The latest news from around the Chewelah Valley
(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)
The Chewelah Independent gleefully displayed the U.S. Army’s Davy Crockett system in a 1960 edition of its paper. Featuring photos and a caption, it showed off the portable nuke or conventional weapons launcher that U.S. troops could have used in frontline action against the Soviets and North Koreans.
(RICK BANNAN/Centralia Chronicle)
Gov. Jay Inslee took time to address mental health impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as other crises in the state, such as the wildfires this month, saying “it’s normal to feel abnormal” as the disease continues to affect daily life.
Inslee hosted a press conference with experts Sept. 17 where he addressed common struggles with mental health faced during crisis events. He acknowledged that apart from COVID-19, the recent wildfires that have burned roughly 620,000 acres of the state could have led to increased impacts.
Inslee said it was important to recognize the need for help with mental health, referencing information from the state Department of Health that said upwards of three million Washingtonians would likely experience “clinically significant behavioral health symptoms” during the current situation.
(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)
New jobless claims in the United States fell to 860,000 last week, which is the lowest number since the pandemic began but continues to be at a historically high level.
This is well down from the peak of 6.9 million in the last week of March. But compared to pre-pandemic numbers, its still high as the previous high for jobless claims before COVID-19 was set in 1982 of 695,000.
Counting jobless claims numbers, the number of people of people already receiving state unemployment benefits fell by 916,000 to 12.63 million which is the lowest level since April 4, when the COVID-19 virus hit the US and shut down the economy.
These numbers are through state programs and not those on federal assistance, which is more than double that number. Roughly 29.7 million people are still claiming some type of unemployment benefit. In 2019, the number was at 1.5 million people.
At the end of August the states with the highest unemployment rates were Hawaii (20.3%), California (17.3%) and Nevada (15.6%).
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY.
(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)
Venus is the second planet from the sun and sometimes considered Earth’s twin.
Scientists have detected phosphine, a rare and toxic gas in the atmosphere of Venus, possibly signalling alien life on the second planet from the sun.
While not a direct observation of life, the sheer quanity of phosphine cannot be explained from another natural process. Phosphine is a foul-smelling gas, found in places like pond slime and penguin dung. It is created by anaerobic organisms including bacteria and microbes.
Think of it like finding scat in a desert. Something is out there creating this gas.
(STAFF REPORTS/Chewelah Independent)
Northeastern Washington and the Spokane area could be hit by thunderstorms on Friday and Saturday. The National Weather Service in Spokane announced this week that a storm system moving through the area could cause issues.
“At this time storm motion is expected to be relatively quick, but localized heavy downpours are possible,” the service announced on their Facebook page. “These could result in some issues around new or recent burn scars, including flash flooding and/or debris flows.”
The service said they would continue to provide updates. Areas could see heavy downpours and brief, gusty winds.
Want to see the forecast for your specific location? Head to www.weather.gov/spokane and enter your city and state.
(BRANDON HANSEN/Chewelah Independent)
The World Trade Center sits in ruins after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
It was 19 years ago. People were going about their everyday lives, living in what they considered the greatest country on the planet.
The United States has reaped the benefits of being the sole superpower since the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. The tech sector had shown tremendous promise with the internet growing in importance and ability. We had a powerful military that had utterly pummeled the Soviet-supplied Army of Iraq. Optimism was something that defined the 1990s and the turn of the century. The United States seemed invincible and untouchable.
But as we woke up on September 11, 2001, it became quickly apparent that this wasn’t going to be a normal day. Our country was under attack. More
Ice shelves in Antarctica, such as the Getz Ice Shelf seen here, are sensitive to warming ocean temperatures. Ocean and atmospheric conditions are some of the drivers of ice sheet loss that scientists considered in a new study estimating additional global sea level rise by 2100. (Credits: Jeremy Harbeck/NASA)
An international effort that brought together more than 60 ice, ocean and atmosphere scientists from three dozen international institutions has generated new estimates of how much of an impact Earth’s melting ice sheets could have on global sea levels by 2100. If greenhouse gas emissions continue apace, Greenland and Antarctica’s ice sheets could together contribute more than 15 inches (38 centimeters) of global sea level rise – and that’s beyond the amount that has already been set in motion by Earth’s warming climate.
Results from this effort are in line with projections in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2019 Special Report on Oceans and the Cryosphere. Meltwater from ice sheets contribute about a third of the total global sea level rise. The IPCC report projected that Greenland would contribute 3.1 to 10.6 inches (8 to 27 cm) to global sea level rise between 2000-2100 and Antarctica could contribute 1.2 to 11 inches (3 to 28 cm). More
(STAFF REPORTS/Centralia Chronicle)
During a press conference Tuesday, Gov. Jay Inslee addressed most recent data on the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the prior day Washington had surpassed 2,000 deaths of those with COVID-19, with more than 80,000 confirmed cases of the disease in the state.
Inslee mentioned he had a “productive” meeting in Pullman with Washington State University communities last week to discuss ways to avoid a spike in COVID-19 like the college town saw where the governor said some 800 cases were confirmed following the return of students to campus.
Inslee said there would be continuing discussions statewide in other college towns to address ways to avoid similar spikes in cases as students return, including enforcement action.
(PRESS RELEASE/NASA)
NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of the United States on Sep. 15, 2020, showing the fires in the West, the smoke from those fires drifting over the country, several hurricanes converging from different angles, and Hurricane Sally making landfall.
Red points in the west note areas that are significantly higher in temperature than the areas around it and are indicative of fires. These points are most pronounced up and down the West Coast, but dot the country from coast-to-coast as well. In addition, in this image are captured four hurricanes/tropical storms in both the East and the West. More
(PRESS RELEASE/Washington DNR)
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is reopening all recreation lands east of the Cascades to recreation beginning Friday, Sept. 18. Eastside recreation was initially closed on Sept. 8 due to critical wildfire danger. While fire danger overall has decreased slightly, it is extremely important to stay diligent when it comes to fire safety.
“We are optimistic the weather will continue to cooperate, allowing us to reopen eastside recreation areas closed due to extreme wildfire danger and the risk to the public as they enter those lands through wildfire-impacted roads and towns,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz, the elected official who oversees DNR. “I urge everyone to continue to follow all safety regulations, the statewide burn ban and target shooting ban, keeping in mind it only takes one spark to start a devastating wildfire.” More
