Florida lawmakers were on the verge of sending Gov. Ron DeSantis legislation Friday that requires panic buttons at every school, the latest security measure being implemented on campuses after the Parkland school shooting two years ago that killed 17. The measure, known as “Alyssa's Law,” would establish an electronic link between schools and law enforcement — and reduce the confusion that became so apparent as a gunman roamed the grounds of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day 2018.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2020 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: ABC News

The 2020 Firefighter Stairclimb in Seattle has been postponed because of the coronavirus, but some firefighters from around the Inland Northwest made the event happen in their own way on Sunday. Spokane Fire Department firefighter Joanna Balin's team started training for the Seattle Firefighter Stairclimb back in September.
- PUB DATE: 3/8/2020 8:41:15 PM - SOURCE: KHQ-TV NBC 6

There’s a new fire commissioner on South Whidbey. During a special meeting on Feb. 24, the South Whidbey Fire/EMS board of commissioners chose Clinton resident Lawrence Metz as its newest member. Metz hails from Los Angeles, where he was a firefighter assigned to the harbor for 36 years. He worked with the fire chief there as part of a two-person command team responding to large fires, forming liaisons with the harbor’s police force, nearby refineries and the Coast Guard.
- PUB DATE: 3/7/2020 1:41:20 AM - SOURCE: South Whidbey Record - Metered Site

The city of Spokane ditched a proposal by former Mayor David Condon to withdraw from the county’s emergency management agency and handle the city’s response to disasters on its own. Or so everyone in City Hall thought. The city’s agreement with Greater Spokane Emergency Management expired on Dec. 31, and a new one has yet to be signed, even though city leaders want back in.
- PUB DATE: 3/6/2020 7:57:20 PM - SOURCE: Spokane Spokesman-Review - Metered Site

In the days before the Life Care Center nursing home became ground zero for coronavirus deaths in the U.S., there were few signs it was girding against an illness spreading rapidly around the world. Visitors came in as they always did, sometimes without signing in. Staffers had only recently begun wearing face masks, but the frail residents and those who came to see them were not asked to do so.
- PUB DATE: 3/6/2020 6:04:02 PM - SOURCE: KHQ-TV NBC 6