Remote Surveillance Trailer in Spokane, WA

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A report from the NWS Spokane WA was issued on Sunday at 4:46 p.m. for strong thunderstorms until 5:15 p.m. for Spokane area.

Brace for marble-sized hail (0.5 inches) and wind gusts of up to 30 mph.

"At 4:46 p.m., Doppler radar tracked a strong thunderstorm near Davenport, or 24 miles northwest of Cheney, moving north at 15 mph," according to the NWS. "Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to outdoor objects is possible."

The alert is for Gravelles and Mondovi.

The NWS adds, "If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building. Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm. Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe shelter inside a building or vehicle."

This alert is in effect until 5:15 p.m.

Around 25 million lightning strikes occur in the United States every year, with most taking place during the summer months. The NWS reports that these strikes result in about 20 fatalities annually. The probability of lightning strikes rises as a thunderstorm approaches and peaks when the storm is directly above. As the storm moves away, this likelihood decreases.

Here are recommendations for maintaining safety during a thunderstorm:

If finding indoor shelter is not an option:

What is hydroplaning?

Hydroplaning happens when a vehicle starts sliding uncontrollably on wet roads.

This happens when water in front of the tire builds up faster than the vehicle's weight can push water out of the way. The water pressure then causes the vehicle to rise and slide on a thin layer of water between the tires and the road, making the driver lose control. Hydroplaning is primarily caused by three factors:

In the event of your vehicle hydroplaning, here's what to know:

Source: The National Weather Service

United Robots Washington

The city of Spokane Valley completed construction this summer on a full basketball court, two half basketball courts, four pickleball courts, sports lighting and an improved sound system at Balfour Park, 105 N. Balfour Road. (Megan Howard/The Spokesman-Review)

Balfour Park’s new sports courts are open to the public after a summer of construction.

Thousands of people came to the park late last month to celebrate the completion of four pickleball courts, one full basketball court, two half basketball courts, sports lighting and a new sound system. The courts will be open to use year-round, city spokeswoman Jill Smith said.

It’s the first of many improvements Spokane Valley is adding to the park, on which the city has spent $6 million so far.

Spokane Valley has been expanding and improving Balfour Park since 2024, according to Spokane Valley Parks and Recreation Director John Bottelli.

About 13,000 people live within a mile of Balfour Park. In that area, the median income level in the area is below the state average, and around 750 households there live below the poverty level, Bottelli said.

“Balfour has for a long time served that part of the community and there’s a great need there,” Bottelli said.

The city purchased 8.3 acres for the park at 105 N. Balfour Road across the street from City Hall in 2012.

The most recent additions were funded through grants: $673,000 from the state and $300,000 from the city’s Capital Improvement Program one-time funds, Smith said.

Spokane Valley City Councilman Ben Wick was particularly excited about the new sound system in the park.

“We used it for Cops and Cruisers,” Wick said. “We were able to make announcements, do raffles and drawings and connect with people across the park. In the future, when we have markets and things, we can make announcements or have music played.”

The sound system uses wireless microphones and can be split into three different areas of the park, so different areas can play different music or announcements, Wick said. Wick, who is also the president of the Spokane Valley Kiwanis Club, said he’s looking forward to the club using the sound system next summer during Outdoor Movies in the Park.

“It’s phenomenal,” Wick said.

Before the new pickleball courts were installed, the city had temporary courts in the park because demand for pickleball was so high in the Valley, Wick said.

In 2027, the city plans to build a new playground and splash pad at the park.

The city already has $4 million worth of funding for the projects that can be used next year : $500,000 from Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program local parks grant, $2 million through the land and conservation water fund and $1.5 million from the city, according to Bottelli.

The city already has done the grading for a future outdoor amphitheater in the northwest corner of the park.

“Our goal is to have a place for a symphony to be able to play out in the park,” Wick said. “It’s trying to create events for the community and providing a space.”

The owners of Rancho Chico Spokane, who operate two Mexican restaurants in Spokane, and one each in Colville and Omak, have agreed to pay $750,000 in mostly backpay to employees after federal authorities brought legal action on behalf of those workers.

Of the $750,000 settlement, some $360,000 was ordered to be given to workers for unpaid minimum wages and back wages. Another $360,000 went to the employees as “liquidated damages” to the same employees and another $30,000 was awarded as punitive damages to a single employee, according to court records.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pennell signed the settled agreement on April 10.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane by U.S. Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-Deremer, targeted Nolberto Rodriquez and Guillermina Rodriquez and Toro Blanco, Inc., which operated the restaurants.

The two Rancho Chico restaurants in Spokane are located at 2023 W. Northwest Blvd. and at 9205 N. Division St.

The investigation that led to the settlement began in 2023.

Those probes established that defendants violated several federal employment laws “for failure to pay minimum wage and/or overtime, failure to keep accurate records of hours worked by employees, employing at least one minor in a hazardous occupation, and unlawfully retaliating against an employee,” court records state.

According to the original complaint, the owners employed servers, bussers, dishwashers, cooks, cashiers and managers. Many of those employees worked in excess of 40 hours per week and weren’t paid overtime wages as the owners failed to maintain proper payroll records to reflect the hours each of those employees worked.

The “defendants paid some employees in a flat, semi-monthly salary for all hours worked, regardless of overtime hours worked,” court records state. “Defendants also failed to pay some employees the required minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.”

The complaint also included allegations of retaliation.

It noted that on or about May 2023, an employee at the Rancho Chico in Omak filed a complaint with state and federal labor officials alleging that he did not get paid for hours worked or for overtime he had worked.

A state agent notified Rancho Chico’s Agustin Rodriguez about the complaint on May 24, 2023.

“The next day … Agustin Rodriguez fired the employee,” the complaint stated. “Upon information and belief, the Rancho Chico Omak employee was fired in retaliation for engaging in protected activity.”

Spokane attorney Kammi Mencke Smith, who represented both Nolberto Rodriquez and Guillermina Rodriquez, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on Thursday.

Three weeks after several wildfires in Eastern Washington destroyed hundreds of homes, two Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ministered to Latter-day Saints in the region. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles traveled to Spokane, Washington, for a special meeting and to meet with those affected by recent fires on Sunday, August 23, 2026.

“You are heroes for us, how you went through this, helping each other in very difficult moments,” President Uchtdorf told the congregation. “We had to come to you and mourn with you and grieve with you about feelings of loss.”

President Uchtdorf was joined by his wife, Harriet. Elder Andersen traveled to Spokane with his wife, Kathy. Other leaders included Elder Takashi Wada of the United States West Area Presidency and his wife, Naomi, and Elder Jared M. Spataro, an Area Seventy.

Downloadable B-roll and SOTs

Hundreds of people gathered at a Church meetinghouse Sunday morning in Spokane to hear from Church leaders and others who participated in the meeting, which was broadcast to buildings in eight stakes in the area.

“We grieve for those who have lost their homes, who have lost their possessions, or are living in uncertainty. But we rejoice that lives were saved. That is a miracle,” said Elder Andersen.

“We rejoice in what we’ve seen of people taking care of people, independent of whether you’re a member of the Church or not,” he added. “It helps us realize that we are all brothers and sisters. We are all sons and daughters of God, and we are all linked together.”

After the meeting, the Apostles visited some of the families who lost their homes in the Spokane Complex Fires.

A post shared by Dieter F. Uchtdorf (@dieterfuchtdorf)

“I feel sometimes we see angels only through pain, through moments of suffering,” said President Uchtdorf while visiting neighborhoods still covered in ash and fire retardant. “Sometimes we can recognize that these moments of suffering can lift us up to totally new heights.”

“For me, it was very humbling to see those people today and to see how they interact with each other, how they helped each other out,” said Sister Uchtdorf. “One sister told me that I have a new purpose right now to help my neighbors because I’m the one whose house is still standing. I am the one who now can help.”

Cody and Haylee Woodbury’s home was destroyed when fire swept through their Shadle Park neighborhood.

“The community that we have here is strong and has become stronger because of the events that have happened,” Cody Woodbury said.

“We’d love to be back in this neighborhood, but we also would love our neighbors to be back too, and we’ll just kind of take it a little bit at a time,” added Haylee Woodbury. “I feel like Heavenly Father has been here every step of the way.”

The Woodburys, including their three children, are now living with family while they decide what to do next.

Other survivors shared similar feelings of gratitude and resilience. Ann Abeyta was taking care of her deceased father’s home when she was evacuated. She grabbed some Native American beadwork her father made and some of the family’s buckskin saddles before fleeing the fire that raced down a nearby mountain.

“To be sitting in the same room with those two men, and the love that they have for us to come and speak to the people of Spokane to remind us that one of the greatest commandments is to love one another and serve one another, and to endure and come together as a community,” said Abeyta. “It was a very sacred ceremony.”

“Our Heavenly Father has not promised us no pain, no fire, no accident, no illness. But what He is promising is that He is there. He will walk with us through illness, through loss, through pain, through suffering,” President Uchtdorf taught.

“God will not forget you. We will not forget you, and He will bless you. As the green growing grass shows in your backyard, perhaps you will see this in your hearts, that you come out of this difficult and challenging experience with new growth, with new strength,” he concluded.

A treatment used by hundreds of firefighters battling wildfires that swept into northwest Spokane neighborhoods has drawn renewed scrutiny from federal medical officials and a leading firefighter organization.

Billed as an antioxidant to help rid the body of toxins associated with inhaling smoke, glutathione was administered to firefighters via nebulizers and IVs in August.

Yet glutathione has not been proven to be safe and effective, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the International Association of Fire Fighters. At least two pharmacies in August recalled glutathione vials for “elevated bacterial endotoxin levels,” according to the FDA.

Integrative Health Action Network, the California nonprofit that administered the glutathione, claims it is beneficial and has an “excellent safety record.”

Volunteer Fire Foundation and Integrative Health Action Network provided the glutathione to firefighters and other first responders who were exposed to toxins emitted from the Spokane fires and any other past fires.

The two organizations started in the late 2010s in California’s Sonoma County.

The IAFF issued a safety advisory in late August after news of firefighters receiving the treatment, writing that glutathione is not approved by the FDA for “post-exposure fire fighter detoxification.”

In its advisory, IAFF warned there is no formal review verifying glutathione is effective and safe, and there’s no requirement to report harmful side effects.

“Glutathione is marketed to fire fighters to remove toxins, but there are no published scientific studies providing evidence that it reduces PFAS levels or oxidative stress associated with fire fighters’ occupational exposures,” according to the advisory.

The FDA has issued warnings about glutathione, particularly the IV form, which poses the risk of contamination and severe adverse reactions, IAFF said.

Jen Riegle, a naturopathic health care provider and Integrated Health co-founder, wrote in an email that none of its pharmacy partners were among those recalling product.

“If anything, these recalls reinforce something we already hold as a core commitment: rigorous vetting of every partner we rely on, ongoing scrutiny of the medications we use, and a willingness to keep asking hard questions of our own supply chain,” she wrote.

Spokane-area firefighters received glutathione treatment in a medical tent last month at the Spokane County Fairgrounds.

During the five-day clinic, 600 people received treatment with 750 check-ins, showing that many people visited the tent more than once, according to Jacqui Jorgeson, who founded the Volunteer Fire Foundation offering glutathione.

Riegle wrote that Integrated Health has collected post-treatment data and feedback from firefighters and first responders who the organization has treated over the years.

“Following prolonged exposure to smoke and toxic environments, the vast majority of participants have consistently reported that our clinics are beneficial, including reported improvements in symptoms such as shortness of breath, cough, fatigue, brain fog, and overall well-being,” she wrote.

She said Integrated Health is attempting to find a research partner to help fund and design clinical trials.