WACD Reading List

May is Wildfire Awareness Month and the State Fire Marshal’s Office is reinforcing the importance of being prepared after 2020 saw more than 1,500 wildfires that burned over 823,000 acres in Washington. Deputy State Fire Marshal Robert Wittenberg said residents should prepare in part by putting together both an evacuation plan and a family communication plan, which designates an out-of-area friend or relative as a point of contact in case your family is separated.

Labor and Industries is responsible for keeping the workplace safe. Their guidelines say employers must confirm the vaccination status of employees before allowing them to take off their masks and no longer socially distance. While the employer doesn’t need to keep a copy of the vaccination card or an attestation letter, they do need to keep a record that it was checked, and use the same method for all employees.

When Steven Hsieh tweeted in March that Tian Tian Farm would be bringing its harvest, specializing in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese vegetables, to the Ballard Farmers Market this year, the excited reaction – and more than 700 likes – took him by surprise. But it also confirmed to him and his business partner, Elizabeth Whitman, that they weren’t alone in their frustration with current options for buying the produce they grew up eating.

Seed the North will collect seeds and use drone technology to drop them over areas disturbed by both natural disaster and industry.

Columbia Straw Supply works with local balers to buy up all that leftover wheat straw, which Columbia Pulp turns into pulp for paper products, giving farmers a new stream of revenue — and pushing the paper industry into a more sustainable direction.

SEATTLE - King County's top public health official issued a directive Thursday strongly urging residents to keep wearing a face mask in indoor public settings, whether or not they are vaccinated against COVID. The directive also recommends that businesses who serve the public continue policies to ensure customers and employees wear masks indoors.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Allergy season is upon us in the Spokane area. From sniffles and sneezing to pollen coating everything, the signs are just about everywhere. This round of pollen comes thanks to the trees and grass. If you’re allergic to ragweed, you don’t have to worry yet.

Washington state went all in on expanding public broadband this year. So much so, that the Legislature passed two different bills aimed at extending high-speed internet to people in rural areas. It’s possible, however, that two bills aren’t better than one. And they may partly cancel each other out. Now that Gov. Jay Inslee has signed both measures into law, confusion is mounting about whether the two laws can co-exist.

SEATTLE (AP) — European green crabs were found in Washington's inland waters in 2016, prompting extensive monitoring. Now state officials said this destructive invasive species is spreading in several coastal locations. They thrive in shallow water and soft sediment, which Washington's estuaries provide.

"...people whose narcissism leads them to manipulate and exploit others may have difficulties in distinguishing themselves from others. They see your goals as the same as theirs, so why wouldn’t you want to throw your personal interests by the wayside to satisfy theirs? Aren’t you willing to be that tool they need to succeed."

TONASKET — The Okanogan Rivers is expected to hit minor flood stage by next week, according to meteorologists at the Spokane office of the National Weather Service. “Unseasonably warm temperatures and rapidly melting mountain snowpack will lead to significant rises in rivers and creeks across Okanogan County into next week,” officials said in a hydrologic outlook warning Friday morning. “Some of the bigger rises are expected along the Okanogan River, and current forecasts place the river into action stage near Tonasket by Sunday and into minor flood stage by Monday night. Increased flow is also expected for the Similkameen River.”

And today, we’re excited to share our list of nominees for Summer 2021. Neither our staff nor our curators have read each and every title below, but we believe that the two best nonfiction books of the season are among them. So if you’re looking for summer reading, the nominees are…

STEVENS COUNTY, Wash. — With nearly six million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine already given in Washington, the state is on the way back to normalcy. But in some rural areas, vaccine hesitancy remains an issue. Even as communities within Stevens County have seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases recently, the number of vaccines being given isn’t going up, and many residents are hesitant to get the shot.

If your relationships, work, and life have been disrupted by the pandemic, the weeks and months before you fully reenter the world should not be wasted. They are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come clean with yourself—to admit that all was not perfectly well before. Here’s how you can make a plan not to return to normal.

Shifting away from large-scale farming would build resilience in the face of climate change and other crises. The authors of new research want to show how to make it happen.

The report offers a measure of clarity—if not a complete road map—for how to reach the 30x30 goal. To get there, stakeholders from all aspects of land use are asked to pitch in. No longer is conservation the exclusive realm of federally protected lands. Instead, the very definition of conserved land is being adjusted to incorporate farms, working landscapes, city parks, and practically any natural environment that stores carbon, provides wildlife habitat, or serves as green space for communities lacking access to nature.

In PwC's latest US Remote Work Survey, PwC surveyed 133 US executives and 1,200 US office workers between November 24 and December 5, 2020, to determine how effective remote work has been. According to their findings, 80% of organizations are planning a hybrid work environment for the long term. PwC's Digital Products Leader, Tom Puthiyamadam, an expert who coaches teams on how to bring the best ideas to life, shared with me three best practices for navigating this transition to a hybrid model.

Public speaking is one thing. Public speaking on Zoom comes with a whole new dimension of challenges, especially if you get nervous about presenting. From potential technical issues to being unable to rely on non-verbal cues from your audience, it’s easy to break a sweat about all the things that could go wrong while giving a virtual talk. But what if you could not only manage your performance anxiety but also learn how to enjoy public speaking on Zoom calls?