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SENIOR TIMES • FEBRUARY 2020
FEBRUARY 2020 Volume 8 • Issue 2
Pasco woman finds the pieces that fit By Wendy Culverwell
F
editor@tcjournal.biz
Learn about historical role of women at Hanford Page 5
$20 million clinic shows what’s possible at Vista Field Page 9
Meet the 2020 Mid-Columbia Ag Hall of Famers Page 14
MONTHLY QUIZ What is the name of the town at the mouth of the Snake River that was established in 1879 by the Northern Pacific Railroad that no longer exists? Answer, Page 13
ortunately for her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Constance Brown, 88, is easy to shop for. She’s a jigsaw puzzle whiz. The more pieces the better, as far as Brown is concerned. There are 10 or 1 unopened puzzles waiting her attention in the puzzle niche of the Pasco home she shares with two of her sons. Her current project is a 1, 00-piece image of a chapel painting by the late artist Thomas inkade. She’s completed the edges and is fashioning the blue pieces to form the sky. Her glass desk occupies pride of place in the family home – the alcove by the front window. Stacks of unopened boxes are in arm’s reach, replenished at Christmas and her January birthday. She’ll work on anything, but prefers Christian themes – angels, praying hands, crosses, Jesus and inspirational people, according to son James, her caregiver. “I do what they buy for me,” she said. Brown is a retiree, a mother to 10 sons,
Photo by Wendy Culverwell Constance “Connie” Brown of Pasco raised 10 sons on her own. At 88, she’s a cancer survivor and a dedicated dissectologist – someone who loves to do jigsaw puzzles.
a four-time cancer survivor and a dedicated dissectologist, the term for those who love jigsaw puzzles. Her passion for plowing through adversity and completing puzzles has made her a celebrity at her second home, New Hope Baptist Church. “She is such an inspiration – she has
survived cancer and she has arthritis. She has had multiple surgeries. I just admire her tenacity. She just keeps coming back and coming back and coming back,” said ivian Terrell, a church friend and owner of the Honey Baked Ham franchise in ennewick.
Architectural gems of the Tri-Cities By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
Michael Marley recalls when TriCity school officials cautioned architects to avoid anything fanciful in their designs for new buildings. Districts need voter approval to raise taxes to build and remodel schools. They feared “fancy” would come across as “wasteful.” Decision-makers relied on plain buildings to convey stability and frugality, said Marley, principal with C JT Architects, a ennewick firm focused on public sector projects.
It’s an ethos that informed much of the region’s development but obscures the architectural gems that dot the community. The Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business invited local architects to share their favorite examples. Most shrugged. “My favorite is the building I’m working on at the moment,” one said. “I don’t have a favorite Tri-City building,” said another.
Design takes a front seat
But there are gems, and Marley believes the list is growing. Schools and other clients are more likely to aim for buildings the community can be proud of. It’s O for a school to look nice, he said, citing ennewick’s astgate and Westgate elementary schools as examples of changes in how buildings get designed. astgate opened on ast 10th Avenue in 201 and Westgate on West Fourth Avenue two years later. C JT wasn’t involved, but Marley said both are well massed, giving a sense of balance between form and function. uGEMS, Page
uPUZZLE, PUZZLE, Page 2
Catholic Charities asks Pasco to salvage $2M homeless project By Wendy Culverwell editor@tcjournal.biz
Catholic Charities of astern Washington stands to lose a $2 million grant after the Pasco City Council voted -3 against selling the site it wanted for a 2-unit apartment-style complex to serve chronically homeless Tri-Citians. The Spokane-based nonprofit has asked the city to help it salvage its plan to build the $13.2 million project on Heritage Boulevard in east Pasco. Pasco spokesman Jon Funfar confirmed the city is reviewing the letter. The council voted Jan. 21 against selling the city-owned property to Catholic Charities after neighbors raised concerns about crime and drugs. uCHARITIES, Page 2
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