Applications are now open for tenant lease space at an all-new, permanent grouping of artisan food trucks to be located within the Port of Kennewick’s Columbia Gardens Wine & Artisan Village in east Kennewick. To be considered, all applications must be turned in not later than 5:00 p.m., September 12, 2018 Applications are available from the port’s website: www.PortofKennewick.org or by calling Amber Hanchette, the port’s Director of Real Estate & Operations at 509-586-1186.

Located on Kennewick’s historic waterfront within the Columbia Gardens Urban Wine & Artisan Village, the Food Truck Plaza is designed to accommodate up to six food truck vendors adjacent a scenic nature pond and overlooking the Columbia River in east Kennewick, Washington. The roadways, utilities, paved parking, lighting, landscaping, sidewalks, street furniture to serve the food trucks plaza are nearly complete. The intent is to complete that work to allow selected food truck vendors to begin operating this fall.

Each vendor space will be equipped with 50-amp electric pedestal and grey-water sewer dump; and served by an adjacent potable water hydrant, common area dumpster and grease-dump station. Public restroom facilities will be located nearby and maintained by the landlord. Interested parties should apply not later than the 5:00 p.m., September 12, 2018 deadline. Applications can be found on the Port of Kennewick’s website: www.portofkennewick.org. A selection committee will review all applications and make recommendations to the Port of Kennewick’s Board of Commissioners, which will make final determination regarding tenants.

Located in an urban setting at the Columbia River shoreline, the Columbia Gardens Wine & Artisan Village is being created by Port of Kennewick, in partnership with the City of Kennewick, Benton County, and Hanford Area Economic Investment Fund Advisory Committee, to provide a vibrant gathering place to enjoy street foods, boutique wineries, tasting rooms, restaurants, shops, art, and riparian wildlife along a scenic nature trail. The site offers views of Clover Island, an architecturally-acclaimed cable bridge, the Columbia River and
eagle pond; with a paved waterfront pathway connecting to the 23-mile riverfront, Sacagawea Heritage Trail and tasting rooms for both Monarcha and Bartholomew Wineries.

Phase 1 of the wine & artisan village opened February 2018 with two wineries offering tasting rooms, wine production, and event space in the first three buildings. A beautiful Latino Heritage Mural was installed in May 2018. Then, in June 2018, Phase 2 work began with completion slated for fall 2018. As soon as the current infrastructure work in finished, parcels within the wine village will be available for sale or ground-leased to the private sector. The port will also begin construction of two additional winery tenant tasting rooms for occupancy in spring 2019.

For more information contact Amber Hanchette, Director of Real Estate & Operations, Port of Kennewick at 509-586-1186 or e-mail to [email protected].

The Mid-Columbia Electric Vehicle Association will hold a Plug-In Electric Vehicle Meet and Learn at the Southridge Pavilion Electric Vehicle Charging Station on Friday, September 14th, 2018 from noon until 5:00p. Come out and learn about the new Quick Charge station and all types of Plug-In Electric Vehicles in an informal Q&A session with owners. There will be many different vehicles displayed (Tesla Model 3, Chevy Bolt, Nissan Leaf). All are welcome to this family-friendly event.

Please note that this event is organized by the Mid-Columbia Electric Vehicle Association; all request for information about the event itself should be directed through the link below. 

For more information, please visit: https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=1494  

August 3 was a sunny and fun-filled day for golf for many area business professionals and Kadlec Foundation supporters as they played the course at Canyon Lakes all to raise funds for health care scholarships for local students.

Each year, Kadlec Foundation hosts the annual Golf Classic with sponsor support to raise money for the scholarship fund through the Foundation. Net proceeds are distributed to local students pursuing degrees in health care related fields at Columbia Basin College and WSU Tri-Cities. In 2018 alone, Kadlec Foundation will distribute $76,000 in scholarships.

“Kadlec is passionate about access of quality health care in our community,” said Whitney Clark, development officer for Kadlec Foundation. “One way we can invest in the future of health care locally is to support our future health care providers. We are so excited about the continued support and success of this event through our sponsorships and event participants.”

Nathan Wallace, a scholarship recipient said, “The Foundation Scholarship was vital in helping me get through nursing school. Preparing to be an RN is difficult, and working on top of that makes it so much harder. The Foundation allowed me to spend less time working and more time studying, all while still providing for my growing family.”

For more information about Kadlec Foundation Golf Classic or the Scholarship Fund, contact Kadlec Foundation at (509) 942-2661 or [email protected]. 

Mid-Columbia Libraries invites fans old and new of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the publication of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” with unlimited access to the eBook, a movie marathon, an exhibit, and chance to win a prize.

Today through Sept. 10, library customers can borrow the eBook format of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” without wait lists or holds by visiting midcolumbialibraries.org/ebooks or by downloading the Libby app. If residents in the MCL service area do not yet have a library card, they can quickly and easily get a free digital library card using just their mobile phone number by visiting midcolumbialibraries.org/ebooks and following the “Need a card?” prompt. The title will automatically expire at the end of the lending period, and there are no late fees.

A free movie marathon takes place through Sept. 8 at Kennewick library with the first movie in the Harry Potter series playing today at 3:30 pm. The full schedule is available on the MCL web calendar.

For a chance to win a complete set of Harry Potter books, customers can visit MCL’s “J.K. Rowling’s Magical World” exhibit at Keewaydin Park, Pasco, and West Pasco libraries. Visitors must pick up a stamp card at the customer service desk and have a staff member at each library sign it. Once visitors have their cards signed at all three locations, they can turn the card at any MCL branch to be entered to win.

The Benton City library welcomes popular local author Patricia Briggs on Aug. 30 at 6 pm.

Briggs is the New York Times bestselling author of the urban fantasy Mercy Thompson series, which centers on Mercedes, a shapeshifting Volkswagen mechanic living in the Tri-Cities area. The author’s latest book is the sixth in her Alpha and Omega series, titled “Burn Bright.”

This event is free and suitable for audiences ages 13 and up. A book signing will follow a Q&A session; books will be available for purchase. Learn more at midcolumbialibraries.org.

​Thursday, Aug. 30 from 6 to 7 pm
Mid-Columbia Libraries’ Benton City Branch, 810 Horne Dr., Benton City

Electrical utility professionals from 17 utility companies in Washington, Idaho and Nevada are in Richland this week for the 2018 Electrical Utilities Safety Summit. More than 60 electrical utilities managers, safety personnel, field work supervisors and workers will gather to meet their counterparts from other utilities, share best practices and celebrate safety successes. Hanford Site contractor Mission Support Alliance (MSA) is hosting the summit, which takes place August 22-23, 2018, at the Volpentest HAMMER Federal Training Center.

“I am very excited to kick off this year’s Electrical Utilities Safety Summit, which has been a work in progress since the conclusion of last year’s summit in Idaho,” said Todd Synoground, MSA vice president of Public Works. “We’ve got electrical utilities people from around the Pacific Northwest coming together to network and learn from each other on how to continuously improve safety in one of the most hazardous industrial work environments.”

Presenters from eight regional utilities, including MSA, will provide sessions on arc flash prevention, human performance improvement, safe operations, stress awareness, active shooter situations, and more.
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Summit participants will be guided through the Hanford Site to learn about Hanford’s environmental cleanup mission, including a stop at one of Hanford’s electrical substations, which supports the 580-square-mile Hanford Site.

Gesa Credit Union presented the Kennewick, Richland, Pasco, College Place, Moses Lake and Finley School District’s and Delta High School with a combined donation of $100,000 on Tuesday afternoon. Gesa’s President and CEO, Don Miller, awarded the checks at a celebration hosted at The Reach Museum. The $100,000 marks a milestone for the credit union program.

This contribution to Gesa’s partner schools is a portion of the co-branded debit card relationship between the school districts and Gesa. Gesa members, school district staff, faculty, students, parents and alumni are able to select a co-branded Visa® Debit card designed with their favorite school colors and logo. For every purchase made with one of the co-branded cards, Gesa makes a donation to the School District associated with the card. The funds raised are distributed by the district and are used to support student programs and activities. “This program allows our members to help us positively impact the community,” said Gesa President and CEO, Don Miller. “This $100,000 will help fund programs that help our students thrive and shape them into the adults of tomorrow. We are happy to help provide the schools and teachers with resources they need to continue to deliver valuable programs to the youth in our community.”

In addition to funds from the co-branded debit card program, Gesa currently operates ten student-ran credit unions, one in each of the major public Tri-City area High Schools and at Eisenhower and College Place High Schools. Through this program students receive on-the-job training, customer service experience, leadership development and practical money skills. The student branch managers receive a paid internship in one of Gesa’s member service centers or within a back-office department, depending on student skills and career path. Gesa also provides free financial literacy courses and experiential learning opportunities to students, parents, and teachers throughout eastern Washington. 

For more information on Gesa’s commitment to education and the community please visit www.gesa.com. 

Three Rivers Place, an Enlivant community, will host a Car Show on Thursday August 16th from 11:00 am to 1 p.m. Kennewick seniors are invited to attend the event at the assisted living residence.  

“We look forward to sharing a car show with our town,” said Community Relations Manager, Nelly DeLaMora. “Additionally, we are delighted to provide local older adults and their families the opportunity to visit the community and see all it has to offer.”

The event will be held at the community at 1108 West 5th Ave. It is open to seniors and their guests and is free of charge. 

​Planet Fitness® in Pasco and Kennewick are excited to announce their partnership with Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tri-Cities.

In celebration of this new partnership along with the opening of the new Pasco location, Planet Fitness® will be hosting a “Stuff the Backpack” event at their Grand Opening celebration at 5710 Road 68 in Pasco, WA, on August 15 between 4 and 6 PM. To commemorate the occasion, Planet Fitness® will donate 50 backpacks stuffed with school supplies to teens from the BG club.

The event will kick off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4pm with the Chamber of Commerce and some city dignitaries; guests will have the chance to win free prizes, tour the club, eat free pizza and meet some of the PF and the BG staff members. Additionally, the celebration provides an opportunity for community members to meet teens from the BG club and to sign up to be Big Brothers and Sisters to some of these teens and contribute to the BG club backpack drive by bringing in additional supplies to drop in the donation boxes located in the gym. In addition, all enrollment fees Planet Fitness ® Pasco collects from new members who sign up between August 15 and 31st will be donated to BG club.

Planet Fitness® is a low-cost fitness brand that boasts fitness for everyone in their Judgement Free Zone®; with over 1500 locations nationwide and in Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico, Planet Fitness® has had the privilege of establishing a national partnership with Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Planet Fitness® Pasco and Kennewick are proud to be a part of the Tri-Cities community and to work together with BG Club to help youth of the area. 

At their June 29, 2018 regular meeting, the Port of Pasco Commission approved an exclusive Letter of Intent (LOI) with Eaty Gourmet LLC (EGC) for development of Osprey Pointe, an approximately 52-acre site along the south side of East Ainsworth Ave, Pasco Washington.

EGC Chief Visionary Officer and Tri-City resident Mitch Gilbert, commented, “It’s a multifaceted agreement that took a lot of effort by both parties to shape. Together we are committed to expanding the community’s economy and adding to its vitality.” With the LOI approved, EGC will focus on the master development plan, strategic partnerships, and securing financing for the project that will include a market hall, boutique hotel, indoor-outdoor event space, and a mix of commercial and residential.

“The Port Commission has always believed that Osprey Pointe is a special place to create investment and opportunity in Pasco, the Eaty Gourmet group gets that. The vision they presented will accelerate revitalization and create national interest and prestige. This project can be transformational for Pasco and the Tri-Cities.” commented Jean Ryckman, Port Commission President.

The LOI gives the Port and EGC six months to create a master development agreement, which ​will lay out the amenities, schedule and financing for developing Osprey Pointe to its full potential.