Washington’s uninsured rate nearly doubled in the first weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic as more than a million workers lost their jobs and their employer-sponsored health coverage. A report issued Aug. 19 by the state Office of Financial Management indicates the uninsured rate remained far above pre-pandemic levels, but the numbers are improving locally and across the state. Before the pandemic, 6.7%...
A road construction crew working in south Richland struck a Cascade Natural Gas line, forcing eight businesses in the Queensgate area to close shortly after 2 p.m. Aug. 18.Mark Hanson, spokesman for the company, confirmed the company's line was struck near Duportail Street and Keene Road. The company expected to...
Nearly half of Tri-Citians either continued to travel by air during the pandemic or expect to return to flying within three months, according to a passenger survey conducted for the Port of Pasco, which owns and operates the Tri-Cities Airport. The survey was conducted online in June and July and drew...
Help is now available for Tri-City renters who are unable to pay rent because of Covid-19 job losses.The Tri-Cities Home Consortium received $700,000 in Federal HOME funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and began accepting applications for rental assistance on Aug. 17.The consortium consists of the cities of Kennewick, Pasco and...
John Corbin is not happy.The Tri-City Chuck E. Cheese restaurant, a franchise he’s helmed for 38 years, closed in March when Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order to curtail the spread of coronavirus. Just 16 months earlier, he’d moved Chuck E. Cheese to a 14,000-square-foot state-of-the-art...
When Kennewick’s Trios Health was sold to a for-profit company in 2018, the managers of the Trios Foundation were left in a pickle.The nonprofit had $2.2 million in assets, lots of worthy targets for donations, and no home.Led by Pete Toolson, the board considered its options. Several worthy charities wanted...
The property owners of Benton and Franklin counties didn’t miss a beat when it was time to pay property tax bills on some $31.5 billion in real estate in April, when the first of two payment deadlines came due.The county treasurers who collect taxes say collections were normal, despite widespread...
Wearing a mask saves lives and saves jobs.And all across the state, Washington employers are leading by example in the fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus.From Seattle to our small towns, workers are masking up before starting their shifts on manufacturing floors, in restaurant kitchens, construction sites and...
The jobless rate fell sharply in June across Washington and in the Tri-Cities as local economies partly reopened under the Safe Start program, according to figures released July 21 by the Washington Employment Security Department.In the Tri-Cities, unemployment fell to 9.1%, down three full points from the 12.3% rate posted...
A Pasco company specializing in hauling chemicals, de-icers, pesticides and more has a new ownership group led by the insurance agent who covered its business for decades.Chad Messerly and his partners, Brian May and Morgan Haynes, bought Harms Pacific Transport Inc. in a deal that closed July 1.The sellers were...
