Sourdough fire update, Involuntary Detention, Senator Murray to visit Whatcom County, Purchasing power rises in Whatcom County, Burlington Man’s death ruled a suicide, Affordable Housing moves forward in Western Washington
______________________________
Independent, nonprofit community radio.
KMRE brings you local news for Monday, August 7th. Good afternoon, I’m ______.
STORY: Sourdough fire update
The Sourdough fire near Diablo continued to grow this weekend and has shut down State Route 20 until further notice.
Personnel have struggled to control the fire due to the difficult terrain and extreme dryness of the area. As of yesterday, zero percent was contained and the fire continues to burn at fourteen hundred acres, more than double its size on Friday. Many people have reported seeing its large smoke cloud surrounding Mount Baker.
Since last week, Seattle City Light has helped in evacuation and fire management efforts. The fire threatens the Skagit Hydroelectric Project, a set of three dams that supply up to thirty percent of Seattle’s power every year.
Fire personnel continue to monitor and establish fire lines in an attempt to contain the fire. The National Park Service has closed trails, campsites, and other recreational areas near the fire indefinitely.
Evacuation warnings are still in place for the Diablo community.
STORY: INVOLUNTARY DETENTION
A pair of July rulings by the Washington Supreme Court found that state authorities repeatedly violated the Involuntary Treatment Act.
The law allows psychiatric hospitals to hold patients experiencing a mental health or substance abuse problem against their will for up to 5 days. An individual is typically referred for evaluation by family members, first responders or medical providers when a patient is deemed a threat to themselves or others
During that 5 day period, the person must have a hearing before a judge or commissioner to review the grounds for detention.
The set of rulings found that three people were held beyond the period of legal detention. In one case, a doctor issued consecutive three-day holds on a patient before filing a petition to the court.
This ruling follows a decision by U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman on July 8th, finding the Washington Department of Social and Health Services had been violating the constitutional rights of people with mental illness since 2015. The state argued that a lack of funding, personnel, and beds in mental health facilities forced them to incarcerate the mentally ill in jails for extended periods. However, Judge Pechman pointed to increasing wait-times for suitable hospital beds and ruled the situation was instead due to a “lack of foresight, creativity, planning and timely response to a crisis of its own making.”
In 2021, more than 15,000 people with mental health issues were involuntarily detained in Washington State, an average of 41 per day.
STORY: Senator Murray to visit Whatcom County
Senator Patty Murray will be visiting Whatcom County today.
Senator Murray will talk to small business owners about pandemic affects and recovery efforts. She also plans to visit the site of a broadband project expanding access to high-speed internet service into the county, and plans to visit a new Early Learning Center that she’s working to secure funding for.
Murray will also meet with the Superintendent of the Meridian School District, along with parents and educators, to discuss efforts to reduce the cost of childcare.
STORY: Purchasing power rises in Whatcom
According to smartasset.com, Whatcom County is ranked 10th in highest purchasing power for Washington State this year.
Purchasing power, or how far your dollar will go, is based on a comparison of median income and cost of living. Our region ranked around 20th on the list in 2020.
The top four counties for purchasing power– ranked in order– are King County, Benton County, Island County, and Skagit County.
STORY: Burlington man’s death ruled a suicide
The Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s office has ruled the death of a Burlington man hit by a freight train in Bellingham a suicide.
Ivan Pokrova, aged 24, was struck on the BNSF railroad tracks on July 16th below the 1100 block of Chuckanut Drive.
Pokrova’s death was the second of three deaths to be caused by trains in Bellingham since May.
STORY: Affordable housing moves forward in Western Washington
Madrona Highlands, a housing project in Washington state, is providing 52 units to families with very low incomes or that are homeless. The project is getting support from Beneficial State Bank, which has made assisting with affordable housing part of its mission. Here’s more on that story by Eric Tegethoff.
AFFORDABLE AUDIO
WX: Sunshine
The weather in Bellingham today will be mostly sunny, with increasing clouds overnight. The high today is 74* and the low tonight will be around 60*. The increasing clouds will result in chance rain showers tomorrow, with definite rain on Wednesday. The storm is likely to pass by Friday.
OUTRO:
Today’s newscast was produced by volunteers AnThu Nguyen (ANNE-two new-WIN), Myles Weber, Emma Toscani and Carlos Braga. Tune in to local news on KMRE weekdays at 3, 4 and 5 p-m. For news tips and feedback, send us an email at news@kmre.org or call 360-398-6150. KMRE is a nonprofit community radio station, powered by listener donations. I’m ________________ and thanks for listening.
###
