Times are changing.
You better believe it.
Me?
I'm changing, too.
I've got a brand new show.
Maury, weekdays at 9 on KIMA.
Hey, change is good.
Everything you need to know is just one click away, KIMATV.com.
This is KIMA News at 6 with T.J.
Close, Mary Bennett, Alan Sillent Sports, and Stu Seibel Weather.
We're just hours away from a big decision tonight.
I'm Kylie Sun and I'll have a report coming up.
Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us.
T.J.
Close has the night off.
Several local teachers may soon be leaving their classrooms to pound to the pavement,
all in the name of higher salaries.
As you just saw, Kylie Sun joins us live from the Central Washington State Fairgrounds
with more on the story.
Kylie?
Mary, hundreds of Yakima Public School teachers will be gathering in this building behind
me tonight to consider whether to go on a one-day walkout.
Educators from across the state have been holding strikes to drum up support for pay
raise.
Teachers say they've lost 15 percent of their salaries due to inflation, and now they're
urging lawmakers to help.
The legislative session is winding down, and educators say none of the current proposals
make up for what has been lost.
Teachers in about 25 other districts have voted to walk out over this issue, and we'll
find out tonight if Yakima will be jumping on the bandwagon.
Joining me now is Yakima Education Association President Gayle Wingater.
Gayle, what is the general mood as teachers walk into the building tonight?
Well, our members are very frustrated, as are teachers across the state.
We have the state's unwillingness to fully fund education at a level that will attain
and retain, attract and retain quality teachers, qualified educators.
We're facing a huge teacher shortage.
We have teachers who are being lured away by other states because of higher salary rates,
and there's a lot of frustration.
You've been hearing about all these votes across other districts.
Why has it taken so long for a vote to come about here locally?
Our members have been busy the last year working to ensure the passage of our levy, and at
that time, many other locals around the state were considering this issue.
So it's something that we haven't taken lightly.
We've considered it long and seriously, and I have faith that the members will do what
they really feel that they have to do tonight, whatever that may be.
It is their decision.
Great.
Thank you so much, Gayle.
Now, if they do decide to have a walkout, officials tell me it will occur one week from
today.
Be sure to watch KIMA News at 11 for the latest results.
Reporting live from the Central Washington State Fairgrounds, I'm Kylie Sunde.
Mary, back to you.
Thank you, Kylie, for that local update.
In other news tonight, a local man says he's responsible for the death of his friend in
a car accident almost two years ago.
28-year-old Joe Hopwood pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in Yakima County Superior
Court today.
Hopwood was drinking while driving his truck when it crashed near Rimrock Lake in August
of 1997.
His passenger and friend, 27-year-old Jonathan Reum, died at the scene.
Hopwood, who has no previous felonies on his record, faces between 15 and 20 months in
jail for his role in the accident.
He will be set in some time within the next month.
In another accident, a wrong turn ends in tragedy in a freighter.
The driver of this car miscalculated a narrow turn over an irrigation canal this morning.
The car plunged into 20 feet of freezing water and sank upside down.
Five children, all under the age of 11, and their mothers were inside.
The two women escaped and went for help.
The children did not survive.
They were very, very cold from the water, but they was screaming, Mi Niños, Mi Niños,
which is Spanish for my boys, my babies.
The boys, I don't believe, had a chance being so young.
The 11-year-old, possibly if he knew how to swim, but he told his mother just as they
went in that he didn't know how to swim.
People are placing stuffed animals alongside the canal as a memorial.
The mothers say they were taking the children to look at wildflowers.
A plant in Moses Lake has been fined nearly $35,000 in an industrial accident.
State investigators say the plant violated safety regulations in the explosion last October
at the Advanced Silicon Materials Plant.
Two workers were killed in the accident.
Four others were injured.
Workers were exposed to toxic chemicals after a pipe exploded.
The families of those killed have all filed lawsuits against the plant.
Still to come on KIMA News at 6, are there enough migrant workers available for this
season's asparagus harvest?
We will take a look.
Plus, some new standards to clear the air.
Stick around.
Henry David Thoreau once said, our life is frittered away by detail.
Simplicity.
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Meet me where it feels like summertime.
The path behind the stream, the field of old night.
Meet me at the Dairy Queen, where that feeling never ends.
Meet me at VQ.
Get out for the Spring Blizzard Chill Out and get an original Blizzard treat.
This week all sizes with Heath Bar are on sale with a 16 ounce for just $1.99.
Nothing beats a creamy smooth Blizzard, so chill out today.
And meet me at VQ.
Several asparagus growers say there will be plenty of temporary workers to help with the
harvest.
But as Cami Maze David Mansi reports, there may soon be a permanent workforce in the valley.
The asparagus harvest in the lower valley is off to a slow start.
I think Ramon told me that there's going to be something like 100, something like that.
We delivered 63 two days ago.
So that was our first significant cut.
Airport Ranch in Sunnyside is one of the few farms cutting asparagus now.
Others are waiting for warmer weather.
Ranch owner Mike Miller hopes he'll have plenty of workers to cut plenty of asparagus.
Our situation is probably peculiar in that we have a lot of returning cutters from year
to year and they're almost all local people.
And we haven't experienced much difficulty this year.
It doesn't mean that we won't have difficulty.
This is Ramon Garcia's 19th season working the asparagus crop here.
He's confident there will be enough labor.
The same people that works here training grapes at the same one that cuts asparagus.
Now others want to guarantee a permanent workforce for the valley's agriculture.
Senator Slate Gordon is pursuing a guest worker program for migrant workers.
A Senate hearing on the program could take place by the end of the month.
I'm David Manci reporting.
Meanwhile U.S. apples, pears and cherries could be headed to China in the next five
years.
However, Northwest Fruit officials say there's a catch.
China must be allowed into the World Trade Organization.
The agreement calls for dropping the current tariff from 30 to 10 percent.
Those cuts won't take effect until China makes it into the organization.
But officials say other tariff issues are standing in the way.
A deal is possible by the end of the year.
Washington's public lands commissioner says water bills are moving slower than a quiet
stream in the legislature.
In Yakima for Arbor Day celebrations today, public lands commissioner Jennifer Belcher
says it's a critical time for key water issues in Olympia.
The water bills in the legislature are not moving right now.
And so the importance to trees and salmon and all of our resources of water is critical.
And if we don't have enough water in our streams to support fish, we don't have enough water
in our streams to support agriculture, to support all the things that we use it for
and we don't use it wisely, we'll have real serious problems in the very near future.
So we're urging the legislature to pass a bill that would assure that there's water
in the streams for all the uses we need.
Belcher, local civic leaders and Adams Elementary students planted trees at the Yakima Arbor
Redem to recognize Arbor Day.
Well the valley faces a new air pollution problem.
The Yakima Regional Clean Air Authority found out today the area does not comply with tough
new pollution standards.
Director Les Arnelis says the problem is dust, aerosol gases and carbon.
They can stay in the air as much as 20, 30 hours sometimes depending on wind speeds and
so on, the size of the pollutants.
So we need to be very worried about that.
Arnelis says the particles in the air are so small they are nearly impossible to see.
He also says the hills around the Yakima Valley make the problem even worse.
We have natural bowls here and because of that our ability to self-clean if you will
are very, very difficult.
Once that bowl is filled and every time we have an exceedence that bowl has filled over.
Arnelis says if levels remain high steps will be taken to correct the problem but progress
has been made on new regulations adding many concerns between the Department of Ecology,
the City of Yakima and local builders have been worked out.
Meanwhile everyone wants cleaner air especially over scenic areas like the Columbia River
Gorge.
The U.S. Forest Service has recently found significant problems of sulfur, nitrogen and
carbon dioxide in the gorge air.
The Gorge Commission wants to stop deteriorating air quality.
The group wants to place more restrictions on different pollution sources.
Not a bad day weather wise at all.
Mike McCabe is in for stew and he's going to have our forecast as we take a look at
a live shot at the Central Washington Fairgrounds.
We'll be right back.
We asked Catherine and David Martin to lend us their answering machine and try the U.S.
West Voice Messaging Service.
Catherine was thrilled because now she can talk on the phone and still get messages.
David was delighted because now he can get messages without worrying about broken tapes
or muffled messages.
So it's no surprise that when we tried to return their old machine they didn't seem
a bit interested.
U.S. West, life's better here.
It's the
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Time is running out.
There's only a little time left before Snow Check for this year is gone.
Get into Owens Polaris now for this year's Snow Check.
350 bucks down will get you up to 325 bucks back straight from the factory.
Plus, a free 45th anniversary jacket and a two-year engine service contract.
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Available only at Owens Polaris, Yakima's authorized Polaris dealer.
So hurry, because this ain't gonna last long.
It's over this Thursday, April 15.
Time's up.
Fran's prodigal husband returns.
Hello, Fran.
Oh, God.
And her ex meets the guy who's next.
I'm Dr. Devon. I'm Fran's husband. I made 300 grand last year.
To forgive is divine, but revenge is sweet.
You guys having fun?
Good.
Can you really forget the past?
Without guilt, people would just go and do whatever to make them happy, and I won't have that.
And the next man about you.
Brought to you by Northwest InfoNet.
Hometown.
Another beautiful day in the Yakima Valley.
Plenty of sunshine to go around, high pressure and strong control,
and a beautiful shot there of the fairgrounds.
It's Central Washington State Fairgrounds.
You can see just a beautiful afternoon.
60 right now for Yakima. Ellensburg a little cooler at 58.
And mainly temperatures into the low 60s across Central Washington at the moment.
As we take a look at the winds, they are out of the south at 8 miles per hour.
Humindy, very dry out.
22% of barometer is falling at 30.63 inches.
Now the Almanac for today, the official high 61 with the overnight low of 35.
Again, not quite as warm as we had originally anticipated.
Keep in mind the normal daytime high for this time of year, around 63.
So we're not too far from that, but seeing more of a northerly flow from our air mass,
keeping temperatures a little bit cooler than maybe perhaps most of us would like.
Here's a look at some of the other conditions across Central Washington.
59 for Wenatchee, at 57 respectively for Walla Walla and Pendleton.
Across the northwest, clear skies, high pressure, a very strong ridge of high pressure.
In fact, those areas west of the Cascades for areas like Seattle and Portland tomorrow
will enjoy another beautiful day and actually warmer on the west side
than those of us here into eastern Washington, which we don't see very often.
They are seeing more of a southerly onshore flow, keeping temperatures very nice.
And we are seeing more of a northerly air mass flow, keeping temperatures not quite as warm again as we'd hoped.
But it will warm up as we head into Thursday and Friday.
And still plenty of sunshine as that high pressure will keep all the systems out in the Pacific well to the north of us.
And that is some good news.
By the weekend, we should see high pressure begin to diminish a bit.
And that will allow some storm systems to move through.
Actually, with the one we're looking at for Saturday, not real strong.
We just expected to bring with it some clouds. And temperatures will actually be very mild.
High should be in the 70-degree range for Saturday and Sunday with a few clouds to contend with.
But that is about all. And who can complain about this very spring-like weather that we are enjoying?
And it looks we will continue to enjoy for the next five days.
Snow level on the Cascade Mountain Range, 8,000 feet and above.
It's clear coast as you head over the mountain passes and bare and dry. So it looks good.
Let's take a look at some of the forecast areas for the northwest.
Before that, we'll take a look at conditions for tonight.
Clear and cold with the overnight low of 25 degrees.
Again, that could be a record low. Or we could be pretty darn close to a record low tonight.
The growers will want to keep that in mind as temperatures will drop.
Winds will be out of the west at 5 to 10 miles per hour.
We head into tomorrow morning around 8 o'clock.
Plenty of sunshine. A beautiful morning with an 8 o'clock temperature of 40 degrees.
Ellensburg at 38. We head into the afternoon 12 noon lunchtime.
51 for Yakima. Ellensburg at 49.
And tomorrow afternoon looking for a daytime high of 62 with the winds out of the northeast at 5 to 15 miles per hour.
Clear and cold once again tomorrow night. But notice the overnight low at 30 degrees.
Again, these overnight lows are below freezing so the orchards will want to keep that in mind.
Extended outlook Friday. Mostly sunny conditions.
And then the clouds begin to roll in for Saturday and Sunday.
Daytime temperatures look at that into the 70s so enjoy it.
That's a look at your forecast for this Wednesday afternoon.
Music.
Well, last night the weekend looked kind of iffy but now it doesn't look quite so bad.
Well, we're still going to deal with the clouds but yeah, temperature wise it should be very nice.
And one more reminder, of course tomorrow, the 15th tax day, but I don't want to throw that out so much as I did these studded tires if you're still carrying those.
You might want to have those off by tomorrow.
Very good. Thank you, Mike.
You're welcome.
Regionally tonight investigators are investigating a string of four recent hate crimes in Spokane.
Now in two of the cases burning crosses were placed in the front yard of an interracial couple.
The second cross was apparently left before dawn yesterday.
A spokesman for Makah Indians says not today.
The tribe has been threatening to kill a gray whale near Neal Bay since last fall's southerly migration.
Whales are now heading back to Alaskan waters.
Tribal leaders won't say when they will begin the hunt.
Meanwhile, one anti-whaling group is on alert.
The group will use three boats to try and intercept hunters.
A vicious dog attack near Seattle has revived a bill in the state legislature.
That is one of the stories in other regional news tonight.
The legislation holds owners criminally responsible for attacks.
A two-year-old boy suffered brain damage after he was bitten earlier this week.
More Washington teens are apparently lighting up.
A new report shows the number of sixth through tenth graders trying cigarettes is up dramatically since 1990.
And a veteran mountain climber is alive thanks to a cell phone.
The man fell into a crevice while climbing Mount Rainier.
He was rescued after his friend was able to notify rangers using the phone, which they had packed at the last minute.
The man who stood for farmworkers' rights in the 1960s may soon receive some national recognition.
A drive is underway to turn March 31st into a federal holiday.
That is the birthday of the late union organizer, Cesar Chavez.
Chavez fought for workers' rights as the leader of the United Farmworkers of America from the 1960s until his death in 1993.
And many still remember his legacy.
I think it will be a good idea because he fought for the people, for the workers.
You know, the wages, that would have been a problem too.
We needed down because of him I went up.
Chavez memorabilia decorates the United Farmworkers office in Sunnyside.
Many Hispanic farmworkers turn to Chavez for guidance during the union's early volatile days.
Several members of Congress are sponsoring the bill for the federal holiday.
Ellen Sills is here with a look at sport, a good cause, and some golf.
Great day to be out of the golf course. I can't think of anything better to talk about.
We will show you that. Unfortunately a cloud hanging over the Mariners.
But what about the big guy as we head to the break?
An update on the Mac attack. He has four now.
Look at him go. More sports. Bang! After the time out.
Do you want the internet? It can be overwhelming.
Will the out of town internet companies give you the support?
Remember, think local. Namely Northwest InfoNet.
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You can activate your service immediately. Installation is free.
And we are open long hours to give you the service you expect.
For the holidays we even have gift certificates.
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Call 575-0852.
Northwest InfoNet, your hometown source to the world.
When you give a student the chance to fulfill a dream, we all get to share in it.
Walmart's competitive edge scholarship is giving students like Joe Mormon the opportunity to live his dream.
Without Walmart's scholarship, I wouldn't be in college.
It helps America's brightest students become leaders in engineering and technology.
That's why Walmart awards competitive edge scholarships to students across the country.
Sending kids like Joe to college is smart for all of us.
We live here too and we believe good works.
Did you know there's a hospital here in Yakima whose breakthrough techniques and highly trained cardiologists
have made it more likely to survive a heart attack here in Yakima than elsewhere in the state or nation?
Did you know that there's just one hospital here in Yakima whose state-of-the-art equipment and neurosurgeons
made it possible to perform over 220 for neurosurgeries last year alone?
And would you be surprised to know that hospital is Providence?
The more you know about Providence, the better we all feel.
Got gas?
It's Wanda.
She's got a Honda.
Don't they make cars and motorcycles?
Cool lawnmowers too.
Awesome.
Honda Harmony 2.
Overhead cam engine.
Six mowing heights.
Mulches like nobody's business.
That's expensive.
Nope. Dad says the Harmony 2 starts at $3.19.
Hey Wanda, can we buy you a Honda?
You're dreaming.
Since 1964, Smitty's outdoor power equipment.
This portion of the news is brought to you by your friendly Northwest Dodge dealer.
Welcome back.
Mariner pitcher Ken Cloud's worst enemy is Ken Cloud.
Cloud's future may not be in a Seattle uniform.
Against the Rangers last night, Cloud and the M's got pudged.
Yvonne Rodriguez going crazy.
Texas catcher with his first three RBIs of the night into the Kingdome upper deck.
That was the first inning.
Lone Star, all-Star.
Adds two more ribbies in the second.
And then one inning later with one swing.
Pudge.
Pokes his second home run of the night.
A grand slam and that would bring a grand smile.
Ranger record nine RBIs for Rodriguez.
Only two shy of the ale.