Voice of the Mid-Columbia | Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Wash. |

Desert Living
Published Sunday, Jan. 31, 2010

KENNEWICK -- Rachel Leshikar was taking a break from a bike ride in a Richland park several years ago when she noticed a professional juggler.

Published Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010

RICHLAND -- The old Hanford records vault in Richland is being used for sleuthing these days.

4x4 tire
Kai-Huei Yau/Herald

Don Healy of Pasco attaches a strap to compensate for the specialized suspension on his Jeep before jacking up the car to help re-inflate his tire, which had popped a bead. Drivers deflate their tires as low as 5 psi to give them more surface area and better traction, but the low tire pressure means this is a common ailment while out on the dunes. Club members all bring out various tools to help fix rigs on-site, and Kevin Elliott of Benton city provided the air compressor to help Healy get rolling again.

Published Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010

About a half-dozen four-wheeling enthusiasts perch at the top of a giant sand dune, staring down at other off-roaders.

Published Sunday, Jan. 03, 2010

PASCO -- Steve Thatcher rarely misses the chance to be outdoors on a windy day.

Published Sunday, Dec. 27, 2009

KENNEWICK -- The best Sunday dinners are the ones spent at Grandma's house.

Published Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009

KENNEWICK -- Christmas isn't a single day at the Fuher household.

Sisters in Skating
Kai-Huei Yau/Herald

Annalisa Naccarato, 15, left, and Soleil Roth, 14, started skating together nine years ago. The best friends now practice twice a day around their school duties, and both are students at Kamiakin High School.

Published Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009

KENNEWICK -- Soleil Roth and Annalisa Naccarato fly across the ice like magic.

Published Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009

KENNEWICK -- Manuel Martinez began collecting cars in 1998.

Published Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009

Since Liane Bennett's dog Vegas died in May after a yearlong struggle with cancer, she always keeps him close to her heart.

Published Sunday, Nov. 01, 2009

KENNEWICK -- Larry Seifert isn't quite done with his autobiography but he already has a title picked out.

Published Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009

RICHLAND -- The eyes on the 15 young faces were fixed forward.

Published Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009

RICHLAND -- Families grabbing a slice at a Richland pizzeria on the second Saturday of each month may find themselves in the midst of a lively sea chantey.

Published Sunday, Oct. 04, 2009

KENNEWICK -- Learning how to allemande, do-si-do and promenade may sound like a challenge -- especially after realizing those are just three of the 68 moves in a style of square dancing called mainstream.

DL Wooden Cross
Herald/Bob Brawdy

Gary Miller, 80, stands nears the 14-foot tall wooden cross he made using 130 board feet of wood from a maple tree cut down during a expansion project of Kennewick First Presbyterian Church. Miller has been a member of the church about 15 years.

Published Sunday, Sep. 27, 2009

KENNEWICK -- The old maple tree growing outside Kennewick First Presbyterian Church had to be cut down to make way for an expansion but the stately tree found new life inside the church, thanks to Richland's Gary Miller.

Published Sunday, Sep. 20, 2009

KENNEWICK -- There's an engaging sass in Kimberly Camp that shows in her art, whether it's a painting of a woman with a pensive look or a dramatically-themed handcrafted doll.

Published Sunday, Sep. 06, 2009

HANFORD -- Sixty-five years ago the Hanford nuclear reservation was booming. About 50,000 workers were racing to build the reactors, processing plants and support buildings needed to produce plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, and then the Cold War nuclear weapons build up.

Published Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009

RICHLAND -- Everyone has a passion.

Published Sunday, Aug. 16, 2009

RICHLAND -- Jennifer Allstead walked across the classroom with a baggie full of water, salt and flour in her hands.

Published Sunday, Aug. 02, 2009

PASCO -- Resembling a scene out of a small town in Mexico, hundreds of spectators sit comfortably in the grass enjoying their raspados, roasted corn or tacos as the Canarios take on Morelia.

Published Sunday, Jul. 26, 2009

KENNEWICK -- The future of unlimited hydroplane racing could hardly have been bleaker 43 years ago when the first race was held in the Tri-Cities.

Published Sunday, Jul. 19, 2009

KENNEWICK -- Jay Rumsey knows ferocious weather.

Published Sunday, Jul. 05, 2009

Sitting casually around a table in the Richland Community Center on a recent morning, a fit-looking group of seven cyclists with the Tri-City Bicycle Club discussed the morning's ride route.

Published Sunday, Jun. 28, 2009

When Laurie Ellis walked into the backyard of a Benton City home, she was quickly greeted by four old friends who excitedly jumped, barked and wagged their tails.

Published Sunday, Jun. 07, 2009

KENNEWICK -- Ken Leaf figures he'd be poorer by more than $228 a day -- or about $41,813 for six months -- if he'd agreed to send the maximum to every charity that sent him a donation plea last winter.

Published Sunday, May. 31, 2009

They say you are what you eat and the shoes tell the man.

Published Sunday, May. 24, 2009

RICHLAND -- For bride Wendy Petersen, selecting a matron of honor was easy. All she needed was to look across the dining table at her grandmother.

Published Sunday, May. 17, 2009

KENNEWICK -- At the height of World War II, Helga Walker was a typical 9-year-old German girl who loved dolls.

Published Sunday, May. 03, 2009

PASCO -- Isaac Wilson stood at the front of the stage and delivered his next line in a booming voice that would make a Broadway actor proud.

Bickleton Bluebird
Herald/Bob Brawdy

A bright Bluebird sits on a barbed wire fence outside the unincorporated town of Bickelton.

Published Sunday, Apr. 26, 2009

BICKLETON -- Finding the "Bluebird Capital of the World" is not easy.

Published Sunday, Apr. 19, 2009

BENTON CITY -- Gurgling sounds are music to Sara Whitby's ears.

Published Sunday, Mar. 29, 2009

Hundreds of people across the Mid-Columbia every week are following the leader -- and that leader is usually wearing neon-colored pants.

Jamie Adams Painter
Herald/Bob Brawdy

Jamie Adams of Kennewick, Wash., is a painter set out to capture the Pacific Northwest wine industry. Her work was showcased at First Night and is hanging in several wineries.

Published Sunday, Mar. 08, 2009

KENNEWICK -- Wine glasses in Jamie Adams' paintings look almost real enough to drink from, and the grapes juicy enough to eat.

Published Sunday, Mar. 01, 2009

PASCO -- Most people remember Bill Preston as the man with the vision to create Washington state's first destination winery.

Three Rivers Dulcimer Society
Kai-Huei Yau/Herald

The Three Rivers Dulcimer Society meets twice a month for jam sessions.

Published Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009

PASCO -- A sweet sound filled a community room in a west Pasco neighborhood as about a dozen musicians gathered for an unusual jam session.

Published Sunday, Feb. 08, 2009

Lee Daniel has spent a lifetime climbing and hiking mountains, and the retired research chemist's love for the outdoors remains undimmed by age.

Published Sunday, Feb. 01, 2009

PASCO -- When the five Harris siblings get together to reminisce, the story of their family's history is also Pasco's history.

Published Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009

Ever wished cats were more like dogs?

Published Sunday, Jan. 11, 2009

KENNEWICK -- Zooming around a frozen indoor pond wearing shoes balanced on blades seems like it would only appeal to the young, the reckless, the brave-hearted.

Published Sunday, Jan. 04, 2009

RICHLAND -- Here's a secret. For a few hours every Saturday night, I shed my mild-mannered, professional exterior and zip off across the galaxy on a rip-roaring adventure with a rag-tag band of spacefarers.

Published Sunday, Dec. 28, 2008

KENNEWICK -- Liliana Blanco wore a red and white shirt.

Published Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008

POMEROY -- The scene could be from a Currier & Ives winter wonderland print -- a pair of gentle giants effortlessly leading a sleigh across a field of newly fallen snow, their massive feet kicking up tuffs of white powder.

Published Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008

RICHLAND -- The door to a Richland building with a sign that reads "square dance" often gets jammed shut.

Published Sunday, Dec. 07, 2008

WALLA WALLA -- Walk into the Hot Poop record store on Walla Walla's Main Street, and you can't help but briefly stand still in shock.

Published Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008

RICHLAND -- Who needs Santa's elves when you've got Rose Crowell's workshop. The Richland woman's 14 grandchildren don't bother with wish lists because each year they know their Christmas presents from "Nana" will be handpicked and stitched with love.

Published Sunday, Nov. 16, 2008

KENNEWICK -- Rabbits and guinea pigs are hard not to like.

Published Sunday, Nov. 09, 2008

PASCO -- Charles F. Grigg's fascination with weapons has only increased with age.

Published Sunday, Nov. 02, 2008

BENTON CITY -- The ammo was live, and so was the Old West as fall arrived on Rattlesnake Mountain.

Published Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008

PASCO -- If John Perry has entered the same Halloween costume contest as you, you might as well pull your mask down over your face and go home.

Published Sunday, Oct. 19, 2008

They play and sing old-time acoustic music, some of it from the late 1800s.

Published Sunday, Oct. 12, 2008

When Nick Wallin learned in June he'd been named the new conductor of the Mid-Columbia Symphony, the first thing he did was call his parents in Michigan.


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