KREM 2 News at 5 Headlines: Wednesday, September 5, 2024

Good evening and thank you for joining us for creme T news at five. I'm Mark Hanrahan. It's good to have you here tonight. I'm Whitney Ward. A deeper look now into a hot topic issue all across the city today. Spokane city leaders held a press conference about the reason behind the constant deferring of homeless ordinances. Christian Garza was at that conference today. So Christian, what was the main takeaway? Yeah, the main message of today's presser was the simple fact that city council needs more time to make sure that everyone in the community is being treated equally. We have heard a lot of feedback. It is clear that the community is very divided on this, the main point of discussion being homelessness, but more specifically an ordinance on the table that would add housing status to the city's list of protected classes and strengthen protections against discriminatory hiring and employment practices among other things, it enunciates to the city that our homeless neighbors have the same um civil rights that we all enjoy. So the right to congregate the right to privacy, but most importantly, the right to be human in our, in our community for the last couple of city council meetings, there has been extensive conversations both for and against these ordinances. Those for passing the ordinance say this is a step in the right direction in terms of civil rights for the unhoused. However, those against the ordinance say that people could potentially take advantage of the situation and it's not just for the Un House in general, but I mean, you look at businesses, folks who are in certain spaces, things can be misinterpreted big time with this with the way it's written, it's very broad language. After the decision to defer ruling on the homeless ordinances, members of city council as well as city leaders came together at the gathering place in the Garland district to explain the reasoning behind the continued deferral and to provide a way forward that is fair to both sides. We're not putting anybody aside. We want everyone to just to come together and work on this, on this issue that the city of has to make sure that everyone gets a chance to make their voice heard from every different community in the area. City council will be hosting roundtable discussions aimed to help people understand these ordinances. What they do don't do as well as how they work in accordance with the law. I hope you're seeing that we are showing up and standing up and speaking up for things that are happening in our community. We hear a lot coming at us but we are trying to be as inclusive and speak out on everybody's behalf. The first round table discussion is on Tuesday, September 10th from 530 to 7 at central library. And the second round table will be scheduled for three weeks after that. Christian Garza CRE two news. All right, Christian, thank you very much. Let's switch gears. Now, take a look at a very hot forecast heading our way this weekend. So Jeremy Lagu in the weather center tonight, tracking the latest on a weather impact alert day. Actually, a bunch of them all together. Right. Yeah, it's basically now through Sunday it's going to be sweltering hot right now. We sit at 93 degrees, 93 a bit of a scorcher, not a single cloud in the sky dew point, still pretty high, relative humidity sits at 16%. So we are starting to dry out in the days to come. We are going to get even drier as our temperatures get even hotter. This is where we currently sit. Uh, we are in the near nineties in eastern Washington and North Idaho, mid nineties out in central Washington. And is that a big deal? It's a big deal because overnight we are going to cool off. So, despite those heat advisories being in place, our temperatures still fall all the way back to me, 60 or even into the fifties, depending on where you are, that big drop comes because our nights are much, much longer this time of year, we have a much better opportunity to drop in terms of temperatures, those temps fall overnight. But by tomorrow afternoon we're back to the warm side of things. 95 in Spokane, near 100 in central Washington and near 90 across much of North Idaho Saturday winds up even warmer triple digits in Moses Lake Rich in Lewiston Ma. You're going to see it pretty widespread. 96 in Spokane 94 in Quarter Lane and it stays every bit as hot on Sunday. That's why we have those weather impact alert days running through the day on Sunday. All right, sounds good, Jeremy. Thank you very much. Tonight. New information is coming out about the events inside a Georgia high school after a 14 year old shot and killed two students and two teachers and injured nine others. The Barrow County Sheriff's office says the shooter was in custody within six minutes of the first alert. The suspect's first court appearance is scheduled for tomorrow as the community continues to mourn. I just hope that the shooter finds God and, uh, that God forgets what they did. Law enforcement says it did pay a visit to suspect Colt Gray and his father back in May of 2023 following reports that the then 13 year old had possibly threatened to shoot up a middle school the next day. Officers say they cleared the case because of inconsistent information. The man who opened fire at Freeman High School seven years ago, is expected to be resentenced tomorrow. Two years ago, Caleb Sharp was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison. He killed a student and injured three others in a school shooting in Freeman. However, a Washington State Court of appeals found that his sentence was too long and said he needs to be resentenced. During last week's hearing. Both the defense and the prosecution said they will ask the court for a sentence of 25 years to life. Also happening tomorrow, Nadia Cole is expected to appear in Colt Court rather, Cole is the fiance of Aaron. The man charged with the international kidnapping of his two year old daughter from Poleman. Cole is being charged with conspiring to and committing international kidnapping. Court. Documents show Cole went with to Mexico with the toddler back in June and stayed there until early July when was arrested. Cole is expected in Federal court at 11 a.m. tomorrow. Spokane police now asking for your help finding a vehicle that may have been involved in a fatal hit and run. Take a close look at your screen right now. Police believe the driver behind the wheel of this Toyota Benza hit and killed a person near third and wall on Friday afternoon. Spokane police believe this is the license plate number for that vehicle. They're asking you not to approach the car though because of safety concerns. But if you do have any information you can call crime check and you can see there at the bottom of your screen. We have that number there. A grim report from the Idaho State Patrol tonight. 82 lives have been lost during the 100 deadliest days on Idaho's roads from Memorial Day to Labor Day. It marks the time of year that Idaho sees the highest number of traffic deaths. That number is slightly down from last year. According to ISP, about 93 people died on Idaho roads last summer. ISP is urging drivers to always drive sober and obey the speed limits. An Eastern Washington man accused of killing more than 3000 protected birds will be sentenced in federal court. This Travis Branson pleaded guilty to illegal wildlife trafficking charges. Federal prosecutors say he helped kill at least 118 eagles and took part in a trafficking ring on the flathead Indian reservation in Montana. It's believed he made hundreds of thousands of dollars illegally selling the feathers wings and tails. Branson is facing up to four years in prison. He'll be sentenced on September 18th. In the meantime, authorities say an alleged partner in the scheme is now hiding out in Canada but will face charges if he is arrested.