Northwest Public Broadcasting

Another harvest season for Washington’s venerated vegetable — the Walla Walla sweet onion — is at an end. Soft and juicy and fragile like a fruit, sweets are as synonymous with the Walla Walla Valley as is wine. And they’re federally protected: Only onions grown in the area can officially be sold as a Walla Walla sweet. They’re farmed by about a dozen growers in the valley, which straddles southeastern Washington and northeastern Oregon.

Melissa Campbell from Write On The River is in-studio with a chat about their annual writers conference. On the playlist; Ghalia Volt's latest, vintage jazz with Hank Mobley, and a tune from your 90s cassette collection about a TV-famous diner in NYC from Suzanne Vega.

Wenatchee Valley musician Beau Warren releases debut album The line up for the last is out, Peter K runs down the legendary performers coming to Icicle Creek Center on June 4th and plays a track from one of the headliner's Ellensburg-based band that set the template for the Seattle sound in the 90s. On the playlist; new music from Michigander and local Wenatchee Valley fav Beau Warren. His debut album dropped, we spin a tune off that. Plus the latest from Taj Mahal And The Phantom Blues Band.

Summer night concert at ICCA Rhia Foster from Icicle Creek Center For The Arts is in to reveal The Meadow Stage summer shows for this year. On the playlist; a new release from The Rolling Stones, Seattle's own True Loves drop bangin' grooves and a Herbie Hancock standard.

The flower baskets along The Ave are out. In the 7am hour, Peter K explains how you can help keep them thriving and beautiful. Each year, the The Wenatchee Downtown Association invests nearly $12,000 into the flower program, which covers plants, materials, and ongoing maintenance. During peak summer months, baskets require daily watering and care to stay healthy and blossoming. In an effort to keep the flowers looking great, this year the WDA is looking for sponsors to adopt a basket.

Habitat for Humanity Spokane has secured more than $6.5 million in state funds to expand affordable housing in the region. “There’s a couple different ways that we can utilize those funds. The largest contract that we received in this last round is for down payment assistance and that’s at $2.26 million,” Michelle Girardot, CEO of the Spokane branch of Habitat for Humanity, said. Girardot began as an Americorps volunteer 16 years ago. Before joining Habitat, she was a teacher.

Suzanne Dahl has worked to treat radioactive tank waste at the Hanford cleanup site in southeast Washington for more than 30 years. For Dahl, the tank waste treatment and section manager with the Washington Department of Ecology, improving nuclear waste storage at the facility has been her life's work. So, when on a bluebird day this week, she saw the first massive 7-foot tall container of waste being lowered into a sandy pit in the desert, she felt a tightness in her chest.

There are probably more tiny bits of plastic in the Yakima River than you’d expect. That’s according to a first-of-its-kind study. Researchers at Central Washington University sampled nine spots on the Yakima River. Samples came from Snoqualmie Pass all the way to its mouth in the Tri-Cities. Not many studies like this previously had been done in rivers, said Clay Arango, a biological sciences professor at the University.

Washington and Idaho journalists who work for newspapers owned by McClatchy Media are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement. One of their biggest priorities is how the company uses artificial intelligence. That’s because McClatchy has been using AI for content generation.

Washington state nutrition experts warn new federal dietary guidelines may miss the mark and lack the resources to educate people on the new health movement. “I think the idea of yes, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, this whole, ‘Eat more real food.’ That is great. But it also kind of leaves out social determinants of health. Not everybody can afford red meat.