser, and the man who allegedly held it now faces a criminal charge.•A proposed bill in Washington state would limit agencies who use automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, from retaining collected data for longer than 72 hours.•A Leavenworth couple rang in the New Year, celebrating more than just the start of 2026. Rebecca and Abraham Bray welcomed Chelan County’s first baby of the year.

•An East Wenatchee man who confessed to the fatal shooting of his neighbor was sentenced today to nearly 17 years in prison.•The Washington State Department of Commerce admitted this week that it significantly inflated the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that would be reduced by eight Climate Commitment Act projects, attributing the mistake to a data entry error.•The East Wenatchee City Council on Tuesday held its first regular meeting of the new year, where it rejected four lodging tax requests.

•Just as Highway 2 was beginning to adjust to limited traffic, Tuesday’s burst of winter weather caused some complications at Stevens Pass and elsewhere.•Chelan County’s Solid Waste program is extending its free flood disposal voucher program to next week.•The West Coast Health Alliance says it will ensure continued access to vaccinations after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised the number of vaccinations routinely recommended for children.

•Confluence Health anticipates beginning construction on a new cancer center in November, which will expand space available for care while consolidating services into one location.•An Eastmont School Board member already charged with assault and stalking in Chelan County now faces felony domestic violence charges in Douglas County.•Sheriff’s detectives in Grant County are looking into a set of collectible thefts from storage units in the Moses Lake area.

•Chelan County Commissioners approved a resolution today supporting the Rivercom 911 sales tax measure on ballots next month.•The continuing closure on Highway 2 in Tumwater Canyon has made Chumstick Highway the only route between Leavenworth and Coles Corner.•An employee at a care agency who admitted embezzling nearly $20,000 dollars from vulnerable adult clients has been ordered to serve jail time and work release.

•The Wenatchee Valley YMCA announced an agreement on Tuesday that will ensure the long-term future of the Lake Wenatchee YMCA camp.•Investigators say they've connected a residential fire that killed two people last August to an arson suspect, who died one week after the incident.•The Washington State Department of Transportation plans to reopen a section of Highway 2 near Skykomish on Sunday.

•The Colville Confederated Tribes are mourning the violent deaths of a tribal court employee and her son, apparently in an act of domestic violence.•Leonard Evans Used Cars will close its doors January 31st after 70 years in operation.•The news from 2025 was so vast, and carried such weight, that we can’t do it justice in one evening. Tonight is Part 2 of our look back at the year that just passed, in all of its hope and heartbreak... Including one story that devastated a family, and their entire community.

•A water main broke Monday morning on Wenatchee main downtown street, sending water onto the roadway and forcing street closures.•Washington state has launched a guide for residents to find information on financial and recovery resources after the historic flood emergency earlier this month.•At the end of each year, our news team looks back to find the stories that made the past 12 months unique and unforgettable.

•One person is dead after a December 19th officer-involved shooting outside Tonasket, and a special police unit is investigating.•With the windstorms and flooding of 2025 in the rearview, Chelan County’s longest-serving commissioner took a look back at the crisis.•Fish hatcheries around Chelan County are on the road to recovery from the recent atmospheric river event.

•In a split vote this morning, Commissioners for the Port of Chelan County passed their resolution approving the creation of a Malaga Tax Increment Finance District despite loud public opposition to the project.•The Chelan County Solid Waste program is offering a free disposal voucher program for residents to rid of debris from wind storms and flood damage.•A Palisades man is accused of breaking into the firing range used by local law enforcement, and making off with lifesaving equipment and spent casings that he later sold for scrap.

•The Eastmont School Board cannot take any action or consider a response to the recent arrest of one of its members until its next board meeting in 2026, according to Superintendent Spencer Taylor.•The Wenatchee Valley Fire Department says an apartment fire on Castlerock Street was narrowly averted this morning when the fire burned through a water line and extinguished itself.•The Chelan County PUD has found a good use for the piles and piles of debris created by the recent atmospheric river event.