Mayor Sylvester Turner joined Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena to announce the proposed pay raise for Houston firefighters. Turner said because of the $670 million American Rescue Plan from President Joe Biden’s administration, the city will be able to use those funds to help raise firefighters’ pay. He said under the new pay, Houston firefighters will receive an 18% increase in pay over the next three fiscal years, which will be based on qualifications.
- PUB DATE: 5/20/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KPRC-TV NBC 2 Houston

A University of Florida research team is working on a robot dog that has the ability to enter an enclosed space, scan it, and provide humans with a visual of what’s inside, an application that could lessen dangerous situations for first responders. The team of graduate and undergraduate students is led by Eric Jing Du, Ph.
- PUB DATE: 5/20/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: University of Florida News

A 28-year-old man from Walla Walla was rescued and flown to a local hospital on Tuesday after he was knocked unconscious by a football-sized rock at Palouse Falls State Park in Eastern Washington. The man and his wife went on a hike at Palouse Falls on Tuesday afternoon, according to a Facebook post from the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.
- PUB DATE: 5/20/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KREM-TV CBS 2 Spokane

There is anxiety along the picturesque, rolling wheat fields and pine forested draws of the Palouse in eastern Washington right now, where folks will tell you it looks and feels more like mid-July than the middle of May. "Just a watch and see, [you] pray a lot," says Cindy LaMontagne. The dry winds have been blowing an unusual number of days, with little or no rain, which stirs up trauma for people like her who lost their homes in a fast moving range fire last Labor Day.
- PUB DATE: 5/20/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KXJZ CapRadio

Amid calls for continuity from city leaders, the Spokane City Council approved a four-year contract with American Medical Response for ambulance services on Monday. The new agreement maintains the significant price hike hesitantly approved by council members under a one-year bridge contract last year.
- PUB DATE: 5/19/2021 11:52:33 PM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review - Metered Site