NCWLIFE Evening News

•Washington State’s top cop is calling for a lower standard to measure intoxication among drivers.•Wildfire teams began their last steps this week to wrap up response to the Lower Sugarloaf and Labor Mountain Fires.•Prosecutors on Wednesday withdrew charges against a Wenatchee man accused of hurling three Molotov cocktails in an attack on his former partner and her current boyfriend.

•A Bridgeport woman is dead following a two-car head-on accident Tuesday afternoon on Highway 97, about a mile north of the Beebe Bridge.•The East Wenatchee City Council Tuesday night tabled a resolution to change its banner display policy, following more than an hour of comments from the public in the Eastmont Junior High Auditorium.•An East Wenatchee woman is facing a possible 10-day jail term plus an agreement to repay more than $25,000 after pleading guilty to embezzling from her employer.

•A Wenatchee man faces a likely prison term of almost 10 years after pleading guilty this week to sex crimes against a child.•Warnings about a possible gunfire incident Friday led East Wenatchee police to make three arrests.•The city of Quincy’s $15.7 million dollar plan to build a new aquatic center at East Park is beginning to come together.

•Two separate accidents on Highway 97 near Chelan, happening about three miles apart, sent a combined 10 people to the hospital this weekend.•An estimated 1,500 people were on hand Saturday for Wenatchee’s second No Kings rally of the year, voicing opposition to Trump administration policies on immigration, the environment, the economy and more.•Okanogan County deputies say a man visiting his student girlfriend at Liberty Bell High School in Winthrop brandished a firearm out of his vehicle window last week.

•Two of the dozen men arrested in the Wenatchee Valley in last summer’s Net Nanny sting operation have been charged federally.•The already-historic Hanford Nuclear Site has made history again, turning the first of its deadly radioactive waste into rods of glass for easier storage.•The Eastmont High School Choir is joining the Apollo Club to perform “Firefighter’s Creed,” a choral piece composed by Central Washington University professor Vijay Singh.

•Even as the threat from natural wildfires begins to wind down, prescribed burn operations in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest are set to begin for the season.•Managers on the Lower Sugarloaf Fire issued their final written update today as they put the worst of that wildland blaze behind them.•Fusion energy company Helion has been granted a conditional use permit by Chelan County to begin the next phase of developing the first-ever fusion power plant in Malaga.

•Serve Wenatchee Valley is continuing to ask for the community’s help as it works to reopen.•The former Diamond Company warehouse on Columbia Street near Hale Park is now rubble, after a fire early Monday consumed much of its interior.•For the first time in six weeks, there are no wildfire evacuation notices active in Chelan County.

•A 42-year-old teacher at a Coulee Dam elementary school was arrested Monday as a part of a police operation targeting alleged online predators.•A teenage Moses Lake driver was injured Monday when she allegedly passed through a stop sign at a highway intersection south of Ephrata and was struck from the side.•Fire crews are gaining a tighter and tighter grip on the two large wildfires burning in the vicinity of Wenatchee.

•A warehouse alongside the Wenatchee railroad track was consumed by fire early this morning, and fire officials say they haven’t yet been able to search the structure for anyone who might have been inside.•The cool wet weather and snowfall that closed Blewett Pass for nearly four hours this morning has been good news for those watching the Labor Mountain and Lower Sugarloaf Fires.•The Eastmont parks system is asking for a “levy lid lift” which would allow the parks to take home more property tax revenue, to keep their doors open and their programs operating.

•Three Grant County men are jailed on suspicion of drug crimes after a Moses Lake investigation netted about 25 pounds of illegal drugs.•After more than a month of stress for homeowners around the Lower Sugarloaf Fire, all evacuation alerts around that nearly 43,000-acre wildfire have been lifted.•There was no better time than National Hydrogen Day in the middle of Public Power Week for the Douglas County PUD to cut the ribbon on a project years in the making.

•Containment estimates jumped today on the Lower Sugarloaf Fire, which has menaced Wenatchee and Upper Valley communities since it was sparked by lightning September 1st.•A Wenatchee man arrested back in April for hosing down a car full of people with a fire extinguisher has entered a probation agreement. •Washington Senator Patty Murray held a press conference Wednesday with residents and small business owners in the state who rely on tax credits through the Affordable Care Act to insure themselves or their employees.

•A jury in King County has awarded nearly $17 million to the family of a Wenatchee man who was killed in a 2019 plane crash in Alaska. •Managers on the Lower Sugarloaf Fire say they’re happy with their progress on that 42,000-acre blaze, which is now at 66% containment. •After more than two weeks of detours and closures, drivers can once again use Blewett Pass.

•An early morning flood has temporarily closed the Serve Wenatchee Valley office and Fresh HOPE Market after a waterline broke overnight. •One of the two wildland firefighters accused of traveling to the Lower Sugarloaf fireline in a stolen Jeep has pleaded guilty in the crime.•The Wenatchee School District is preparing to ask voters to approve a $294 million bond to replace Wenatchee High School. District officials say the 1971 building is operating above capacity, and its outdated systems make repairs cost-prohibitive.

•The city of Wenatchee has closed one of its two Safe Park locations, for people living out of their vehicles.•A group of voters are asking a judge to overturn the successful bond issue passed in August to support Lake Wenatchee Fire and Rescue.•Teams controlling the Lower Sugarloaf Fire spent much of Sunday using controlled firing operations to shore up containment.

•The weather outlook tonight has crews at the Lower Sugarloaf Fire on high alert.•The Grant County Sheriff’s Office has identified the employee who was allegedly involved in a domestic violence incident this week.•Governor Bob Ferguson has condemned the sudden termination of more than $1.1 billion dollars in federal funding for Washington clean energy projects.

•The regional port authority says Chelan County overstepped its bounds in setting a moratorium on the creation of new tax-increment finance districts. That’s the assertion in a new lawsuit, just filed in court by the port district.•The Wenatchee man arrested last year after firing off an AR-15 in a dispute with his family has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor.•A Grant County sheriff’s employee involved in a domestic violence incident in Soap Lake has been taken off active duty pending an investigation.

•The major wildfire that had its origins in Kittitas County is now forcing trail closures and low-level evacuation notices on the outskirts of Wenatchee.•Commissioners for the Chelan-Douglas Regional Port Authority on Monday authorized the filing of a lawsuit against Chelan County, seeking to restrain the county from enforcing its moratorium on the creation of tax increment areas.•Grant County sheriff’s deputies arrested a 70-year-old Coulee City man Tuesday evening after he allegedly threatened five people with a handgun.

•The Washington State Patrol bomb squad disposed of a live hand grenade Monday night, after police say a three-year-old boy discovered it.•An East Wenatchee man was arrested by a police tactical team on Saturday after an eight-year-old child reported an alleged domestic assault. •Grant County firefighters were called out in force on Monday for an above-ground diesel storage tank in flames on a farm property near George.

•A Sunday spot fire traveled beyond the containment efforts on the Lower Sugarloaf Fire, sparking a 60-acre brush burn high on Burch Mountain.•Deputies with the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office arrested a man in Wenatchee on Sunday evening after he allegedly stabbed his roommate. •A Wenatchee woman shot to death by her neighbor under mysterious circumstances over the summer appears to have been a victim of mistaken identity.

•Forty mile an hour winds pushed North Central Washington’s huge twin wildfires beyond some of their boundaries on Thursday, and put residents in the Wenatchee Valley and Blewett Pass on high alert.•Chelan County Coroner Wayne Harris is responsible for determining the cause and relative time of any unexplained death in his jurisdiction. He says today in Travis Decker’s case, that may prove impossible.•Creighton Hilstad, the owner of the Wenatchee Avenue boutique store Henry Harrow & Co. lost 10 acres of his property to the Lower Sugarloaf fire on Sunday night. He’s one of dozens of landowners who’ve found themselves in the path of the 34,000-acre fire.

•Travis Caleb Decker, the man accused of kidnapping and murdering his three young daughters, is dead. Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison gave the news in a 4 p.m. press conference today.•Highway 97 over Blewett Pass remains closed as fire crews deal with the troublesome Labor Mountain Fire, the 17,000-acre wildland blaze which now overlaps from Kittitas County into Chelan County.•42-year-old Brandon David Ebe pleaded guilty Wednesday in Chelan County Superior Court to 10 counts of possessing sexually explicit depictions of minors.

•A filing in the federal criminal case against Travis Decker says the man who allegedly murdered his own children more than three months ago is now dead.•The Chelan County Commissioners chambers was full of community members Tuesday morning for the hearing on the county’s moratorium preventing the creation of Tax increment financing areas.•One of the two wildland firefighters accused of traveling in stolen vehicles on their way to work on the Lower Sugarloaf Fire has been charged with two felonies.

•A 41-year-old Chelan resident pleaded guilty yesterday to providing fentanyl to local juveniles in exchange for sex and compromising photographs.•More than 50 people attended a Sept. 18 East Wenatchee City Council workshop for a discussion on the city’s policy on displaying banners around main thoroughfares.•After a 15-day closure, Knapps Hill Tunnel on Highway 97A near Chelan has reopened.

•While the Lower Sugarloaf Fire increased in size and prompted new evacuation notices over the weekend, a wildfire burning in Kittitas County crossed into Chelan County, prompting evacuations of its own.•An 18-year-old Wenatchee man was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly stole a vehicle.•A combined grass and structure fire consumed storage outbuildings plus a parked trailer and boat on Friday just outside Leavenworth.

• Human remains found in the Icicle River Valley may be those of Travis Decker, wanted in the June killings of his three daughters.• Wenatchee High School students are adjusting to a new policy that locks away their phones during the school day.• The Wenatchee River Salmon Festival returns this weekend at Rocky Reach Dam and Discovery Center.

•Sheriff’s deputies say two firefighters working the Lower Sugarloaf wildfire were involved in the thefts of two vehicles this week, including one that was stolen in Wenatchee and became involved in a police chase.•Customers with the Chelan County Community Development department have been targeted recently by a new email scam.•Chelan County is hosting an open house next week to show off the newly-updated Veterans Services Office on Orondo Avenue.

•A suspected robber who allegedly made two visits to local banks was apprehended Tuesday, and turned out to have a lengthy prior history of bank robbery.•The Northwest Athletic Conference found the Wenatchee Valley College athletics department to have QUOTE “no significant structure, vision or plan” after WVC requested a review by the governing body earlier this year.•Managers on the Lower Sugarloaf Fire changed evacuation levels yesterday, placing new areas under Level 2 notices.

•The Chelan County Mountain Rescue team located a deceased hiker last week in the Dragontail Peak area of the Enchantments.•Authorities modified the evacuation levels around the Lower Sugarloaf Fire, now at just over 18,000 acres and burning between the Chumstick and Entiat valleys.•Another move to end COVID-19 vaccinations through the Chelan-Douglas Health District has failed.

•The 17,000 acre Lower Sugarloaf Fire is now listed at 11% contained. That’s a major step in the battle against that large fire, burning between the Entiat and Chumstick Valleys.•Construction began today on Valley Mall Parkway in East Wenatchee between Northeast Ninth Street and Highway 28.•The annual Fiestas Mexicanas at Triangle Park on Friday and Saturday drew thousands to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day, despite uncertainty around immigration concerns.

•It could have been a tragedy, but police say a quick-thinking semi driver averted disaster on Thursday when his vehicle lost its breaks heading downhill on Grant Road.•The Lower Sugarloaf Fire burning between the Chumstick and Entiat Valleys picked up some energy on Thursday, growing to just over 15,000 acres.•The Wenatchee City Council unanimously adopted a new policy Thursday night, concerning the use of artificial intelligence in city offices.

•Chelan County Commissioners on Tuesday heard a grievance brought by the Teamsters Union, which represents supervisors and deputies at the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office.•The growth of large wildfires in Chelan County has led to a local emergency declaration.•A 36-year-old Ephrata man died Wednesday night after he crashed his motorcycle and was run over by a truck on Highway 28 near Soap Lake.

•At a community meeting held in Entiat on Tuesday, the team handling the Lower Sugarloaf Fire said they’re continuing to set dozer lines around the 13,814-acre blaze, burning between the Chumstick and Entiat River Valleys.•The attorney for a woman arrested in Chelan on a false drunk-driving charge has won more than $42,000 in a settlement from the Washington State Patrol.•The long-awaited Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed expansion of Mission Ridge is now available, and open for public comment.

• A Moses Lake man who federal prosecutors called the primary gang recruiter for all of Grant County will spend 10 years in prison on firearms charges.•A change in leadership at Wenatchee Valley College has the institution losing down a vice president.•Governor Bob Ferguson visited Wenatchee today for the State Building and Construction Trades Council Convention, held downtown at the Wenatchee Convention Center.

• Eastward expansion of the Lower Sugarloaf Fire over the weekend prompted authorities to expand Level 3 evacuation notices to include the entire community of Ardenvoir.• A former custodian at Sterling Junior High in East Wenatchee was charged late last month with sexual offenses against a student there, two years after his initial arrest.• A Moses Lake man has pleaded guilty to child porn possession after his arrest last year.• The Wenatchee River Institute is launching what it calls an “urgent” campaign to save its beloved Traveling Naturalist in the Classroom program.• The City of Wenatchee plans to reopen nearby Hale Park on a limited basis while construction goes on.

•Washington’s state health officer signed an order Thursday making anyone in the state eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations, without consulting their doctor.•A complex incident team is now in charge of the Lower Sugarloaf Fire in Chelan County as well as the Labor Mountain Fire near Cle Elum.•NCWLIFE met with three FFA participants from the Eastmont School District yesterday as they finished setting up for this weekend’s events at the Cashmere fairgrounds, and heard about all the work it takes for the students to get there.

•The Lower Sugarloaf Fire, which began outside the town of Plain due a lightning strike Monday, has quickly grown to more than 6,200 acres and sparked urgent evacuation warnings for residents along Mad River Road in the Entiat Valley.•A structure was lost but firefighters were able to control the spread of a wildland fire that ignited the building today.•Mosquitoes that were captured at Crab Creek near Moses Lake have tested positive for West Nile, a mosquito-borne virus that can cause severe disease in the central nervous system.

•Chelan County Emergency Management has issued several evacuation notices due to the fast-growing Lower Sugarloaf Fire burning east of Plain.•The second of 12 men arrested in a State Patrol sting operation last year for soliciting sex with a minor has been sentenced.•A Washington Elementary School student will serve as one of the state’s Youth Heart with the American Heart Association this school year.

•Lightning strikes over the weekend are blamed for half a dozen new fires now burning on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.•A Cashmere woman with a history of serious driving convictions now faces possible assault charges after allegedly driving away from a Chelan County traffic stop.•The Wenatchee Valley Fire Department’s Malaga location is now fully-staffed after the temporary hiatus that came after a loss in funding from the shutdown of Alcoa’s aluminum smelter plant.

•All guests and non-essential staff are being evacuated from Holden Village and nearby facilities as the 60-acre Martin Fire continues to burn in the area.•A Level 1 “be ready” fire advisory was issued this morning for Blewett Pass after another wildfire caused by lightning ignited last night.•The Washington State Department of Transportation will close Knapps Hill Tunnel after Labor Day to replace its failing lighting system.

•Two people in a Grant County long-term care facility have died and many more were sickened by a COVID-19 outbreak.•A Level 2 “get ready” evacuation notice was issued this morning for Holden Village, including the Rio Tinto Mine water treatment plant, as the lightning-caused Martin Fire grows.•A tractor driver was injured in a collision on Highway 281 early this morning near Quincy.

•The two occupants of a small plane that crashed into a house during a failed landing attempt at the Cashmere airport say they’re recovering after the ordeal.•Authorities say they’re still investigating a deadly house fire that happened last week in Chelan, and still unable to publicly identify the two people killed.•The driver who bumped a group of police officers with his vehicle while fleeing a traffic stop will serve four months in jail.

•About 100 federal agents are moving through the Icicle River area where the Decker sisters were murdered almost three months ago, carrying out a grid search in pursuit of the father who’s accused of killing them.•Two people were injured in a three-car collision Monday afternoon on Highway 28 near Quincy.•As the Valley Academy of Learning begins its new life inside the former Columbia Elementary School building, the Wenatchee School Board is determining what to do with its former site.

•Last night, the FBI once again began a sweep of the forested area where Paityn, Evelyn and Olivia Decker were found murdered nearly three months ago.•Quincy police say a local resident was already wanted on a warrant when he decided to use a handgun to settle an argument.•The city of Chelan struggled today with a water main break that threatened to deplete its reservoirs.

•A recreational vehicle caught fire yesterday while traveling on Highway 97. That led to a wildfire that had to be controlled before highway traffic could resume.•A second person has now been reported as killed in the house fire at 418 East Woodin Ave. in Chelan early Thursday morning.•The East Wenatchee City Council voted this week to impose a new 0.1% sales tax that takes effect next year.

•Two people were injured and one person was killed in a house fire at 418 East Woodin Avenue in Chelan early this morning.•A homeless Wenatchee man who pleaded guilty to setting fire to a drainage pipe back in February is again charged with arson, this time for allegedly starting a small fire near Hale Park on the Apple Capital Loop Trail.•East Wenatchee police say they’ve arrested a 27-year-old Cashmere man for providing fentanyl that contributed to a woman’s death.

•Police in Mattawa and Moses Lake are seeking public assistance in solving a homicide in a public park.•A three-year-old rescue from the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society is the new narcotics-detecting dog for the Chelan County Regional Justice Center.•The Level 1 evacuation notice on Holden Village was lifted on Tuesday after being in place since early July due to the Pomas Fire.

•A barn was destroyed by a fire Monday morning along Blewett Pass, though firefighters were able to prevent the blaze from spreading to nearby trees.•Four people were injured in a four-vehicle wreck on Highway 2 yesterday afternoon in Tumwater Canyon.•Today marks ten years since the Twisp River Fire, started by tree branches contacting a power line.

•Governor Bob Ferguson has authorized an investigation into the conduct of members on the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission, including its new vice-chair, former wildlife biologist John Lehmkuhl of Wenatchee.•Three people were injured in a four-car DUI collision Friday afternoon on Highway 97 near Pateros.•A new report from the Washington State Auditor finds that Moses Lake schools did not appropriately track their employees hours and productivity when paying them with federal Title I funding.

•The McNeil Canyon Road Realignment project in Douglas County is currently suspended, due to a union strike in several eastern Washington cities.•The city of Chelan will receive $3 million in state funding secured by 12th district Representative Mike Steele to begin its East Chelan Water Reservoir Project.•Lake Chelan Health is applying for commercial building permits to construct a new administrative building and ambulance garage on its campus.

Lighthouse Christian Ministries has shut down its homeless aid center at 410 South Columbia Street after a hearing officer allowed its conditional use permit to be revoked on Monday.A driver who pleaded guilty to bumping police officers with his vehicle while fleeing a traffic stop is now wanted for sentencing.And a 95-acre brush fire burned up a hillside north of Brewster on Wednesday.