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Gary DeVon/GT file photo The U.S. Forest Service is waiving recreation fees for those day-use sites that have them in Washington and Oregon on Saturday, June 10. The U.S. Forest Service is waiving recreation fees for those day-use sites that have them in Washington and Oregon on Saturday, Sept. 23. Gary DeVon/GT file photo

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Forest Service waives recreation fees for National Public Lands Day

The Forest Service will be waiving recreation fees at day-use sites on Saturday, Sept. 23, for National Public…

USDA ReConnect4 $30.17 million grant project area. Source: OKPUD No. 1.

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Okanogan County PUD receives over $30 million from USDA to improve fiber operations

This will significantly improve broadband access to the Nine Mile, Molson, Chesaw, Havillah and Siwash Creek areas.

Guns and drugs were seized from a Bridgeport residence by law enforcement and a man and a woman were booked into Okanogan County Jail for kidnapping, assualt and drug possession.. The male suspect was also booked on weopons charges. OSCO photo

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Bridgeport couple charged with kidnapping, assault and drug possession

Suspected kidnapping in Okanogan County leads to weapons and drug bust in Douglas County

The Washington State Supreme Court Building in Olympia, Washington Tim Gruver/The Center Square

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Sheriffs don’t need independent OK to deploy tear gas in riots, WA Supreme Court rules

A divided Washington Supreme Court ruled that sheriffs in non-charter counties can order the deployment of tear gas…

Combine harvesting in Eastern Washington. File Photo

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WA Farm Bureau, trucking org seek court ruling on ag diesel fuel tax exemption

Court is being asked to invalidate current regulations, which plaintiffs allege are costing tens of millions of dollars…

A group of local ranchers approached the sale barn at the Okanogan County Fair with a goal of the miraculous in their hearts and a plan to take young Vance Reese’s feeder steer to $20,000. Kristi Reese/submitted photo

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A miracle in the sale barn: ‘Sell it again’

Last Saturday, a group of local ranchers approached the sale barn at the Okanogan County Fair with a…

Okanogan County Courthouse <em>GT File Photo </em>

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Washington counties sue state over indigent criminal defense costs

Lawsuit alleges state has failed to fund counties in providing legal counsel to defendants who can’t afford to…

Fire burns along the ridge of a hillside west of Oroville, after traveling three miles from Blue Lake Road last month. The fire eventually burned across the border into Canada.. The state Deptartment of Natural Resources has begun using remotely operated cameras around the state to scan for signs of wildfire and dispatch fire and quickly alert authorities to respond. Gary DeVon/GT File Photo

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Washington DNR using new AI tech cameras to search for wildfires

The state DNR has begun using remotely operated camera systems to scan for signs of wildfire.

BLM Illustration

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Public Use Restrictions lifted on BLM lands in Eastern Washington

Most fire restrictions lifted on Thursday, Sept. 7 for Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Reclamation lands

Gary DeVon/staff photo Signs like this one on the corner of Central and Cherry streets have been popping up in various locations in anticipation of the closure of SR97 while work is done to the highway and to the railroad crossing. The work by the state Department of Transportation was to begin Wednesday. Prior to Wednesday all the signs were turned around backwards so that people would not detour before they needed to.

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Work at bridge and railroad crossing in Oroville will result in temporary closure of US 97

Motorists will need to detour for several weeks around work on the highway and Okanogan River Bridge just…

Spokane-based Avista Utilities’ Kettle Falls Generating Station is the first wood waste–fired power plant in the U.S. built solely to generate electricity. The facility annually burns about 500,000 tons of wood waste from Pacific Northwest and Canadian lumber mills. The DNR signed a letter of intent this month with Myno Carbon Corp. to create boichar in partnership with Avista. Biochar is a carbon-rich product created from slash and other byproducts of forest restoration treatments and timber harvests – to sequester carbon and reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires in Eastern Washington. Avista Utilities photo

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DNR announces innovative climate resilience partnership with Myno Carbon

Partnership focuses on using forest waste to create and market the use of biochar to support a planned…

Okanogan County PUD began replacing old power transformers in substations throughout the county by removing an old transformer and replacing it with a new one in 2022. OKPUD/GT File Photo

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Washington state receives $23M in grant funding to bolster energy grid resilience

The state has been allocated federal grant funding to make its energy grid more resilient against wildfires and…

Lumen Field is hidden by smoke as seen from the Dr. Jose Rizal Bridge on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. (Amanda Snyder/Crosscut)

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Washington’s ‘smoke season’ is back: Here’s how to stay safe

As wildfire risk increases, so does the frequency of hazy, hazardous days. Here are some tips on monitoring…