Spokane NAACP Leader Controversy, Wildfire Warnings for Northwest

Leader of Spokane NAACP Chapter questioned about her race

News broke last night that Rachel Dolezal, the NAACP Spokane chapter president, is being called into question for allegedly pretending to be black for nearly nine years. Dolezal also serves as an Africana Studies professor at Eastern Washington University. Jezebel reports that her mother came forward to inform the public that her daughter Rachel is biologically white. Former president of the NAACP Spokane chapter, James Wilburn (who preceeded Dolezal) has been quoted saying that some members did have doubts about her background. People around the country have taken to Twitter to express their frustrations and concerns about the implications of the situation. Take a look:

The outrage over #RachelDolezal isn’t that she is white working for the @NAACP – it is that she standing on our shoulders to do so

— Discreetly Greek (@Dgreeknalia) June 12, 2015

NAACP stands by #RachelDolezal, “Race is not a qualifying criteria” for #NAACP leadership: http://t.co/39Kqt3NyRt http://t.co/s1uflEiBBC

— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) June 12, 2015

Dead RT @theycallmeTUNE: And she would’ve got away with it too, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids #RachelDolezal pic.twitter.com/ynj1RWwnvu

— (Kirsty) (@KirstyNOTKristy) June 12, 2015

Microsoft donates to UW for new building

Microsoft just donated a hefty sum of $10 million as a gift toward a new computer science and engineering building at UW, Komo News reports. The university currently has to turn away one out of three qualified students who apply to the program because there isn’t enough room for them. It hopes that this new building will help reduce that number. In total, the university needs $110 billion to complete the 130,000-square-foot building. The existing computer science and engineering building was named for Paul Allen, who donated money for its construction.

Northwest “super drought” nothing to worry about says weather expert

Cliff Mass, the well-respected UW professor of atmospheric sciences and weather personality, was surprised that Governor Jay Inslee declared a statewide drought, MyNorthwest.com reports. Although there is low snowpack in the mountains, Mass notes “that precipitation was normal last year,” and that ”there will be plenty of water for municipalities.” He expects that the drought will mostly impact Eastern Washington, but it’s certainly not cause to prepare for a “hyper-drought” and that the governor should be more careful with the terminology.

Hockey coming to Seattle?

KIROTV and the Associated Press report that the City of Glendale, Ariz., has voted to end its arena lease agreement with the NHL team the Arizona Coyotes. It was rumored that the NHL was in talks to move the Coyotes to Seattle in 2013. Since then, Seattle investor Chris Hansen has been hard at work on a plan to build a new NBA basketball and NHL hockey arena, and he took a step forward in May when a final environmental impact statement approved the project. In the initial plan, the stadium was only going to be built with the acquisition of an NBA team first, but we’ll keep an eye out for any new developments.

Obama administration warns of summer wildfires in the Northwest

CBS reports that the Southwest and the Northwest could both face extreme wildfires this summer. The Obama administration warned that southern Arizona and California are especially vulnerable as well as Washington, Oregon, northern Idaho and western Montana. Last year’s wildfire in Washington destroyed 300 homes in the Carlton Complex and was the worst wildfire in state history. And it seems that conditions this year are very similar to last, due to climate change and drought.

Seattle the next Silicon Valley?

Californians are flocking to Seattle to escape Silicon Valley’s housing market, the Seattle Times reports. Data from the real-estate brokerage firm Redfin indicates that Seattle is the number one city in the country to which Silicon Valley residents are relocating. And the favored Seattle neighborhood is West Seattle. The Times notes that although jobs in Silicon Valley pay better than ones in Seattle, it still doesn’t balance out the soaring housing prices. Seattle now leads the nation in the creation of tech jobs in recent years.