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At least 24 structures were reduced to ashes when the so-called Sleepy Hollow Fire started as a brush fire in central Washington on Sunday afternoon and quickly spread due to hot and dry conditions, underscoring the harsh realities of how quickly a fire can spread and threaten properties this time of the year. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) urges nearby residents to stay alert, heed evacuation orders, and prepare your home and business now.

The City of Seattle is awarding $467,562 in matching funds to support neighborhood-initiated projects across Seattle. Twenty-eight community groups received awards from the Neighborhood Matching Fund for a variety of events, cultural festivals and projects.

Water rights that were among the earliest in the Territory of Washington to be used for irrigation have been shut off in tributaries of the Yakima River due to extreme drought conditions. Flows in Cowiche Creek and the Teanaway River are so dire that 129 irrigators with rights conferred as far back as 1873 must stop watering their orchards, hay and alfalfa crops on some 2,153 acres.

U.S. Congressman Denny Heck (WA-10) has signed on as an original co-sponsor of the Equality Act, legislation to ban discrimination against LGBT individuals in public accommodations, housing, employment, and other core areas of daily life

Historic low river levels — combined with record-setting hot and dry weather that have significantly increased the demand for water — have led Everett, Seattle and Tacoma to implement the first stage of their water shortage response plans

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, recently unveiled bipartisan legislation with U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) that includes permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).

Changes are proposed to increase annual fees that industries, local governments and others pay to be covered by stormwater and wastewater discharge permits, as required by state law. Permits help protect clean water by setting limits on how much pollution may be discharged into the environment.

Scientists from the Department of Ecology will place a pinkish dye in the Sammamish River as part of a study to help solve the stream’s water quality problems. The river fails to meet state clean water standards for temperature and oxygen content

This morning representatives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), City of Seattle, and Seattle Housing Authority announced the local impacts of the ConnectHome initiative pilot, a 28 jurisdiction pilot that was announced yesterday.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, applauded the efforts of the Department of the Interior’s stream protection rule.

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of the Tri-Cities Airport’s Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) grant application. The grant amount of $750,000 will be supplemented by $300,000 in matching funds from surrounding counties and local businesses, to support important economic development.

As Washington residents remember the state’s largest wildfire in history - the Carlton Complex Fire that began a year ago today burning 350,000 acres and destroying 300 homes - the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) is urging residents throughout Chelan, Douglas, Grant, Kittitas and Okanogan counties to take a wildfire reality check and be sure their homes and finances are prepared for wildfire threats in 2015.

The Rainier Beach Branch, 9125 Rainier Ave. S., is tentatively set to close effective Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, for the rest of the year while the building is partially reroofed, other maintenance is performed and the interior is reconfigured to better meet the needs of the community.

Property will offer park space adjacent to the new Greenwood Library. Today Mayor Ed Murray announced the acquisition of property at 8118 Greenwood Ave. N. for a new park in the Greenwood-Phinney neighborhood. The deal closed on July 1, 2015.

Mayor Ed Murray and Councilmember Mike O’Brien today hailed an unprecedented agreement that will lead to at least 50,000 new homes in Seattle, including 20,000 affordable homes, over the next 10 years. Affordable housing will be included in nearly every residential development across Seattle as the rate of construction of new affordable homes triples.

After the hottest June here in recorded history, higher-than-usual water consumption and record-low stream flows into storage reservoirs, the outlook on Bellevues water supply has dropped from "good" to "fair."

Jaime’s resolution to promote hydroelectric power is cosponsored by Democrat and Republican representatives from across Washington state including Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Rick Larsen (D-WA) and Dan Newhouse (R-WA)

Reps. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and Denny Heck (D-Wash.) today introduced new legislation to help homeowners make investments in their homes and save money on their electricity and water bills. The Solar and Water-Efficient Homes Act would improve and modernize the Title I Home and Property Improvement Loan Program, one of America’s oldest tools for assisting homeowners to remodel and upgrade their homes, and spur homeowners to invest in efficiency upgrades, greywater systems and other water-conserving improvements, photovoltaic panels, and new HVAC systems.

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) issued the following statement after the House Natural Resources Committee voted in a business meeting to approve theWestern Water and American Food Security Act of 2015, which includes legislation he introduced earlier this year, the Bureau of Reclamation Surface Water Storage Streamlining Act.

Seattle City Light has completed installation in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park of automated switching technology that is designed to speed the restoration of service when a power line is damaged.