It’s too early to tell how the Trump administration will affect agriculture in Eastern Washington. But if the president’s budget proposal for the U.S. Department of Agriculture survives intact, it could chop a serious chunk out of the Washington Department of Agriculture’s budget. Derek Sandison,Washington Department of AgricultureThat’s what Derek Sandison,...
Hirst ruling, family leave, B&O tax among stalled billsThe heavy lifting still has to be done on a pair of state bills that will greatly affect Tri-City area businesses — dealing with the Washington Supreme Court’s Hirst ruling and installing paid family leave.Washington’s Legislature is deadlocked on almost every budget...
Three prominent Tri-Citians hope to persuade the federal government to turn over Army Corps of Engineers’ riverfront land to local governments by the end of this year.This has been a dream for some Tri-Citians for at least 30 years, if not longer.Their immediate hurdle is no one is really sure...
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to fix Karen Miller's title.Tri-City interests are looking at the possibility of installing charging stations for electric vehicles in the Mid-Columbia.Right now, that possibility is in the initial brainstorming stage.The Franklin County and Benton County public utility districts, Energy Northwest and other local...
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland is looking at a couple of potentially lucrative sources for biofuels.Poop and algae.The poop approach will be tested on a full scale soon in Vancouver, B.C. The algae approach is eventually headed for tests at an Arizona facility.Biofuels refer to a wide range of fuels...
Kennewick-based company says it is ‘committed to achieving compliance’Cascade Natural Gas agreed to a $2.5 million fine in late March for not having safety-related paperwork for much of its pipelines in and around Kennewick.If the Kennewick-based corporation accomplishes the required fix-it work on time, $1.5 million of that fine will...
Washington is the only state without a statewide tourism marketing program.But that would change under two bills making their way throughout the Washington Legislature. So far the bills by Rep. Cary Condotta, R-Wenatchee, and Sen. Dean Takko, D-Longview, have easily sailed through their committee stages for eventual floor votes.The bills...
A compromise is being worked on for two different family leave bills in Olympia.A Democratic bill is sailing through the Washington House, mainly because the Democrats are the majority party there.However, the Senate Republicans put their own family leave bill on hold, not even voting it out of a committee...
Bill would reclassify studios as separate from larger fitness centersThe tax sort of snuck in there.A retail sales tax on small martial arts studios went into effect on Jan. 1, 2016. But martial arts studio owners statewide — including in the Tri-Cities — didn’t know about the new tax on...
Hirst decision affecting rural development; bill would give local governments more flexibilityA bill to deal with a development-related fallout of last year’s state Supreme Court’s decision passed the Republican-dominated Washington Senate.However, the 28-21 vote on Feb. 28 mostly along party lines means that bill faces a tough road in the...
