Centralia Chronicle

Income inequality is getting more extreme as a new class of the ultra-wealthy emerges, enriched by booming investment in artificial intelligence and in the companies behind it. It’s an extension of a trend that dates to the 1990s and the tech boom sparked by the internet. By one key measure, at least, Oregon is something of an outlier in this phenomenon. Income distribution is as equitable here as it is in any state west of the Mississippi.

Police have accused eight people of criminal charges in connection with a brush fire sparked by fireworks in Lincoln City on July Fourth, officials said.

Since the 2010s, Seattle has been on a seemingly unstoppable growth streak — minus a small blip at the start of the pandemic. But according to the latest population estimates released by the Washington office of financial management, the Emerald City's turbocharged engine is finally cooling off. Between April 1, 2025, and April 1, 2026, Seattle added 6,800 new residents, bringing its total population to 823,400. That amounts to a growth rate of around 0.8%.

Downtown Seattle may be sending strong “we’re back” vibes during its World Cup star turn. But downtown's economic engine is still stuck on the sidelines. Nearly 37% of the downtown Seattle office space is vacant — the most of any major U.S. downtown, according to real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield. Iconic office towers like the 44-floor U.S. Bank Center, at Fifth Avenue and Pike Street, are nearly half empty and trading at fire-sale prices.

A fiery vehicle crash at the end of a police chase killed two people early Saturday morning, according to the Tacoma Police Department. A Lakewood Police officer witnessed a vehicle speeding westbound on South 74th Street at 1:21 a.m., TPD spokesperson Shelbie Boyd told The News Tribune. The vehicle drove off at a high rate of speed, losing control of the car and striking the train crossing arm structure at 3600 South 74th Street, Boyd said.

Eight people were shot and wounded, four of them children, by a gunman in a ski mask at a Coney Island family barbecue as the city grappled with a wave of overnight Fourth of July gun violence, police said Sunday. A crowd was gathered for the cookout on W. 31st Street near Surf Avenue, just a block from the Brooklyn neighborhood’s famed boardwalk and beach, when shots rang out as fireworks boomed in the air above about 10:35 p.m. Saturday, cops said.

Drivers on Interstate 90 in Moses Lake should be prepared for detours beginning July 27 as the freeway is closed temporarily to demolish the Hansen Road overpass. The closure is expected to last several days. Summer Derrey, communications consultant for the Washington Department of Transportation, said preparation work starts Tuesday and will involve some traffic restrictions in the construction zone.

Authorities are warning people to stay clear of a fire in the Chelan Hills area, which has now burned as many as 20,000 acres, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. In a Facebook post Saturday, the office announced Level 3 evacuation orders, which mean leave immediately, as a fire jumped McNeil Canyon and started to spread. Those orders were put in place for all residences on McNeil Canyon Road and all roads connected to it.

The U.S. Forest Service received roughly 300 applications for the 15 new state director jobs created during a major agency reorganization that’s dissolving regional offices the agency’s first chief, Gifford Pinchot, created nearly 120 years ago. That’s 20 applications per job, on average, for well-paying “senior executive service” positions at a federal agency that employs roughly 30,000 staff.

Red, white and blue balloons swayed in the breeze as a brass band played and performers showed off traditional cultural attire, music and dance. Around 1,000 people were gathered to celebrate the city's newest U.S. citizens the same day the country celebrated its 250th birthday. Seattle Center hosted 252 people from 55 countries as they were sworn in as U.S. citizens at a naturalization ceremony in the early afternoon at the Fisher Pavilion under the Space Needle.