Spoken Gently's Blog: Community News

Living in Pasco Washington, we are in the Pasco Wa School District. Of our five children, we have one in the Pasco public schools, our oldest Cassandra. We're proud of her as she is in Pasco's Running Start program whereby the student enters college as a freshman in place of the student's junior year in high school. Upon earning a 2-year Associate in Arts degree, the student receives a high school diploma. Our daughter is 17 and will have her Associates in Arts degree (and high school diploma) from Columbia Basin College this year.

We are also proud of the Pasco School District's High School. Newsweek Education has selected Pasco High School into the top 1200 high schools in the nation. Out of 28,000 high schools across the nation, Pasco High School is in…

Today is the start of the Benton Franklin County Fair and Rodeo. In the Tri-Cities Washington area, there are about a half dozen cornerstone events and the fair is one of them. Our community is one centered around the nucleus of the family, and the fair is all about family fun. Our yearly routine involves buying our kids the arm band that allows unlimited rides. The family fair routine for us involves two visits to the fair on the day of the fair. The first visit is exactly when the fair opens. We get a solid two hours of unadulterated rides riding, or when the children start throwing up, which ever comes first. The second visit to the fair on fair day is in the evening for the exhibits. For more information about this year's fair, I've put together a…

he Tri-Cities' unemployment rate and job growth are the best in years, the state's regional economist reported recently.

"It's probably the best time to be looking for work in perhaps 30 years," said Dean Schau. He said the Mid-Columbia had 900 more jobs in May than at the same time a year ago. That's an increase of about 1 percent, or a growth to about 87,300 jobs last month compared with 86,400 jobs in 2006. Schau said that's despite the loss of about 700 jobs at Hanford during the past year.

Statewide, the news was equally good. The state Employment Security Department reported more than 101,000 net new jobs were created between October 2006 and last month. The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for 2007 was 4.9 percent, the lowest since…

Tri-Cities Washington is passionate about its basketball, and encourages its youth to embrace the sport. To support youth involvement in sporting activities the City Councils has developed Youth Basketball Clinics. These free clinics have been run for 28 years, and are available for all girls and boys aged 7-14 years.

Each player is placed randomly into a small group that is determined by their age. A 90 minute instruction into the fundamentals of basketball is then presented with opportunities for each player to model the advice given. The instructors for the clinics are High School coaches in the Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland school districts, as well as varsity players. The clinics are held in local gyms throughout the year. Contact the local city…

Do you think you have what it takes to sing the National Anthem at a Dust Devils game? The Tri-City Dust Devils are looking for people to sing the National Anthem prior to games during the 2007 season. No appointment is necessary, just stop by Dust Devils Stadium. Singers who are able to perform the Canadian National Anthem are also encouraged to audition. Those who are unable to attend tryouts can contact Kelli Walter at 544-8789 to set up another time to audition or send an audition recording to the Tri-City Dust Devils at 6200 Burden Blvd., Pasco, WA, 99301.

The Dust Devils open the 2007 season at Vancouver before returning to the Tri-Cities for the home opener versus Everett. Opening Night festivities include a magnet schedule giveaway courtesy of…