KNDO-TV (Yakima, WA)

YAKIMA, Wash. — A new public sculpture outside the Yakima Rotary Marketplace has been partially installed and is set to bring an interactive feature to downtown Yakima next week. The piece is called ‘FAVI,’ and it is being installed near the Rotary Market in downtown Yakima. Installation was scheduled to finish tomorrow. The sculpture was designed for Yakima and was made from reclaimed plastic. When finished, it was expected to stand 34 feet tall and 30 feet wide.

YAKIMA, Wash. — Fire crews in Yakima and upper Kittitas County saw different workloads over the holiday weekend. Within Yakima city limits, the Yakima Fire Department responded to 60 calls over a 72-hour period. In the Cle Elum-Roslyn area, Kittitas County Fire District 7 crews handled only a few calls, according to Fire District 7 Chief Arron Lowe. Michael Trujillo with the Yakima Fire Department said the job can shift quickly depending on the emergency.

YAKIMA, Wash. — Independence Day celebrations continued at the state fairgrounds with free admission, free parking and a fireworks show scheduled for 10:00 p.m. The State Fair Park gates opened at noon, and people had already started setting up spots for the fireworks show. Jeff Garretson with the fairgrounds said this year’s event was larger than before and marked the nation’s 250th anniversary, and that the fireworks budget more than doubled for the occasion.

YAKIMA, Wash. — Federal investigators are looking into a sharp rise in lasers being pointed at aircraft cockpits as planes landed at Yakima Airport and across Yakima County. The FBI counted 19 reports in the first three months of this year involving lasers lighting up and tracking cockpits approaching the airport. The agency believes the actual number was higher due to potential unreported incidents.

YAKIMA, Wash. — World Cup fans in Yakima turned out in big numbers at SOZO Sports Complex, where free watch parties brought together crowds for Team USA and Mexico. The atmospheres carried from the match itself to the crowd gathered on the grass. More than 4,000 people attended the fan zone across the Mexico and USA games last week. The event was free and included jumpers, mini soccer fields, beer gardens, cornhole, vendors and a big screen for the matches.

UNION GAP, Wash. — A woman died after she was hit by a semi-truck on Interstate 82 near the Valley Mall exit in Union Gap. Washington State Patrol reports the crash happened just after 10 p.m. Saturday night in the westbound lanes near Exit 36 to Valley Mall Blvd. Trooper Chadwick Williams says the woman has not been identified. He reports she was standing in the merging lanes from Valley Mall Boulevard to I-82 before she crossed into the westbound lanes.

YAKIMA, Wash. — Downtown Yakima closed down Saturday morning as hundreds of people and local organizations moved along Yakima Avenue for the seventh annual Pride Parade. Organized by Yakima Pride, the message stayed the same across downtown Yakima: love, unity and a sense that Pride in Yakima was growing stronger. "This is progress; there's a lot of us, this is big for me," Yakima native Jesse Orozco said. Rainbows lined Yakima Avenue during the parade.

YAKIMA, Wash. — Franklin Pool reopened in Yakima after repairs and funding needs pushed back the start of its summer season. The pool’s future had been uncertain after last year’s annual Paws in the Pool event marked the end of a 75-year run with questions still hanging over what would come next. Several months later, the pool is full again as families lined up around the building more than 30 minutes before opening.

YAKIMA, Wash. — An 8-year-old boy from Yakima is getting ready for a trip to Seattle to watch the World Cup game between the USA and Australia on Friday. Iker Suarez-Medina and his family were told back in February that they were being sent to the match. The trip comes years after Iker had a heart transplant in Seattle when he was just five months old. His mom Bianca said Iker instantly improved after a successful operation. "It was a whole different Iker. He was not dusky gray pale cold. He was pink.

YAKIMA, Wash. — A Juneteenth celebration in Yakima brought together community members around a message of love, unity and learning as the county marked June 13-19th as Freedom Week. County Commissioner Ladon Linde proclaimed the week at the event following a County Commissioner meeting on Tuesday. Juneteenth reflects June 19, 1865, when the last remaining enslaved people in the United States were freed by Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas. This year marked 161 years since that moment.