KIRO Newsradio Headlines: WA’s Cherokee population to be visited by Principal Chief, First Lady

Cherokee Nation’s Principal Chief, First Lady to visit WA tribe members

The Cherokee Nation’s Principal Chief and First Lady are part of the contingent from Oklahoma coming to Renton this weekend to meet with members of the tribe who live in our state.

Nearly 7,000 Cherokee live in Washington.

Sunday’s gathering at Renton Memorial Stadium includes traditional, cultural activities, along with updates on tribal government, education, and its voter registration drive.

Seattle Tattoo Expo returns after three-year hiatus

Back for the first time in three years, the Seattle Tattoo Expo at the Seattle Center.

The weekend-long festival will feature music, food, a tattoo contest, and of course, a chance for you to get your own tattoo.

But be warned, organizer and tattoo artist Jeff Cornell tells Seattle’s Morning News getting inked has gotten more expensive.

He has seen more business at his tattoo shop because it was one place people could still socialize during COVID.

Second firefighter died this week from a falling tree

Again this week, a falling tree killed a wildfire fighter in Southern Oregon.

The state Forestry Department says he is a 25-year-old Oregon resident who owned a private firefighting service.

Last week, a fire team member from Colorado died when a tree fell on him in an area not far from the most recent death.

Mountain climber fell to his death on Mount Pugh

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner has identified the mountain climber who fell to his death last Saturday as 56-year-old Matthew Gifford of Anacortes.

He was on a climb of Mount Pugh south of Darrington, a peak more than 7,200 feet high.

Gifford was a dentist from Anacortes, and is survived by six children.

The Everett Herald says he was an avid hiker and often gave free dental care to those in need.

National Potato Day reminds WA of what nearly became the state vegetable

This is National Potato Day, a day to honor a crop that almost became our state vegetable.

20% of all U.S. spuds come from Washington State, so when a group of Kirkland Junior High School students lobbied to make the Walla Walla sweet onion the “state vegetable,” the potato industry stepped in.

The Washington Potato Commission arguing potatoes were more prolific.

In 2006, a state Senate committee passed a “bulb and tuber” amendment that would honor both, but the measure ultimately failed.

In the end, the potato commission stepped aside.

The Governor signed a bill in 2007, designating the Walla Walla sweet onion as the state vegetable.

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