By Kris JohnsonThousands of professional salaried employees in Washington could be converted into hourly workers if a new proposal from the state Department of Labor and Industries goes into effect.For individual workers, thechange may or may not result in a pay cut. In some cases, employees might endup making about...

Theremay be a chance for creditors to recover money owed to them by a prominentTri-City homebuilder who filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, citing $9.2million in debts. Thetrustee handling the Chapter 7 bankruptcy case for Marco Solferino recentlyfiled court paperwork stating “assets have been recovered by the trustee” andrequested creditors...

NEWHIRES•April Castañeda, a seniorexecutive with 20 years of experience leading human resources programs atCaltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has been named director of humanresources at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Castañeda joins theDepartment of Energy laboratory after serving as assistant vice president forequity and equity investigations at Caltech in Pasadena,...

Retiring Richland schools chief hired on for next yearThe Richland School Board determined that “it is in the best interests of our schools that Superintendent Dr. Rick Schulte continue leading our district during the 2019-20 school year.”Board membersapproved a one-year extension of his contract during the June 25 board meeting.He...

Walla Walla’s Eritage Resort recently completed construction on 10 new lakeside bungalows.Thedog-friendly bungalows feature a private entrance and deck extending over LakeSienna, and complement the 10 existing suites in the resort’s main building, a13,000-square-foot timber-framed two-story facility in Walla Walla winecountry.Therooms feature private deck or patio with expansive views; fireplace...

The owners of a pediatric dental and orthodontic clinic have built a new office in the growing Queensgate area in Richland.The building owner, InSlide Out LLC, is owned by the owners of Smile Surfers Kids Dentistry andTri-City Orthodontics. These clinics occupy the two upper floor suites of the19,280-square-foot building at 3200...

New flexible industrial spaces are available for lease at West Pasco Commercial Suites.The two new buildingson 8425 Chapel Hill Blvd. in Pasco each feature 10,500 square feet of space,which can be turned into 1,500-square-foot sections.  The buildings featureoverhead doors, glass storefronts and 20-foot ceilings with ample parking, aswell as a...

Gesa Credit Union’s new Pasco branch aims to provide convenient access for members in the growing Road 100 area.The building is at4824 Broadmoor Blvd., at the corner of Chapel Hill Boulevard.The single-storybuilding features a full-service branch, along with two suites with about 2,000square feet apiece that are available for lease....

A Richland bakery and restaurant recently featured on the Food Network has completed an expansion project.Frost Me Sweet Bistro and Bakery grew into the adjacent building at 710a The Parkway.Theside-by-side buildings have a shared walk-through and have been updated with amid-modern century feel.Thedécor is reminiscent of 710a’s original décor, with...

Lamb Weston’s 300,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art expansion in Hermiston added a new processing line to the company’s existing facility.The $250 millioninvestment in the new line increases the Hermiston plant’s production capacityby about 300 million pounds of potato annually. The expansion projecttook 18 months to complete. The line beganoperating May 29. A ribbon-cutting...