Major Tri-Cities traffic corridor closed through May 18

Heads up: the ongoing reconstruction of an intersection on a major Richland street means you’ll need to find another way to work at least through May 18. 

The private contractor making improvements to the intersection of Steptoe Street and Tapteal Drive closed Steptoe on May 14 to thru traffic between Gage Boulevard and the Columbia Park Trail roundabout to remove and replace existing railroad tracks and signal infrastructure, according to a release. 

City officials said the closure is necessary to complete the work. 

“Steptoe Street is expected to reopen to traffic on the morning of Monday, May 18, though reopening could be impacted by site conditions,” the city said in a statement. 

Leslie Road and Center Parkway will serve as detour routes during the closure.   

The west end of Tapteal Drive will also remain closed, with traffic detoured via Center Parkway and Columbia Center Boulevard. 

A private developer is financing and conducting the roadwork to provide road access to commercial property on the west side of Steptoe Street. In the end, the project will realign Tapteal to intersect Steptoe further south at the railroad crossing, providing a new traffic signal and pedestrian infrastructure.

Fusion company lands $5.2M contract for nuclear batteries

The Seattle-area fusion energy startup that’s launching a Richland facility has won a $5.2 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop nuclear batteries. 

Avalanche Energy will be developing technology to convert nuclear radiation energy into electricity under DARPA’s Rads to Watts program. 

While the technology being developed for the contract is different from Avalanche’s fusion technology, it will ultimately help advance the company’s work on fusion devices. 

“The direct energy conversion technologies we’re developing under Rads to Watts will be essential for extracting power from fusion reactions efficiently,” said Robin Langtry, co-founder and CEO of Avalanche, in a statement. “We’re building the capabilities today that will enable tomorrow’s fusion systems to deliver reliable, portable energy for defense, space, and commercial applications.”

Avalanche will lead a team made up of the University of Utah, Caltech, Los Alamos National Laboratory and McQuaide Microsystems to work on technology for the DARPA contract. 

Avalanche moved into Port of Benton-owned space at 2345 Stevens Drive in 2025 and hopes to turn the space into a fusion testing facility. 

Farmers markets beginning to open

Farmers market season has kicked off with Pasco welcoming vendors and patrons alike to its downtown mercado. 

Located next to Peanuts Park at 426 W. Lewis St., the Pasco farmers market is now open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon through October. 

Other events and activities, such as “Meet Your Farmer” days, cooking demonstrations, and family-friendly activities, are planned throughout the summer. Additionally, the city will offer the K.E.R.N.E.L. (Kids Eating Right Nutrition and Exercise for Life) Cash program to engage children in learning about lifelong healthy eating habits, gardening and exercise. Vendors also are still being accepted. 

Elsewhere in the Tri-Cities: 

• The Richland farmers market at The Parkway in the central business district is scheduled to open June 5.  
• Richland restaurant Three-Eyed Fish will begin hosting its weekly farmers market on June 7 at 1970 Keene Road. 
• Angel Brook Farm’s market and produce stands around the Tri-Cities also typically begin operating in early June.

Banner Bank parent acquires WA commercial bank

The parent company of Walla Walla-based Banner Bank is bringing another Washington state financial institution into its fold. 

Banner Corporation will acquire Pacific Financial Corporation, the holding company of Aberdeen-based Bank of the Pacific, in an all-stock transaction. Once complete, Banner will have about $18 billion in assets. 

Bank of the Pacific has 18 branches, most of them concentrated on or near the Washington state coast, with some concentrated around Bellingham and a few in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It has assets of $1.29 billion compared to Banner’s $16.34 billion. 

Banner operates 135 bank branches across four Western states, with four branches in the Tri-Cities. 

Under the terms of the merger, Pacific Financial shareholders will receive 0.2633 shares of Banner common stock in exchange for each share of Pacific Financial common stock. Based on the closing price of $66.25 per share of Banner common stock on April 29, the implied value of the merger consideration to be received by Pacific Financial shareholders is equal to $17.44 per share, or about $177 million.

Mid-Columbia jobs market in a bit of a funk

The Tri-Cities continues to see the typical seasonal drop in its unemployment rate as the weather warms, but the job market isn’t what it was a year ago. 

The region’s non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.4% in March 2026, according to the latest jobs data released by the state’s Employment Security Department. That’s down slightly from February’s 5.8% rate but above the 5% recorded in March 2025.  

In raw numbers, nearly 900 more individuals were receiving unemployment benefits in region in March 2026 compared to a year ago.  

The region did see job growth, though. More than 169,000 were listed as employed, compared to more than 165,000 a year ago. 

“Private sector gains remain steady across South Central(/Southeastern Washington), but rising job seekers and continued government losses show the recovery is still uneven,” said Ajsa Suljic, regional labor economist for South Central/Southeastern Washington, in a statement. 

Suljic added, “At the same time, the region continues to show its unique strengths, from Yakima’s national scale agriculture to Klickitat County’s emerging niche in unmanned aerial systems manufacturing sectors. The latter is not widely known but it’s increasingly important to long-term diversification of the regional job market.” 

The state non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.3% in March, down from 5.7% in February but up from 4.9% a year ago.

X-energy goes public

You can now buy stock in the company planning to build the next generation of nuclear reactors north of Richland in partnership with Amazon and Energy Northwest. 

Maryland-based X-energy was first listed for trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market on April 24 under the ticker symbol XE, according to the company’s social media. The initial public offering of 44 million shares of Class A common stock was priced at $23 per share. It hit a peak of nearly $37 per share on April 28 and sat at just under $33 per share as of May 11.

X-energy’s Xe-100 small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs, will be the technology that powers the planned Cascade Advanced Energy Facility.  

The project, announced in late 2024, calls for construction of four SMRs, capable of generating 320 megawatts of power, which Amazon will have claim to. 

Renderings released by Amazon several months ago show what the facility would look like at full build-out, generating 960 megawatts that would contribute to the region’s power grid.   

Construction is anticipated to begin in the next five years. Energy Northwest named Cascade Nuclear Partners – a joint venture made up of Black & Veatch, Aecon and Kiewit Nuclear Solutions Co. – as the builder for the project.

Drought drives new statewide initiative, water monitoring tools

As irrigators around the state wrestle with another year of drought, state officials have launched an effort to brainstorm solutions with communities along with a new tool to help Yakima Valley property owners track water restrictions. 

Gov. Bob Ferguson and the state Department of Ecology announced the Washington’s Water Future initiative on May 6. It will work to bring stakeholders ranging from communities, tribes, farmers, businesses and local leaders together at regional roundtables this summer to determine water needs and challenges as well as identify paths forward. 

After four years of drought, the Yakima Valley is one of the hardest hit regions in the state. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation estimated on April 9 that proratable water users will receive only 52% of their normal water supply. This means junior water rights won’t receive any water as proratable users need to receive 100% of their normal supply before junior users can access whatever remains. 

Ecology recently launched a new webpage aimed at keeping water users in the region informed on water supply conditions and restrictions. 

The governor’s office said the latest climate projections by the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group indicate conditions will only get worse in the years ahead. More rain in the winter will continue to increase flooding risk, while less snow will reduce how much water is available for people and fish in the summer. This will be a statewide problem, including for the traditionally “wet” western Washington, according to the governor’s office.

Go to: bit.ly/yakima-water.

Aid available for Benton County businesses affected by drought

The U.S. Small Business Administration is making low-interest loans available to Benton County businesses in response to the ongoing drought, but not all are eligible. 

The loans are available in counties across Washington and Oregon that are part of the federal disaster declaration because of the drought. In Washington, along with Benton County, Yakima and Klickitat counties are included in the disaster declaration. The Oregon counties of Morrow, Gilliam, Sherman and Wasco are also covered under the disaster declaration. 

The federal agency’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries and private nonprofits – including faith-based organizations – with financial losses directly related to the disaster. Go to: bit.ly/disaster-loans.

Loans can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as 4% for small businesses and 3.625% for private nonprofits with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue, and payments are not due until one year from the date of the first loan disbursement.  

However, the disaster loans are not available for all enterprises affected by the drought. SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers or ranchers, except for small aquaculture enterprises. Aid for those businesses may be available via the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency’s disaster relief programs.

Pasco delays consideration of new additional sales tax

The Pasco City Council is considering a new 0.1% sales tax to pay for maintaining its roads, which would further secure its position in the region as the municipality with the highest overall sales tax rate.

The council was scheduled to discuss the new sales tax for its Transportation Benefit District on May 4 but tabled the discussion to allow those members who were absent to be part of the conversation.

Council members established a Transportation Benefit District encompassing the entirety of the city’s 83,000 residents in February. The new sales tax would be implemented through that district, with revenues dedicated to the city’s street fund, which has previously been paid for by utility and fuel taxes. 

“However, those sources are no longer enough,” the city said in a release. “As one example, it would cost around $8 million per year for pavement preservation work to keep Pasco’s roads in good condition. Right now, the city budget has about $1 million per year to pay for pavement preservation.” 

Pasco’s overall sales tax rate currently sits at 8.9%, which includes the state’s 6.5% tax rate and another 2.4% that are locally imposed sales taxes. If approved, the new sales tax would place Pasco’s overall sales tax rate at a flat 9%. By comparison, Kennewick’s and Richland’s overall sales tax rates are each 8.8%, while West Richland is 8.7%. 

City officials said it would take about six months for the new sales tax to be implemented if approved. And the tax could be increased further with voter approval. 

Temporary 10-day irrigation cutoff scheduled

Nearly all customers of Kennewick Irrigation District were expected to be without irrigation water for up to 10 days when the pumping facility that supplies its canals underwent repairs this month.

The irrigation district told its customers on April 30 it would temporarily halt water deliveries from May 8-18 so that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation could repair its Chandler Pumping Plant, which is the primary diversion point for KID’s canals. 

“During this period, water deliveries will be unavailable, with limited exceptions,” KID said in its statement. “Service will be restored as quickly as possible once the repairs are complete.” 

KID provides irrigation water to more than 20,000 acres in and around Kennewick. While many of its customers are residential, it also supplies agricultural areas such as Badger Canyon and wineries in the Red Mountain wine-growing area near West Richland. 

Currently only one of the two pumps at the plant, located between Benton City and Prosser on the Yakima River, is operational, with the other shut down due to problems found during maintenance, KID said in a statement. While the single pump can meet current demand, both pumps will be needed by June to meet growing seasonal water needs. 

“While the District does not control the plant, we are working closely with Reclamation to minimize impacts to our community and keep you informed,” the district said. 

For KID’s water status map, go to: bit.ly/irrigation-map.

New bus line to link Tri-Cities and Spokane

If you’re tired of getting behind the wheel to get up to and back from the greater Spokane region, you now have an option to kick back and let someone else do the driving. 

The newest Travel Washington Intercity bus route, the Wheat Line, began service May 1 between the Tri-Cities and Spokane, according to a release. It will be operated by Central Washington Airporter, joining the state’s four other intercity bus lines – Dungeness, Gold, Apple and Grape. 

A full route map with stops had not yet been published as of early May, but available details indicate the Wheat Line will offer two daily trips, northbound and southbound, with the intention of providing connections between other transportation hubs, such as the Tri-Cities and Spokane airports; multimodal transit centers in Pasco, Moses Lake and Spokane; and Eastern Washington University’s Cheney campus. 

This is the first new Travel Washington bus route in nearly 20 years and is the second to serve the Tri-Cities. 

The Grape Line currently offers three trips daily between Pasco and Walla Walla, with connectors to other outlying areas and as far away as Yakima. Tickets typically start at $40 roundtrip. 

The state Department of Transportation identified the Wheat Line’s service area as a “priority corridor” in its 2024 Connecting Communities study. The study used extensive public input to find areas where potential service expansion would be most cost-effective. It also focused on linking rural areas to the existing intercity network, transportation hubs and urban centers. 

Along with fares, the intercity bus lines are funded by The Federal Transit Administration and WSDOT.

Settlement reached in Walla Walla gas station leak

The owners of a Walla Walla Chevron gas station have reached a settlement with state Ecology officials regarding penalties and cleanup costs for a 2023 gasoline leak that contaminated groundwater and led to the evacuation of the historic Marcus Whitman Hotel. 

Wine and Country Store LLC, previously known as Stillwater Holdings LLC, faced $4.8 million in cleanup cost recovery and penalties for the fuel spill.   

Under the settlement, Wine and Country Store LLC will pay $275,000 within 30 days, comply with a contaminated site cleanup enforcement order and withdraw the penalty appeal from the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board. 

The business’s settlement with the state Department of Ecology is intended to more quickly address ongoing environmental risks and avoid additional legal costs, according to a release. The settlement includes agreement that Ecology’s time spent overseeing and completing the final cleanup will be reflected in a lien on the property to allow recovery of tax dollars. 

The incident began in September 2023 when the Marcus Whitman Hotel in downtown Walla Walla was evacuated due to gas odors. Testing identified potentially harmful vapors and gasoline in the basement and in two nearby buildings. The buildings were ventilated to eliminate the risk of an explosion, and the buildings’ drainage systems, also known as sumps, were pumped to reduce vapor concentrations.    

Investigators estimate 2,500 gallons of gasoline was allowed to leak into groundwater and affect neighboring buildings.  

In May 2025, Stillwater Holdings told Ecology that it could pay for little or no more work, and that the state would need to take over. By law, Stillwater Holdings is responsible for the pollution, responding to the emergency and cleaning up the contamination.  

Ecology issued an enforcement order to the owners in July 2024, requiring them to reduce harmful vapors and remove contaminated water from nearby buildings.   

In September 2025, Ecology issued a $738,000 penalty against Wine and Country Store LLC for spilling oil into state waters and failing to notify state officials. That was on top of $4.1 million in from the state’s spill response and pollution mitigation expenses. 

Wine and Country Store LLC could still end up paying the full penalty. The full penalty and cost recovery amount will be held in suspension to ensure the LLC meets its end of the deal.

Looking to buy or sell a boat? Act quick to avoid new state tax

If you’re thinking about buying a boat to spend the coming summer on the Columbia River, you have until July 1 to avoid a new state sales tax. 

The Legislature approved the new tax as part of its broad collection of tax increases during the 2025 legislative session. It will charge a 0.5% tax on the retail sale of any recreational vessel in the state. The tax applies to the selling price, plus trade-in property. 

Boat dealers will collect the tax and report it to the state on their excise tax returns. Those buying a boat through a private seller will be required to pay the tax when they register the vessel with the state. 

The state will use revenues generated by the tax to fund a new multimodal transportation account. Those funds are planned to be used for long-range transportation needs that support mass transit, pedestrians, cyclists and ferries..   

Area residents among honored fallen workers

A man who died from an illness resulting from his work as a concrete fabricator and a 21-year-old crushed by a front loader at a Richland construction site are among the 115 fallen workers state officials honored April 28. 

The state Department of Labor & Industries’ (L&I) annual Worker Memorial Day ceremony memorialized those who died on the job or as a result of their work.  

During the ceremony, the names of the workers who died in 2025, as well as several others not recognized in previous years, were read, accompanied by bell ringers from the Olympia and Tumwater fire departments. 

Nearly half of those being remembered died because of exposure to toxic chemicals. That included a dozen fallen workers connected to the Hanford site. It also included 61-year-old Joseph Bauman of Pasco.  

His wife Miki Bauman said he died on their 35th wedding anniversary from obstructive pulmonary disease, according to the tribute she wrote for the ceremony. 

“Joe was a hard-working man, a true leader, loyal to all for whom he worked,” she said in the statement. “His expansive knowledge of the construction industry was often sought.” 

Other workers died from blunt force or crushing injuries, motor vehicle accidents and falls. That included John Palomino of Kennewick, who died May 23, 2025, when he attempted to stop a front loader from rolling downhill at his Richland worksite. That incident occurred in the Westcliffe Heights subdivision of Pahlisch Homes, according to media reports.  

“Johnny was a kind, joyful man,” his mother, Maria Palomino, wrote in her tribute. “He graduated and decided he wanted to work in the construction industry like his dad.” 

Other fallen workers from the Mid-Columbia memorialized this year included: 

Benton City: Robert Gerds II, 70.

Kennewick: Jesse Garrett, 66; Brian Nopens, 65; James Ono, 86; David Rodeman, 39; Godfrey Smith, 78; Robert Watts, 67. 

Pasco: Vernon Frerking, 85; Roberto Martinez, 51. 

Prosser: Michael Boob, 58. 

Richland: James Bateman, 65; William Hayes, 75; Kathleen Kraemer, 72; Murrel Petry, 70; Daniel Pitts, 59. 

Fire district plans tax increase to meet service demands

The fire district serving West Richland and other unincorporated parts of Benton County will ask its residents to raise their property taxes to meet increasing demands for services and growing costs. 

Benton Fire District 4’s board of commissioners recently voted to place a levy lid lift on the Aug. 4 primary election ballot. 

If approved by voters, the tax increase would restore the district’s fire levy to $1.50 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The rate currently sits at $1.31 due to state limits on annual property tax growth.  

The proposed levy would cost the owner of a $350,000 home about $5.54 per month, or $66.50 per year. 

The additional funding would enable the district to hire six firefighters, replace an aging fire engine and strengthen water rescue, as well as fire and life safety prevention programs, according to a district news release. 

The district has three stations to serve a roughly 52-square-mile area encompassing West Richland and properties north to the Yakima River.  

Go to: bcfd4.org/levy-info. 

Prosser Memorial Health names new CEO

The financial leader who joined Prosser Memorial Health’s executive leadership team less than a year ago is now the healthcare provider’s top official. 

Prosser Memorial Health’s board has named Tim Reed as the hospital’s new CEO, replacing former CEO Craig Marks who retired after 10 years leading the healthscare system, according to a release. 

Marks’ tenure was transformational, Prosser Memorial Health said in a statement, as he guided the public hospital district through growth and the construction and opening of a new 25-bed hospital.  

Reed has supported those efforts and Prosser Memorial Health’s board “looks forward to the future under Reed’s direction as the organization continues its mission to improve the health of the greater community.” 

Reed has lived in the Yakima Valley for nearly 20 years. Among his past healthcare roles, he was at Virginia Mason Memorial Health for nearly a decade, where he served as vice president and chief financial officer before leaving at the end of 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile. He then worked as a consultant and operated a glass business before joining Prosser Memorial Health in June 2025. 

“Although I have only been here since June, I knew within the first few weeks that this organization and community were something special,” Reed said in a statement. “With the momentum already underway and the opportunities ahead, I am incredibly optimistic about our future growth and what we can accomplish together for the region.” 

New Benton-Franklin Superior Court judge appointed

A career public servant who has spent his entire legal career in the region will be the newest member of the bench for Benton-Franklin Superior Court. 

Gov. Bob Ferguson announced April 15 he was appointing Andrew Howell, effective June 1, to take the seat being vacated by Judge Diana Ruff. He will serve the remainder of Ruff’s term before seeking re-election in 2027. 

Howell currently serves as the court’s commissioner, a role he’s held since 2022 and has him presiding over a range of civil and juvenile criminal dockets. Prior to that he spent over a decade at the Benton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office where he specialized in complex cases and prosecuted felonies. He was the chief deputy for the prosecutor’s juvenile division for six years.   

“I am deeply honored to serve the communities of Benton and Franklin counties in this role,” Howell said in a statement.

Darigold to pay $2M in settlement over river pollution

One of the state’s largest milk producers has reached a settlement with an environmental group related to pollution from its processing facility in Sunnyside. 

Columbia Riverkeeper and Darigold recently agreed to a consent decree resolving a 2025 lawsuit that alleged the dairy cooperative violated the federal Clean Water Act for more than four years, according to a release. 

The agreement requires Darigold to pay $2 million to the Yakama Nation. It also must submit an engineering report – subject to approval by the state Department of Ecology – outlining how it will meet clean water standards.  

The company could face additional penalties paid to the tribe for any future pollution exceedances over the next 18 months. 

Darigold said in a statement to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business that it has worked with the Department of Ecology and the Port of Sunnyside to manage wastewater and disputes that its operations caused harm. 

“In the interest of maintaining strong relationships with our many partners and stakeholders in Sunnyside and surrounding areas, we are pleased to have reached a resolution to this matter and put it behind us,” Darigold said in its statement. 

Columbia Riverkeeper’s original lawsuit said that two of the Sunnyside facility’s discharge points, which are supported by the port’s Industrial Wastewater Treatment Facility, send its wastewater onto agricultural land, which then finds its way into nearby Sulphur Creek, a tributary of the Yakima River. Those pollutants contribute to low dissolved oxygen in water, harming fish and other aquatic life. 

While the facility has a permit to release treated wastewater, Columbia Riverkeeper claimed it violated that permit by exceeding effluent limitations, failing to properly monitor and report discharges, and failing to properly operate and maintain all facilities or systems of treatment control to achieve compliance. 

Neither a court nor state Ecology officials have found Darigold at fault, the cooperative said in its statement. The company also continually evaluates and upgrades its wastewater treatment facilities and has made improvements over the last year, with additional improvements planned. 

The Yakama Nation intends to use money from the settlement to battle infestations of water stargrass, a native plant that can contribute to higher water temperatures during hot periods by slowing water flow and trapping heat. The plant has overtaken stretches of the lower Yakima River due to low flows and agricultural nutrients in the water.