You can count on utilities are on the way up in more than one central Washington community a police department works to restore community
Confidence and fears of the West Nile bias fuel thoughts of a mosquito control board. Here news at 11 starts now
Local coverage you can count on this is local news at 11 on cap ABC where the forecast comes first
We still have a dense fog advisory in effect across the region tonight and some of that fog may precipitate out as either
light drizzle or light snow and tomorrow staying on the mostly cloudy side of the Yakima Valley with isolated drizzle and light snow a
High of 36 with light winds for the Tri-Cities mostly cloudy isolated drizzle and light snow and a high of 37
I'll have more on the forecast later in news. All right. Thanks Tom. Good evening, everyone. Thanks for joining us
I'm Jana Smiller our top story tonight a police department that's battled charges of racial prejudice in the past
Opens its doors to the community in recent years Yakima police have been accused of racial profiling
But tonight the department went out of its way to let the community in
Dozens of people attended the open house officers say the department wants to restore community confidence
Should have confidences in us and trust us and I think you can't have that unless you have the contact with the people direct contact
Station tours were given to the attendees Paula Berlingame brought her cub scout troop. She hopes they'll learn to look past police stereotypes
So that they're not afraid of the policeman when they hear the sirens or hear cops going down the road
They're aware that there are good people that are coming to help and not necessarily that they're after bad people
Yakima police are offering more opportunities to see the station a future event includes a police ride along
Contact the Yakima Police Department for more information
Tonight Pasco police are investigating two break-ins at the Tri-City Animal Control
Managers say the alarm system scared the burglars off last night
And they didn't get away with anything managers also say the burglars may have been after four pit bulls that were brought in yesterday morning
Afternoon we had 40 or 50 people trying to get those pit bulls out of here
They they like the pit bulls for
They tell us for breeding purposes so they can sell the puppies for a lot of money
But the underlying thing there that we we have a problem with is that they take the animals out and fight them
Young says a lot of fighting pit bulls are brought into the shelter and many are too dangerous to be let out
Residents on the Yakima reservation will see their power bills jump by three percent starting Monday and possibly more after that
This morning the Washington utility and transportation commission gave pacific power permission to pass
The Yakima nation's new fee the tribe is charging all utilities three percent to operate on the reservation
And they soon increase the tax to eight percent
Opponents say it's illegal for tribal leaders to tax non-tribal members
But pacific power says as long as they have to pay the yakima nation
Customers will have to pay the tax
Especially at this time of year when the bills are usually higher with with winter heating
Requirements, so we understand it's going to be an impact to some folks and and we're sympathetic but
The yakima nation imposed this on us and the utility commission told us this is how we have to deal with it
The citizens stand-up committee plans to file a lawsuit in federal court over the legality of the tax
And sue washington state for failing to protect its citizens
West richland voters will decide whether they want to choose the library or pay higher utility taxes
When they hit the polls next month the mid columbia branch in west richland opened its doors half a dozen years ago
City taxes including property tax and sales tax help keep the library open
But a recent decline in state funding has left west richland short on revenue
West richland voters now face raising their utility taxes or shutting down the library, you know books and videos and
books on tape and the
Computer use but we have programs for children and adults, you know story times and
You know, it's the it's kind of the hub of the community
If the library ballot passes the 180 000 levy would increase utility taxes by two and a half percent
Folks in grandview will vote next month on increasing utility taxes by one and a half percent
The hike of restored services lost in the 2003 budget
Including the proposed utility tax increase in the last two years
In the 2003 budget including the pool animal control and graffiti cleanup
You can find out more about the tax at a public forum tomorrow night at seven o'clock. It's at the carl steven senior center
A proposed 50 million dollar water reservoir could uproot nearby nearly a dozen families
The antonym irrigation district wants to build a reservoir about the size of bumping lake near pine hollow
The area is west of wiley city. It would fill this canyon with water for irrigation
Supporters have been studying the area for nearly five years and have another five years of research to go
Homeowners say if the project is approved it will force them to move
Franklin county is looking to form a mosquito control board speared by concerns of the west nile virus
This morning at a public meeting commissioners fielded no opposition to the control board
Commissioner frank brock says livestock in our area create the perfect setup for mosquitoes to quickly multiply
Very definitely and we have a lot of water here, too. We have a very good breeding ground for mosquitoes and it's a real
Important to move on it quickly because we can catch them in the larva stage. It's the cheapest in the most effective way
Commissioners are still in the early stages of forming the mosquito control board by monday
They hope to decide whether to move ahead with the idea
Ultimately it'll be left up to voters
The department of energy says it has completed a major milestone in the hanford cleanup workers have removed the last
of over 900 metric tons of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel
They call it the most significant cleanup milestone in hanford's 60 year history
The project was finished just a week later
Then called for in a three-party agreement between state and federal regulators
And the energy department a commuter plane crashed this morning in charlotte, north carolina killing all 21 people on board
Tammy tremble joins us now with the latest tammy
Tammy janice air midwest flight 5481 was bound for greenville, south carolina
Witnesses say the plane climbed too steeply after takeoff then began to dive pilots can
Contact at the control tower to declare an emergency, but that message was cut off
The plane crashed into a maintenance hangar about 2 000 feet away from the runway and burst into flames
As this amateur video shows firefighters were on the scene within minutes, but there was no one to save have any survivors
Federal investigators say the plane was a beach 1900
The faa issued a maintenance alert for this model last august after investigators found loose bolts on one plane's vertical stabilizer
This is a part that keeps planes flying in a straight line tonight investigators are on the scene trying to discover what went wrong
This is the first deadly crash of a commercial airliner in the united states in 14 months reporting live. I'm tammy tremble
Thanks tammy now. There was another plane crashed today in turkey investigators say 75 people died when an airliner crashed
In thick fog south of istanbul there are five survivors officials have dismissed sabotage as a possible cause
Saying weather is most likely to blame
The 2 000 people in washington state who work for united airlines are getting their resumes ready just in case
United has told its washington workers. They could lose their jobs as it deals with bankruptcy reorganization
The airline says the warning notices don't necessarily mean huge layoffs are coming
But they might
Congress tonight has passed the measure extending unemployment benefits for about two and a half million americans for another five months
House democrats think the measure falls short. They wanted to include another one million americans
Who've run out of state and federal aid and still can't find work
For some employers the days of paying excessive overtime wages may be over
The department of labor and industries talked about the salary basis rules in yakima today
L ni drafted the rules after a court decision in 2000 forced an employer to pay overtime back wages
To salaried workers who were supposed to be exempt
The new proposed rules would detail which workers are considered exempt and salary
The proposed rules would also clarify when employers can and cannot deduct pay when a worker takes a partial day off
In top stories northwest tonight police in mount Vernon, washington are investigating the discovery of a body at an elementary school playground
A janitor found a body this morning slumped over near a swing set detectives do not know whether this is a homicide
But say the victim is not linked to the school teachers kept students inside today so police could complete their investigation
The father of accused murderer edward Morris says he would not intervene if a jury finds his son guilty and sentences him to death
Morris is accused of murdering his pregnant wife and three children last month near Tillamook, Oregon
Paul Morris says he hopes his son is innocent but also believes edward has lost touch with reality
University of washington basketball player Kayla Burt says she's just happy to be alive tonight
Burt's heart stopped beating during practice last week her teammates performed cpr until paramedics arrived
Doctors say they've discovered Burt has a rare condition that causes the heart to race out of control during strenuous exercise
Burt's basket
Exercise for its basket