Connect Tri-Cities returns on Oct. 22

Connect

Tri-Cities will bring job seekers, employers, educators, labor, tribes,

veterans and industry leaders together during this year’s Connect Tri-Cities

event on Oct. 22.

Connect

Tri-Cities offers visitors an opportunity to engage with the Tri-City community,

Hanford contractors, small businesses and youth.

One

of the highlights is the STEM Scholarship Competition for high school students,

featuring 17 teams. Teams of five students and a faculty advisor from local

high schools will put their STEM skills to the test in this challenge.

The

top five teams compete Oct. 21 for $20,000 in scholarships. Winners will be

announced Oct. 22.

Connect

Tri-Cities also will feature an all-day opportunity fair Oct. 22. Community

employers, including Hanford contractors, organized labor unions,

manufacturers, national laboratories, colleges and universities, and more, will

be present.

On-site

résumé review and interview preparation also will be available.

A

sold-out veterans luncheon will feature retired Gen. James Mattis, the 26th

U.S. Secretary of Defense.

Connect

Tri-Cities will offer breakout sessions focused on science, technology,

engineering and math topics, with live demonstrations featuring scientist Kevin

Delaney and Hanford laboratory contractor Veolia, as well as digital media

influencer Lance Frisbee and YouTuber Sally LePage.

Attendees

also can meet with colleges and universities from across the Northwest and

listen to speakers, such as local executive coach Semi Bird and

nationally-renowned speaker Edward DeJesus. Presentations geared toward

veterans and focused on the next generation Hanford workforce also are on the

schedule.

Connect

Tri-Cities is sponsored by Hanford contractor Mission Support Alliance and its

corporate partners Leidos and Centerra Group.

More information and a detailed schedule of events can be found at connect-tricities.com.

Small business resources workshop coming to Pasco

Learn more about state

regulations, compliance issues, paid family and medical leave tax

responsibilities and how to avoid paying penalties at an upcoming workshop.

Business-friendly

representatives from the state departments of revenue, employment security,

labor and industries, and the Governor’s Office of Regulatory Innovation and

Assistance have teamed up to offer information to businesses.

Learn about regulation

updates; programs and services; a one-stop website; and best practices and tips

for success at the free workshop.

The class is from 9:30

a.m. to noon Oct. 24 at the Red Lion Hotel & Conference Center, 2525 N 20th

Ave., Pasco.

Register online at http://bit.ly/smallbizclass. Class size is limited.

Airport reports record number of summer travelers

The

Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco recorded 119,894 outbound passengers during the

summer months of June, July and August—an 11 percent increase above the

previous summer’s figures.

The

trend sets up the airport to finish the year with another record number of

travelers.

Airlines

count their passengers in terms of enplanements, or the number of people who

board an aircraft at an airport. With 286,537 enplaned passengers this year so

far, PSC is up 13 percent over 2018.

All

four airlines that serve Pasco have shown growth this year.

United

Airlines currently leads the pack with a 32-percent increase, as the airline

added a third daily flight to Denver last year and began new nonstop service to

Los Angeles this spring.

Delta

Airlines served the largest number of travelers in Tri-Cities, with 55,199

enplaned passengers in the summer months, and is up 16.3 percent this summer

over last.

Alaska

Airlines, which flies six times each day to Seattle, is up 9 percent over 2018,

and Allegiant Airlines’ move to an all-Airbus fleet allowed the airline to grow

13 percent more than last year.

A

total of 785,164 people traveled through the airport in 2018—the best year on

record.

Local businesses named finalists for BBB Torch Awards

Two

Tri-City businesses were named finalists in the Better Business Bureau

Northwest and Pacific’s 2019 Torch Award for Ethics contest.

The

award honors organizations demonstrating exceptional commitment to building

trust and integrity with their customers, fellow business owners and

communities.

This

year, nearly 300 businesses and charities were nominated.

Torch

Award finalists from the Tri-Cities included Frost Me Sweet of Richland and

Campbell & Company of Pasco.

All

Travel Guru of Post Falls, Idaho, and Precision Tax Relief of Coeur d’Alene,

Idaho, were both named Business of the Year.

Additionally, BBB added a new honor this

year, the Spark Award, to recognize newer businesses that exhibit the Torch

Award values of ethics, integrity and building trust among staff, customers and

around their communities. This year’s Spark winners were Arrottas Automax and

New Beginnings LLC, both of Spokane.

Pick up your playground pickets before Oct. 30

The

deadline to claim the pickets from the original Playground of Dreams is

approaching.

Pickets

are available for pickup at the Southridge Sports and Events Complex, 2901

Southridge Blvd., during business hours through Oct. 30.

There

are 1,423 pickets engraved with names of donors who helped fund the 2004

playground rebuild after the original structure was destroyed by fire. They

were removed by volunteers in 2018 in preparation of the playground rebuild.

For more information, contact Brandon Lange at 509-585-4279 or [email protected].

Additional information is also available at go2kennewick.com/1245/Claim-Your-Picket.

Pasco swears in new police chief

After

conducting a nationwide search for a police chief, the city of Pasco promoted

one of its own.

Ken

Roske was sworn in Oct. 7.

His

selection is the first time in more than half a century that an internal

candidate has been named chief. Nearly 20 candidates from across the nation

applied for the job.

Roske

has a 33-year career in law enforcement, serving in progressively responsible

leadership positions. He began his career as a Pasco officer in 1986. He was

promoted to sergeant in 1998, captain in 2004 and deputy chief in 2017.

Outside

of the department, Roske has served in several key leadership positions,

including seven years as Tri-Cities Regional SWAT incident commander, state

president of Fraternal Order of Police and chairman of the Columbia Basin

College Law Enforcement Advisory Committee.  

Roske

holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice management and a master’s in

organizational leadership, both from the Union Institute and University. He is

also a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Sunnyside

Chief Al Escalera was a runner-up for the job.

The

city hired the Prothman Co., an executive recruitment company, for the

recruitment effort. The process included interview panels with several

community members, third-party background checks by Public Safety Testing and

multiple interviews with the city manager.

PNNL joins team to create new artificial intelligence research center

Scientists

from U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, DOE’s

Sandia National Laboratories and the Georgia Institute of Technology will

collaborate on solutions to some of the most challenging problems in artificial

intelligence today, thanks to $5.5 million in funding from DOE.

They’re

partners in a new research center, known as the Center for ARtificial Intelligence-focused

ARchitectures and Algorithms, or ARIAA. Funded by DOE’s Office of Science, it

will promote collaboration between scientists at the three organizations as

they develop core technologies important for the application of AI to DOE

mission priorities, such as cybersecurity and electric grid resilience.

PNNL

senior research scientist Roberto Gioiosa will be the center’s director and

will lead the overall vision, strategy and research direction. Siva

Rajamanickam from Sandia and Professor Tushar Krishna from Georgia Tech will

serve as deputy directors.

The

center will explore how AI and machine learning can support four areas that

touch virtually everyone: the power grid, cybersecurity, graph analytics and

computational chemistry. Those disciplines touch upon how new medicines are

created, how to keep one’s online identity safe, how to analyze masses of

information, and how to keep the electric grid humming despite multiple

challenges.

A

focus of the center is to develop algorithms and architectures that can be used

and applied in a variety of different systems, both today’s as well as systems

to be created in the future.

Finley’s Green2Go passes vaping product testing

Finley’s

Green2Go, a recreational cannabis shop, has passed a supplementary round of

product testing conducted by the OK Cannabis Program.

The

program is a randomized, end-product testing program for the Washington state

cannabis industry.

Due

to the recent increase in health risks connected to vaping products,

OK Cannabis decided to conduct extra testing in September.

More

than 50 brands of vape cartridges from the Green2Go shelves, as well other

shops, were tested for Vitamin E acetate.

OK

Cannabis determined that all of the randomly selected products tested OK. The

program also commended the participating vendors for their integrity and

transparency throughout the testing process.

Vitamin

E acetate, a synthetic vitamin supplement, has been linked to 55 percent of the

cannabis vape products tested by the Food and Drug Administration in connection

with the lung disease outbreak. However, the FDA does warn that no one device

or product has been linked to all cases. 

John L. Scott merges Pasco, Kennewick offices

John

L. Scott Real Estate has merged its Pasco and Kennewick offices.

“Since

we opened the Pasco office in 2010, we have developed a regional footprint

serving the real estate needs of Benton, Franklin and Walla Walla counties, as

well as Umatilla and Morrow County, Oregon,” said Dennis Gisi, owner of the

John L. Scott Tri-Cities Pasco franchise.

The

franchise has offices in Milton-Freewater and Hermiston, Oregon, as well as

Walla Walla and Pasco.

“The

addition of the Kennewick team just makes us stronger and more effective in

serving the real estate needs in the communities we are located. We gain a lot

of synergy in marketing, the use of technology, and most importantly experience

with the addition of the agents,” Gisi said.

Terry

Parrish Sr. and Randy Blumer from the Kennewick office became business partners

in 1986 with the establishment of Pyramid Real Estate, originally as a Century

21 franchise and later a John L. Scott franchise in 2006.

In

addition to Parrish and Blumer, those joining the Pasco office are: Rhonda

Alberts, Jason Huffman, Scott Saltz and Vonetta Wolleat.

The

Kennewick office closed last month to search for a new location, Gisi said.

“The

community has been very good to us over the years and we do not want to be

absent for too long,” he said.

In

the meantime, the office phone numbers, websites and other contact information

remain the same and will be forwarded to the Pasco office to make the

transition as seamless as possible for clients, Gisi said.

The

Pasco office is at 5109 N. Road 68 in suite E. The office can be reached at

509-547 5542. The email addresses and agent cellphone numbers remain the same.

Founded

in 1931 in downtown Seattle, John L. Scott is headquartered in Bellevue. It has

more than 110 offices with more than 3,000 brokers in Washington, Oregon,

California and Idaho.

Learn more about Hanford cleanup at livestream event

Benton County residents are receiving among the highest annual Social Security payments in the state.

Find

out more about Hanford cleanup by joining Tri-Party Agreement agencies from 7-

9 p.m. Nov. 7 for Hanford Live, an online conversation with managers from the

U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state

Department of Ecology.

The

livestream will start with a brief overview from each agency on Hanford’s past,

present and future, followed by a facilitated question-and-answer session.

Anyone

interested in learning more is encouraged to participate in the online

conversation. The goal is to provide an opportunity for communication between

Hanford leadership and the public regarding the environmental cleanup.

 To receive the livestream link, register at https://HanfordLive2019.eventbrite.com.

To submit questions or for more information, email [email protected].

Commerce announces rural infrastructure grants

Two

small communities about an hour outside the Tri-Cities have landed state

Department of Commerce Community Development Block Grants.

The

state distributed more than $10.5 million in grants for 2019 that include

27 projects selected from 41 applications requesting more than $20 million.

The

projects receiving funding will improve water and sewer systems, streets,

community facilities and fire protection systems and also support affordable

housing projects and community planning.

The

city of Kahlotus received $680,000 for well and water distribution

improvements.

The city of Mabton received $750,000 for

drilling and equipping water supply well No. 7.

Cascade Natural Gas proposes rate increase

The Washington

Utilities and Transportation Commission has reached a settlement agreement with

Cascade Natural Gas on its request to raise rates.

The agreement filed

Sept. 20 outlines a plan that would increase Cascade’s natural gas annual

revenues by $6.5 million, or 2.8 percent, instead of by the company’s requested

$12.7 million, or 5.6 percent.

If the settlement is

approved by the three-member commission, the average residential customer would

pay $1.45 more a month, for an average monthly bill of $47.46. These changes

would take effect March 1.

Per

the settlement agreement, Cascade would also be authorized to earn a 7.2

percent overall rate of return, instead of the 7.7 percent rate of return the

company originally requested.

The UTC, which is not

bound by the company’s request or the settlement agreement, will make a final

decision on the utility’s request this fall.

The commission

received 13 public comments through Sept. 20 on Cascade’s rate increase

proposal, all of them opposed.

Customers who want to

comment on the proposed plans can submit comments online at

utc.wa.gov/comments; write to P.O. Box 47250, Olympia, WA, 98504; email

[email protected]; or call toll-free 1-888-333-9882.

In

March, Cascade filed a general rate case with the commission requesting a $12.7

million, or 5.6 percent increase.

Cascade’s last general

rate increase was in 2018.

Kennewick-based

Cascade Natural Gas Corporation serves almost 220,000 residential and business

customers in 68 communities throughout the state, including Kennewick, Walla

Walla, Moses Lake, Wenatchee and Yakima.

Desert Fiber Arts Guild to hold show and sale

Members of the Desert

Fiber Arts Guild have worked all year to create a variety of items, from

handwoven rugs and blankets, to fine hand-knit lace shawls and delicate tatted

jewelry, to showcase during their Fall Fiber Arts Show and Sale.

Daily fiber arts

exhibitions will be a highlight of the event. See how modern spinners make

their handspun yarns.

Shoppers also can

enjoy a large selection of goods for sale, including shawls, wraps, scarves,

mittens, caps, rugs, blankets, towels, tatted jewelry and more.

The annual event will

be held Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 7-9 in Kennewick.

Hours are 6:30-8 p.m.

Nov. 7; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 8; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 9.

The show and sale will

be at Badger Mountain Yarns’ new location in Kennewick. The yarn shop shares

space with Art on the Columbia, a fine art supply store at 830 Columbia Center

Blvd., below the Sprint store near Lowe’s.

For more information, go to DesertFiberArts.org or find on Facebook.

Teens sought for free radio journalism workshop

Do

you know a teen with a story to tell? They can spend a weekend with

professional journalists learning how to make a nonfiction radio story from

start to finish.

Participants

will learn how to use audio recording gear, conduct interviews, write a script,

edit audio and speak on air. This free workshop is for teens ages 16-18. No

previous journalism experience necessary.

The

two-day workshop is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 16-17 at Washington State

University Tri-Cities in Richland.

Apply by Nov. 3 at http://bit.ly/radiorichland.

Pac/West Communications opens Hermiston office

Pac/West

Communications is expanding its reach and investment in the Columbia Basin with

the opening of an office in Hermiston. The office will serve clients in eastern

Oregon and Washington.

The

company has a long history of work in the area, including running successful

election campaigns, developing communications strategies and lobbying for rural

issues and initiatives. The office is in the Columbia Professional Building at

1050 W. Elm Ave. and will act as the company’s regional base of operations.

“The

Columbia Basin is a powerhouse of innovation, growth and development in the

Pacific Northwest. We’re eager to enhance and promote that work,” said Pac/West

Communications President Paul Phillips in a news release.

Pac/West

will staff the Hermiston office with two local professionals who have firsthand

knowledge of the region and its issues.

For

the last 10 years, Phillip Scheuers has worked on government affairs and

economic development, specifically in Eastern Oregon. Before joining Pac/West,

he served as a legislative assistant in the Oregon Legislature, focusing much

of his time on the ways and means and capital construction. He also has

significant experience in economic development programs, including business

incentives and industrial land development for both public and private

entities.

Daniel

Wattenburger, previously an editor at the East Oregonian newspaper for more

than a decade, specializes in communication and has reported extensively on

rural Oregon politics, economy, natural resources, education and health care.

He offers insight on media relations and delivering effective messaging

campaigns across multiple channels.

Pac/West

services include lobbying, political consulting, campaigning, issues

management, branding, marketing, public relations, website development, crisis

communications and association management. The company also has offices in

Wilsonville and Denver.

O’Reilly Auto Parts to build store in Prosser

O’Reilly Auto

Parts plans to build a new store on Wine Country Road in Prosser, but a

timeline for when it’ll open hasn’t been determined yet.

Eric

Bird, external reporting and planning manager for O’Reilly’s corporate

office in Springfield, Missouri, confirmed the new store will be at 361 Wine

Country Road.

The

building will cost $1.4 million, but Bird said he had no other information

about the project. “It’s pretty early in the process,” he said. “We’ve approved

plans on it.”

But

there is no preliminary date for when construction will begin, Bird said. “My

guess is this is going to be late next year when it opens,” he said.

O’Reilly Auto

Parts has 5,344 stores in 47 states, with 81,000 employees.

There

are 157 O’Reilly Auto Parts stores in the state, including two each

in Kennewick and Pasco, one each in Richland, Walla Walla, Grandview and

Sunnyside.

Musser Bros. to auction port’s surplus property

The

Port of Kennewick will auction four surplus commercial properties in south

Kennewick next month.

The

available land is located near the intersection of Interstate 82 and Highway

395 and the new Bob Olson Parkway; and adjacent to Trios Hospital and the

Southridge Sports complex.

The

parcels are zoned community commercial and range in size from 1.34 acres to

2.69 acres, totaling 8.5 acres.

The

port said the land offers “outstanding opportunities” for medical, residential,

restaurant, hotel, entertainment and retail development.

Musser

Bros. will conduct the live auction starting at 11 a.m. Nov. 15 at its auction

facility at 3125 Rickenbacker Drive in Pasco.

Lourdes Occupational Health relocates east Pasco clinic

Lourdes

Occupational Health has moved its east Pasco clinic to Grandridge Boulevard in

Kennewick, near the Three Rivers Convention Center.

The

Occupational Health Clinic is now sharing space with Trios Urgent Care and Trios

After-Hours Pediatrics clinic.

Lourdes

operates two occupational health clinics—one in west Pasco on Sandifur Parkway

and the newly relocated clinic at 7201 Grandridge Blvd. in Kennewick.

Both

clinics will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday to assist

employers with pre-employment requirements, injury claims, safety education and

more. 

This

move marks the first time Lourdes and Trios will share clinic space.

Both

Lourdes Health and Trios Health became members of the for-profit LifePoint Health

in 2018. Together, Lourdes and Trios employ about 2,000 people and work with

nearly 300 health care providers.

Grant County Airport lands $9.9M grant

The

U.S. Department of Transportation awarded Grant County International Airport in

Moses Lake a $9.9 million grant for runway and runway lighting reconstruction.

The

amount is based on the airport’s master improvement plan, which was submitted

to the Federal Aviation Administration.

“Operations

at the Grant County International Airport support both commercial and military

users, serving as a key facility for test flights and air traffic control,”

said Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Washington, in a statement. “This grant is a

substantial federal investment that will allow the Port of Moses Lake to

continue their efforts to improve one of the largest airfields in the United

States.”

In 2018, Newhouse included language in the

FAA Reauthorization Act to prohibit the FAA from realigning or consolidating

the terminal radar approach control system at the airport was exempt from

consolidation, due to its military operation activity.

State cracks Kiplinger’s top 10 list for tax-friendly states

Kiplinger ranked

Washington state No. 6 on its list of best states for taxes.

The list was revealed

as part of Kiplinger’s seventh annual Tax Map—available at

Kiplinger.com/links/taxmap—which shows state income taxes, sales taxes, gas

taxes, “sin” taxes (for products such as alcohol and tobacco) and other tax

rules and exemptions across the country.

Washington makes the

list of the most tax-friendly states because it doesn’t have an income tax,

Kiplinger said. But some of the other state and local taxes in the Evergreen

State aren’t quite so taxpayer friendly, it noted.

The Tax Foundation’s

average combined state and local sales tax rate for Washington is the

third-highest in the country. The state’s gasoline tax is the fourth-highest in

the nation. At 19.4 percent, Washington also has the third-highest average

state and local cellphone wireless service tax in the U.S.

Washington is also one

of a handful of states with an estate tax. For 2019, it’s imposed on estates

worth more than $2,193,000. The estate tax rates range from 10 percent to 20

percent.

Property taxes in

Washington are more modest. For a $400,000 home, the average tax bill in the

state will run about $4,499 per year, which is close to the national average.

To create the rankings, Kiplinger evaluated data and state

policies from a wide range of sources on taxes on income, property, sales,

fuel, tobacco, alcohol, wireless services, and inheritances and gifts.