Cascade pass closure leaves Spokane with empty store shelves

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — The recent closures of four passes through the Cascade Range in Washington have left empty grocery store shelves in Spokane this week. Fred Meyer store manager Dan Gwynne says the simultaneous closures of Stevens, Blewett, White and Snoqualmie passes meant semitrucks carrying groceries could not easily reach Spokane. The empty shelves this weekend rekindled memories of the hoarding that took hold as soon as the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020. But the empty shelves this week mostly came from transportation disruptions caused by last week’s snow storm that caused a 90-hour closure of Snoqualmie Pass. The pass closures forced truckers to head south to Portland and take Interstate 84 through the Columbia Gorge, then north to the Tri-Cities.