This kind of thing doesn’t happen every day: The Benton PUD says it’s returning money to customers thanks to a settlement over electric rates with the Bonneville Power Administration.
Customers should see a small drop in monthly bills beginning this month, and the PUD says the average customer’s electricity bill will go down by about $6-$8.
The credit will continue through May.
The Benton-Franklin Health District will be offering flu shots and spray vaccines for $25 this week in Kennewick.
Where: Kennewick Health District, 7102 W. Okanogan Place
When: Thursday from 8 am to 5 pm
For more information, call the BFHD Flu hotline at 460-4358 or visit their web site.
During a recent workshop with the city council, Kennewick Planning Commissioners said they want the city to focus on improving the downtown area between the cable and blue bridges. Specifically, Commission Chairman Bob Spaulding told the council that the commission wants an emphasis on improving the shoreline in that area.
But that wasn’t the only thing on the commissioners’ wish list:
What do you get when you combine 1) residents being too lax about protecting their valuables, and 2) fewer police officers on the streets?
In Kennewick, you get a jump in property crimes. The Kennewick Police Department says the biggest jump was in residential burglaries — from 121 residential burglaries last year to 196 so far this year. That’s a 62% increase. Burglaries from vehicles (not stolen cars, but stealing things out of cars) has jumped 37% so far in 2008 in Kennewick.
In its crime report, the KPD says about half of these are crimes of opportunity, where the burglar had no deterrent:
“…about half of our property crimes are non-forced. This means that half of the thefts from vehicles are from unlocked cars. Half of the burglaries are at homes where the home owner did not lock their house when they left home.”
That’s part of the problem. The other part is that the department has lost two officers to medical restrictions. There are three officers in training now at the police academy, and KPD still has four open officer positions.
You can download the crime report in PDF format from the department’s web site.
The new roundabout behind Columbia Center Mall seems to be nearing completion. The Gage Blvd./Center Parkway intersection is closed today and tomorrow so crews can finish paving and putting down the traffic stripes in the area. I was in the area this morning and took this photo of the work being done:
I’m guessing the roundabout will be open as of Thursday this week, but don’t quote me on that. I’m just hopeful that people don’t treat the roundabout like a racing circle. We had that discussion earlier on this blog….