The popular on-demand film streaming service Kanopy is now available for free for all Mid-Columbia Libraries (MCL) cardholders. MCL customers can access Kanopy and sign up to start streaming films instantly by visiting midcolumbialibraries.kanopy.com.

“We are excited to offer our customers another quality product from our vast digital branch,” says Kyle Cox, MCL’s executive director and chief librarian.

Offering what the New York Times calls, “a garden of cinematic delights,” Kanopy showcases more than 30,000 of the world’s best films, including award-winning documentaries, rare and hard-to-find titles, film festival favorites, indie and classic films, and world cinema with collections from The Great Courses, PBS, and many more.

Checkouts are limited to five videos per month with a loan period of three days per video. No software is required. Films can be streamed from any computer, television, mobile device or platform by downloading the Kanopy app for iOS, Android, AppleTV, Chromecast or Roku. An internet connection is needed.

With the motto of "thoughtful entertainment," Kanopy provides MCL customers free access to films of unique social and cultural value, films that are often difficult or impossible to access elsewhere and programming that features diversity with a wide array of foreign language films and films on race and current affairs.

For more information, visit midcolumbialibraries.org/streaming-video.

Thanks to generous community support, 2018 was a record-setting year for the Hospice Benefit Shop (Hobs) of Prosser. The non-profit thrift store raised $179,000 that goes toward compassionate end-of-life care offered by Heartlinks Hospice & Palliative Care.
 
“It was an amazing year, both from community involvement and sales,” said Shelby Moore, development director for Heartlinks Hospice & Palliative Care. The Sunnyside-based organization, formerly known as Lower Valley Hospice, helps families and terminally ill patients during the dying process. “We raised almost $30,000 above our budgeted goal for 2018.”
 
Moore said money raised by Hobs cover store expenses and directly benefits those who need but cannot afford hospice and palliative care services.  
 
The charity thrift shop opened its doors in 1998. It was founded by Jan Nilsson and 12 other volunteers in memory of Nilsson’s mother-in-law, Anne O. Witcraft. Heartlinks later purchased the store building at 612 5th Street, where Hobs now operates 6 days a week. 
 
Hobs manager Vicki Escobar said one key to the shop’s tremendous success has been the constant supply of quality items - many of them new - donated by area residents. 
 
“People understand how important end-of-life services are for patients and their families and donating unwanted household items is a great way for them to help, too,” Escobar said. In turn, the thrift shop offers a valuable service to Valley residents by providing reasonably priced clothing, books, jewelry, toys, and assorted household goods. 
 
Another key to Hobs’ success has been its predominantly volunteer staff. More than 45 volunteers work hundreds of hours a year to sort, clean, organize, stock and sell the store’s inventory. Some volunteers have had a loved one served by hospice; others simply want to give back to the local community, Escobar said.
 
At a recent meeting with hospice officials, Moore said many shop volunteers were touched by the fact that Heartlinks currently is the only local hospice organization to serve children as well as adults. She said is it much more difficult for families to lose a child so hospice staff spend more time and resources on those emotionally-charged cases.  That makes Hobs financial contribution even more important, she said.
 
Hobs staff “are very intentional about what goes out on the sales floor, when it goes out and how it is displayed. We strive to maximize each donation, so it brings in more money for hospice,” Escobar said. “The design is thoughtful, and the way we put out merchandise always has our mission in mind.”
In 2016, Hobs launched its own Facebook page, which the store manager said has helped get the word out about the shop’s weekly featured items and special sales.  Check it out at https://www.facebook.com/hospicebenefitshop/.
 
The thrift shop accepts clothing, jewelry, antiques, collectibles, small appliances, linens, draperies, kitchen/bath items, and other home decorating items.  Anyone can drop off new or gently used donations during store hours at the service entrance in the alley. Please ring the bell to the right of the gray door for assistance.
 
Hobs opens at 11am on Mondays and 9:30am Tuesday-Saturday. The shop closes 5:30pm weekdays and 3pm Saturdays. It is closed on Sundays. Escobar said volunteers are needed for all positions. People can apply at the store or by emailing [email protected].
 
Heartlinks Hospice & Palliative Care began serving the area in 1978 as Lower Valley Hospice. Heartlinks is an independent, nonprofit local hospice providing quality care to individuals and their families, who are facing a life-threatening illness. To learn more about the organization and how you might become involved, visit us online: www.heartlinkshospice.org.

The Tri-Cities Airport has opened a Cell Phone Parking Lot to assist those picking up passengers from the airport. The lot allows people to wait for free on airport property until their passenger has landed, collected their bags, and come to the curb.

The Cell Phone Lot is designed to reduce congestion at the curb and to keep traffic in front of the airport moving smoothly. Drivers are never permitted to wait on the airport terminal curb, so the new lot will provide a convenient and safe place to wait until they receive a call from friends or family that they can come to the terminal curb. The Cell Phone Lot also provides an alternative to driving around the airport property while waiting for travelers.

“The new lot will be convenient for people picking up passengers from the airport,” said Buck Taft, director of Tri-Cities Airport. “Drivers won’t clog the curbside loading area, and they won’t have to worry about their time expiring in the short term lot. All they need to do is wait in the cell phone lot until their passenger calls them to be picked up from the curb. It will make everyone’s airport experience easier.”

The new lot is located east of the airport terminal near the employee parking lot (map attached). Drivers can wait for free for up to 60 minutes, and cannot leave their cars unattended. No limousines or commercial vehicles will be permitted.

The Academy of Children’s Theatre recently received a $15,000 travel expense grant to take its upcoming production of “Keeping Mr. Lincoln” to a Gettysburg theatre festival in June. The American Association of Community Theatre and the Jack K. Ayre and Frank Ayre Lee Theatre Foundation jointly funded the grant.

A group of 25 participants, including 21 members of the cast and crew, as well as four adult chaperones, will travel to Gettysburg June 20-23 to perform the play just miles from where Lincoln delivered his infamous Gettysburg address.

Members of the cast and crew have been fundraising to supplement covering the travel costs, and the $15,000 grant ensures their participation. This is the first time ACT has taken a production on the road. ACT was one of only six youth theatre group’s invited to participate in the American Association of Community Theatre’s annual festival.

Locally “Keeping Mr. Lincoln” opens the weekend of February 15 at the ACT Theatre located at 223 Wellsian Way. It is an engaging production featuring four youth actors in the role of Lincoln during different time periods of his life. The play is provocative for its focus on the relevance of Lincoln’s legacy to issues of today’s youth. Performances are February 15 and 22 at 7 p.m.; February 16, 17, 18, 23, and 24 at 3 p.m. The February 18th show is scheduled in honor of President’s Day. Tickets are $16 for general admission; $13 for students and seniors; and $10 for ages 12 and under. Tickets are available in advance at www.academyofchildrenstheatre.org and at the door. The show is recommended for ages 8 and older.

​The next seminar in Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Community Science and Technology Seminar Series, “Modern Day Alchemy: Building the Future Atom by Atom,” presented by Steven Spurgeon, Staff Scientist in the Energy and Environment Directorate at PNNL, will take place on Tuesday, February 19, 2019, at 7:00 p.m., at the Richland Public Library (955 Northgate Dr.).

How do we make electronics for the next iPhone even faster, more efficient, and more reliable? How do we build quantum computers that can safely encrypt millions of financial transactions? And how do we engineer batteries that will last long enough for a cross-country road trip? Research on the frontiers of science is helping to realize these goals by allowing us to craft materials never before seen in nature. Learn how we build materials a single layer of atoms at a time, how we image atomic structure using state-of-the-art microscopes, and how we use supercomputers to model and predict the behavior of complex systems. Come see how today’s revolution in designer materials is unlocking the technologies of tomorrow.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Community Science and Technology Seminar Series was launched to help the general public better understand and explore how science transforms our world.