There was the usual suspense, but the recipients were more surprised than the audience when the Kennewick man and woman of the year were announced Monday night. Two fine, generous community leaders were chosen this year - Craig Eerkes as Man of the Year and Sandi Strawn as Woman of the Year. Generosity and leadership mark both of these outstanding citizens. Eerkes, head of Sun Pacific Energy and chairman of AmericanWest Bank, has led many community fundraising endeavors. He's generous with his time, talents and personal resources. Strawn, who owns Dependable Janitor Service with her husband, Dean, is a former Benton County commissioner known equally for her charitable works, leadership and her musical gifts. Leadership and generosity are two main…

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West Richland will accept public comment through Tuesday on a proposed residential and commercial project near Van Giesen Street and Ruppert Road as the city reviews a preliminary plat for the project. The proposed Red Mountain Center project includes single and multi-family housing, retail and light industrial development on more than 300 acres of land owned by real estate developers MacKay & MacDonald, of Vancouver. The plan is to develop 470 lots for single-family homes and 22 lots for apartments, public and commercial use, said Todd Stowell, West Richland's senior planner. A school and public park is also included in the plans. "It is good for the community," he said. The Port of Kennewick leased 12 acres of land in the area a few months ago to…

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The owner of California's famous and quirky Bonny Doon Vineyards plans to break ground this week on a $5.7 million winery in West Richland. Pacific Rim Wine Co. would be the largest winery in the U.S. dedicated solely to producing riesling wines if the owners produce their planned 300,000 cases yearly. Washington's Chateau Ste. Michelle is the single largest riesling producer in the world, making 600,000 cases last year. The 30,000-square-foot Pacific Rim winery will be built in the Port of Kennewick's industrial park in West Richland and is to be completed in time for this year's crush. Randall Grahm -- owner of Bonny Doon -- started Pacific Rim in 1984. The winery produces about 100,000 cases of three styles of riesling -- sweet, dry and dessert. The…

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RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) - Taking a page from archaeologists looking for dinosaur bones, workers at the Hanford nuclear reservation are testing a technology to map the path of radioactive and chemical leaks from underground tanks. In a demonstration project, CH2M Hill Hanford Group is using electricity in a process called high-resolution resistivity to map contamination at the federal nuclear reservation's tank farms. "If we can get a picture of where it may or may not be, we can go out and take a physical sample," said John Kristofzski, a CH2M Hill program director. According to a story published in the Tri-City Herald, the technology has been used to scan for outlines of dinosaurs in rock, but the Hanford project will use it to chart contamination as it…

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March 31-April Used Cell Phone Collection at Mid-Columbia Libraries and Richland Public Library March – April Reuse-A-Shoe Contest with area schools, 372-7201 March 31 10 a.m. -12 Volunteer Clean up and Planting, Highlands Grange Park, Kennewick, 735-3551 March 31 12-4 p.m. Earth Month Kick-0ff & Celebration, Highlands Grange Park, Kennewick, 531-5677 March 31 Gently Used Art, Allied Art Gallery, 84 Lee Blvd, Richland, 943-9815 March 31 All-day free bus fare, Ben Franklin Transit, fixed routes only, 735-5100 April 1 10 a.m. CORKIE the Robot children's Earth Month kick-off, Richland Public Lib., 942-7452 April 2-8 Richland Neighborhood Yard Debris Collection, Leslie Groves Park area, 942-7490 April 2 2 p.m. Family Science Program, CREHST Museum, 95 Lee Blvd…

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GET INVOLVED IN THE HEALTH OF YOUR COMMUNITY IN APRIL Community Clean-up Day Saturday, April 21 Find an "eye sore" and work to clean, beautify and restore it Attend one of the many environmental activities occurring in April Register your Project or Volunteer for one! EARTH MONTH KICK-OFF Saturday, March 31 Noon to 4 Highlands Grange Park, 15th & Union St., Kennewick Mid-Columbia Library Kennewick Branch Exhibits, Entertainment & Presentations EARTH MONTH FINALE Alternative Energy Expo Friday April 27 9:30 to 4:00 Saturday, April 28 10:00 to 4:00 Columbia Basin College Campus, Pasco Electrathon Race & Awards – Saturday

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Bill Moffitt, the chair of the Kadlec Health System and Kadlec Medical Center Board of Directors, has earned a prestigious national award for hospital trustees. Modern Healthcare magazine has named Moffitt one of its 2007 Trustees of the Year. The magazine honors two hospital board members in categories for large and smaller hospitals. Moffitt earned runner-up recognition in the large hospital category.  Since 1999, he has served on the volunteer Kadlec Medical Center Board of Trustees, and has been board chair since 2002. Under his leadership, the medical center has: "¢ developed into a regional referral center. Kadlec has grown its monthly gross revenues from $8 million, to $30 million a month today. Kadlec's employee workforce has also doubled during…

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Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY) and Senator Wayne Allard (CO) introduced "The Community Choice in Real Estate Act," S.413, which clarifies Congressional intent that real estate brokerage and management are not banking activities. Clinton and Allard explained that allowing banks into real estate would "upend one of our nation's most fundamental policies – the separation of banking and commerce- and put our economy at risk."

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As part of the City of Seattle and ULI speaker series "Housing Our Future,"Âť former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros recently addressed the growing disparity between workforce wages and housing costs. "As he described severity of Seattle's housing affordability gap, the imbalance of housing supply and demand and the resulting social and quality of life problems, Secretary Cisneros drew heavily from data supplied by Sam Pace, Washington REALTORS® Legislative Steering Committee Vice Chair,"Âť said Randy Banneker, of Banneker and Associates and Housing Specialist for Seattle-King County Association of REALTORS® (SKCAR). Cheri Brennan, SKCAR's PR Specialist observed, "Using the information we provided, he…

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At a panel discussion that included Kari Burrell from the Governor's office, Sen. Rodney Tom and Rep. Larry Springer during the Association of Washington Cities Hill Day, Washington REALTOR® past president Mike Flynn explained our legislative solutions to improve home choices for Washington families. The Q & A period went overtime with lines at both microphones. "One after another, local elected officials wanted to know how they could put our ideas to work in their communities, how they could "˜do something' to make homes more affordable," Flynn explained. "In three words, they want help."

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