This is KNDO 23, your local news station.
KNDO local news 11 at 11 starts now.
Good evening everyone and thanks for joining us on 11 at 11. I'm Dustin McDermott.
And I'm Rachelle Murcia. Here's what's happening tonight. Local Republicans' efforts continue tonight to get their voices heard.
A small crowd gathered in the rain tonight for a candlelight vigil for their party.
Speakers described this election as a war and the Constitution has become its prisoner.
They say their efforts will not stop until they are heard.
If it weren't for people who are fighting like all of us, and who weren't out there, and who weren't protesting,
and who aren't making sure that they're not cheating the ballots, then who knew, who knows, that if we weren't out here in two years,
we'd all be putting up our right hands and yelling, Hildegard.
The group has started a letter writing campaign as well as a website and is trying to organize a nationwide march.
18 days after the election and now it appears the votes in Florida will finally be certified.
But not before a long night of counting for canvassing boards in Florida.
Kenneth Gibson has the latest from West Palm Beach.
From Palm Beach County to Broward, the Texas capital to the nation's capital, a day of protest.
With hours to go before Florida's votes get certified and in essence a president-elect declared the tensions appear to be reaching new heights.
And the demonstrations weren't limited to outside buildings.
Inside the room where Broward County officials continue to review ballots, an argument between a GOP supporter and a board member.
And Mr. Schurer is not welcome back in this room. He can watch the proceedings from outside.
Above all the clamor and confusion, there should be one clear and overriding goal.
To ensure a full, fair, and accurate count of the votes in this election.
And count they did in West Palm. A couple thousand ballots reviewed so far today and a nearly insurmountable number of ballots left.
In Broward, the review is expected to end well before certification and so far has garnered Vice President Al Gore more than 500 votes.
It's not a matter of whether this is a vote for Bush or a vote for Gore. It's a matter of whether this is an appropriate process.
Bush won twice! Bush won twice!
But he really won one vote in Collier County this evening due to a recount of absentee military ballots.
The Bush camp also filed suits in five other counties today trying to get all their military ballots counted.
In West Palm Beach, Florida, Kandace Gibson, NBC News.
Word came less than an hour ago that Broward County has finished counting and the unofficial results show that Al Gore has gained over 500 votes on George Bush.
Palm Beach plans on counting through the night if they need to.
The Big Nine continues to dominate in football, sending another team to the state title game next week.
Chuck Fisher joins us now for leadoff sports with the highlights from today's semifinal matchup. Chuck?
Thanks Dustin, Rachelle, the Pasco Bulldogs are the ones headed back to the state championship they're going for the second time in three years after a big, big win over Kentwood today out at Lampson Stadium.
It was like a college atmosphere, a big time playoff atmosphere out at the Lamp. And Pasco's big three, Skylar Allen, Rahul Vigil and Kyle Lamb, they were prominent in the victory.
The turning point came in the third quarter, the biggest play of the game on fourth and eighth, Rahul Vigil takes the slant and he is gone.
That's a 30 yard touch and it's 14-6 Pasco. Bulldogs want to win it 29-19 and they will play for the title Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome.
When I come back I'll have full highlights of the game plus we'll hear from Pasco as they celebrate. For now, Dustin, Rachelle, back to you guys.
Thank you very much, Chuck. And on November 2nd, traction tires were legal in the state of Washington.
But most people didn't jump on board. But now that winter has appeared, people are lining up to get their studded tires installed and that means local tire stores are packed.
They are open longer and working faster, but it's tough to stay ahead of the crowd. With more winter on the way, they expect even more people to get stud foot on their tires.
Well, somewhere along the line of this winter season, the slush outside can turn to packed ice and snow.
And fitting for a set of snow chains on your tires to make a trip through the mountain passes might not be fitting on your vehicle.
Tire experts say the newer model cars and trucks might not be able to wear snow chains. That's because of less space between the wheel well and the tire.
There are other more expensive options.
It's what they call a spike spider. It's an assembly that bolts onto your wheel. It's kind of a plastic chain basically.
If you do buy a set of chains and don't end up using them, many tire centers around town will refund your money after the winter season.
Well, a treacherous weekend on the roads continued tonight as eastern Washington and Oregon saw all kinds of different weather.
There was snow, rain, freezing rain, and sleet, which made for slick driving conditions and several accidents.
There were four accidents in the area of Snow Quahme Pass, which backed up traffic for several miles.
We turn now to meteorologist Drew Jackson, who can tell us if things are going to clean up or get worse for tomorrow, Drew.
Good news, Michelle. I think things are definitely going to clean up for tomorrow.
Indeed, tonight we can go ahead and take a look at our snow tracker radar.
You can see most of the activity is dying down this evening on the radar.
You can see that most of this stuff has moved east of the Tri-Cities and the Walla Walla area.
Indeed, plenty of snow is still showing up in the Pullman area.
But by and large, all this snow, sleet, and freezing rain has come to an end.
That's going to mean a dry night is on the way. But with temperatures dropping down near freezing or below, watch for icy patches.
Now for tomorrow, the early part of the day will start dry.
But then, as we head towards the afternoon, look for increasing rain.
And this time tomorrow, I think it will be raining and no frozen precip in the forecast.
I think it will be just warm enough to keep all the precipitation rain, except in the mountains, where there could be some heavy snow tomorrow evening.
We'll talk more about that and have the forecast for the next seven days coming up in just a few minutes.
Dustin and Michelle?
All right, thanks, Drew.
Across America tonight, other areas are seeing messy weather as well.
Heavy rain fell across the Carolinas, making it a tough day for travelers and shoppers alike.
The rains coated the Raleigh area from a light drizzle to sometimes intensely heavy downpours.
It also made holiday shoppers glad to stay indoors.
But tomorrow could be better. The weather system is expected to move out tonight.
With this year's flu vaccine reportedly in short supply, one community is fortunate enough to stay well while taking care of little Christmas shopping.
Flu shots are available to shoppers at seven locations in the San Diego area for $15 per shot.
An experienced nursing professional administers the shot in a matter of minutes without ever having to leave the mall.
New Jersey could be leading the way in health care.
The state has introduced a new health program that's being called the first of its kind in the nation.
The New Jersey Health Wellness Promotion Act requires health insurance plans and HMOs to provide free, comprehensive yearly physicals to millions of adults across the state.
Only a small percentage of people get yearly screenings for disease or an annual physical.
In world news tonight, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has called for relief aid for the Palestinian people who continue to fight their Israeli enemies in West Bank clashes.
Hussein called for the Palestinian people to be allowed to receive aid from the United Nations' approved Oil for Food program.
During a state-run television program, Saddam explained before ministers and senior ruling party members that all Palestinian people should be included in the food rationing Iraqis currently receive.
Romania's 18 million voters will head to the polling booths tomorrow to elect a president and parliament members for a new four-year mandate.
The vote is seen as crucial in determining whether or not Romania will be able to gain early membership in the European Union.
Following the 1989 Romanian revolution, the country has been plagued by a decade of failed economic reforms, declining living standards, corruption, unemployment, and grinding poverty.
The Moscow Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Russia's premier ballet company have teamed up to launch a public education campaign.
Both organizations hope to help the plight of so many refugees in post-Soviet Russia.
Details have not yet been released, but both groups say together they will be able to help millions of people who have been displaced since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
In more local news, the price of gas is high, but you still can't steal it.
Around 2.30 this morning, a man entered Smitty's Conoco on the 300 block of West Meade.
He paid for gas, then went outside to fill his car.
When he returned, the man returned to the store and robbed it.
He is described as a 5 foot 6 white male with dark hair, approximately 20 years old.
It is a big weekend for Christmas shopping, and today one organization offered Christmas gifts with their profit going toward a good cause.
The Columbia Valley Grange put on their 12th annual Holiday Bazaar, offering Christmas gifts and holiday treats.
Local vendors from across the Tri-Cities brought in their handmade items to sell, but not one cent will go into their pocket.
Instead, they are raising money for the Junior Grange Activity Fund.
Anything the kids want to do within reason, the money goes to support that.
We're going to buy art supplies, do art to go to the, and crafts to go to the fair.
Some of the funds will go to the Junior Grange's display booth at the Benton Franklin County Fair.
Peterson says the bazaar raises nearly $800 for the Junior Grange.
By now you should just have a few leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner, and that means it's time to start preparing for Christmas.
It's time to find the perfect Christmas tree, whether plastic, purchased, or hunted.
Christmas tree permits are available at your local ranger station.
A $5 permit lets you harvest a Christmas tree from the National Forest.
For vendors in your area, call the Natchez Ranger Station at 509-653-2205, extension 239.
Well, we haven't heard much about global warming recently, and today a plan to battle the problem came to a standstill.
Stay tuned, that story is after the break.
But first, here's a look at tonight's winning lottery numbers.
Stay tuned, we'll be right back.
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An important international conference aimed at combating global warming collapsed today with no agreement on how to proceed.
NBC's Jim Acita has more from London.
After two weeks of talks and a 12-hour marathon session, one delegate stormed out of the conference with bad news.
No progress in tackling the problem of global warming.
They're no longer negotiating, not prepared to do any more. It's the end.
The meeting is suspended.
The end, for now, of any hope of committing to cuts in carbon dioxide emissions worldwide.
Responsible, say many scientists, for the greenhouse effect, warming the earth, melting the ice caps.
And behind, the rise in extreme weather, from tornadoes in America to landslides in Italy.
From droughts in Africa to flooding in Australia.
But today, some European countries rejected a compromise that would have allowed the U.S. big loopholes in cutting its greenhouse gas emissions over the next 10 years.
So, no deal. And environmentalists are outraged.
I think this is an absolute disaster for the climate.
The American negotiator took a pie in the face from an angry protester this week.
Many blame the U.S. for cheating on its target cuts.
But play the blame game and say that the United States is totally at fault. That simply is wrong.
Delegates hope a new round of talks next year will succeed with Al Gore, who supports the curves, as the U.S. president.
George W. Bush, so far, however, opposes negotiations to cut heat-trapping emissions.
It doesn't seem to accept that climate change is a problem.
In Great Britain alone, almost $1 billion in flood damage this fall.
The worst weather scene in over a century.
Today's failure, the latest missed opportunity, say environmentalists, to stem the effects of global warming, they warn, will only get worse.
Jim Vasada, NBC News.
Well, it's been an interesting weekend in weather, and tomorrow the roads are expected to be crowded.
And after the break, meteorologist Drew Jackson will tell us what to expect for the trip home after the long weekend.
Stay tuned.
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The holidays are a special time of year when families gather for that big dinner and celebration.
But for some people in the Acoma Valley, the holidays can be a time of need.
And I'm Collette Keel with Kandio Local News.
Tune in for our first annual Kandio Family Food Drive on December 9th.
Bring your non-perishable or canned food items to the Kandio parking lot between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Let's work together to make sure everyone in our area has something on their table during the holidays and throughout the year.
Well, there was all kinds of different weather across the state today, wasn't there?
But it still stayed really cold.
Yeah, definitely a cold day today. We had rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, depending on where you were.
A big mess across eastern Washington and northern Oregon. All that's ending now.
Let's go ahead and check out our satellite picture, and we'll see what happened during the day today
so we can kind of explain a little bit what happened to your weather system, getting it to act together off the Oregon coast.
And this particular satellite loop's going to go back about 12 hours.
Right in here is where the storm started to form. You can see it just kind of move right across northern Oregon
and southeastern Washington, that is. It's already moved off to the east, though.
So behind it, things are starting to wind down, indeed on our radar this evening.
You can see earlier this afternoon a big mixture of rain, snow, freezing rain, and also some sleet out there.
Yakima had mostly sleet. The Tri-Cities, it was mostly rain, but some of the surrounding areas
and some of the hills surrounding the Tri-Cities had some freezing rain, of course, caused some accidents up there.
All this, though, continues to move off to the east, so we're not going to worry about any more of this activity
during the night tonight. We'll have to wait until tomorrow evening for an increased chance of precipitation,
but I don't think that will be nearly as winter-like.
Highs today, very, very cool, especially compared to what the overnight lows were, which were actually rather mild.
So we only had a four-degree spread between the low and the high in the Tri-Cities.
Worse yet, in Yakima, only a two-degree bump up from what the low was this morning.
And look at that, Moses Lake, the low was 28, and it only warmed up one degree to 29 this afternoon.
So with all the cloud cover, that kept temperatures from rising up too high.
Outside right now, 33 in the Tri-Cities, 32 in Hermiston. It's bumped up to 38 in Pendleton.
And look at that, 41 right now in Walla Walla, so some of this cool air is starting to get scoured out east,
but further to the west, still cool this evening, 23 in Ellensburg, 29 in Yakima.
Traveling tomorrow, here's what's going on. A big storm across the east, but it's mostly rain, so that's good news.
And then the travel forecast from Arara keeps the showers in the east, perhaps some ice if you're headed to Toronto or Montreal.
The rest of the country, very nice until you get out to the Pacific Northwest, where we have some more wet weather in the forecast.
And here's what's happening on the satellite picture, a long plume stretching from all the way off the map into the Pacific Northwest.
We call this the fire hose. The whole thing's kind of aimed right towards us.
One weather system through today, that's the storm for tomorrow evening, but the atmosphere's a bit warmer,
so that means not nearly the wintery mess we saw today.
On cloudcast, you can see the clouds move through, and things start to clear out Monday into Tuesday,
and maybe another storm as we head into Wednesday and Thursday.
For tonight, though, we saw lingering showers out there.
Most of them will be over the mountains or to the far east.
Look for overnight lows to be in the upper 20s and lower 30s.
Then for tomorrow, look for a dry start, but then afternoon the rain and snow will pick up again.
Heavy snow possible in the mountain passes, so if you're traveling, do it in the morning.
For the next seven days, a break on Monday and Tuesday, except for some fog and another chance of rain on Wednesday and Thursday.
And for the Tri-Cities, look for rain tomorrow night, linger in until Monday,
then a break until about Wednesday or Thursday, until another chance of rain comes in.
So off and on wet is the theme for this forecast, but no more snow and sleet or freezing rain, it looks like.
Okay, but still, probably drive carefully just in case Mother Nature starts to freeze up again and catches everyone off guard.
Absolutely. Spot the ice tomorrow morning.
Sounds good. Yep, thanks, Drew.
Here now is Chuck Fisher with a look what's coming up in the forest. Chuck?
Thanks, Dustin. The Pascoe Bulldogs, they're headed to the state finals for the second time in three years.
I'll show you how they got there. Sports is next after this short commercial break.
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Money Saver Monday, all this month on KMDO Local News.
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After the Pasco Bulldogs will head to the Tacoma Dome to try and bring home the Big 9's third straight championship after today's huge win over Kentwood.
It was a big-time playoff atmosphere out at the Lemp, and Pasco's version of the triplets, there they are, Skyler Allen-Rogel Vigil and Kyle Lamb, would lead the way.
In the first quarter though, Rocky Lozano will get Pasco off on the right foot.
He intercepts Carl Bonnell, and after this nice little run back, Pasco is in business.
On the ensuing drive, it will be one of the triplets, Skyler Allen.
He rolls out to his left and finds his favorite target camping out in the front corner of the end zone.
Seven yard touchdown, Bulldogs take a 7-0 early lead.
We go to the third quarter where it was the biggest play of the game.
On fourth and eighth, Allen hits Vigil on the slant, Vigil does the rest, that's a 30-yard touchdown, and it's 14-6 Pasco.
To the fourth, after a safety made it 16-6, Kyle Lamb will cough it up at his own one.
William Conwell falls on it for the touchdown, and we have ourselves a ball game, folks.
16-13, Pasco.
Lamb with more than a tone for the fumble though.
He had two fourth quarter touchdowns, including this sweep that put the game away.
Kyle Lamb ran for 169 on 41 carries, two touchdowns, and Pasco is in the championship for the second time in three years with a 29-19 win over Kentwood.
A tired lamb and the rest of the Bulldogs talked afterwards.
I got a headache, my leg hurts, I just want to celebrate.
Nobody expected us to be able to beat these guys. They're number one all year.
We were an unknown in 98, and we're not an unknown anymore.
We're going to play for it again, and hopefully we can bring it back to this side of the state.
I don't even know what to say. All the guys just put out so much hard work all year, and everyone just left it out on the field.
Just overcome with emotion right now. I don't know what to do.
In the B-11, Wakeburg came into today's semifinal game with Davenport flying high after knocking off three-time defending state champ DeSales last Friday.
But Davenport brought the Cardinals back to earth quickly tonight.
At the Lamp, Justin Holderly bolts up the middle for 54 yards early in the fourth quarter, and it was all Gorillaz after that.
They knocked the Cardinals out of the B-11 playoffs with a 41-7 spanking.
The Americans were trying to rebound from an 8-2 home loss to Regina.
They were home again tonight, and the Spokane Chiefs were tonight's guests at the Coliseum, and it was more bad news for the Ams, unfortunately.
About two and a half minutes into the contest, into the second period, Spokane with a 1-0 lead, Stephen Mann slaps one home for the Chiefs.
Spokane has a 2-0 lead, and the Ams drop their second straight home game. 2-1 was the final in that one.
The Sonics had to face some real competition tonight after pounding on the lowly Clippers last night.
Seattle hit the road to face the Kings up in Sacramento.
Pick it up in the third quarter. Vadi Divac will take the path, drive baseline for the up-and-under Jam.
Sacramento up 17.7760 at that point, and they ought to go on and get the win, 101-25 to 125, excuse me, to Sacramento.
The Blazers also in action. Rashid Wallace in the fourth quarter crunch time.
He spins and makes it 86-82 in the late going, and Portland will hang on for an 86-84 win.
CBC is also in action tonight at home, taking on the Pierce Raiders.
We'll pick it up in the second half. Excomi can stand out. Chad Weiberg knocks down the three from the top of the key.
CBC is up by 3, 41-38. A few minutes later, they dump it into Robert Holmes.
He gets the tough inside loop, 45-41 CBC, and they beat Pierce 75-67.
And you know how people always say, you don't see that every day. Well, here is really something you don't see every day.
Actually, haven't seen this since the mid-90s. A woman with a dunk in the college basketball game.
Now watch this. Michelle Snow of Tennessee steals the inbound path, heads the other way, and kaboom.
She throws down the two-handed jam you have got, to be kidding me. That's definitely worth another look.
She doesn't just dunk it, though. She goes up two hands off two feet and jams it.
And by the way, Tennessee won it, 111 to 62 over Illinois.
It is much more impressive for her to dunk it than for some seven-foot guy to dunk it, isn't it?
Yeah, that is amazing.
That is something you don't see every day. Thanks a lot, Chuck.
Well, obviously the weather didn't affect the Bulldogs, but wow, it's affecting drivers.
Yeah, really, it's affecting drivers tonight in some areas, especially the higher elevations.
As we go through tonight, look for the rain, sleet, freezing rain, snow to move out of the area.
But then by tomorrow afternoon, look for the rain to increase once again.
But it should be warm enough tomorrow afternoon to keep most of that rain just as rain, and we will let the snow pile up in the mountains.
If you are driving over the mountains, be aware, five to ten inches at pass level tomorrow afternoon.
So if you are traveling, best to leave it early.
All right, sounds good. Thanks a lot, Drew. And that will do it for us tonight.
Your next local news is tomorrow at 6 o'clock. The four of us will see you then.
Good night, everyone.
Good night.
Good night.