NCWLIFE Evening News

•  Assessment and search teams were working in McNeil Canyon on Tuesday in an attempt to locate other possible casualties of the Chelan Hills Acres wildfire. • A 100-acre brushfire burning north of Quincy was quickly encircled Wednesday morning by local fire crews. •  East Wenatchee has become ground zero for a fair amount of road excavation and construction, including a traffic shutdown today at...

• A criminal investigation of the Chelan Hills Acres Fire is underway. The wildfire is believed to be human-caused, and may have been started by fireworks. •  Chelan County deputies responding to a vehicle crash report over the weekend recovered the body of a driver, killed when his vehicle slid into the Chelan River Gorge. • As the Chelan Hills Fire progressed after its start on July 4th, it caus...

• Authorities are working to assess the damage as the Chelan Hills Fire continues burning in Douglas County. That 10,000-acre fire that began on July 4th was about 20% contained as of this morning, but it’s damaged or destroyed 100 or more structures on either side of McNeil Canyon Road, including homes and farms.  • The main eastbound highway into Leavenworth will close next week for four days, t...

• The Grant County Fire Marshal says the county experienced nearly a hundred brushfires over the July 4th weekend. • One person has died over the weekend as an apparent result of the Chelan Hills Fire. Sheriff Tyler Caille said today a deceased person was found Sunday in a crashed vehicle, inside the nearly 10,000-acre footprint of the fire. • Two climbers, one of them injured, were rescued Friday...

• The Wenatchee Police Department’s automatic license plate reading cameras will be coming back online, after the department shut down the eight cameras located around the city in late 2025. • Fire crews were able to safely contain the Henderson Fire on Wednesday, after it grew to 350 acres and threatened homes on Henderson Road and Union Valley Road outside Chelan. • The Leavenworth National Fish...

• A fast-growing brushfire is sparking evacuation notices in the hills above Lake Chelan. The Henderson Fire was reported shortly after 1:30 this afternoon, burning near Henderson Road overlooking Lake Chelan Hills. •  Washington state’s five national forests are expanding digital payment options at recreation sites with a mobile app. • A woman accused of stealing from multiple banks in Washington...

• County Commissioners have declined to ban the sale or discharge of fireworks in unincorporated Grant County ahead of the Fourth of July weekend, but urged safety practices. • Mosquitoes collected for sampling in Grant County have tested positive for West Nile virus, which can lead to encephalitis when transmitted to humans. • The Washington Court of Appeals agreed today that a Douglas County man...

• Fire crews were kept busy over the weekend by a trio of fires in Chelan and Okanogan counties that officials suspect were human-caused. • An East Wenatchee law firm has won a $160,000 settlement from the Washington Department of Licensing over its handling of public records. • Campfires are now banned in all portions of North Cascades National Park Service Complex, to prevent human-caused wildfi...

• The Garred Road Fire, which forced vacationers to flee from their campsites and paralyzed traffic near Sun Lakes, has now been brought under control. • An international torch relay for peace passed through Walla Walla Point Park this morning on their journey to New York and back. • The FBI is looking into a series of incidents where arriving planes have been targeted by lasers as they approached...

• The criminal case against a Leavenworth man accused of killing a pedestrian was dismissed last week — almost three months after his trial ended with a hung jury. • Grant County has a new interim auditor after its elected official departed that position. •A former healthcare executive from Wenatchee has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of wire fraud for embezzling millions from his medical paym...

• The future of Wenatchee High School is now in the hands of voters. Last night, the Wenatchee School Board unanimously approved a $275 million bond measure that, if approved, would rebuild the high school and replace failing HVAC systems at several other schools. • The death of the 53-year-old incarcerated man last April at the Chelan County Regional Justice Center has been declared an overdose. ...

• The Garred Road Fire west of Coulee City has burned thousands of acres and forced campers in the Banks Lake and Sun Lakes area to seek shelter.  • A Leavenworth man was arrested Sunday after allegedly stalking and harassing a woman in Cashmere, then leading sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase when they arrived to investigate. • A Wenatchee Valley celebrity is featured in a historical Netfli...

• The south end of Banks Lake was the site of a wildfire over the weekend, which flared up once again and forced Level 3 evacuations today.  • The large Kartar Fire in Okanogan County reached 11,700 acres over the weekend, but evacuation levels were lowered and fire managers declared the blaze 40% contained. • A Seattle motorcyclist crashed and suffered serious injuries on Saturday afternoon, 16 m...

•  Disappointing numbers of returning salmon have led officials to cancel planned recreational sockeye fishing on the Upper Columbia River, including the Wenatchee Valley. • Fusion energy company received two key licenses this week in its quest to build the world's first licensed commercial fusion power plant in Malaga. • NCWLIFE is in Seattle, taking in the sights and sounds of the World Cup socc...

• The Wenatchee and East Wenatchee mayors introduced a new proposal to their respective city councils at a joint meeting Wednesday, which would involve one police chief overseeing both departments, on a temporary basis. • The arraignment scheduled today for a 13-year-old charged with first-degree murder was continued until next month, and prosecutors are seeking to try him as an adult. • The Karta...

• A 1,700 acre wildfire burning west of Malott has set rural communities on high alert. A Level 3 evacuation warning remained in place as of this afternoon for areas around Omak Lake, as emergency crews worked to contain what’s called the Kartar Fire. • Police say a driver allegedly under the influence crashed on Tuesday and sparked the brushfire that scorched 1,300 acres west of Soap Lake. • Once...

• Chelan County websites are back online after the county's network experienced a malware attack nearly a month ago. • The Wenatchee River claimed a man’s life on Monday afternoon as he waded into the water at a popular community fishing and boating spot near Dryden • A Bridgeport teenager who police say killed a man in 2025 could enter a guilty plea at an upcoming hearing this week.

• A towing company along Highway 97A in Entiat has suffered its third major fire in the last eight months. • Colville Tribal Police and the Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office collaborated last week in the recovery of two missing boaters lost on Twin Lakes.  • After months of repairs, the scenic North Cascades Highway fully reopened Sunday in both directions.

• Chelan County prosecutors have charged the 13-year-old suspect in the May 30th homicide of a 42-year-old woman. • The Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office is seeking help in identifying a body pulled from the Okanogan River earlier this week. • It’s the end of an era for one of the major suppliers of fruit trees in the Wenatchee Valley.

• A thick cloud of smoke draped parts of southwest Wenatchee yesterday afternoon as a structure fire burned the first floor and the attic of a home in the 700 block of Circle Street. • A large-scale paving project is scheduled to begin on Highway 2 next week, between Cashmere and Peshastin. • Ladder 10, the new ladder truck for the Wenatchee Valley Fire Department, got pushed into its new home Wed...

• The crane at the Majestic Apartments is coming down next weekend. The city of Wenatchee says building contractor Exxel Pacific is bringing in an even bigger crane to safely dismantle and remove the existing tower crane that looms over the apartment complex. • Chelan County’s government offices are in their third week working without computer networks thanks to a malware attack. •  Governor Bob F...

• Wenatchee police say they’ve apprehended a suspect in the May 30th homicide of a 42-year-old woman. • One person was injured in a dramatic two-vehicle crash Monday afternoon at the intersection of Kittitas Street and Chelan Avenue.  • After three days, the Chestnut Fire burning on Chelan Butte was fully contained Monday afternoon, after scorching more than 1,000 acres. 

• A fire that started Saturday morning in the Chelan Butte is now approximately 1,508 acres and 50% contained, according to Chelan Fire and Rescue. • A Wenatchee man is jailed in Oregon after allegedly abducting his partner and forcing her to travel with him to the state capital of Salem. • Douglas County announced today its workers successfully cleaned up an illegal tire dump, hauling away nearly...

•  This year’s  Moses Lake Airshow is scheduled for next weekend, June 12th and 13th. • The Chelan County Coroner says an unidentified person found May 30th on the back porch of a South Wenatchee business died by homicide. • The Chelan County PUD is offering assistance for customers who may need some extra help with their monthly utility bills.

• A water line failure at the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery has forced a scramble to preserve juvenile salmon, while also delaying the start of fishing season on the Icicle River. • A motorist under the influence went off Highway 97A north of Entiat on Tuesday afternoon, and took out several feet of fencing along the roadside. • First responders with Lake Chelan Health were recognized last we...