Seafood eatery owner buys adjacent restaurant building

The owner and operator of a seafood restaurant just west of Columbia Center mall has bought a neighboring restaurant building for $2.4 million.

Bling Enterprises LLC purchased the restaurant at 8110 Gage Blvd., which currently houses Maharaja Taste of India, in April. The nearly 7,400-square foot building is immediately adjacent to Hooked Seafood Boil & Bar, which opened in 2021.

Prior to Maharaja, the building housed a Famous Dave’s BBQ location.

One of Bling’s managing members, Bing Wang, operates Hooked, which is a restaurant concept derived from that of Florida-based Red Crab Seafood Boil restaurants.

Corwin Ford files permits for new Pasco facility

A Tri-Cities auto dealer with an existing Pasco location has been issued permits for a new facility in west Pasco. 

The 49,928-square-foot building will be constructed at the southwest corner of Sandifur Parkway and Outlet Drive, on an 8.47-acres. The permit is valued at $8 million.

Corwin Ford Tri-Cities already has a location at 1225 Autoplex Way off of Highway 395 in Pasco. That building is 67,635 square feet and was built in 2014, according to Franklin County property records.

Pasco expands permits available online

If you’re a Pasco resident looking to install a new furnace or just move a sink in your kitchen or a bathroom, you no longer need to visit City Hall to get the necessary permits. 

Simple residential plumbing and mechanical permit applications are now available through Pasco’s online permit portal, according to a release. The expanded availability builds on the city’s efforts, launched last fall, to make permitting more convenient, efficient and transparent. 

 Along with making permit processes fully digital and available 24 hours a day, the portal allows applicants to track their permit application’s progress and upload any required documents. Go to: egov-pasco.com/eTRAKit3.  

All permit and right of way applications will be available online as early as mid-2026.

Hermiston considers future uses for Carnegie Library

The city of Hermiston has considered four community proposals as it seeks to repurpose its Carnegie Library, but has yet to reach a decision. 

Hermiston’s current public library, right next to the Carnegie Library, was built in 1986 and underwent renovations from 2024-25. Now, the city council is deciding what to do with the Carnegie Library at 215 E. Gladys Ave., originally built in 1918. 

Four community groups presented in April and May council meetings, discussing how they would use the space. The proposals were: Thought Bubblez Learning Center; an art center; a museum for the Hermiston Historical and Cultural Society; and the Hermiston Amateur Radio Club. 

After hearing the proposals, several council members expressed a desire to see several of the proposals combined in the space, but council members did not make a decision at that time.

Pasco also has a Carnegie Library, built in 1911. The building is now home to the Franklin County Historical Society Museum.

Displaced Kennewick bookstore to reopen

A children’s bookstore that closed following a fire in downtown Kennewick earlier this year has found a new home. 

Storytime Bookshop announced via its social media that it will reopen at 220 W. Kennewick Ave. “and it’s already shaping up to be better than ever.” 

“Our goal is have the front area open with kids, middle reader and YA/teen books by mid-June and bringing on other sections as we can,” read the post. 

The new location was formerly used by Impact! Compassion Center, a faith-based nonprofit, which closed in April, according to the Tri-City Herald.  

The bookstore, owned by Lorelei Kennedy, lost all its inventory of books and other merchandise as well as most of its furniture from water and smoke damage following the March fire at its former neighbor, El Tequilas Mexican Restaurant.  

As a result, Storytime is seeking financial donations as well as contributions of books and furniture to help it start its next chapter. 

“We are so grateful for our community that has shown up for us in ways we couldn’t even imagine,” read the bookstore’s social media post. 

El Tequilas, located at 107 W. Kennewick Ave., remains boarded up and online listings state it is temporarily closed. Another neighboring business, apothecary shop Earth Spirit, also is still closed though owner Erin Sagadin has been working to refurbish its storefront ahead of reopening while also hosting pop up sales events around downtown Kennewick and selling items online at earthspiritshop.com. 

To learn more and support Storytime’s reopening efforts, go to: storytimebookshop.com.

Good Shepherd completes clinic space renovation

A small Oregon hospital that has increasingly drawn patients from the Tri-Cities has expanded one of its facilities to accommodate growing demand for its specialty services. 

Good Shepherd Health Care System recently finished 11,000 square feet of space at its Good Shepherd Medical Plaza at 620 NW 11th St. in Hermiston. The new clinic spaces will ultimately house nine different medical and surgical specialties, according to a release. 

“This project represents an important investment in the future of healthcare for our growing communities,” said Art Mathisen, president and CEO, in a statement. “These newly created spaces allow us to continue expanding specialty care services while creating a welcoming, efficient and state-of-the-art environment for our patients and staff.” 

The medical plaza already houses the Good Shepherd Women’s Center on its main floor. The recently completed project focused on creating the clinic spaces on the building’s upper and lower levels, mirroring the look and feel of the women’s clinic. 

Clinics for dermatology, endocrinology, neurology and interventional radiology, as well as soon-to-open rheumatology, have already moved into the lower-level spaces. Gastroenterology, general surgery, urology, along with ear, nose and throat, and audiology, will move to the upper level the first week of June.

Horse Heaven Hills winemakers buy Prosser winery facility

Three winemakers, two of them longtime tenants of a 20-year-old building at Prosser’s Vintners Village, have come together to buy and fully occupy it. 

Coyote Canyon and Martinez & Martinez wineries have been in The Winemaker’s Loft, 357 Port Ave., since it opened in 2006. Desert Moon Winery moved into the facility, which houses tasting rooms as well as wine production space, in 2025.  

The three wineries held a grand reopening and ribbon cutting June 5. 

A sale price was not disclosed and public records did not reflect a recent change in ownership. The property was last purchased by Winemakers Loft LLC for $1.1 million in 2024. That company lists one of the four owners of Martinez & Martinez as its owner, according to state Department of Revenue records. 

All three wineries produce wines from grapes grown in the Horse Heaven Hills wine grape-growing region. Martinez & Martinez has the oldest grape-growing roots, as the family that owns it began growing grapes 45 years ago before launching the winery in 2005. Coyote Canyon has produced wine for 22 years. Desert Moon’s vineyard was planted in 2023 but the family that owns it has stewarded the land it sits on for decades. 

The port of Benton developed Vintners Village serve as a hub of the region’s wine industry. Twelve wineries currently host tasting rooms and production facilities at the development along Interstate 82.

A year later, how WA’s controversial cap on rent hikes has been enforced

A year into Washington’s limit on residential rent increases, the state has yet to collect a cent in civil penalties from landlords. 

That’s not to say some haven’t violated the law. 

The state attorney general’s office has settled roughly four dozen cases of alleged breaches of the law, which caps rent increases in traditional units at 7% plus inflation, up to 10%. The limit for manufactured homes is 5%. Fines in these cases total over $800,000, but landlords haven’t had to pay as long as they’ve taken steps to comply, like canceling planned increases or issuing refunds.   

Settlement agreements have provided rent relief for over 1,000 households, AG Nick Brown said this month. 

The biggest fines have hit RV park owners, who were surprised to be classified as manufactured home communities under the law. In April, Suntides RV Park in Yakima County was fined nearly $400,000 after raising rent 5.4% – above the 5% cap – and giving 30 days’ notice instead of the required three months. 

The Manufactured Housing Communities of Washington has filed a legal challenge, with a hearing is set for Spokane County Superior Court in mid-July. 

– Washington State Standard