INL unveils $15M molten salt testing capability for advanced reactors

KIFI on February 20, 2026

David Pace

ATOMIC CITY, Idaho – Idaho National Laboratory is unveiling a new way to test fuel technology for advanced nuclear reactors at the Materials and Fuels Complex, west of Idaho Falls.

“This is a capability that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world,” said National Reactor Innovation Center Program Manager Josh Gillespie. “When we look at all the different kinds of nuclear reactors that are out there in the world, molten salt reactors are the ones that we have known the least about.” 

The new research capability for advanced reactors, known as the Molten Salt Thermophysical Examination Capability (MSTEC), has a price tag of $15 million and took approximately five years to design and construct.

“It’s a new capability we have here … to examine molten salts and to work with our commercial partners to help them drive forward the commercial nuclear industry,” Gillespie said. “… Before we can go off and commercialize these [molten salt] reactors and obtain a lot of the great benefits that they provide, we need to go get a lot of data so we can do this safely, so we can go off and enable the technology.”

Part of the National Reactor Innovation Center, MSTEC is housed at the Fuel Conditioning Facility at the Materials and Fuels Complex.

The MSTEC consists of a “state-of-the-art, shielded argon glove box for irradiated and nonirradiated materials, specifically high-temperature liquids such as fuel salts,” according to an INL press release.

“The primary operation, or the primary function, of a glove box is just to keep our researchers safe,” explained MSTEC System Engineer Nathan Petersen.  “The stuff that they work on is hazardous, and so we want to make sure that they can perform their research without any kind of ill effects happening to them.”

The glove box contains eight robotic arms. It is designed to research the characteristics of molten salts deployed in certain advanced reactors – measuring up to 1000 degrees Celsius, viscosity, melting temperature and heat transfer, according to MSTEC Research Leader Mikael Karlsson.

Molten salt reactors can use special salt as a fuel, INL researchers said.

“The technology is not as well explored as a traditional reactor, right. So to be able to deploy the new reactor types, we need to be able to collect good experimental data,” Karlsson said.

Idaho National Laboratory is collaborating with partners such as Oklo, Saltfoss Energy, and others to help develop the fuel cycle.

The Molten Salt Thermophysical Examination Capability (MSTEC) is ready for its debut at Idaho National Laboratory.

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City of Bend is celebrating a century of water service, invites public to tap into fun, learning and exploration

KTVZ on February 20, 2026

Barney Lerten

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — The City of Bend announced Thursday it’s launching an interactive campaign to celebrate its 100-year anniversary of providing water services.

Prior to 1926, the community’s drinking water came from the Deschutes River. In the early 1920s, dams built at Crane Prairie and Crescent Lake led to algae blooms and tainted water supplies. So the city found a new water source and took over the service of providing drinking water from Bend Water, Light & Power Company.

In 1926, the Bend Municipal Watershed was established, Bridge Creek and mountain spring water became the primary source of Bend’s drinking water, and the city began a century of exceptional water services that still benefit the community today, officials said in a news release outlining its plans.

Over the course of the year, the city’s campaign will feature how the Water Services Department supplies, protects and conserves our drinking water, and also helps safeguard water quality of the river and groundwaters.

To celebrate 100 years of Bend Water Services, the city will share seasonal activities to inspire the community to learn about, explore and protect Bend’s water system throughout 2026.  

This spring, opportunities will focus on the history, the watershed and the foundations of Bend’s water services. In the summer, the focus will be conservation, community and the value of water. And in the fall, the themes will be stormwater, wastewater and everyday stewardship.

Show how you ❤️ Bend Water by joining in the fun:

Visit us at community events

Try a Learn, Explore or Protect activity

Share your photos and participation with us!

Sign up to get enews updates throughout the year — including new seasonal activities, must-see videos, behind the scenes stories, and opportunities to submit selfies or quick input, to get entered to win prizes that will be distributed at the end of 2026.

Visit bendoregon.gov/celebrate-water to learn more and celebrate.

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Jury seated for trial of Cathedral City man accused in fentanyl poisoning

KESQ on February 20, 2026

City News Service

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A jury was seated today for the trial of a man accused of providing a deadly dose of fentanyl to a 22-year-old Rancho Mirage resident on New Year’s Day 2022.

Riley Jacob Hagar, 28, of Cathedral City is charged with second-degree murder for the death of Travis O’Brien.   

After more than a week of jury selection, a panel was seated on Thursday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Kristi Hester scheduled opening statements for Monday morning.   

Hagar is being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center.  

The defendant was arrested in August 2022, following a months-long investigation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Overdose Death Investigations Unit.

Sgt. Ryan Marcuse said that on the afternoon of Jan. 1, 2022, deputies were called to a property in the 69000 block of Highway 111, where the young man was discovered unconscious and presumed dead. Paramedics arrived a short time later and confirmed he’d died at the scene.

Based on undisclosed evidence amassed over the ensuing months, Hagar was identified as the supplier who allegedly sold the fentanyl that precipitated O’Brien’s death, according to Marcuse.  

No other details were disclosed.   

The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

Since February 2021, prosecutors have charged around three dozen people in connection with fentanyl poisonings. Two prosecutions have resulted in murder convictions.

Public health statistics indicated there were 328 known fentanyl-related fatalities countywide in 2024, compared to 571 in 2023, a 42% decline. Numbers for 2025 haven’t been finalized.

Fentanyl is manufactured in overseas labs, principally in China, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which says the opioid is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border by cartels.

It’s 80-100 times more potent than morphine and can be mixed into any number of street narcotics and prescription drugs, without a recipient knowing what he or she is consuming. Ingestion of only two milligrams can be fatal.

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Homelessness and available resources amid encampment clean-up efforts

KESQ on February 20, 2026

María García

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. (KESQ) – City leaders are citing safety concerns after several small fires broke out over the past week at homeless encampments.

News Channel 3 is getting answers on what’s being done to make sure those experiencing homelessness know resources are available. News Channel 3’s Maria Garcia spoke with the county and one advocate who says more must be done. They added that the safest option is connecting with valley resources.

But it also raises another question – if resources are available, why aren’t more people experiencing homelessness using them?

Firefighters removed several encampments set up in tamarisk trees along the railroad tracks and Interstate 10 on Wednesday. They were called back to the same area early this morning, where it appears a fire in those same trees rekindled overnight.

Greg Rodriguez, director of Riverside County’s Housing and Workforce Solutions, says helping people in these encampments isn’t simple — and often takes dozens of repeated attempts.

“On average in Riverside County, it takes about 57 attempts to get somebody into services. Many of them have serious mental health issues, or substance use or a combination of both,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez says a recent street medicine program has helped combat the epidemic with more of a healthcare approach.

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Cal Baptist University men’s wrestling calling for help, working to save program

KESQ on February 20, 2026

Blake Arthur

COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. (KESQ) — Nearby Cal Baptist University has decided to cut the men’s wrestling program at the conclusion of this season.

“We have closely monitored the shifting landscape of intercollegiate athletics that has affected institutions across the nation,” said Micah Parker, Ph.D., vice president for Athletics.

“While we had hoped to continue offering our full slate of athletic programs in this new environment, it has become clear that changes are required to realize the university’s goal of achieving greater competitive excellence that the new Division I era demands.”

The full release regarding cancellation of the men’s wrestling program can be found HERE.

This decision has the CBU wrestling program shocked and devastated, but motivated to fight to save it.

KESQ News Channel 3 spoke with CBU wrestling alum Nolan Kistler, advocating for change in the hopes of keeping the program.

“I was shocked,” said Kistler.

“I actually received a DM from my friend on Instagram, and I thought it was a joke. I didn’t think it was real. They’re [the student-athletes] devastated. A lot of them don’t have other options. I mean this decision was made mid-season. I think a lot of people don’t know that CBU is the only Division 1 wrestling program in Southern California,” said Kistler.

CBU men’s wrestling has created a website as part of their efforts to save their program. You can find that HERE.

Stay with KESQ News Channel 3 for the latest developments on this story.

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Broadman, GOP colleague speak out against initiative that would criminalize fishing, hunting and trapping

KTVZ on February 20, 2026

Barney Lerten

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Senate co-chairs of the Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, Senator David Brock Smith (R-Port Orford) and Senator Anthony Broadman (D-Bend), spoke out Thursday in opposition to Initiative Petition 28, which they said “would make lawful hunting, fishing, and trapping illegal and turn nearly one million Oregonians into criminals.”

IP28, the People for Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions (PEACE) Act, is an initiative petition whose proponents are gathering signatures and seeking to qualify for the November ballot.

The senators said in a news release that the measure would remove the established exemptions from Oregon’s animal abuse statutes that protect legal actions such as lawful hunting, fishing, and trapping; rodeos; killing animals for food; wildlife management practices; scientific or agricultural research or teaching with animals; even trapping pests and vermin.

In addition, they said, the language in IP28 would remove the exemption for acts of “good animal husbandry” such as dehorning, docking tails, castration or neutering of livestock, and would also classify standard breeding practices, such as artificial insemination, as sexual assault.

By eliminating lawful hunting, fishing, and trapping, IP28 “would eliminate the main funding source for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and have detrimental effects on wildlife management,” Smith and Broadman said.

“Historically, sportsmen contribute 45-55% of ODFW’s budget, comprising the majority of dollars used for wildlife management and conservation,” Smith said. “The General Fund, or Oregon’s taxpayer dollars, makes up only 10% of ODFW’s budget, nowhere close to the amount needed to operate the agency and benefit Oregon’s wildlife.”

In addition to the direct economic impact to ODFW, the two senators said that “shutting down farming, ranching, dairy farming, and commercial fishing would create incredible negative impacts to Oregon’s statewide economy, causing increased tax pressure and reduced state services for all Oregonians.”

“Buying locally raised foods at the local farmers market would be outlawed, while restaurant and grocery prices would increase substantially due to the need to ship meat and dairy products in from out of state,” Broadman said. “Hunting and fishing for food is a part of Oregon’s heritage, and for many of us, part of who we are.”

Adding additional insult to these effects, the Senators said IP28 also does not exempt Oregon’s Tribes from the ban on hunting and fishing, even for sustenance or ceremonial uses.

The proponents have collected over 100,000 of the 117,173 signatures needed by July 2 to qualify for the ballot. The Oregon Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus said it “encourages all Oregonians to register to vote and, should IP28 qualify for the ballot, defeat the measure by historical margins.”

One group supporting the proposed measure, In Defense of Animals, called it “a bold, far-reaching ballot initiative” but added, “The campaign behind Yes On IP28 is not naive. They do not expect the initiative to pass in 2026. The goal is to build the infrastructure necessary to consistently return to the ballot, shift public consciousness, and continue forcing the conversation until it succeeds.”

Here’s the text of the initial proposed initiative, as submitted in October 2023 to the Oregon Elections Division:

Initiative Petition 28 textDownload

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Public hearing held for Missouri House bill that would require reporting Lyme disease, Alpha-gal syndrome

KMIZ on February 20, 2026

Ryan Shiner

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been corrected to remove an incorrect reference to a vote.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A bill that would require Lyme disease and Alpha-gal syndrome to be reported to the Department of Health and Senior Services had a public hearing before a House committee hearing on Thursday.

The bill would require contracted diseases to be reported within seven days.

Alpha-gal syndrome creates a life-threatening allergy to red meat after a person is bit by the Lone Star Tick, according to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It can also trigger allergic reactions to other animal byproducts like daiy.

Missouri House Bill 1855 – sponsored by Re. Matt Overcast (R-Ava) also requires other sampling, surveillance and reporting to the CDC.    

One person who testified at the hearing said this bill would allow experts to know the number of people with this disease and can open the door for funding requests at the federal level.

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CPD still on track to relaunch full-time downtown unit by the summer

KMIZ on February 20, 2026

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Police Department is still on track to relaunch its full-time dedicated downtown unit this summer.

Police Chief Jill Schlude told ABC 17 News back in October that once the January 2026 academy graduates completed field training, the department would have staffing levels to support the unit.

Lt. Clint Sinclair said on Thursday the 14 graduates are preparing to enter Phase 2 of their field training. The change includes being paired with a training officer and being put onto a shift.

CPD field training is a 16-week process. Sinclair said by the beginning to middle of May the officers will be ready to go solo.

“If there are calls that require more officers, more violent crimes or high priority calls, we’ll have those bodies available,” Sinclair said. “It also means reduced response times for the community and they’ll see more police officers out on the street. They’ll get a police officer sooner if they need it, just because we have the numbers.”

Sinclair said CPD’s next academy class will include two more weeks of training than usual. The recruit group will have between 12-14 members.

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Fresh powder alert: Mt. Bachelor set to reopen Northwest Lift before a busy weekend of events; Hoodoo reopens

KTVZ on February 20, 2026

Barney Lerten

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Mt. Bachelor received 17 inches of snow in the past week, and more is on the way, just in time for a variety of special events this weekend.

The resort said forecasts call for an additional 3-4 inches by Friday morning, then broken clouds and scattered light snow showers Friday and Saturday before returning to heavy snowfall on Sunday. 

Teams are assessing and preparing the Northwest chairlift to reopen on Friday, conditions permitting. 

They advised guests to check the Mountain Report and Lift & Trails Status page Friday morning for operational updates and safety advisories.  

Several events are taking place at Mt. Bachelor over the next few days. Here’s the rundown: 

Friday-Saturday, February 20 -21 

Nordic High School State Championships: Friday’s race will be a mass-start free style race and Saturday will feature a classic race as well as a team relay. Expect impacts to the trail network and check the Nordic Report for updates. A free trail pass will be available inside the Nordic Lodge for spectators walking to the race stadium. Spectators on skis or snowshoes must have a valid Nordic pass or ticket.  

Saturday, February 21 

Red Chair Round-Up: Join Mt. Bachelor and Deschutes Brewery at the base of the Red Chair chairlift to celebrate the fan-favorite Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale (only available during the winter season). The first 50 guests to show up will get a free beer. The event will also feature music, swag giveaways, and burritos.  

Jr. Ranger with Discover Your Northwest | Mt. Bachelor: Discover Your Northwest and Mt. Bachelor invite families to explore the wonders of the forest and learn about the importance of winter, all while earning a Junior Snow Ranger badge. This free family event will be hosted at the Early Riser Yurt in the Sunrise Base Area. 

Passholder Early Ups: Outplay 365 and Full Season Passholders can enjoy early access to the slopes via Pine Marten chairlift, which will open at 8:00 a.m., conditions permitting. Ski area boundaries will be Olympian on the east and Outback Way to Leeway on the West.  

Saturday-Sunday, February 21-22 

FREE Telemark Demos: Join 22 Designs at the base of Red Chair and demo telemark skis for free. Plus, Mt. Bachelor’s Telemark Skills Clinic has openings on Saturday, February 1.  

On-Snow Demos Presented by Mt. Bachelor Sports: Try out the latest skis and snowboards at the base of Red Chair. For $25, participants can test up to three different ski or snowboard options, based on availability. The $25 demo fee can be credited toward a purchase of skis or a snowboard. All demos require a credit card. Demo equipment is adult sizing only. Must be 18 or have a legal guardian present. Demo boots will not be available. Demo snowboard bindings will not be available, guests should bring their own bindings to better focus on board feel and performance. 

Sunday, February 22 

Demo Day at Mt. Bachelor Nordic: This is Mt. Bachelor’s biggest Nordic Demo of the season. Test out the latest skis, boots, and poles from top Nordic brands including Salomon, Fischer, Atomic, Peltonen, and more. Demos are free, but a valid Nordic pass or ticket is required.  

Hoodoo Ski Area also reopened Thursday after a closure for several days due to low snow conditions.

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Taylor Burks announces bid for Missouri’s 5th District seat

KMIZ on February 19, 2026

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Former Boone County Clerk Taylor Burks announced his bid for Missouri’s newly drawn Fifth District House seat in a Thursday press release.

Burks, a Republican, has ran for congressional seats earlier this decade, including in the Third and Fourth districts. Filing for the Aug.4 primary opens Feb. 24.

“Missouri deserves a representative who understands our communities, our economy, and our way of life,” Burks was quoted in the release. “In Congress, I will stand strong for Mid-Missouri, defend our values, protect our freedoms, and fight for economic policies that grow our way of life here in Missouri.”

Burks was appointed in 2017 by former Gov. Eric Greitens to serve as Boone County’s clerk, but lost the seat in 2018 to Brianna Lennon. He owns a business in the area and has served with the Navy and Navy Reserves for 19 years and is currently ranked as a commander, according to Thursday’s press release. The release also lists a number of medals he earned for his service.

He is listed as a member of Truman State University’s Board of Governor’s on the school’s website and the release mentions work he did with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the YMCA.

The release includes a slew of endorsements of current and former government officials from the Mid-Missouri area, including Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson, former Boone County Southern District Commissioner Fred Parry, former state Rep. Chuck Bayse and former US Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer.

The Fifth District is currently represented by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver and he is the only candidate who has a committee filed with the Federal Election Commission

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