•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.