By East Benton County Historical SocietySixty-five years ago this month, the Benton County Fair and Rodeo cameinto its own.Officially!By tradition, the bicounty fair is said to have begun in the late 1940swith the ending of the annual Grape Festivals, which for decades highlightedthe area’s rich agricultural history and practices. Spinning...
By Beau RuffFinanciallysuccessful people often contemplate the highest and best use of their assets.In some cases, those same individuals have decided that the natural objects oftheir bounty (i.e., the children) already have enough resources, or that momand pop have otherwise adequately provided for their children. Alternatively,some of these successful people...
By Byron Martin and Ty MulhollandWhen asking people for aword to describe the Tri-Cities, some of the answers that you hear might bewine, water sports, Hanford, agriculture or tumbleweeds. The last thing youwould expect to hear is “technology.” What most people don’t realize is thatthe Tri-Cities has a long and...
By D. Patrick JonesMosteveryone knows that the tech pulse is strong in the Tri-Cities. The problem is,it’s hard to find the pulse in official data. The same challenge applies for presenceof the technology sector in Benton-Franklin Trends.Where in the trends site might we find some coverage? Consider data from the...
By George HefterOn Jan. 14, 2020, three widely-used Windows Operating Systems reach the end of their useful lives and will no longer receive updates and security patches from Microsoft: Windows 7, Server 2008 and Small Business Server 2011 (which is based on Server 2008). This so-called “end-of-support” doesn’t mean that...
By Andrew KirkSeven members of Jim Godfrey’s family were workingtogether at a family-owned business—but not their family’s. It was time to rectify that, he said, so he opened HornRapids RV Service & Sales Inc. on July 12. All three of Godfrey’s sons started working with himwhen they were 14 at...
By Andrew KirkA woman from Hawaii recently bought a home in Tri-Cities with cash and outbid other buyers by $10,000. Realestate shoppers from Seattle, Portland, California and beyond are a growingtrend in Tri-Cities, said Dave Shinabarger, president of the Tri-CityAssociation of Realtors.LanceKenmore of the Kenmore Team in Kennewick said his...
By Kris JohnsonWe hear about skyrocketing home prices in places like Seattle, San Francisco and New York and shake our heads. Modest three-bedroom ramblers going for $1 million or more. Hopeful homebuyers engaging in bidding wars, sometimes buying houses sight-unseen, or skipping inspections to ensure someone else doesn’t close the...
By Kris JohnsonThousands of professional salaried employees in Washington could be converted into hourly workers if a new proposal from the state Department of Labor and Industries goes into effect.For individual workers, thechange may or may not result in a pay cut. In some cases, employees might endup making about...
By Don C. Brunell Whenmy parents graduated from high school in 1936, a college education was tooexpensive for the son of a copper miner and the daughter of a plumber.Eighty years ago, ourcountry was in the middle of the Great Depression and teens took odd jobs tohelp put food on...
