Mariners flag flies atop Space Needle celebrating playoff berth

The KIRO Newsradio Newsdesk brings you their top stories on the afternoon of Thursday, Oct. 6.

The Mariners are celebrating their first playoff berth in 21 years for all to see, with former catcher Dan Wilson hoisting the team flag atop the Space Needle Thursday morning.

He’s confident they’ll come home from Toronto with a win.

“The Mariners are going to come home for baseball,” Wilson said. “I don’t know how it’ll all turn out, but they’ll be here.”

The Mariners take on Toronto for Game 1 of the A.L. Wild Card at 1:07 p.m. Friday. You can hear Rick Rizzs call the game on 710 AM Seattle Sports Radio.

Buttigieg visits WA for big infrastructure projects

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is in Washington state Thursday and Friday for a tour of key infrastructure projects.

Thursday, he stopped in Wenatchee to check out a major project to help farmers get produce to grocery stores across the country.

Buttigieg stresses that the 11-mile “Apple Capital Loop Project” is important not only to the state’s agriculture industry but to the country’s economy as a whole.

“This strengthens our supply chains to make it faster, easier, and safer to get through this area,” Buttigieg said.

“It’s an important waypoint not just for apples, but for all kinds of goods making their way from the ports of Seattle and Tacoma as they move east to Chicago and the rest of the country,” Buttigieg said.

The project received $92.4 million in federal funding last year, which is the most of any infrastructure project in the area.

REI will now be closed on Black Friday

REI has been closed every Black Friday for the past seven years, but now, it’s making that permanent.

CNN reports Black Friday used to be one of REI’s top sales days of the year, but they want their employees to spend time outdoors, instead of inside stores and offices.

Workers will still get paid for the day, and customers can place orders online, but they won’t be processed until the next day.

Road will be closed in Olympia to clear encampments

A half-mile of Olympia’s Ensign Road will close Thursday so more vehicles that are being lived in can be removed.

City officials said once the area between Martin Way and Providence Lane is cleared, they plan to install blocks to prevent illegal parking.

The city has already placed blocks along other parts of Ensign Road as they have been cleared out.

Vehicles and tents have been slowing emergency crews and others heading to Providence-Saint Peter Hospital and the numerous medical offices in the area.

Olympia plans more closures next week when city leaders expect to have the road fully cleared.

WA superintendent proposes plans to help students pay for duel-enrollment

Superintendent Chris Reykdal pitched his plan to lawmakers to eliminate financial barriers for dual credit high school students.

In Wednesday’s press conference, Reykdal said the plan would help pay out-of-pocket expenses for students.

“When it’s instructional costs, when it’s something that is related to their learning and they’re getting high school credit for it, those costs should all get picked up by the state as a part of their basic education,” Reykdal said.

Reykdal says they’ll earn college credits and learn about workforce development opportunities.

The funding would also support student participation in Career and Technical Education Dual Credit programs for earning industry-recognized credentials.

Dangerous shellfish closes down Whatcom County beaches

Dangerous shellfish has all Whatcom County Beaches closed to harvesting, as well as Vashon-Maury Island’s Quartermaster Harbor.

Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) warnings were already posted in South Whatcom County.

PSP is not killed by cooking or freezing and can be fatal.

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