Yakima Health District

More than 100 people gathered at the Selah Civic Center on Monday to raise concerns about PFAs, or “forever chemicals,” in their drinking wells. Many in the audience said they’re still waiting on solutions, nearly four years since they learned about the contamination.

(Runtime 0:54)For years, some people who live near a Central Washington landfill have worked to fix what they say are pollution problems at the site. Now,…

In Washington, there is only one clinic to treat Long-COVID. It is in Seattle on the west side of the state. Long-COVID haulers in the Yakima Valley face a lack of local resources, diagnosis and information. Some say they feel disconnected from their doctors. This is part three of a collaborative piece with palabra about Long-COVID.

En Washington sólo hay una clínica que trata a pacientes de COVID persistente o Long-COVID y está ubicada en Seattle, al oeste del estado. Los pacientes de COVID persistente del valle de Yakima se enfrentan a la falta de recursos locales, diagnóstico e información. Algunos dicen que se sienten desconectados de sus médicos.

A troublesome landfill in Yakima has been on fire for months. Now, there’s a plan in place to smother the underground flames – although no one knows how…

(Runtime 3:34)On a rainy day in January, Nancy Lust was watching a truck unload at the Anderson Landfill, right near her home in Yakima.“So, I get out of…

Wineries and breweries in Yakima, Benton and Franklin counties must keep their doors closed for now, unless they serve food out of their own kitchens. That’s the updated guidance for the three counties, which are seeing some of the highest numbers of coronavirus cases in Washington.

The county’s emergency management office has handed out more than 3 million pieces of protective equipment since March. That includes 770,000 masks to businesses, municipalities, and food banks and an additional 220,000 masks distributed to low-income residents.

County officials in eastern Washington rushed applications to the state Thursday evening to reopen their economies. It came the same day Gov. Jay Inslee announced the state would approve their plans to reopen and put others on pause for two weeks.

News and information on the COVID-19 pandemic released by state and local governments is primarily in English. And though health districts and emergency management offices translate some of that information into Spanish, immigrant communities in places like the Yakima Valley still struggle to access that information.