The city of Seattle said it receives about 900,000 emergency 911 calls a year. The high call volume combined with a lack of officers right now has the city looking at alternatives.
The city wants to see if community service officers, crisis response experts and behavioral health providers could be dispatched to certain calls. But exactly which calls and how the process would work are still being figured out.
On Tuesday, response times for 911 calls once again received attention at Seattle City Hall during the Public Safety and Human Services committee meeting. Read more
Two suspects were killed and "several" police officers were shot at a bank in Saanich, B.C. on Tuesday.
Homes and businesses near the intersection of Shelbourne Street and Pear Street were evacuated due to a potential explosive device, according to Saanich police. A shelter in place was lifted around 6 p.m. Tuesday evening, though the 3600 block of Shelbourne remained closed.
Around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Saanich police and Victoria police - all members of the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team - responded to a report that two armed men entered a bank. Read more
After years of discussion, many wineries, breweries and distillers in King County will have to wait longer to hear their fate.
The King County Council was supposed to vote Tuesday on an ordinance that would affect wineries on unincorporated land. Instead, the council sent the ordinance back to the King County Local Services and Land Use Committee for further discussion.
Councilmember Sarah Perry said the issue is complex and has been going on for years. Read more
A new federal report shows that more Americans are being injured or killed by fireworks, with more than 11,500 injuries reported in 2021 alone.
The report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) outlines a 25% growth in firework-related injuries over a 15-year span from 2006 to 2021. Deaths have held steadier, the report found. About 10 people each year die in firework-related incidents.
In 2006, about 9,200 firework injuries were reported in the U.S. By 2021, there were 11,500. The CPSC cautions that those numbers are likely low because of improper reporting. Read more
The annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival came with plenty of rain this year, but Tulip Farmer Andrew Miller said that’s good news for next year's bloom.
Miller is co-owner of Tulip Town in Mount Vernon and is busy working with his team to harvest the fields for next spring.
“Our crops come in April with the color, and that’s what everybody comes for," Miller explained. "But our harvest is in June and July, and that’s getting the bulbs out of the ground and into storage so we can do it all again next year." Read more
RELATED: Western Washington Forecast
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