KWSO News for Wed., Aug. 3, 2022

A fire update from August 2^nd at 8pm, the Fly Creek Fire has not grown any, it is still at 280 acres but it is now 80% contained with around 140 personnel assigned to the fire. Great progress was made yesterday mopping up along the dozer lines around the perimeter. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office dropped the Level 2 evacuation notice for Three Rivers down to a Level 1 yesterday morning. The Level 3 evacuation notice for the Perry South and Monty campgrounds remains in place. All of the fires located north and northeast of the Oregon Badlands Wilderness area near the intersection of George Millican Rd. and Reservoir Rd. were contained yesterday or found to be false alarms. Yesterday, firefighters responded to 13 new incidents and contained numerous fires across the area. Yesterday evening, six potential new starts were reported shortly after 6pm by a reconnaissance flight. Authorities say two more bodies have been found within the burn zone of the huge Northern California wildfire, raising the death toll to four in the state’s largest blaze of the year. The Siskiyou county Sheriff’s Office says in a statement that search teams discovered the bodies Monday at separate residences along State Route 96. More than 100 homes, sheds and other buildings have burned in the McKinney Fire since it erupted last Friday.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act in order to get resources to a fire burning south of The Dalles in Wasco County. The fire sparked Tuesday afternoon near the community of Juniper Flats and was burning in grass, brush and juniper. It had burned an estimated 1.5 square miles. The Wasco County Sheriff issued several evacuation orders, including some telling residents to leave immediately. The governor’s declaration allows the state fire marshal to mobilize firefighters and equipment to help local resources in battling the fire.

In deeply conservative Idaho, it’s expected that abortion will be banned eventually, but abortion rights advocates are continuing their legal challenges. They’re going before the state’s top court Wednesday to ask the justices to continue blocking enforcement of three laws intended to restrict the services. Similar legal challenges are playing out in red states across the U.S. In some of them, that’s allowed clinics to continue to offer abortion services, for now at least. In the first test of voter sentiment after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision, Kansas voters on Tuesday rejected a ballot measure that would have allowed the Republican controlled Legislature to tighten restrictions or ban the procedure outright.

Despite being the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2020 and then reaching the Pro Bowl last season, Los Angeles Chargers Quarterback Justin Herbert still has room to improve going into his third season. Herbert is focused on his footwork. He made it a major focus of his offseason program and has continued to hone in on it during the first week of training camp. Even with getting up to speed with a new offense, Herbert was one of the league’s top Quarterbacks last season. He tied Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady for most 300-yard games (nine), was second in completions (443) and passing yards (5,104), and third in passing touchdowns with 38.

For those who prefer to listen to KWSO News, Press Play Below: