Earlier this year, central Pierce County residents were shocked when the Fairfax Bridge was suddenly closed.

The steel bridge has spanned the deep Carbon River Canyon for over a century.

It connects to the only public road leading to beloved remote ***sections*** of Mount Rainier National Park, but in April state inspectors discovered a bent support column and shut the bridge down permanently.

This has made it difficult for residents to navigate the region and left local business owners scrambling.

KNKX reporter Mitch Borden brings us this story.

Lede: Four University of Idaho students were murdered nearly three years ago at an off-campus home in Moscow [MOSS-coe]. The killer has since pleaded guilty and has been locked up, but the case is still making national headlines.

This week, University of Idaho students are off to class [first day of classes Aug. 25]. As the fall semester begins, N-W-P-B’s Lauren Paterson reports on how the Moscow [MOSS-coe] community is finding peace after closure.

Colleges are dealing with increasing uncertainty this school year. That’s largely due to unprecedented funding cuts from the Trump Administration.

But despite the turmoil, Oregon’s George Fox University is attracting more students than ever.

University leaders credit the school’s growth to its commitment to student needs and to its Christian roots.

OPB's Tiffany Camhi recently visited the university on move-in day. (:29)

Eastern Washington has a new chief “cop in the woods.”

Captain Alan Myers now leads the Fish and Wildlife law enforcement officers in Washington’s Region 1.

Spokane Public Radio’s Eliza Billingham has more on his role, plus the role of game wardens across the state.

Border Patrol officials say two firefighters arrested at the Bear Gulch fire on the Olympic Peninsula were in the country unlawfully.

Headline: Five years after Oregon’s Labor Day Fires, scientists find a surprising world beneath the surface of burned forest streams

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We’re coming up on the five-year anniversary of Oregon’s Labor Day Fires, one of the most extreme fire events in the state’s history.

After more than a million acres burned, all the firefighters packed up and headed home. Then it was the scientists’ turn to head out into the woods. The sheer size and severity of the Labor Day Fires gave them an unique chance to learn what happens after the burn.

OPB science reporter Jes Burns has the story.

Two firefighters have been arrested by Border Patrol while working one of Washington’s largest fires this year. It was part of a worksite raid. Border Patrol alleges the two firefighters were in the U.S. Illegally. KUOW's Gustavo Sagrero has more.

St. Charles Health System in Central Oregon is now requiring its workers to wear masks while interacting with patients. That’s because positive COVID-19 test results have been up for the past two weeks. Kathryn Styer Martínez reports.

WHITEAKER - FEATURE

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A new program in Eugene’s Whiteaker [WHIT-aker] neighborhood will preserve aging homes. Supporters say it will also make vulnerable community members more resilient against the impacts of climate change.

KLCC’s Rebecca Hansen-White reports.

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Staff at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood are organizing to form a union. They are concerned about how the museum is being managed.