Richland Real Estate Blog

I doubt anyone will be surprised to read this recap of Richland crime statistics that appeared in the latest city update:

Richland Police Department announced last week that reported crimes per thousand population remained at 25 during 2009, the same as 2008. Statewide, crimes per thousand averaged 43, while the national average was 37.

Police Chief Tony Corsi noted that violent crime dropped to 92 incidents, compared to Richland’s three-year average of 99, although the city experienced an increase in theft and auto theft in 2009.

Since 2001, traffic collisions have declined 35%.

Last year, the department had 1.2 officers per 1000 population and responded to 32,001 calls for service.

The Richland School District has shelved three options that were on the table to reduce class time in secondary schools so that teachers could spend more time in group collaboration. We outlined the three options in our post last week, RSD May Reduce Class Time for Secondary Schools. Each option would’ve cut back on instructional time for students, and the district announced today that parents weren’t thrilled at all with that idea:

District administrators and school board members received numerous emails and phone calls from staff and parents in the last two weeks about the suggested options. Almost all comments voiced concerns about the potential loss of instructional time.

“We’re listening to what our teachers and parents are saying to us,” stated Rick Jansons, President of the Richland School Board. “Every minute of instructional time is valuable.”

Teachers will be surveyed about how best to implement the collaborative time in secondary schools (it’s already in place at the elementary level), and new recommendations will be offered at the February 23rd school board meeting.

In the meantime, the three remaining meetings that were scheduled to discuss the district’s options will go on as planned, and parents are invited to continue sharing ideas and concerns. Here are the remaining meetings:

Wednesday, January 27: Carmichael Middle School library
Wednesday, February 3: Hanford High School library
Thursday, February 4: Enterprise Middle School library

If you’ve wanted to learn more about wine and wine tasting, WSU has a seminar that’s right up your alley. It’s called “Wine 101″ and it’s part of WSU’s Spring 2010 Consumer Wine Education Series. Thomas Henick-Kling, director of Washington State University’s Viticulture and Enology program, will lead the seminar beginning at 6:30 pm tomorrow.

The seminar will take place at WSU’s Consolidated Information Center, 2770 University Drive, Richland. It costs $35 and you have to be at least 21 years old. You also have to preregister — call 509-372-7606 or register online.

There are additional seminars coming up in this series:

• February 4 — “Matching Wines with Cougar Cheeses”
• February 18 — “The Educated Aficionado: Detecting Defects in Wines”
• March 4 — “Oh, the Madness! Non-Traditional Blends of Red Wines”
• March 18 — “Rieslings and Terroir”

These seminars will be led by Henick-Kling or by Andy Perdue, editor of Wine Press Northwest magazine.

(photo by jenny downing (r&r) via Creative Commons)

If you’re thinking about attending WSU Tri-Cities, the school is hosting a “Discover WSU Tri-Cities” campus tour/event next week. It’s scheduled for Tuesday, January 26, at 11:00 am.

According to the school announcement, the program “includes an overview of the academic programs for freshmen and transfer students, brief meetings with several professors, a campus tour, and a panel discussion with current students.”

The tour begins in the West Building reception area (just inside the main entrance, by Room 201), and will last about two hours, the school says. Reservations are encouraged. You can do that online, by phone (509-372-7250), or by sending an email to admiss@tricity.wsu.edu.

If you have a student at the elementary level in the Richland School District, you already know that your kids come home early every Friday while the teachers have what they call “collaboration time.” Now the district is considering adding collaboration time for teachers in middle and high schools, too.

The district will host five public meetings to discuss the options that are on the table (see below). The meetings are planned as follows:

Wednesday, January 20: Richland High School library
Thursday, January 21: Chief Joseph Middle School library
Wednesday, January 27: Carmichael Middle School library
Wednesday, February 3: Hanford High School library
Thursday, February 4: Enterprise Middle School library

Each meeting will start at 7:00 pm.

And here, via email from the RSD offices, are the three options being considered:

1) Early dismissal at 1:18 pm one day a week (Wednesday most likely). This option would provide 72 minutes of collaboration time. There would be a net loss of 28 hours of instructional time per year. Fridays are not possible because of transportation issues.

2) Early dismissal at 1:30 pm one day a week (Wednesday most likely). This option would provide 60 minutes of collaboration time. There would be a net loss of 21 hours of instructional time per year. Fridays are not possible because of transportation issues.

3) Early dismissal at 12:15 pm every other Friday. This option would provide 135 minutes of collaboration time. There would be a net loss of 27 hours of instructional time per year.

Assuming one of these options is approved, I’m guessing it’ll go into effect with next year’s school year. But the district’s email didn’t indicate that one way or another.

We posted right before Christmas about a new Rue21 store coming to Richland, but we didn’t know many details. We do now.

Kymberly Trana, the Rue21 district manager, shared more information down in the comments of that post.

1. The store will open on February 25.

2. They’re holding a job fair on January 26 at the Vintner Square Center from 10am to 6 pm in Suite 2665. The store is looking for management, full- and part-time assistants, sales associates and temporary store set-up employees.

So, there you go. Shopper or job hunter — now you have the whole scoop.