Kennewick and Richland leaders gathered in the September sunshine to celebrate the start of what should have been a simple street project when they first conceived it back in 2001: connecting Center Parkway across a set of railroad tracks to link the two cities near Columbia Center mall.It only took...
For decades, Washington has reaped the benefits of forward-thinking leaders who constructed a series of hydroelectric dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers. The low-cost, carbon-free renewable electricity generated by the dams supported thousands of jobs, and the irrigation made possible by the dams turned Eastern Washington’s soil into fertile...
If you live in Spokane, you know about its waste-to-energy facility which burns up to 800 tons of solid waste a day and can generate 22 megawatts of electricity. That is enough to power 13,000 homes.It is part of Spokane’s overall system that encourages recycling and waste reduction along with...
The Benton-Franklin Health District seeks four community members to serve on its board, a new requirement passed by the state Legislature in 2021 to create a more balanced governing body.The deadline to apply is Oct. 31.The existing six-member board is made up of elected county commissioners: Benton County Commissioners Will...
An entrepreneurial couple and an experienced coffee shop leader plan to create the new “it” coffee chain in the Tri-Cities.The key ingredients to make it a success? An experienced staff. Quality coffee. Locally-made breakfast foods from Tsp Bake Shop and El Fat Cat Grill. Top-notch customer service.Swigg Coffee Bar opened...
As the 2022 grape harvest gets underway across the region, Chateau Ste. Michelle has begun wrapping up bottling for good in Woodinville.“The facility has been dedicated to the Chateau Ste. Michelle brand, which is our flagship, and produced our white wines,” said Ryan Pennington, vice president of communications for Ste....
The Tri-Cities is ripe to transition its economy from one focused on cleaning up the Hanford nuclear site to one focused on clean energy.“This is the place. We’ve grown around this industry,” said Diahann Howard, executive director of the Port of Benton, which is part of the Washington Vertical coalition...
The Association of Washington Business toured several local manufacturing and research centers during its sixth-annual Manufacturing Week bus tour, which visited 30 businesses Oct. 6-13.The Mid-Columbia leg included stops at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland and Columbia Label in Benton City. Workers at Columbia Label in Benton City...
The Washington Military Department is eyeing Richland for a new campus for its Youth Challenge Academy, a military-style residential school for at-risk teens.There are 40 National Guard Youth Challenge Academies in the U.S., but only one in Washington, in Bremerton. The program serves young men and women who have dropped...
Taxable retail sales posted strong gains in the first quarter of 2022, including in Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties.Retail sales rose 5.5% in Benton County, 37% in Franklin and 9.3% in Walla Walla, according to the most recent figures released by the Washington Department of Revenue. Statewide, taxable retail...
