Ellensburg Community Morning Show, Tuesday, April 28th

The Ellensburg High School Orchestra is putting on a rock concert. Forty student musicians will play Metallica, Nirvana, Coldplay, Guns N' Roses, Imagine Dragons, Journey, and a Santana medley. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. at the Morgan Performing Arts Center inside Morgan Middle School. The program starts at 6 p.m. The concert is free, and donations are welcome.

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NEWS

Ellensburg city utility customers will pay more for electricity starting May 1. The City Council approved a 3.75 percent rate increase last Monday on a 4-1 vote, with Councilmember Sarah Beauchamp casting the lone no vote. The same percentage increase is scheduled to hit again in January 2027 and January 2028. Council members based the decision on a consultant study that said the city's electric utility couldn't cover its operations and debt costs without higher rates. Resident Pat Kelleher asked the council to reserve cheaper Bonneville Power Tier 1 electricity for residential customers, but Councilmember Nancy Lillquist said she didn't want to penalize commercial customers to do it.

Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue is looking for another fire chief. Interim Chief Roy Palmer resigned last week after only three months on the job, following a closed-door performance review by the Board of Fire Commissioners. His resignation takes effect May 14. Palmer told the Daily Record he wasn't the right fit for the organization and that the working conditions weren't working for him. He had signed a 12-month contract at one hundred eighty-five thousand dollars a year.

Public health officials say Kittitas County is now in measles outbreak status. Three confirmed cases prompted the state Department of Health to declare the outbreak last Thursday. Students, staff and volunteers at Valley View Elementary may have been exposed between April 8th and 15th. Unvaccinated students can't return to the school until after May 5th. The county Public Health Department is asking anyone who may have been exposed and isn't sure of their vaccination status to stay home and call a medical provider.

A Morgan Middle School teacher is one step away from a national prize. Susi Gestalter, who teaches eighth-grade English and history, made the top five in the America's Favorite Teacher contest. The grand prize is twenty-five thousand dollars, a school visit from Bill Nye, a Reader's Digest feature and a Hawaii trip. Last June, Gestalter was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer and rushed into emergency surgery. She told the Daily Record she'd give part of any winnings to her sister and brother-in-law, who also have cancer. Voting is open every hour at americasfavteacher.org slash 2026 slash susi-gestalter-2.

LOCAL EVENTS

The county Solid Waste Advisory Committee meets tomorrow at 10 a.m. at the Board of County Commissioners Auditorium, 205 West 5th Avenue, with a Webex option available.

Valo Tasting Room on the south end of town hosts Industry Appreciation Day starting at 3 p.m.

Three city councils meet tonight: Roslyn at 5 p.m., Cle Elum and Kittitas both at 6 p.m., all at their respective city halls.

And the Ellensburg High School Orchestra is putting on a rock concert. Forty student musicians will play Metallica, Nirvana, Coldplay, Guns N' Roses, Imagine Dragons, Journey, and a Santana medley. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. at the Morgan Performing Arts Center inside Morgan Middle School. The program starts at 6 p.m. The concert is free, and donations are welcome.

SPORTS

The CWU Wildcats host day two of the GNAC Combined Event Championships tomorrow at the Recreation Sports Complex starting at 9 a.m. The two-day track and field meet wraps up Tuesday evening.

Wildcat baseball heads to Nampa, Idaho on Thursday for a four-game series at 24th-ranked Northwest Nazarene. Doubleheaders are set for 2 and 5 p.m. Thursday and noon and 3 p.m. Friday. The Wildcats are 18-22 overall and 15-13 in the conference.

Wildcat softball — riding a four-game winning streak — also travels to Nampa for four games against Northwest Nazarene. Doubleheaders Friday at 1 and 3 p.m. and Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The team is 13-29 overall and 7-13 in the GNAC.

WEATHER                                                                                          

The forecasted high tomorrow in Ellensburg is 63 degrees with a low of 40 degrees. Partly sunny with northwest winds of 9 to 16 miles per hour and gusts as high as 26. The sunset is at 8:07 p.m. No rain in the forecast.

WHAT'S FOR LUNCH AT THE FISH OPEN TABLE?

The FISH Open Table lunch tomorrow is mac and cheese, with green beans and mixed fruit. The senior lunch is open to all seniors age 60-plus from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ellensburg Open Table at 204 North Main Street, and noon to 1 p.m. at the Cle Elum Seventh Day Adventist Church. The community lunch for anyone needing a hot meal is from 1 to 2 p.m. at the Ellensburg Open Table.