More than 20 workers who lost their lives on the job and have ties to the Tri-Cities will be honored at the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries’ Workers’ Memorial Day service on April 24.
The potential gas tax increase, the first in the state since 2016, raises nearly half of the estimated $3.2 billion the new package is expected to bring in over six years. It would up the state’s levy from 49.4 cents per gallon to 55.4 cents, then lift it by 2% each year.
High school students in Kennewick School District’s FFA programs have been growing and caring for a variety of plants – from flowers to vegetables – and now they are sharing them at upcoming plant sales.
The Tri-Cities labor market in March was the tightest it’s been since November 2024, and the unemployment rate was the lowest it has ever been for that time of year.
A Richland-based agricultural company is reforming its hiring practices and paying a fine to the state Attorney General’s Office after an investigation into discriminatory employment practices and misrepresentations to local farmworkers about job opportunities.
The city and BFCOG are asking for community feedback via a 24-question survey as part of a planning initiative to support revitalization in downtown Kennewick and its surrounding neighborhoods.
The proposal, embedded in House Bill 2049, seeks to allow an increase in the growth factor from the current 1% cap to the combined rate of population growth plus inflation within a taxing district, not to exceed 3%. This would apply to the state’s common schools levy and for cities and counties, as well as special purpose districts.
Washington is among the most trade-dependent states in the nation, with more than $58 billion in exports in 2024 and 40% of jobs tied to trade. According to the governor’s office, new and retaliatory tariffs could cost the state’s agriculture sector $7.5 billion, with significant hits expected to apples, cherries, potatoes, wheat and dairy.
He was first elected as county prosecutor in 1987, having been a deputy prosecutor for six years prior. He served for 36 years, making him the longest tenured Benton County employee and longest tenured prosecutor in the state.
