New Ross store under construction in Kennewick

A Ross Dress for Less store is preparing to open in the former Safeway store at 2825 W. Kennewick Ave.

The 23,539-square-foot former Safeway has been gutted and a new wall installed to turn the area into two spaces, a project valued at $740,100, according to building permits filed with the city of Kennewick.

The new Ross would be Kennewick’s second. The other is at 6705 W. Canal Drive. A third is in Richland at 2917 Queensgate Drive.

Stephens & Sons Inc. of Yakima is the general contractor.

Napoli’s reopens after owners return from trip

Napoli’s Italian Restaurant in Richland has reopened after a brief summertime closure.

The owners, Tony and Valle Morina, recently returned from a six-week trip to visit family in Europe.

They reopened on Monday, Sept. 2. The restaurant is at 3280 George Washington Way, across from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

3RCF offers rebate on board-building course

3 Rivers Community Foundation is offering a 50% rebate upon completion of BoardBuild’s training course Board Essentials. 

3RCF partnered with BoardBuild earlier this year to provide online training for current or future board members. BoardBuild’s courses offer a matching component to connect those who have completed the course with open board seats. 

The Board Essentials course includes six lessons covering 20 key topics that address the logistics and operations of board service. The course ordinarily costs $200.

The “Build a Better Board” rebate program is made possible by Battelle, which operates Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Details about the rebate program can be found at 3rcf.org/boardbuild. 

Fair’s Market Stock Auction breaks sales record

The Benton Franklin Fair Market Stock Auction broke a record with $1.4 million in sales.

A total of 412 animals were sold to 345 buyers from area businesses in the Aug. 23 livestock sale. The funds go to the youth who participated in the auction after months of raising the animals.

Buyers chose whether to have the animals processed locally for themselves or turned over to larger processors to enter the food supply chain. Meat from the animals also can be donated to the Tri-Cities Union Gospel Mission.

The auction is the largest single-event fundraiser in the Tri-Cities and the largest youth livestock auction in the state.

Volunteers on the Market Stock Committee meet year-round to plan the auction. It takes more than 500 volunteers to run the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo, which has an economic impact of $18.5 million in Benton County.

Next year’s fair will be Aug. 19-23.

Newhouse to hold military academy info session

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse is holding an information session in Richland on Sept. 26 for students who are interested in attending a military academy. 

The session is 6-8 p.m. at the Richland Public Library, 955 Northgate Drive.

Representatives from the service academies will be on hand to provide information and answer questions about the application and congressional nomination process.

Members of Congress can nominate candidates for appointments to four of the five U.S. service academies. Newhouse’s staff will be available at the information session to discuss his office’s specific application requirements. 

Questions? Contact Vicki Holleman-Perez at Vicki.Holleman-Perez@mail.house.gov or 509-452-3438. RSVP to the information session at bit.ly/3zcLXSi.

Facing Fentanyl Together resource fair planned

A free event aimed at providing education and resources related to the opioid/fentanyl crisis is 1-5 p.m. Sept. 20 in the Gjerde Center at Columbia Basin College in Pasco. 

It’s one of 26 similar resources fairs happening across the state.

The event, called Facing Fentanyl Together, will feature a Narcan use demonstration and personal stories from people impacted by drug use and recovery. Community agencies also will be on hand with resources for people facing addiction and their families.

The Washington State Department of Social and Health Services is coordinating the resource fairs in partnership with the state Department of Health, Washington State Health Care Authority, tribes, counties, business partners and others.

Institute for Northwest Energy Futures to hold open house

The Washington State University Tri-Cities Institute for Northwest Energy Futures, or INEF, is holding an open house and ribbon cutting Oct. 2 to address how to meet the energy demands of the future.

INEF works to help tackle the transition to clean energy by connecting WSU energy efforts and partners to develop clean energy and carbon-neutral solutions. The institute is led by Noel Schulz, INEF’s inaugural director; Yonas Demissie, assistant director for engineering and environment; Chad Kruger, assistant director for agriculture, extension and outreach; and Georgine Yorgey, the new WSU energy program director. 

Nearly 30 groups in the WSU system are involved in energy-related efforts. 

INEF’s goal is to connect these groups, along with policymakers, researchers and stakeholders, with the ideas and expertise needed to create solutions. The open house will educate attendees about how INEF will serve as a connector. 

The open house is 4:30-6 p.m. Oct. 2 at 2892 Pauling Ave., Richland. 

The event will feature comments from WSU leadership and stakeholders, tours, interactive displays, and networking activities.

Registration is requested. Go to: tricities.wsu.edu/event/institute-for-northwest-energy-futures-open-house.

Workforce training scholarships available

Washington State University Tri-Cities is partnering with the cities of Pasco and Richland and Visit Tri-Cities to offer workforce training scholarships. The scholarships are for people who live in Pasco or Richland or own or work for a Pasco- or Richland-based business. Courses range from wine business management to fundamentals of business.

For more information or to apply, go to: visittri-cities.com/about-us/careers/wsu-workforce-training-opportunities.

Hanford reaches K Reactor milestone 

The last large concrete basin at Hanford’s K Reactor area is now filled with cement-like grout – an important step in cleaning up the area that stored reactor fuel rods during plutonium production.

Central Plateau Cleanup Company crews placed about 6,500 cubic yards of the grout in the basin, which is enough to fill two Olympic-size swimming pools, a U.S. Department of Energy news release said. The basin is 125-by-67 feet.

Crews filled the basin in three layers.

“Finishing grouting of the basin is a critical step in our mission to clean up the K Reactor Area,” said CPCCo Project Manager Mike Kruzic in the release. “I’m proud of our team’s focus and commitment to safety throughout this complex project.”

Gesa donates to help food insecurity

Gesa Credit Union announced plans to donate $50,000 to nonprofits and host food drives at its local branches. 

The credit union is teaming up with longtime partners Second Harvest and Food Lifeline to address food insecurity in the Northwest. 

As the presenting sponsor for this year’s Hunger Action Month, Gesa will match up to $25,000 each in total donations to both Second Harvest and Food Lifeline.

Bank employees volunteer on Sept. 11

First Interstate Bank, which has a location in Kennewick, hosted its seventh annual companywide Volunteer Day on Sept. 11. 

All First Interstate branches and offices closed at noon so employees could spend the afternoon volunteering in their communities. The bank’s 3,400 employees helped with more than 350 service projects across 14 states, including Washington.

Volunteer Day was first launched in 2018 in honor of First Interstate’s 50th anniversary.

The focus for this year’s Volunteer Day was on combating poverty, hunger and homelessness. The list of projects included serving at Grace Kitchen in Pasco.

Volunteers needed for trail maintenance

The Friends of Badger Mountain is seeking volunteers to help maintain the trail system the organization manages.

Volunteers are needed in two main areas: the removal of noxious weeds and the creation and maintenance of trails.

Weeding help is needed on Candy Mountain and will be ongoing until the beginning of October. Work hours will start at 7 or 8 a.m., depending on the projected temperature for that day.

Trail maintenance will begin in October and can involve anything that will improve an existing trail. Work usually starts at 8 a.m. and ends by noon.  

For either weeding or trail maintenance, volunteers are asked to bring gloves, clothes to match the weather, lunch and enough water to get through the half day. 

Friends of Badger Mountain will provide the necessary tools for the task at hand.

To help with weeding, contact Dave Beach at davidbeach47@gmail.com or 509-554-0919. To volunteer for trail maintenance, contact Jim Langdon at trailmaster@friendsofbadger.org.  

2 Tri-Cities employers nominated for state award

Two Tri-Cities employers have been nominated for Governor’s Employer Awards, which honor efforts to recruit, hire, retain and promote workers with disabilities.

They are: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, or PNNL, and Hanford Mission Integration Solutions, or HMIS, both in Richland. 

PNNL was nominated in the large nonprofit employer category and HMIS in the large private employer category. 

The awards ceremony is Oct. 18.

Richland man indicted for Covid-19 fraud scheme

A federal grand jury has indicted a Richland man on 10 counts of conspiracy, fraud and aggravated identify theft. Gilbert Orosco is accused of taking part in a scheme to defraud the U.S. government and the governments of California, Nevada and Arizona.

“The indictment alleges Orosco’s co-conspirators created and submitted false and fraudulent applications for unemployment insurance on behalf of individuals who were not seeking or eligible for the benefits and did not know that their identities were being used to obtain benefits,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District wrote in a statement. 

The states then mailed debit cards to Orosco’s home in Richland, the statement said.

“According to the indictment, Orosco used the debit cards to withdraw cash from ATMs. After withdrawing the cash, Orosco would convert the money into cryptocurrency or money orders. Orosco would then allegedly use those assets himself or transfer them to co-conspirators,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office statement said. 

Orosco used the debit cards between July 2020 and December 2021 to make 347 ATM withdrawals totaling about $282,814, and he made about 30 more transactions using the debit cards at Winco, Albertsons and post office locations totaling about $57,095, the statement said.

Pasco offers mural reimbursement program 

A Pasco program is offering financial assistance to local businesses that want to commission murals on their property. The effort is designed to “enhance the aesthetic appeal of our community, support local artists and promote cultural expression,” the city said in information about the program.

Eligibility criteria include:

• The property must be in downtown Pasco.

• Applicants must own their building or have written consent from the owner.

• Murals must comply with Title 18 of the city’s code.

The design must be approved by a designated Arts & Culture Commission subcommittee.

The final mural must have anti-graffiti coating.

Go to: pasco-wa.gov/1593/Paint-Pasco-Mural-Program.

WSU Tri-Cities research could lead to cleaner, more efficient dairy farms

Washington State University Tri-Cities researchers will use a $200,000 grant to test a new process for managing manure, the university announced. 

The process has the potential to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, save money and improve cow health, the university said.

“The research funded by this grant will emphasize improvements in local and global agriculture by improving manure management,” said Birgitte Ahring, a WSU Tri-Cities professor, in a statement. “We are hoping with this research we can show value and solve some problems for dairy farmers.”

Port of Benton offering public bus tour

The Port of Benton is offering a free public bus tour Oct. 1. 

The tour will showcase the port’s industrial facilities in north Richland and rail network, including the crossings slated for construction. The tour also will give attendees a look at the site of the future intermodal facility, made possibly by the recent Port of Benton-city of Richland land swap.

The tour will visit the Richland and Prosser airports, along with property in Benton City and Prosser, including Vintners Village, Prosser Wine & Food Park and the Walter Clore Center, the port statement said.

Registration is required by Sept. 24 at portofbenton.com/tour.

WSU secures $4.8M for hydrogen fuel research 

Washington State University will use $4.8 million in federal grants for hydrogen fuel research. One grant will help build a hydrogen fueling station on the Pullman campus.

“The funding recognizes WSU’s leadership in hydrogen-fuel development,” said Jacob Leachman, a WSU professor, in a statement. 

“We’re going to need more people as a result of these grants, so we’re going to be recruiting, and we’re going to be doing a lot of great engineering,” he said.

Leachman heads up WSU’s Hydrogen Properties for Energy Research (HYPER) Laboratory. He and fellow professor Konstantin Matveev are leading a $3 million HYPER-Flow grant that aims to create the world’s first continuous liquid hydrogen flow loop, the statement said.

WSU also is slated for $1.8 million as a partner in a $10 million HYPER-Fuel grant led by the Plug Power company. The goal is to improve hydrogen refueling stations for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, and a fueling station will be built in Pullman as part of the project.