Bankrupt Pier 1 is closing stores but Kennewick isn’t on thelistThe Kennewick outlet of Pier 1 Imports is not on the list ofhundreds of stores slated for closure. Pier 1 Imports Inc., based in Fort Worth, Texas, filed forprotection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code inVirginia...

Carlos OlivaresChief Executive OfficerYakima Valley Farm Workers ClinicNumber of employees youoversee: Last year we employed 2,015employees, and 623 volunteers and career placements. This includes 166 medicalproviders, 35 dentists and 18 pharmacists. What is Yakima ValleyFarm Workers Clinic? Yakima Valley Farm WorkersClinic is a Community Health Center and a system of...

Washington ispreparing to battle with coronavirus, the emerging health threat thatoriginated in China.The state HealthDepartment is the lead. It announced on Feb. 4 that it stands ready to isolateand quarantine travelers from China, working with partners to implement federalmeasures announced in January to control the spread.The World HealthOrganization declared a...

Burnout rates among health care professionals is a growingissue nationwide. About 44 percent of health care providers experience signs ofburnout, such as stress, anxiety and depression, according to Medscape, whichtracks the medical industry.Recognizing the need, Providence launched TelebehavioralHealth Concierge for caregivers and their dependents throughout the state,including at Richland’s Kadlec....

Age discriminationagainst people age 50 and older robbed the economy of $850 billion in 2018,according to a new AARP report.Research shows thatthe 50-plus population contributed 40 percent of the U.S. Gross DomesticProduct, or GDP, in 2018, creating 88.6 million jobs and generating $5.7trillion in wages and salaries through jobs held...

AARP Washington ischampioning a bill to require employers that do not offer retirement plans tomake an “automatic enrollment” Individual Retirement Account available to theirworkers.House Bill 2516, the“Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program,” was pending in the House ofRepresentatives in mid-February.AARP says the bill isa necessary antidote to a retirement crisis that...

In the runup to the 2020 Legislature,Gov. Jay Inslee made headlines with a stark warning to the Boeing Co: Build yournext plane in Washington or billions in tax credits could be in jeopardy.Tax breaks for the aerospace industryaren’t at the top of Olympia’s agenda —the short, 60-day session that beganJan....

Awards and Honors• Rich Breshears of Breshears Professional Photography in Kennewick has earned the photographic craftsman degree from Professional Photographers of America, a nonprofit photography trade association. The degree was presented at the association’s annual convention, Imaging USA, held Jan. 19-21 in Nashville, Tennessee. Breshears has met the standards of...

Nonstop flight helped push Tri-Cities Airport to record year in 2019The Tri-Cities Airport reported nearly 440,000 passengers boarded planes in 2019, a new record for the Pasco facility. Overall, the airport processed nearly 890,000 arriving and departing passengers. The 11 percent gain was fueled in part by United Airlines’ addition of a...

Bankruptcies are filed under the following chapter headings:Chapter 7 — Straight Bankruptcy: debtor gives up non-exempt property and debt is discharged.Chapter 11 — Allows companies and individuals to restructure debts to repay them.Chapter 12 — Allows family farmers to restructure finances to avoid liquidation for foreclosure.Chapter 13 — Plan is...