foreign 2 News begins now thank you for joining us on krem2 plus I'm Tim Pham this is your KREM 2 News week in review join us as we take a closer look at some of the biggest stories in the Inland Northwest this past week all that smoke in the Northeast that we've been seeing recently is coming from the wildfires burning up in Canada meanwhile while our skies have been clear of that smoke at the moment it likely won't be long before that smoke becomes all too much of a reality for the Northwest a
s Wildfire smoke continues to choke parts of the East Coast Senator Jim risch of Idaho have this to say it's really appropriate to be holding this hearing for those of you who live on the east coast Welcome to our air in the west this is this is common on Thursday Senators on the committee on energy and natural resources questioned fire officials including about Federal Wildfire response and Land Management reforms Washington senator Maria Cantwell showed the Outlook Maps released from the Natio
nal interagency Fire Center showing which states have the potential for significant Wildland fires currently it shows most of Washington including the West Side to be one of the area's most at risk of fires from July to September my whole state is in the forecast for this summer being in the epicenter of this right now the U.S drought monitor shows most of Western Washington's abnormally dry while the majority of Eastern Washington is in the clear meanwhile most of Northern Idaho's seeing modera
te drought conditions however the fire Center expects to see drier conditions as summer moves in Senator Cantwell also spoke about using prescribed Burns to remove fire fuels there's probably very hardly any time now to do subscribe Burns in the middle of summer it just doesn't happen Senator risch also spoke about managing fire fuels at the hearing for years we have focused on putting out fires and we were very very successful at it and by being successful at it we've caused the problem that we
've got and with Wildfire season just getting started it's a problem that's expected to continue in Spokane Cody Proctor KREM 2 News [Music] throughout the day we've seen rain start to pool on some roadways but the rain was just one element of this storm take a look at some of the dramatic photos and videos sent in by KREM 2 viewers late this afternoon weather across the Inland Northwest turned stormy nice line oh there's a little lightning cool a downpour in Kellogg and an impressive lightning
strike in Rathdrum sent To Us by Jennifer gold we could see and hear it too at the KREM 2 Studios on the South Hill [Music] some of the electricity in the air grounding on the KREM 2 Tower [Music] today's storm also brought plenty of wind boats at McDonald's Resort in Bayview tossed around like toys that's pretty good isn't it the wind also brought down a tree hitting this car's windshield off Kidd Island Road in Coeur d'Alene and over near Harrison Cheryl Sorensen says the storm brought down po
wer lines which sparked a fire the rain stuck around the longest and more is on the way to Mars look at that baby that's gold going in that tank in Spokane Kyle simcha KREM 2 news [Music] earlier today I had the chance to talk with Eddie's neighbor who tells me that Eddie it was one of the most kind and humble people he ever met but for Spokane climbers Eddie was a legend certainly anytime we lose a local Legend like that it's just there's such a wealth of knowledge that comes from older more ex
perienced climbers that's just lost any time someone passes away whether from natural causes or in the mountains so that's super devastating Nathaniel Kerber is an avid hiker and mountain climber he actually climbed Mount Rainier on Friday the date Park Rangers started searching for Dawes Eddie we saw this helicopter hovering for like probably a couple hours just spinning around and at I don't know 9 A.M in the morning and we were like dude what is that about so that would definitely make sense
five days later Park Rangers found a man in a crevass matching the description of Eddie was once the oldest man to Summit Mount Everest he was climbing Mount Rainier for the 50th time to celebrate his 80th birthday Nathaniel says he's sad but not surprised of what happened experience does not make you safe even if especially as a soloist that's just objectively way more dangerous Nathaniel planned on taking the same route Eddie did but after looking at safety reports he decided to take another r
oute yeah buddy it's part of what happens with mountaineering there's certain gambles you have to make but the experience the thrill the the success the accomplishment John Macias is another local climber he didn't know Eddie personally but knows that impact Eddie leaves it's a huge loss someone having so much experience being such a legend in the community um it's an enormous loss according to Mount Rainier National Park park rangers changed the primary route from the Ingram direct which is the
route Eddie took to disappointment Cleaver on Saturday because of significant crevassing and to be clear officials are only saying that a clamor that matched Eddie's description was found dead in a crevasse on the Ingram Glacier at 11 500 feet the Pierce County Medical Examiner will release the climber's identity in The Newsroom Nathan KREM 2 News so we're actually kind of tiptoeing into a two-day Festival there's also going to be like a welcome drag show on Friday too in conjunction with that
not the same thing part of the park but different parts of the park then Saturdays where the big stuff starts and the parade is at noon and just basically empties out into the park there's going to be five stages and drag queens everywhere every year we do it that the crowd just totally outgrows what we planned for as far as like you know event infrastructure um cautiously optimistic that this is going to be the best best year ever by by a lot I want like 60 000 people the bigger we can make thi
s thing the bigger deal this is the more love we can spread with this lovely event the the more things like this we can do to show that the haters are just out there on The Fringe the healthier we can be as a society and the more we're going to heal this crazy division that we have why are would you say this year's Pride events are so important Pride kind of contains the positive message of our culture that like we just need to accept people for who they are and just focus on loving yourself and
loving each other and not get too political and not get too knock it too into the weeds pride is that one day where we all come out and hold hands and sing with each other and celebrate and just just spread the love and I'm gonna try to use the rest of my life to try to create more of that Governor Brad little just returned from the Texas Mexico border where he's also sent 12 Idaho state troopers to help being a forced multiplier for Texas Department of Public Safety Governor little says he and
other GOP Governors continue to call on the Biden Administration to address crime and drug smuggling at the border and any Chaos on the border gives them a better opportunity to do the bad things they do little says that trip South was twofold both to help Texas with the surge at the border but also to learn ways to combat the smuggling of drugs specifically fentanyl coming across Idaho's borders what do we do to identify basically the latest technology the bad guys are using to smuggle drugs i
n Idaho or more often through Idaho Trooper Enrique urenas just returned from Texas where he assisted in patrols a lot of human trafficking a lot of humans smuggling a lot of Pursuits and a lot of drugs he and other Idaho Troopers picked up new skills they'll bring to fighting drug trafficking at home liquid liquid math compartments in in vehicles hidden in gas tanks trunks of cars just everywhere um it's just very surprising where you would find something a second team of six Troopers is still
in Texas and will return later this week you hear it in the news you see it and being able to see it in person is a whole different aspect Shannon Maude very disappointing and sad KREM 2 News [Music] when Washington's ban on certain semi-automatic Firearms went into effect three lawsuits came forward the Second Amendment foundation's Federal lawsuit to block the new law is the first to get rejected the Second Amendment Foundation filed its lawsuit against the state of Washington in the U.S Weste
rn District Court they asked the judge to block the Statewide assault weapons ban while waiting to go to trial the lawsuit claims the ban violates the constitutional right to bear arms but today the judge rejected that request to temporarily block the new law the order says in light of recent mass shootings it is appropriate for the government to find ways to protect the public within the limits of the Second Amendment so I'm signing this bill the ban was signed into law in April and at that tim
e attorney general Bob Ferguson said he is prepared to fight any legal challenges so we have defended a number of bills related to Common Sense gun reform and our record so far is pretty good against the NRA and against the Second Amendment Foundation we are undefeated and we plan to keep that record intact there are still two other lawsuits pending against Washington's assault weapons ban the NRA filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the National Shooting Sports foundation and individual plainti
ffs the individual plaintiffs include Spokane's Sharp Shooting and indoor range and gun shop the non-profit silent majority Foundation filed a separate lawsuit in Grant County but last month a judge transferred the case to Thurston County that transfer is still pending now the National Shooting Sports Foundation filed its Federal lawsuit against Washington with sharp shooting the foundation told me this afternoon their organization is confident in its challenge against the state Amanda Rowley KR
EM 2 News [Music] we've been keeping tabs on this story since March when activists called for Spokane police chief Craig Michel to resign they say emails between midle and downtown business owners showed favoritism and special access to City Records this Monday City councils expected to make an emergency change to city code which currently says complaints against the police chief shall be directed to the mayor council president Brian Begg says the police Ombudsman has the authority to investigat
e officers under City Charter but he says city code doesn't match they left out the ombuds person investigating the police chief and so we are going to fix that we're simply going to remove the language that kept the Ombudsman from doing it he points to a 2013 voter approved Charter Amendment here's what it says the office of the police Ombudsman has the authority to and shall independently investigate any matter necessary to fulfill its duties which includes complaints against police officers I
have said a number of times that I'm not going to initiate an investigation of our police chief marinating Woodward says there's no merit in investigating claims of favoritism by Chief midle well I have the authority to investigate the police chief Leon budsman does not and if the council wants that then they're going to have to change the city Charter so the charter change that she's talking about already took place in 2013. I just don't think she's read up on the charter Begg says changing ci
ty code won't impact the mayor's authority to launch investigation the proposed ordinance just cleans up discrepancies between city code and city Charter still Woodward questions begs this call for an investigation this is a personal issue that he has with our chief who has been active in the last two legislative sessions to Advocate to get tools back for our police officers Biggs denies this and in turn says mayor Woodward is keeping this issue going I think she's making it into a political cam
paign issue and that's really unfortunate because any other executive I think who has a complaint against them she promptly promptly gets an investigation that exonerates them and then they go on now we want to be very clear Monday's vote will not launch an investigation into midle Beggs says that's up to the Ombudsman on whether or not it happens Shannon Maude KREM 2 News foreign says the ceremony adjustments were made during the coveted pandemic but now covered restrictions have lifted and som
e parents think that they should be back in the room to watch their students cross the stage the West Valley School District says the assembly will have choir performances student speeches and individual recognitions for every 8th grader but no parents we want to be there Rebecca Lee says she's excited to celebrate her student but she also wants to be in the room to do it we want to be able to take our own pictures we want to be able to cheer them on we want they have worked so hard this particu
lar group started when they were online in covid and they didn't get the beginning middle school experience which they overcame which is great but then to end it like this is just kind of ridiculous it's really frustrating the district is recording the assembly and inviting parents to attend a barbecue picnic on the football field after the event Kimberly Hutchinson says that's not enough the question's funny um ask a parent like oh is it okay if you just videotape my daughter's first birthday l
ike that'll be okay right I could watch it on a video it's not the same and these kids want their parents principal Karen Woolworth says the assembly is more inclusive for students who may not have someone who can show up for them and it was also well received in previous years Woolworth says hosting the assembly was a joint decision between parents students and staff Billy and Hutchinson say their voices and other parent voices aren't being heard we want to be here to support our kids we want t
o show up and we have spoken to the principal and the superintendent and we just have told that there will be no exceptions they won't be changing anything and we aren't allowed Lee and Hutchins say it's likely not much will change between now and the ceremony and barbecue next Thursday but they do hope that voicing their concerns will inspire some change and that future 8th grade classes and their parents can look forward to being back in the room together to celebrate moments like these in Spo
kane Valley Janelle Finch crime 2 News [Music] remember we told you late last month when the mayor vetoed this ordinance leaving one last chance for Council to push it through with a super majority vote and that didn't happen my initial response was uh of surprise when mayor Chris kaminskas issued what some says the first veto in Liberty Lake history last month some were shocked others outraged seems to me that the only recourse we now have is to dismiss some of the library board members I certa
inly thought the scalpel approach was better than that type of Sledgehammer but I guess here we are the ordinance officially died Tuesday night after failing to get a super majority vote council member Jed Spencer says the intent and the Crux for many was giving Council power to approve or reject Library policies it was really just to align with how we deal with other Departments of the city the mayor's veto cited confusing wordings but also concern Council hadn't listened to the public in the s
even months it took to finalize the legislation unfortunately I feel like with the veto we've kind of thrown the baby out with the bat bath water because you know there were a lot of changes that the board requested that the public requested there are options moving forward you know I I would hope to see a smaller group sit down and have level-headed discussions in a brief phone call Wednesday mayor kaminskas told me council could also go back to the drawing board to draft a new ordinance the on
e she vetoed can't be brought up for consideration again though for some it feels like the end of this chapter yeah I think we're kind of at a deadlock at the moment council member Chris Cargill says until Council has Library board oversight he won't vote to approve any budget requests from the library and won't vote to appoint anyone put forward by the mayor Shannon Maude KREM 2 News [Music] the start of June brought new water restrictions to the city of Spokane and plenty of questions too so l
et's verify what is true about watering and what is false first we can verify yes there are water restrictions in place in Spokane right now the city council passed the new water conservation measures last year the rules restrict water usage between June 1st and October 1st of each year you may have seen this image shared by the city of Spokane it lists restrictions on hours for watering and suggests an outdoor watering schedule broken down by even and odd addresses however parts of this graphic
may be misleading so let's break it down we can verify that it is true that watering is not allowed during the day between 10 a.m and 6 p.m there is also a limit on how many days you can water to four days a week however while the city suggests an even odd watering schedule the city code leaves it open for homeowners to choose the days that work best for them there is also no limit on how long you can water although the code suggests a limit of two hours per day KREM 2 News viewer Deb emailed t
he verified team to ask Will golf courses parks and schools be following these same guidelines too if not why well Deb we can tell you there are exemptions that can be made for the parks department reasons include watering trees or new landscape mitigating fire risks pools and splash pads and golf courses and sports facilities similar exemptions are also available for homeowners we can also verify there are currently no penalties for people who don't follow the rules if you have something you'd
like verified email those questions to us at verify krem.com since 2015 the city of Spokane has required short-term rentals to be permitted but there are hundreds of short-term rentals operating illegally and the city wants to crack down in February the city hired granicus a data collecting company that tracks short-term rentals with permits and those operating without permits city planner Amanda Beck says the city spent the last three years searching for a company like this it's just a needed u
pdate to keep up with changes but the main Crux of what we're doing is creating a path to compliance for short-term rentals that are operating in the city granicus data shows nearly 650 short-term rentals in Spokane are operating illegally and you'll be surprised by how many are actually permitted we have 44 active permits so those are people who are in residential zones and went through the permitting or renewal process current city code only allows short-term rentals in residential zones but t
here's been a loophole allowing them to be permitted elsewhere the city council is now considered during an amendment to allow short-term rentals in non-residential zones as well this is the current fee structure to apply and renew the rental permit and this is what permit fees would be if city council adopts changes we're partially addressing this now because we're in housing crisis and we're looking at all of the different things that impact the housing to play in the community the money made
from permits will go to cover Fire and Building Inspections the city says that they hope to pass the new code enforcement for short-term rentals by the end of this month in Spokane Nathan Han KREM 2 News we've just wanted to buy for so long and we're just blessed for this opportunity so the kids get to have a home and pick out their bedrooms and do all that fun stuff today we are actually raising the walls on our 15th home here in the Greater Spokane area for the Brown family Jonathan Brown and
Chantelle Brown Hayden Holmes has teamed up with non-profit first story to build an affordable home for a Spokane area resident I was on the news and saw the first story that they were doing a application process through first story and first-time homebuyer program turns out we qualified income qualified for it yeah Chantelle is in school full-time and so on the sole income into the house I'm Claire Duncan and I'm the executive director at first story first story was founded 25 years ago by Paci
fic Northwest homebuilder Hayden Homes as they just wanted to find a way for families that had really done everything right but weren't able to own a home on their own so we provide a path to affordable home ownership for families who are at or below 80 percent of area median income everybody wrote a super nice message on the beans of our new home and just to bless it even more we need to walk around and read all of them it's an investment I feel like it's everybody's American Dream to have and
own a home so this is just investing in our future for our kids but also fulfilling a dream that we've had for a really long time today is all about coming together to meet the family to celebrate their new home and then to raise the the very first walls so it's a pretty special experience for for all of us but then of course for the family and when we hand over the keys and October it's truly one of my favorite days of the entire year it's been an emotional just great day we're very blessed we
just feel very blessed today oh well yeah this is going to be a lot of great things happening this weekend at the Lilac City Comic Con and also we got a chance to just hang out at a local staple here as well Jedi Alliance and hanging out with the owner Tyler Arnold and we're thankful you took some time out of your day to speak with us and we talked about how many people are going to be coming in just for this event you also have a really cool special guest coming in for Comic-Con this weekend wh
o are we talking about oh yeah we're excited to bring in uh Boogaloo shrimp from a break and fame you know back in the day famous break dancer yeah man well so tell us the story about how this all came together you know because he's got these influential impacts he even told me he taught Michael Jackson the moonwalk right yeah the moonwalk and the backwards slide that he's uh you know changed the face of Music in 1984 with that performance of Billie Jean so yeah about a year and a half ago I rea
ched out to shrimp on social medias just wanting to know if he happened to have any uh old wardrobe or break dance props and uh basically we became friends talking back and forth and he seemed really excited that uh how I how excited I was you know and uh were able to get him to come up for the con this weekend I thought that would be the best place to put him in front of a large audience you know hopefully 10 10 000 or so in attendance this weekend and yeah just the I mean what's better than uh
popping and locking and you know that is so cool I gotta go back and watch these movies because I'm just you know intrigued by the whole idea that he's going to be in town this weekend and there's going to be other really cool guests in town as well you know the the voice of Ash Ketchum here in America if you're any Pokemon fans out there they'll be in town and you know so Tyler we're thankful we just had this opportunity to speak with you this morning and just having an opportunity to be in yo
ur Museum your arcade it's been an absolute blast so thank you first and foremost and uh well I like City Comic Con this weekend hope you have a great time out there hope everyone who's in attendance has a great time and if you're on the the fence go ahead and get a ticket so right now we'll toss it back to you all in the studio thank you for joining us here on creme 2 plus for a look at some of the biggest news stories of the past week for the most current news throughout the weekend you can wa
tch our latest newscast right here on creme 2 plus just look for them in the bottom navigation menu I'm Tim Pham thanks for watching foreign
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