KENNEWICK -- Tourists from Canada and San Francisco may be among the newest group of visitors to the Tri-Cities after Tri-City Regional Hotel-Motel commissioners expressed interest Wednesday in reaching into those markets.

Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft stores, the nation's largest fabric and craft retailer, has spiffed up its Kennewick location while closing down its Richland store.

KENNEWICK -- Art is about enriching life, and artwork in a public place like the new Tri-Cities Business and Visitor Center improves the first impressions of visitors and guests.

KENNEWICK -- In the hands of Rana Deep, a string of cotton becomes a tool to get rid of facial hair.

WASHINGTON -- Politically and economically, the next three months are critical for Barack Obama's presidency.

Women shoppers now have a range of choices in the Tri-Cities. An array of new stores dedicated to women's clothing and accessories are helping change the way local fashionistas shop, and the trend shows no signs of slowing despite a sluggish economy.

Shipping fresh Washington cherries to Japan just became easier and less expensive, Gov. Chris Gregoire and Washington Department of Agriculture Director Dan Newhouse have announced.

Three distinct climates plus a trio of varying soil types equal three syrah wines with different flavor profiles that reflect the characteristics of the land on which the grapes were grown.

A software glitch that has held up the delivery of an estimated 18,000 cases of liquor per day statewide is likely resolved, said a spokesman with the Washington State Liquor Control Board.

HERMISTON -- Bite into a juicy watermelon that has become a hallmark of the Hermiston area and you'll be chewing on 100 years of history.

WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday the strain of E. coli found in a sample of raw cookie dough collected at a Nestle USA manufacturing plant does not match the strain that has been linked to a 30-state outbreak, and they aren't sure how the dough was contaminated.

The following recalls have been announced because the products may be contaminated with salmonella, an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections, especially in young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems; no illnesses have been reported:

WASHINGTON The recipients of billions of dollars in IOUs being issued by California soon may be able to sell them on a regulated market, following action taken Thursday by federal regulators.

TRENTON, N.J. Gannett Co. has begun eliminating 106 full-time and 19 part-time positions at its six New Jersey newspapers because of the economic recession.

PHILADELPHIA Sunoco placed four employees on administrative leave and said Thursday that it had notified the Department of Justice of what it called improper conduct during a bidding process with an oil producer.

SUN VALLEY, Idaho Eric Schmidt spent his first six years as Google's CEO resisting a push by the company's co-founders to develop their own operating system for personal computers.

NEW YORK New York's attorney general charged Thursday that Tagged.com stole the identities of more than 60 million Internet users worldwide - by sending e-mails that raided their private accounts.

SUN VALLEY, Idaho The escalating tension between Google and Microsoft didn't prevent the companies' chairmen from sharing a moment of levity Thursday at an exclusive media conference in the Idaho mountains.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Sprint Nextel Corp. on Thursday announced it will transfer operation of its wireless and wireline networks to Swedish telecommunications equipment maker LM Ericsson.

BERLIN Germany's Justice Minister is calling for Internet service providers in the U.S. and elsewhere to remove neo-Nazi images, text and other content that can be viewed inside the country in violation of laws forbidding any Nazi symbols.