Some states are making great strides in vaccinating their residents against COVID-19, but the ones that are not may soon be contending with a more transmissible variant, experts say. About 45.2% of the US population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, CDC data showed, and in 16 states and Washington, DC, that proportion is up to more than half, and 16 have reached President Joe Biden's goal to vaccinate 70% of adults with at least one dose.
- PUB DATE: 6/22/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: CNN

While we may consider this first week of summer with sunny blue skies glorious, the fire threat is building across Washington state. KING 5 went out and watched as Vaughn Cork, a fuels analyst with the Washington Department of Natural Resources, measured everything from moisture levels of fallen branches to the soil in a patch of forest in Lacey.
- PUB DATE: 6/22/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

The Point Roberts, Washington fire chief is warning of a humanitarian crisis if the community's lone grocery store closes. The town is a geographical oddity, nestled below the 49th parallel, an exclave of just five square miles accessible by two border crossings. On Monday, International Marketplace owner Ali Hayton told KING 5 she will close the only grocery store in Point Roberts after the extension of the US-Canada border closure.
- PUB DATE: 6/22/2021 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: KING-TV NBC 5 Seattle

PHOTO: Just after 4 p.m., Washington State Troopers say a crash off I-90 near the Hiawatha exit sparked a small brush fire on Monday. Trooper John Bryant says a minivan rolled and caught fire at around 4:08 p.m. off the eastbound lanes of I-90. First responders shutdown eastbound I-90 for about 15 minutes as crews went to work on the blaze.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2021 8:16:12 PM - SOURCE: iFiber One News Radio

Like other rural areas, many of Lewis County’s fire districts have historically relied on volunteer firefighters to staff its stations. But as Lewis County Fire District 6 has discovered in recent years, departments need a balance of paid firefighters and volunteers to maintain reliable, consistent service.
- PUB DATE: 6/21/2021 5:28:44 PM - SOURCE: Centralia Chronicle