Missing in action for 80 years after serving in Sicily during World War II, U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Allan W. Knepper, a Lewiston native, is now accounted for. A native of Lewiston, Idaho, Knepper was a pilot with the 49th Fighter Squadron and served in the Mediterranean theater of the conflict. His assignment was to attack Axis forces near Caltagirone in Sicily, where his plane was spotted crashing. Still, no one spotted the release of a parachute, according to a news release from the Department of Defense's POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Between 2015 and 2023, Defense Department researchers were able to locate Knepper's potential crash site and to recover human remains. Through DNA analysis, researchers positively identified and confirmed that the remains were those of Knepper. A rosette will be added to Knepper's name on the tablets of the missing at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nettuno, Italy, to indicate he is now accounted for. A funeral will be held to honor him in Lewiston on Aug. 2, 2024. (VICTOR CORRAL MARTINEZ)
CLIMATE RESILIENCE
Spokane is hot, like, record-breaking hot. While there's not much to do about the heat itself, Gonzaga University's Institute of Climate, Water and the Environment hopes it can help Spokane safely deal with these extreme weather conditions. To do that, it'll use a $19.9 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2021, to create the Spokane Climate Resiliency Project. By partnering with the Carl Maxey Center, Spokane Neighborhood Action Partners (SNAP), and the city of Spokane, Gonzaga plans to build coordinated responses in Spokane for those most impacted. With $8 million allocated to SNAP, the organization plans to install electric heat pumps in 300 low-income homes. The city has also been allocated $8 million, with which it plans to form "resilience hubs" — community centers with backup energy to provide off-grid service to folks during extreme weather events. The Carl Maxey Center will receive $900,000 to turn itself into one of these "resilience hubs." This is the largest climate resilience investment ever made in Spokane. (COLTON RASANEN)♦
