Ahtanum News

Yakima leaders want to stop a state prison in the city from closing. The city council will appeal to Governor Christine Gregoire to save Ahtanum View prison from the chopping block.

The Yakima City Council's legislative priorities squabble earlier this week apparently prevented a discussion about the actual priorities.

We agree with Gov. Chris Gregoire's assessment of her proposed supplemental budget: It stinks.

The state would downsize McNeil Island Corrections Center to less than half its current size to save money under a proposal from Gov.

Gov. Chris Gregoire unveiled a cut-to-the bone budget Wednesday that would close the 130-bed Ahtanum View Corrections Center in Yakima's West Valley - a move that appears more likely to win legislative approval than the deep cuts outlined for health care and other safety-net programs.

YAKIMA, Wash. -- State Corrections officials will begin notifying employees at Ahtanum View Corrections Center in the next few weeks that they will be phased out of their jobs at the West Valley facility.

On Wednesday, Union Gap Mayor Jim Lemon believed this year's lighted Christmas parade was canceled.

There are concerns that the closure of a state prison in Yakima will hurt the economy, and put you in danger.

About two-dozen employees of Ahtanum View Corrections Center and other members of the union that supports them were out picketing Monday to spread awareness about the potential closure of the site.

Parents with children in the Yakima Valley School for the developmentally disabled see a bad omen in a consultant's recom-mendation that the school be downsized and ultimately converted to a community center with a limited number of beds.

A consulting group has recommended that Washington state close its smallest prison, the Ahtanum View Corrections Center in Yakima, to cut costs.

West Valley Church of the Nazarene will host a Fall Carnival from 6 to 8 p.m. today.

Both of the candidates for Yakima County Coroner say their background makes them best suited to lead the smallest department in county government.

A much-anticipated study issued today does not recommend closing the Washington State Reformatory in Monroe to help the state save money.

A new draft report recommends either closing the old buildings at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla or downsizing a facility on McNeil Island to a minimum-security prison.

A Yakima prison for elderly and infirm inmates, a juvenile-rehabilitation center in Thurston County and all of the state's intermediate-care facilities for the developmentally disabled have been placed on the chopping block in a state consultant's cost-cutting report.

A new draft report recommends either closing the old buildings at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla or downsizing a facility on McNeil Island to a minimum-security prison.

Wallace Nolen, left, and Fred Aylward pass the time in E-Unit, where the Ahtanum View Corrections Center houses its most medically challenged offenders.

Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved the first razor clam dig of the season, starting this Friday.

YAKIMA, Wash.- State Department of Correction leaders are taking measures to cut costs, which could result in a Yakima prison being shut down.