Articles by Wendy Culverwell
Jerky plant could bring 100+ jobs to Richland
Old Trapper Smoked Products Inc., a key player in the $4 billon meat snack industry, plans to build a large food processing plant in Richland. The company, based in the Portland suburb of Forest Grove, intends to build a 50,000-square-foot facility employing 100 to start at Horn Rapids Industrial Park. The payroll could grow to…
Richland, Pasco ready to make the case for a third high school
The Richland and Pasco school districts each are preparing to make the case for a third high school. It will be the first new full-service high school for the Richland district since Hanford High opened in 1972 and for the Pasco district since Chiawana High School opened in 2009. Both plan to ask voters to…
Tri-City tourism expected to set new record in 2022
The Tri-City tourism market returned to prepandemic levels and is poised to beat 2019 levels this year, courtesy athletic events and leisure travelers. Visitor spending exceeded $489.3 million in 2021, a figure based on federal and state data as well as tax receipts and lodging industry surveys. It is 41.8% more than 2020 and just…
Ben Franklin Transit aims to attract ‘choice’ riders
Ben Franklin Transit’s director of planning and service development does not own a car. Keith Hall gets around the Tri-Cities by bike, scooter and by bus, something he says is becoming a realistic option as the transit agency invests in initiatives to make riding the bus more convenient to all residents. Ben Franklin Transit is…
Peninsula Truck Lines invests in Tri-City growth
Peninsula Truck Lines is based in western Washington, but the Northwest carrier is making inroads in the Tri-Cities. In 2021, Peninsula marked its 70th anniversary as a company. It expanded its Kennewick terminal on East Bruneau Street when it paid nearly $500,000 for a one-acre site next door. It demolished several residential structures and installed…
Renovated railroad trestle connects east, west
Fierce wind raked the Beverly Bridge but the challenging weather didn’t deter crowds who turned out to dedicate the Beverly Bridge, the newest link in the Washington State Park system’s Palouse to Cascades State Trail. Gov. Jay Inslee joined a crowd of more than 300 to officially open the former railroad trestle near Vantage to…
Unique food park opening this fall in Kennewick
A unique food park is coming to a spot near Lawrence Scott Park in Kennewick’s Columbia Center area. 1derful Food Park – pronounced “wonderful” – is the brainchild of Joo Seok Baek of Richland. It will have seven kitchens and dining space at 6494 W. Skagit Ave., Kennewick. The 30,000-square-foot complex will have seven 400-square-foot…
Richland redevelopment gets tricky as Panda Express eyes waterfront
Panda Express will open a Chinese-American fast-food restaurant next to the Columbia River in the heart of Richland. It is the latest in a series of big moves in Richland’s central business district, where the city is fostering business and residential development along the Columbia River. The Panda Express site, 924 George Washington Way, is…
Vista Field is ready for its public debut
Developers, start your engines. The Port of Kennewick will begin accepting proposals from developers who want to build homes, offices, restaurants and other structures at its Vista Field urban development starting on June 16. The port will announce it is ready for ideas at the former municipal airport during grand opening festivities that will highlight…
Kennewick public market opening delayed, ‘not ready’
A much-anticipated public market in the heart of Kennewick is putting off its opening date, citing construction delays. “We’re not ready,” said Kelsey Bitton, project manager for The Public Market @ Columbia River Warehouse, the market that is taking over the former Welch’s juice plant and later, J. Lieb, 20 E. Bruneau St. It was…
