will take place at Cal Anderson Park on Saturday, April 14, beginning at 10 a.m. Nancy Pelosi, Pramila Jayapal, young climate activists, even a .

RELATED: March for Science 2017 defied the laws of persuasion

March for Science Seattle organizer Teresa Swanson says this year’s message isn’t just targeted at the general public.

“The importance of our scientific entities in this country, like the EPA, the CDC, and NASA and NOAA and all these other organizations have been under fire under the Trump administration,” Swanson said. “But we also want to bring attention to the scientific community itself and talk about diversity in science and how scientists really need to improve their diversity and their diversity outreach.”

One of the biggest roadblocks, she says, is the growing cost of higher education. But there is some good news. Swanson says our local representatives have been great champions of science. Such as the recent effort by Governor Jay Inslee to improve the environment for Orcas.

“Species protection is something that often goes unnoticed but is a really great way to get people interested in science in general, and in scientific research and what it means to really protect science,” Swanson said. “Everybody around Seattle loves the Orcas and doesn’t want to see them hurt.”

After the Ron and Don Show aired their story on the May Day horses Wednesday, listeners raced to donate. Nearly $11,000 was raised. The initial funding goal was $6,000.

Save a Forgotten Equine is still accepting donations that will go to help a range of horses in need. The charity is still seeking people to adopt the abandoned horses. Details below.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

The clock is ticking for a herd of horses abandoned on a Western Washington property. They have less than one month to find new homes or they could be euthanized.

Bonnie Hammond is the director of (SAFE) in Redmond. She is calling his herd the “May Day horses,” because SAFE has to find homes for them by May 1.

“What I was told was that there was a large group of horses that were on a property that had been sold,” Hammond said. “And the owner of the horses was being evicted. There was a great deal of trouble with that situation. So the sheriff’s department and the animal control department knew they would have to move the horses and find places for them. At the time when they contacted SAFE, we already knew that we were full and didn’t really have the ability to take on many, if any, of these horses.”

RELATED: Is Gov. Inslee’s Orca protection order enough?

Police are looking into the person who abandoned the horses. Bonnie says they’re lucky the man who purchased the property in Western Washington is giving the horses until May 1. While he knew there were more than 20 horses on the property, the didn’t expect the previous owner to leave without them.

“They’ve trashed the whole thing,” Hammond said of the neglected horses. “It’s muddy. There’s broken fences … they have been somewhat starved. They are now getting regular food. But a herd of horses that includes stallions — the horse do a lot of fighting and picking on each other. They also have superficial injuries from getting cut on broken boards and broken glass. They are in really rough shape.”

Help the May Day horses

SAFE is doing what they can to help these forgotten animals by raising money for vet care and interviewing potential adopters.

There is a way you can help the May Day horses. SAFE is raising money to help any adopters who do take that leap of faith. A crowdfunding site has been started to collect donations. You can donate . Extra funds will help other horses under SAFE’s care.

The May Day horses will need a little extra care due to their circumstances.

“We don’t know what kind of horses they are going to be once they recover,” Hammond said. “These are not beginner-friendly horses. These are horses that are going to need some investment of time.”

For information on how to adopt any of the horses, send an email to mayday@safehorses.org.

In the original picture, she was tearing a shooting target.

RELATED: It’s not just Russians pushing false stories, it’s you

gave a presentation Wednesday night at Bellevue City Hall on fake news, conspiracy theories, and disinformation. Dr. Starbird  didn’t originally set out to study this topic. Her initial work was on how people use social media to inform, connect with, and support each other during a crises like a flood or a fire.

“I was looking at these terrible events, but studying the absolute best of humanity during those times,” she said. “I actually gave, like, a really happy talk. I don’t give a happy talk anymore. There’s nothing happy about it.”

Dr. Starbird earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science at Stanford. She has a PhD in Technology, Media and Society from the University of Colorado. She is now part of the Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington.

“We teach engineers how to talk to people and understand what people actually want before we build things for them,” she said. “We’re really interested in this intersection of human behavior and technology, with the idea of really focusing on the person or the people that are using these tools.”

Fake news cannot be unseen

Let’s go back to that altered picture of Emma Gonzalez. The people who changed the image from a target to the constitution didn’t stop there. They also changed the color of her skin, put bags under her eyes, and widened her nose to make her look more ethnic.

Justy a sample of what NRA supporters are doing to teenagers who survived a massacre (real picture on the right).

— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn)

“You can never unsee that one once you’ve seen it,” Dr. Starbird said. “Especially if you’re someone that believes this is a violation of the Constitution and they’re coming for your guns. This is going to change how you see that person. No matter that you’ve already seen the other one. No matter that I’m standing here today telling you this.”

One of the more disturbing findings from Starbird’s research was that even when false information is corrected, most people don’t internalize the correction. The true information doesn’t make the same impact as the false information

Another issue they discovered is that the term “fake news” doesn’t always carry a shared meaning. Dr. Starbird uses the term to talk about stories or social media posts written intentionally to spread disinformation. But some people use the term when referring to large news organizations like The New York Times and CBS News.

Dr. Starbrird prefers the terms disinformation or political propaganda. She feels they’re not only more specific, but more accurate in terms of how they impact society.

Why are people doing this?

When someone took that picture of Emma Gonzalez and altered it, it would be easy to assume they were pushing a pro-gun agenda. But that’s not usually the case. Dr. Starbird uses an article from the.

The purpose of disinformation is not to convince. The purpose of disinformation is to confuse. To create muddled thinking across society with the idea that a society that doesn’t know where it can go for trusted information is a society that’s easy to control.

When we get hit with information overload and don’t know who to trust, it can be easy to give up and tune out. Concentrated efforts to spread disinformation can come from international actors like Russia, from political propaganda machines in America, and from any number of other organizations.

How disinformation spreads

Whether true of false, information spreads quickly online through shares and retweets. It can be easy to lose track of the original source of the information, leaving no way to decipher the credibility of the author.

What makes things even more confusing are the algorithms social media companies set up to decide how things appear on your page. For example, a post that is originally marked as “sponsored” on your Facebook feed will lose that moniker if you share them on your page. You haven’t been paid to share the information, therefore they’re no longer considered sponsored content.

On top of that, we all have our own filter through which we see the world. This can affect the likelihood that we will challenge the information we receive.  If we agree with a story or if it confirms our feelings about something, it’s likely we won’t challenge the accuracy of the information. This is called “confirmation bias.”

“So we think we’re going out objectively to make sense of the world, and really we’re creating logical arguments in retrospect to support what we already believe. We’re all guilty of this,” Dr. Starbird said.

To make matters worse, computer algorithms that choose what we see on social media reinforce this confirmation bias by only showing us posts that we likely agree with.

“And then, users get these social cues that everyone they know thinks like they do,” Starbird said. “Those kind of social cues reinforce our misperceptions.”

We all wind up in echo chambers that are amplified by social media in ways that would never happen in face-to-face communications. Dr. Starbird gives the example of cutting a connection with a family member on Facebook over their contrary posts about the presidential election.

“You might’ve cut that connection or muted them or blocked them in ways that you wouldn’t do in the physical world,” she said.

Crisis actors and false flags

Let’s go back to Emma Gonzalez one more time. Remember when she was called a “crisis actor?”

Dr. Starbird first encountered that kind of “false flag” disinformation back in 2013 after the Boston Bombing. There was a story that the US military had planned and carried out the bombing. It was an effort to spread disinformation about that particular story. It was also meant to create distrust in the federal government.

The Boston Bombing conspiracy theory was one of the most popular stories on fake news websites at the time. Once folks clicked on that story, it led them down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole.

“It was just one of many that were present,” Starbird said. “Everything from people who were sort of just a little skeptical of GMO’s to saying that vaccines cause autism to people claiming that the earth is flat.”

Who do you trust?

In general, local media and professional journalists are likely to be telling you the truth, according to Starbird. But they’re still human and they will make mistakes. Don’t allow disinformation make you lose faith in trusted organizations like the Washington Post or ABC News (or, I’d like to add, ����Xվ Radio and mynorthwest.com).

The same can be said about other local information sources like city governments, police officers, and educators. Overall, they are likely to be telling you the truth.

“Some conspiracy theories do turn out to be true,” Starbird said. “I’m not here to say that everybody should have the same idea about everything. But we’re losing trust in our information systems. We don’t know where to go for information we can trust and that is undermining democracy. That is not healthy for democracy. If we don’t know how to get information, how can we make informed decisions? How can we make the right decisions?”

Dr. Starbird also urged trusting your gut. Most factual information or news stories don’t rely heavily on emotion. When bad actors try to spread disinformation, they know that tugging on your heartstrings or your anger is a powerful way to get you hooked.

If you find yourself having a strong emotional reaction to something online, that’s a good indication you should question what you’re seeing or reading.

It’s called the , which stands for “high-schoolers expressing art.” It’s the brainchild of a group of seniors at Big Picture School.

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“We started to notice that our art teacher would continue talking about not having enough resources or funds to buy us new materials,” explained Senior Bella Burckhardt. “We also noticed that our art wasn’t really going anywhere. Everyone at our school is making really amazing pieces and they were just sitting in the back of the classroom.”

Bella’s passion is watercolors. Anjali Skilton loves photography. Victoria Helmer makes stained glass windows. All three are extremely well spoken. The group just recently returned from Austin, Texas, where they were selected to present their idea for the Heart Gallery at South by Southwest’s Young Entrepreneurs Conference.

This is just the latest in a long list of accomplishments they’ve already racked up before they’ve even graduated from high school. It’s all due to the focus on internships and project based learning at Big Picture, which is both a middle and high school.

From the classroom to Heart Gallery

Each year the students have to identify an area of interest that they’ll focus on. Then, they spend every Thursday in the community rather than in the classroom.

“There are a few requirements, but they don’t really feel like requirements,” Bella said. “They feel like things that will help you.”

First, they have to identify a mentor. Then, they have to find a space to meet with their mentor. Finally, they have to identify a project that will benefit both the student and the organization they’re working with.

Big Picture Advisor Kaarina Aufranc helps guide the internships and gets feedback on the student’s performance.

“They cannot believe that these kids are just kids, that they’re high school students,” Aufranc said. “I’ve heard it over and over and over again. They’re just so impressed with not just the quality of work, but the professionalism and the communication.”

Bella, Victoria, and Anjali have had a variety of internships in the six years they’ve spent at Big Picture, including work at the Bellevue Arts Museum, the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department,  KBCS Radio, a start-up company on Mercer Island, and the Bellevue Schools Foundation.

They’re now using all of that experience and their connections to open the Heart Gallery at Crossroads Mall.

The art will be on display March 21 through April 4. All of the pieces will be available for purchase with proceeds returning to the arts programs in the Bellevue School District.

This year’s theme is the Pacific Northwest. And, hopefully, Heart Gallery will be back again next year.

“We’re hoping to package this up and pass it down to other high schoolers in our school who have internship opportunities,” Bella said. “It’s definitely something we want to continue, and continue to grow.”

What to expect during student walkout

“We are getting people registered to vote,” said Alek Kelly, a senior at Mt. Si High School in East King County. “We are writing letters to our legislators. We’re not just walking out and throwing a fit.”

Kelly is not in ASB and not usually one you would consider a leader, but when it comes to school safety, he’s stepping up. He’s organizing the school’s walkout and other efforts to make all schools in the Snoqualmie Valley safer for kids.

Kelly first decided to tackle the issue a couple of years ago after another school shooting and a lockdown drill at Mt. Si. Kelly didn’t feel his teacher was making student safety the priority.

“He barricaded himself in the safest corner of the classroom and told all the students to go hide under the desks,” Kelly recalled. “Had somebody gone to the window and looked inside, they would have clearly seen all the students. But, they wouldn’t have seen him.”

Kelly started thinking not just about what was wrong with the school’s response, but what he and others could do to make things better. Even though Kelly will soon be graduating, he’s worried about the next generation.

“I’m actually a math tutor and I tutor in Issaquah,” Kelly said. “For one of those students to have to go through a situation like that, to have to endure that and have it scar them for the rest of their life, let alone me showing up to work one day and one of the students not being there. That’s the reality that we’re facing.”

Seattle council unanimously supports upcoming student walkout

The Snoqualmie Valley School District is currently building a massive high school. Kelly and his classmates have talked about the new challenges that will come with the new campus. Among their concerns is that the current Mt. Si High School is a closed campus. The new campus won’t be.

“Open campus versus closed campus, that really changes the scenario of what to do during an active shooter situation,” Kelly explained. “Anybody can walk out and walk in at anytime. Say they don’t have a weapon in their backpack at the start of school, but they have it in their truck. They can walk out, get the weapon and come back.”

New gun control legislation and more focused mental health care may be part of the solution, Kelly said, but it won’t fix everything. He also doesn’t think bullying is the problem that it used to be.

“Anybody who’s rude or mean gets alienated by everyone,” Kelly said.

Schools have successfully educated kids on how to treat others with respect and how to respond if they encounter bullying, but Kelly wishes they would offer the same education where violence is concerned. He is pushing for a number of changes he thinks would make a big difference.

First, expanding active shooter education beyond the lockdown drills, so students know what to do in different scenarios. Kelly also worries they could be sitting ducks during fire drills, when the entire student body gathers on the football field.

Second, allowing student volunteers to get additional training on how to be a leader in a crisis situation. They could help others stay calm and lead them to safety, even if there are no teachers around.

Third, installing a sort of panic alarm system. Buttons throughout the campus could trigger an alarm that would notify other students to hide or run away.

When it comes to the more controversial topics, like gun control, Kelly said he’s making a conscious effort to be neutral. He doesn’t want the message to turn political because it’s not about whether you’re liberal or conservative. It’s about making sure every student feels safe in school. And, so far, the adults have failed to do that.

“It’s been 20 years and it’s still happening,” Kelly said. “You’re not doing your job to protect us.”

Student feels pressured to walk out

Several hundred students at Mt. Si are expected to leave campus at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Their demonstration will take them off campus for a short time, which Kelly says is part of their message: That kids today feel safer when they’re not at school.

“He went and hid in a closet, and all the while he is on the phone with 911,” said Commander Doug Jenkins with the Des Moines Police Department.

“He hears his dog barking. He hears some gun shots. And then he no longer hears his dog barking,” he said. “But he can hear a person or people inside the home.”

RELATED: Hank the pit bull is a free dog

While the teen hid in a closet upstairs, his German Shepherd ran down the stairs to confront the strangers. The family says Rex’s instinct to protect his best friend and brother was a beautiful act of unconditional love.

“The dog kept barking, they were able to break in, they trashed the whole bottom floor, and Rex ran downstairs and attacked the guys,” said Aunt Susy Cadena. “(The boy) was listening to the big battle down there. They were both screaming stuff to the dog and you could hear them beat him up. I think one said, ‘the dog bit me, help me.'”

“They shot him four times …” she said. “Right when the shots went off, I think the dispatcher heard them, too. Then the sirens went off and it scared them off. Otherwise, I think they would have gone straight for the closet. Rex saved my nephew’s life.”

Fundraiser for Des Moines dog

Rex needs surgery to survive. Cadena set up a to raise $10,000 for the dog’s treatment. They’ve already surpassed that goal (more than $15,000 by Thursday night).

Cadena said that Rex has always been protective of the family and close to her nephew. The dog commonly sleeps in her nephew’s room.

“After he was shot, he was whimpering and crying, and he went to (my nephew’s) bed to find comfort,” Cadena said. “He just wanted to rest on the bed. It was so emotional to know how much love he has for him and what he was willing to do to protect him.”

“In ’91 we planned the school, and it opened in ’93, so I’ve been here 24 years,” teacher Patrick Ford remembered.

RELATED: 6-year-old saves more than 700 dogs

And through all of those years, Buddy the Bulldog has been there for Mr. Ford and his Beaver Lake students.

Before Buddy, he never really was a dog person. The idea of getting a bulldog started as a joke back when they were first building the new Beaver Lake Middle School on the Sammamish Plateau and deciding on a mascot. Mr. Ford assumed his wife would nix the idea. Instead, she surprised him by immediately jumping on board.

Despite the way he fell into it, he has no regrets about getting his first bulldog.

“Not after all this love I’ve seen over nearly a quarter century and what a dog does to a kid and to me,” said Ford.

Buddy the Bulldog at Beaver Lake

The first Buddy the Bulldog passed away about 12 years ago. The current mascot is actually Buddy 2.0.

Over the years, thousands of students have had the privilege of seeing Buddy at school every day. And the school has required a Buddy-specific permission slip for each and every one of them.

It’s never been a problem, despite allergies and other issues.

“Just because they sign the paper doesn’t mean they have to touch her,” said Mr. Ford.

Even some Beaver Lake students who were deathly afraid of dogs came to like having Buddy around. It probably doesn’t hurt that she’s a small, sturdy dog who really just wants to hang out in her cushioned wagon while the kids occasionally swing by to give her a scratch.

“She’s kind of actually really relaxing,” shared 6th grader, Blake. “She relieves a little bit of stress off, for me.”

Getting a bulldog was a given, since the school is the “Beaver Lake Bulldogs.” But Buddy’s name was specially chosen by Mr. Ford so that every student who came through his doors knew that they would find a buddy waiting.

After 24 years at Beaver Lake, Mr. Ford says this will be his last as a full-time teacher. He’ll be retiring in the spring and 12-year-old Buddy will be retiring with him.

Who will 6th grader Gianna going to miss more next year — Mr. Ford or Buddy?

“This is not a fair question!” she exclaimed. “They’re a package deal.”

Before he retires, Mr. Ford has one more gift he’d like to give the school: created by the same Tacoma artists who crafted the statue of “Ivan the Gorilla” for Point Defiance Zoo. So then, as he puts it, “At Beaver Lake, you’ll always find a Buddy.”

It began a couple of years ago in Texas, on Roman’s fourth birthday. Instead of toys, he asked for donations for the local animal shelter. And, he wanted to volunteer.

“We would go into the shelter and make videos and take photos so people could see that certain dogs there were kid-friendly and things like that. Things that would help them get adopted,” said Roman’s mother, Jennifer.

The following year the family moved back to Jennifer’s home state of Washington and started .

The non-profit takes dogs out of over-crowded shelters in Texas, bringing them up to rescue groups in Washington state.

It’s a three-day trek across 2,000 miles. Volunteers chauffeur the dogs in a climate-controlled trailer, taking them out at least twice a day for exercise and meals.

Their latest pack will arrive on Tuesday; more than 100 dogs will either go directly to their new families or be transferred to Humane Societies from Port Townsend all the way to Tacoma.

Jennifer says they’ve done it all strictly with donations and volunteers.

“It sounds cheesy, but we feel the love that people have for us. That is so motivating and definitely pushes everybody, even on the Texas side,” Jennifer said. “To see these dogs go into these amazing families (…) is really rewarding for them.”

Jennifer’s military husband is being reassigned to Georgia this summer. Rather than putting an end to their efforts, she says this is just another opportunity to grow and help even more dogs around the country.

runs through Saturday. One of the headliners is Washington’s Microsoft, which is announcing a whole set to drop next month. It’s specifically designed to teach kids about chemistry.

RELATED: Why technology workers save more in Seattle

“Teachers love this because it forces students to create all the way from elements, all the way to the items. And the only way for them to get these items is for students to engage with the science,” says Neal Manegold with the Minecraft Education Team.

In his example, Manegold starts with basic protons and electrons. He uses these to create elements, like hydrogen, which he then uses to create chemical compounds. Those compounds then allow him to create an “ice bomb,” an item needed to move ahead in the game.

Caylee Daniel is a math teacher at Renton High School. She’s at BETT to demonstrate how she is using integrated LEGO technology to teach her students how math is used in the real world to create things like transportation systems.

“You start with Pythagorean Theorem … We use that information and that knowledge with the students to be able to calculate the estimated road difference of each of the segments, knowing the leg lengths on the map,” Daniel explains.

Her project goes from a computer screen, to creating real maps and tools with LEGOs, then back to the screen where she can modify her creation in any number of ways.

RELATED: Has public opinion of the technology industry changed?

The best part of all of these new systems is that not only are they designed specifically with teachers and students in mind, but teachers are then able to create their own modules and lesson plans which they can share with each other. The possibilities for all of these programs is growing exponentially.

“I started paying guitar around 11, just because I thought it was super cool; I was into Kiss. I just wanted to make that guitar sound like what I heard on the record,” said Davey French of Everclear fame. “I bought a $40 pawn shop guitar, brought it home, had no amp, plugged it into the stereo, and it sounded horrible. I was like, ‘how do they do this?’ I was obsessed with how they made that sound.”

RELATED: Dave Grohl’s mom writes a book about moms who rock

French went from garage bands in Bellevue, to becoming the lead guitarist for Everclear. He’s been touring with the band for years. But today, he’s married with a 12-year-old son and lives in a quiet Snoqualmie community.

“I just fell in love with the scenery and the people,” French said. “I’m on the road a lot, but when I’m home, I love to be here.”

French said he’s been playing guitar eight hours a day for as long as he can remember. When he’s not on the road, he’s sharing his musical gift with the next generation. He teaches guitar lessons from his Snoqualmie studio right across Railroad Avenue from the old train station.

Anytime I have a guitar in my hands, I’m happy,” he said. “And the more you can get it into your hands the better you are going to become. It helps me. I actually learn, because people bring in different things that challenge me. And I love seeing the progress the kids make. Some kids are not real confident, but once they get something and ‘Wow, it’s starting to sound like what I hear on the radio,’ or ‘I can play that chord now,’ I love to see their confidence just jump. That makes me feel really good.”

Everclear lessons

French admits that guitar has always come easy to him, but he says it also took a lot of hard work, and a little luck, to play with bands like Everclear, The Rolling Stones, Metallica, and Stone Temple Pilots.

“It’s just easier for some people than other people, but that doesn’t mean that people who struggle with it in the beginning won’t turn out to be great guitar players,” French said. “I know one kid, I taught him, he lives in the neighborhood and I really thought he was struggling a bit. Then I had another guy who was just a natural. The natural didn’t practice, the kid who was struggling did, and now he’s just amazing. Today, he’s just amazing … It just shows you hard work overcomes lack of ability.”

French’s son Preston has also picked up the guitar. He’s interested in starting his own band. Of course, French offered to set it up.

“I’m still cool, but I don’t think that’s going to last much longer,” French said. “I’ll take being cool as long as I can. Because once you reach a certain age, dads just aren’t cool.”

French is looking for kids aged 10 to 13 years old. Just like the old garage days, he’s not expecting perfection.

“Really, it’s just about being able to get through a song, mentally knowing the arrangement; if you are a vocalist, memorizing the words, just getting through it,” he said. “Doing it just the way I grew up. Get a bunch of guys, you got a guitar, you’re in the band. You got a bass, you got an amp, you’re in the band.”

And even Preston doesn’t get a free ticket to ride.

“If you don’t work hard, there’s always someone right behind you who is glad to take your place,” French said. “He’s got to audition just like everybody.”

As for the music the new band will play, French says it probably won’t be easy listening. Beyond that, it’s up to the kids.

“I’m going to let them pick some of the songs,” French said. “Of course their parents have to be OK with it; no swearing, no bad lyrics and stuff. But it’s got to rock. Kids love AC/DC I find, Green Day; just that easy pop-rock stuff. Not too challenging, but once you get into it, it’s harder than you think.”

Find more information about French’s guitar lessons and youth rock band on his or .

“There are hundreds and hundreds of trees,” Janet Way told ����Xվ Radio. “It’s very healthy. There is no reason to take out this section of forest. And if you ask, there are thousands of people that come to this park every year.”

As a former council member herself, Way says there are several other sites where the city could house the facility.

Way organized a demonstration at the entrance to Hamlin Park on Monday, just as city council members were scheduled to tour the area that could be used for the new facility.

Shoreline’s Director of Public Works says the proposal is far from being finalized and citizens still have plenty of time to comment before the city council makes a decision, which could occur next year.

“It is important to note that the City Council has not made any decisions on locating a new City maintenance facility in Hamlin Park,” the city said in a statement.

But, Way says it should never get that far and that the city shouldn’t be wasting time and resources on a plan that is so clearly not in the best interest of the community or the environment.

The City of Shoreline explained that it has been looking for a new site to accommodate both the Ronald Wastewater District and the Seattle Public Utilities’ water system in Shoreline. The current maintenance facility at Hamlin Yard isn’t adequate to absorb more staff and equipment, according to the city.

Shoreline paused the development of a new site near Brugger’s Bog Park in 2016 after learning of too many challenges, such as proximity to wetlands, ground water, and possible contamination. It began identifying possible alternative sites, including Hamlin Park, the North Maintenance Facility, James Keough Park, the Ronald Wastewater District, the Brightwater portal, and the current maintenance facility at Hamlin Yard.

MyNorthwest’s Stephanie Klein contributed to this report.

Nearly 130 soldiers and 50 trucks have joined the 800-fire crew members already battling the 24,000 acre fire that is just 5 percent contained.

Nearly 5,000 structures are in danger. Many of them have already been evacuated and folks living near the Suncadia Resort are warned to be on high alert as the fire closes in.

In all, Washington state has eight active wildfires contributing to the haze that blocked out the sunlight this week.

But, we’re getting off easy compared with our neighbors. Altogether there are about 1.5 million acres burning in the West, from California and Nevada up through Oregon and Montana, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Nearly 28,000 firefighter personnel are battling the flames.

On a National Preparedness Scale of 1 to 5, the West is currently at a level 5, indicating intense wildfire activity and a high level of commitment to get all the assets needed to contain the fires.

Washington, Oregon, and Montana have already activated National Guard personnel and aircraft to assist with fire suppression. After reaching out to the Defense Department, fire managers will also soon have the assistance of active duty military personnel.

The 1st and 2nd Stryker Brigades out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord have been called up to assist with the firefighting effort. About 200 personnel are getting a crash course on wildland firefighting that started Wednesday before they head out to Oregon this weekend. The soldiers will be assigned to work the 38,000 acre Upqua North Complex east of Roseburg, Oregon.

It’s been two years since the last time active duty military personnel were mobilized to serve as wildland firefighters. In Aug. 2015, 200 soldiers from JBLM worked the wildfires in Washington for 30 days.

In Montana, there are 21 major wildfires burning on about a half-million acres. It’s hard to understand the scale of the devastation with so many fires growing and burning out of control.

On Monday, there was a crowded public meeting where fire managers delivered a report on the Caribou and Gibralter Ridge Fires near the city of Eureka, MT. Residents were frustrated that the fires weren’t put out at their infancy. But firefighters explained that there is so much fire activity, they only have a fraction of the personnel they’ve requested.

Another problem is the smoke masking new wildfires. One lightning-sparked fire had been burning for three days without anyone noticing. It took a surveillance aircraft flying over the area to take notice and report the blaze. By that time, it was already at 40 acres and growing.

A father of six who lost his home to the Montana fires cried as he addressed the auditorium. He said he was grateful his family was safe and appreciated the hard work of the firefighters still in the middle of their battle. He also urged his neighbors to stop placing blame.

“It’s easy to point fingers,” he said. “Be a good neighbor. That’s what it’s going to take right now.”

To that, there was immediate applause from the hundreds of people who were still wondering whether their homes would be the next to burn.

This summer, 17 teachers from the Seattle area gave up a week of their precious downtime to go to boot camp.

They were invited by the Marines to go to Camp Pendleton in San Diego and take part in five days of grueling physical and mental challenges so they would be better informed when speaking to their students about possible careers in the military.

One of the instructors was Kathleen Myers, a math teacher at Issaquah High School. After watching a video about the training, she was scared and intrigued.

“As teachers, our summers are precious every single day,” Myers said. “But, I thought, ‘I can donate five days to this because I think it’s going to change my life and my outlook on the military. And, it did.”

The best part of the week came when they got to eat lunch with some of the recruits from the Seattle area. Mrs. Myers knew that several of her former students might be there. Sure enough, there was Derek Fletcher. He was just “one of the guys” when he was in Mrs. Myers’ math class last year. Not anymore.

“He was so confident,” Myers said. “He was disciplined. I was so impressed with him! I told him how proud I was of him, not just because he was joining the Marines and going through what he was going through. He just seemed so mature and so grown up.”

When speaking with students about the military, Mrs. Myers has always come at it from a mother’s perspective. As in Derek’s case, her first response was, “What does your mom think?”

After learning about all the opportunities the military offers for personal growth, education and travel, she says that has changed a bit.

“I would be, as a mother, concerned … but excited as well,” she said.

And Mrs. Myers said she will definitely be encouraging other teachers at Issaquah High School to go to boot camp next year.

As they were taking it down, a King County road crew left a note saying that someone called to complain that the American flag was offensive.

“A number of people are flat out outraged that the American flag can be considered offensive,” said the man behind an effort to replace the memorial. “This one small act that they did was actually a very large act.”

A dedicated to the makeshift memorial was set up.

Some irritated neighbors have started putting flags back up in place of the missing memorial, but they worry the county might come back and take them down.

They’re reaching out to County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, who has promised to schedule a community meeting to figure out if they can come to a compromise.

But, as of Tuesday, no date has been set for that meeting.

This is the statement from Lambert’s office:

There is nothing scheduled yet, but Councilmember Lambert is in discussions with various county divisions about it. If we end up moving forward on it, it won’t be until the last couple weeks of August.

Such is the case with the former Calico Cat Motel in Tacoma.

For years, the motel on Pacific Avenue was notorious for drugs, prostitution and other criminal activity. In November, the Calico Cat was shut down by the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department because of methamphetamine contamination.

RELATED: Pierce County cracking down on drug dens

The owners of the motel, which has now been renamed the Pacific Lodge, have spent their life savings on the cleanup efforts.

, they share the concern of neighbors who worry if the motel re-opens, it could again be used as a resting place for criminals. So, he was glad to get a call from the city as Tacoma works to identify ways to deal with the homeless crisis.

“To put families, homeless veterans, that are working and that are living in cars, that need a place to stay,” Kim told The News Tribune. “Hopefully that would change things around.”

It would be killing two birds with one stone: Housing the homeless and keeping the motel from falling into disrepair.

Tanisha Jumper is the Program Manager of Tacoma 2025, the city’s strategic plan for the future, which includes a three-part effort to address homelessness.

Jumper explained that using the Pacific Lodge is just an idea at this point, but it is one that they’re seriously considering.

“If we can come to an agreement, and it fits the needs of the people in the current stabilization site, if there are people who just need a roof and minimal services, then we can make the Pacific Lodge proposition work,” Jumper said.

Whether that would mean leasing the property or purchasing it is unknown. One thing they do know for sure is that if the city uses the motel, they will use the entire property.

“Obviously we’d be putting vulnerable people in there and so we’d want to make sure that it was a safe place for them,” Jumper explained. “And based on the reputation, the former reputation, we wouldn’t want to be co-mingling people.”

The final decision may depend largely on the needs of the people who recently moved in to Tacoma’s temporary stability site, which is being managed by Catholic Social Services. If the clients need more services, like drug or alcohol treatment, Pacific Lodge would not be a suitable fit.

Whatever the city decides to do, the funding is already in place. Last month, Tacoma set aside $3.4 million for its efforts to combat the homeless crisis.

Fly-by-night motels known for drug activity and prostitution might immediately come to mind, but that’s just one incarnation of the issue.

Archive: What can be done about squatters in Seattle

“You also have the residential house that has four bedrooms in it, but has 26 people living in it,” described Pierce County Sheriff’s Detective Ed Troyer. “They’re out doing different things from stealing to support heroin habits, or they’re doing drug deals right out of the houses.”

Law enforcement is typically the first agency to get involved, but Troyer said they don’t want to move on the situation too quickly. Often, the sheriff’s office will call in its undercover unit.

“Sometimes we stumble into these and there are big burglary rings and stolen property rings working,” Troyer said. “We don’t just want to make the nuisance property go away, we want to send the criminals to jail.”

Once the criminal aspect is addressed, code enforcement or the health department may get involved to address the property itself.

The Pierce County Council recently passed a new measure () to make delinquent properties the top priority of code enforcement. It also added funding to hire an additional enforcement officer.

In addition, the new ordinance requires the Planning and Public Works Department to create a new online portal for residents to see where delinquent properties are in the enforcement process. The creation of this portal is scheduled to be completed in November.

Once code enforcement and public health get involved with a nuisance property, that may be the end of it. But, that’s not always the case.

Troyer said if the property falls back into derelict status and again becomes home to criminal activity, it’s time to get the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office involved. Once they get the information, Prosecutor Mark Lindquist tries to take legal action within 90 days.

“Probably the most difficult step in this process is locating the owner,” Lindquist said. “Because, in many instances they’re an absentee owner.”

The first step is to give the owner an opportunity to make permanent changes to address the state of their property. To that end, the Pierce County Council is passing new regulations that spell out exactly what an abatement agreement will look like. It also gives the owner a timeline for action.

But, if the owner fails to address the derelict status, a second ordinance currently being finalized by the County Council () spells out a graduated penalty system.

It requires the owners of problem properties to enter into an abatement agreement within 15 days and gives the county the ability to pursue receivership as a way to facilitate the cleanup effort.

Troyer and Lindquist say they are on track to shut down about 10 of these nuisance properties this year. They hope once the new ordinances are in effect, that number will go up.

Still, county resources are limited. They have several ways to prioritize properties.

“First question is: Are we hearing about this from the neighbors? What are the neighbors saying and how many of the neighbors are saying it?” Lindquist said.

Getting calls from multiple neighbors is a good indication of the problem because it assures them that it’s not a case of a feud between a couple of individuals.

Of course, criminal activity, especially involving violence, will also move properties to the top of the list.

If you’re planning to head to , you’ll not only get to see some amazing fireworks, you’ll also hear a fabulous live performance of the National Anthem from someone who has a special connection with the song.

For Bridgette Hempstead it’s about more than patriotism and our great nation. The National Anthem is a song of victory at a time when so many others were ready for her to give up.

Bridgette beat breast cancer twice. The first time she was diagnosed was on her 35th birthday.

“I had to fight to even get a diagnosis because I was told by my doctors that I didn’t need to have a mammogram,” Bridgette recalls. “They gave me a laundry list of reasons why I shouldn’t have to get a mammogram. The last one was because I was African American and that breast cancer didn’t really affect my community.”

Bridgette didn’t give up. She demanded a test, which came up positive.

While taking care of three young daughters and fighting her own cancer battle, Bridgette started , a nonprofit aimed at informing African American women about the disease and supporting them as they entered their own battles.

“Back then, everything that you saw – the Susan G Komen walks and all the other breast cancer awareness events – there were no black women that were there. That was really disturbing to me because I knew that I was not the only one,” said Bridgette.

Cierra Sisters quickly went from occasional meetings at a coffee shop to a partnership with Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Doctors from all over started referring patients to Bridgette so they might benefit from her knowledge and experience.

Then, 18 years after her initial diagnosis, she was diagnosed with cancer again.

“And, the doctor I went to, she told me ‘You won’t live a year and you won’t sing again.'”

Bridgette wouldn’t accept that and immediately began treatment. One month later, her health began to improve. Nine months later, the Seattle Seahawks invited her to sing the National Anthem before one of their games.

“It was almost like divine intervention,” Bridgette said.

Not only did she sing, Bridgette beat breast cancer for a second time and watched her daughter receive her degree at Howard University.

Now a grandmother, Bridgette’s fight continues.

Cierra Sisters will host a health fair later this month in South Seattle.

You can catch Bridgette’s live performance Tuesday night at Gasworks Park just before the fireworks.

That’s because of new guidance from the national organization that creates journalistic standards, The Associated Press.

The AP not only distributes news stories that are used by newspapers, websites, television, and radio stations around the country, the AP Style Guide is used by many journalists as the final word in story telling.

In the latest Style Guide issued in May, the AP has added an entire section on addiction and drugs. It says that while “addiction” is the preferred term for the disease, journalists should avoid using words like alcoholic, addict, or abuser. Instead, the AP says the preferred term is “user.”

Richard McAdams, the Search and Rescue supervisor for , describes himself as a drug addict, although he is not currently a drug user.

“I’ve been sober for four-and-a-half years, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m an addict,” he said.

The AP explains: “stigmatizing or punitive-sounding language can be inaccurate by emphasizing the person, not the disease, can be a barrier to seeking treatment, and can prejudice even clinicians.”

McAdams disagrees.

“People are going to seek treatment when they’re ready to, regardless of whether you call them a drug addict or a drug user,” he said. “Treatment occurs when someone hits rock bottom.”

McAdams also finds the term “substance use” to be too vague. He points out that people who have an occasional drink, use caffeine, or smoke cigarettes also fall into this category.

“Addiction is a problem. It is a disease,” McAdams reassured. “There’s a fine line. There are addicts and there are substance users.”

The more important thing is how we approach the addict as an individual, according to McAdams, and that we understand each person has their own story.

“Changing the name of what you’re going to call them, whether it be a junkie or a substance user, it’s still the same problem,” said Richard. “You still have an addict at hand.”

“We’ve had over 600 volunteers reach out to us and collect signatures,” said initiative sponsor Joshua Freed. “Today, we’re at 20,953 signatures. Our required goal is 47,443 by July 31. So, we are very well on our way.”

Freed is a member of the Bothell City Council, but says he’s filed I-27 as a private, concerned citizen.

“This is certainly an epidemic,” Freed said. “It’s not just something that impacts downtown Seattle — 75 percent of overdoses actually happen in suburban neighborhoods.”

RELATED: The flaw in anti-safe injection site arguments

King County Executive Dow Constantine is proposing a plan to open two safe injection sites, one in Seattle and one elsewhere in the county.

Freed is concerned that millions of dollars will be spent on an effort that has not been proven effective. He used the safe injection site in Vancouver B.C. as an example.

“Since they opened their site in 2003, drug deaths have gone from 190 people per year to 931 in 2016,” he said. “That’s a 490 percent increase in illicit drug deaths. Clearly the B.C. model is not working. It’s not something we should be doing here in King County.”

Safe injection sites alternative

Rather than safe injection sites, Freed would like to see the money invested in proven treatment programs. He would also like to see the county focused on working with doctors to keep them from prescribing the opiate-based pain killers that can lead to heroin addiction.

The very first petition signature for I-27, according to Freed, was a woman whose brother recently died from drug use. After 20 years on heroin, he told her from his death bed that safe injection sites are a bad idea.

“Heroin injection sites just allow people to continue to use heroin, rather than saying, ‘No. The right path for you is to get into treatment,'” Freed said. “That’s what we should be doing as a society. That’s caring for the user.”

If they get enough signatures, Initiative 27 will be on the King County ballot in November. You can learn more about King County’s safe injection plan at .

The project’s lead, Rachel Winograd, is a PhD Assistant Research Professor at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health with the University of Missouri St. Louis. She has also authored a study identifying the four drunk personality types. They are as follows:

The Hemingways – Like Ernest Hemingway himself, this group can drink quite a bit without much change to their personality at all.

The Mary Poppins – The cheerful drunks who are not only sweet and responsible, but who tend to experience the fewest alcohol-related problems compared to others.

The Mr. Hydes – The drunks who seem to have an alter ego of Dr. Jekyll. This group has a negative transformation that includes a tendency to be less responsible and most likely to experience the harmful consequences of drinking.

The Nutty Professors – These folks are introverts when sober, but chemically transform into a more confident, extroverted personality type after a few drinks.

In the initial study, the authors used a self-assessment of five measurements: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and intellect.

“People report that when they drink, they feel higher in extroversion,” Dr. Winograd said. “They feel lower in the other four. What we looked at in this last study was are all those changes observable to the outside eye?”

They brought small groups of volunteers into the lab. Some were given no alcohol. Others were given enough vodka and Sprite in 15 minutes to get them to a blood alcohol content of .09.

They were then given a number of personality tests while their responses were videotaped. Research assistants who were strangers to the volunteers then watched the tape, not knowing who was drunk and who was sober, and assessed the results.

“Everybody agreed, both the drinkers and the people watching, that the drunk people were more extroverted. That’s very visible,” Dr. Winograd said. “But the other factors were only perceived by the drinkers and not able to be observed by strangers.”

Interestingly, they also interviewed the volunteers’ drinking buddies. Their good friends reported seeing the same personality changes in the drinkers that the drinkers perceived themselves. So, while strangers might not notice your personality changes when you’re drunk, your good friends certainly will.

Dr. Winograd notes there were limitations to the study. For example, they did not study people who were just a little buzzed or people who were falling down drunk. They also didn’t study people in a natural setting where they’re surrounded by friends with unlimited alcohol.

“In order to accurately assess people’s personalities when they’re at bars, at house parties … we’d need to invoke some ecological momentary assessment tools,” Dr. Winograd explained.

Think bar trivia night. Only instead of history and science, the questions would be about your desire to approach a stranger or take a risk.

The hope, according to Dr. Winograd, is that with more research, this information will be useful for people who are concerned enough about their own drinking behavior that they seek out professional help.

But, she admits, it also can have some practical applications in our everyday lives.

“This idea that alcohol is a social lubricant, people do seem more gregarious and more social,” Dr. Winograd said. “So, if that’s what you’re going for, then sure. Have a moderate amount of alcohol. You won’t hear any complaints from me.”

Dr. Winograd also says that because the perceived changes in personality tend to be very subtle, if you do hear strangers commenting on your behavior, there’s a good chance you should reconsider your drinking habits.