Wildfires and wintertime wood fires helped drive Yakima, Spokane and the Seattle area to the top of the nation’s worst cities for air pollution, according to the American Lung Association’s 2020 State of Air report.The Tri-Cities was not on the list, but Benton County received a failing grade for air...
Property rights are often considered a “bundle of sticks” where a person can own varying interests in land.The person can own the entire bundle—called “fee simple.”Or a person can own distinct and specific interests in a piece of property. One form of ownership is the ownership of only the oil...
We are learning many painful lessons during the coronavirus shutdown. A key lesson that if a policy isn’t economically sustainable, it isn’t environmentally sustainable. This is a particularly important lesson to remember when considering how to promote recovery of salmon and steelhead populations on the Snake River.Earlier this year, the...
Several federal agencies just released a massive court-ordered federal study (called an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS) about the Snake and Columbia river dams.If you had other things on your mind last month, that’s more than understandable. Also, you didn’t miss much: the EIS is just another federal study aimed...
By Marilou SheaJust about this time every spring, my farmer friend lamentsabout how the bee population is in jeopardy. It’s a crisis. A state ofemergency on their farm north of Pasco where they grow cherries, apples andblueberries. Bees are essential to their crops, not to mention theirlivelihood, not to mention...
By Beau RuffWhen a person endeavors to buy a piece of real property(i.e. land and any associated buildings), the buyer would be wise to study upon the potential liability he or she may be taking on.Notably, the buyer should beware of liability for theexistence of hazardous materials on the land....
By D. Patrick JonesDatatracking life in the Tri-Cities reveal many departures from the overall profileof life in Washington. Considerthe racial and ethnic make-up here. In 2017, an estimated nearly 39 percent ofthe population was non-Caucasian, versus slightly over 30 percent for thestate. And the estimated Hispanic population in 2017 made...
Carl Thompson loves what he does.As the superintendent at Columbia Point Golf Course, it’shis mission – and his staff’s job – to make sure the course is in great shapefor the region’s golfers, who played close to 46,000 rounds on the Richlandcourse last year alone.Carl ThompsonAt the same time, Thompson...
Salvaged Hardwoods owner reclaims wood, creates custom piecesClinton Milton remembers tinkering around with his dad inthe garage as a boy. He wasn’t building much, he admits, but it gave him theskills and confidence as an adult to build modest sample tables from salvagedhardwood pieces to sell at yard sales.That was...
By Kevin AnthonyThe message is simple. Clean, you might say.While cleaning up one of the biggest environmental messes inthe United States, it’s best to leave as small a footprint as possible.It’s an attitude that Mission Support Alliance stresses in its role as a key contractor at the Hanford nuclear reservation....
