In pandemic year 2020, the population in the greater Tri-Cities grew among the fastest of all metro areas in Washington state. For Benton County, state Office of Financial Management (OFM) pegged the count at 209,300 residents; for Franklin County, at 99,500. That’s a gain of over 6,300 in 12 months.These...
Visit Tri-Cities, the tax- and fee- funded agency responsible for putting heads in hotel beds, is dropping its paid membership model in favor of a storytelling approach that includes high-quality videos and images.The shift away from the $250 “basic” membership program ($185 for nonprofits) began before the Covid-19 pandemic knocked...
Corvettes on the Columbia, a long-running celebration of all things Corvette and a major fundraiser for Make-A-Wish Alaska & Washington, returns in September after organizers were forced to cancel the 2020 event because of the Covid-19 pandemic.The 3 Rivers Corvette Club will hold the 2021 edition – its 11th –...
Washington’s 19th American Viticultural Area becomes official on Aug. 2.Goose Gap AVA, which lies within Benton County and two existing AVAs, offers winemakers the opportunity to identify it as the source of their grapes on labels under federal rules.The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved the newest AVA...
For 28 years, Paleteria La Jalpita has been handcrafting icy Mexican treats on a stick in downtown Pasco.“We have six pots a day, with each pot producing 800 paletas, for 4,800 total paletas a day,” said Rom Romero, whose dad, Jesus Romero, owns the shop.Paletas are Mexican ice pops that...
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, Washington’s largest winery by far, will join a corporate stable that includes consumer-focused brands such as Ann Taylor Loft, Torrid and Hot Topic under a $1.2 billion deal announced July 9.Altria Group Inc., parent to the Woodinville-based winery, said it had reached an agreement to sell...
The civil engineers and designers in the Kennewick office of J-U-B Engineers have lent their expertise to almost every aspect of the locally-built environment.They work on water and wastewater plants, roads and bridges, aviation projects, site development and plenty more.And now, for the first time since the Kennewick office opened...
Farmland Reserve Inc., a Utah-based nonprofit related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was the winning bidder at a June 17 bankruptcy auction for the 22,500-acre collection of Benton County farms owned by Easterday Ranches Inc. and Easterday Farms.Easterday, a fourth-generation, family-owned agriculture giant based in Franklin...
Richland-based Fowler General Construction Inc. will build three projects at the Hanford site under a trio of new contracts worth a combined $19 million.Washington River Protection Solutions, which holds the tank operations contract at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site, announced the new contracts on July 6.Two projects totaling...
A fast-growing Prosser winery is the latest addition to Vintner’s Village.WIT Cellars, formed in 2016 by three former Kestrel Vintners winemakers, bought the Gamache Vintners four-acre property at 505 Cabernet Court for $1 million in June.WIT owners Flint Nelson, Gina Adams and Cat Warwick were considering building their own winemaking...
