A National Guard Civil Support team, whose primary role is identifying weapons of mass destruction hazards, has been deployed to Spokane to investigate the discovery of several threatening letters that have preliminarily tested positive for Ricin.

Ricin is a highly toxic substance made from castor beans. As little as 500 micrograms -- an amount the size of the head of a pin -- can kill an adult.

There is no known antidote.

The 10th Civil Support Team, a full-time National Guard unit whose role is to identify and assess weapons of mass destruction, has deployed 20 personnel and nine vehicles to Spokane to investigate the letters found at the downtown post office earlier this week.

The unit is the state's first responder team in supporting local civil authorities in domestic chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive incidents, and deploys typically within three hours of being notified of an incident.

The Guardsmen are responding to the discovery of those two letters, which the American Postal Workers Union alerted employees about on Wednesday.

You have until Monday, May 20th, to get those Hoopfest entries in. This is the final deadline to play in the largest three on three basketball tournament in the world.

Unfortunately, the deadline for guaranteed entry has already passed, this entries made for the Monday deadline will be granted on a space available basis. But don't fret, even if you aren't able to play there are still plenty of opportunities to volunteer. Hoopfest is still need of general volunteers as well as people to act as court monitors. 

Visit http://spokanehoopfest.net to register as a player or to sign up as a volunteer.

Be prepared for some driving headaches! The Monroe Street Bridge will be closed for almost a month starting on June 3rd.

Clearwater Construction will be closing the bridge in order to work on the Kendall Yards and Spokane Joint Storm Water Facility. The project will install manholes and piping that will run under Monroe Street. 

The bridge will be closed from June 3rd to June 27th. During that time traffic will be redirected to the Washington Street Bridge.