Articles by Wendy Culverwell
Four years ago, Carbitex bet its future on footwear – it’s paying off
Carbitex Inc., the Kennewick tech manufacturer that turns carbon fabric into flexible carbon composites, had a choice to make when it debuted in 2012. Its patented, flexible-yet-rigid composite material could be used in any number of products. Junus Khan, founder and chairman, had to figure out which one to target. Four years ago, Khan and…
New apartment project honors pioneering builder
The late developer Robert “Bob” Young liked to give his apartment complexes dignified names. The Villas. Washington Square. Broadmoor. Jadwin Stevens. Highlands. Young, who lived in San Francisco but left a mark on the Tri-City landscape, died in 2014 at age 82. The company he founded, once known as Robert Young and Associates, is now…
Veterans Court is changing lives in Benton County. Will Franklin follow?
Judge Dan Kathren expected miracles in 2019, when Benton County launched a special court to help veterans charged with crimes turn their lives around. Forty veterans and 20 graduates later, he has not been disappointed. “It’s absolutely doing what we were hoping it would,” said Kathren, a seasoned Benton County District Court judge who…
Work wanted: Tech manager seeks jobs for staff as company reorganizes
A profitable Kennewick technology business is being closed by its parent as part of a global reorganization blamed on the pandemic. Bruker Inc. is merging Bruker’s Nano Handheld-Mobile Portable XRF unit, which employs about 50, with a sister company in Berlin and closing the office at the end of December. It is shifting its work…
Port of Kennewick CEO survives contentious job review
Tim Arntzen, longtime CEO of the Port of Kennewick, narrowly survived a job challenge during a stormy performance review by the port’s divided commission. The performance review was conducted in public session during the commission’s Nov. 9 meeting, held virtually because of the pandemic. The commission voted 2-1 to accept the review, with the current…
Former executive director seeks Port of Benton seat
Scott Keller, the Port of Benton’s retired executive director, is seeking appointment to the seat vacated by Commissioner Bob Larson, who retired on Oct. 28, four years into a six-year term. The port’s remaining two commissioners, Roy Keck and Jane Hagarty, intend to appoint Larson’s replacement on Nov. 29. Keller is the only candidate to…
Series of happy and not-so-happy accidents led Ciao Wagon to Pasco
Susanne and Jessie Ayala had a plan. It just didn’t include opening Ciao Trattoria in downtown Pasco, which they did in October. The Ayalas intended to leverage their restaurant experience and the success of their Ciao Wagon food truck into a sit-down restaurant in east Pasco, at the Osprey Pointe Marketplace, which hasn’t been built.…
Pepper Preppers heating up old Benton City fire station
A former fire station in the heart of Benton City will be the new home of Pepper Preppers LLC, a hot sauce business, as well as a commercial kitchen available for lease to a limited number of food startups. Cheri and Bill Smoot, founders of Pepper Preppers LLC, have a $211,000 agreement to buy the…
Memory care home adding two buildings in Pasco
Rosetta Assisted Living is completing its Pasco complex with its third and fourth buildings to serve residents with memory disorders. The Pasco facility, 5921 Road 60, has room for up to four identical buildings to care for residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Each building has 17 rooms and can serve up…
Train blasts too loud?
Pasco fields complaints about noise
Prompted by complaints about the blasts from trains rumbling through Pasco, the city is looking at what it would take to create a “railroad quiet zone.” The city council reviewed the state and federal requirements for quiet zones during a July workshop but has taken no further steps since then. Steve Worley, public works director,…
