March 2018
Volume 6 • Issue 2
Richland roundabouts expected to alleviate Queensgate jams BY ROBIN WOJTANIK for Senior Times
Fairchild Cinemas coming to Southridge
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More changes made to Trios’ leadership
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Barnard Griffin’s rosé named best in the U.S. Page 9
save the date
Tri-City Quilters’ Guild Quilt Show March 23 & 24 10 a.m. Three Rivers Convention Center, Kennewick
More roundabouts are coming to the Tri-Cities. Construction begins this month on two Queensgate Drive traffic circles in Richland. Though delays, backups and detours will come with construction of the $3.9 million road project, the end result is expected to improve traffic flow in the congested south Richland area. It’s common for rush hour traffic snarls at Queensgate Drive, Interstate 182 and Columbia Park Trail to back up traffic onto Keene Road. The project also includes a dedicated right turn lane on westbound Keene Road at Queensgate. One roundabout will be at the Queensgate-Columbia Park Trail intersection, and the other at Queensgate and the eastbound I-182 ramps, just south of the bridge over the interstate. The project is expected to be done in July. No changes will be made to the ramps for traffic entering or exiting I-182 westbound, but the backups drivers frequently experience there are expected to be alleviated with the south Queensgate improvements. “The hope is, when roundabouts are in and traffic is flowing, you won’t have backups north of there,” said Julie West, a civil engineer for Richland’s public works department. The two roundabouts will be built in tandem, but they will not be the same “teardrop” style found in Kennewick where a double roundabout controls the flow of traffic between highways 395 and 240 and Columbia Drive. uQUEENSGATE, Page 6
Raquel McGrath, a firefighter, paramedic and community risk reduction specialist with the Pasco Fire Department, holds a Remembering When prevention program poster. Several Tri-City fire agencies and groups serving senior citizens have formed a coalition aimed at preventing falls.
New coalition working to prevent senior slips, falls BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz
Raquel McGrath couldn’t prevent the fall that broke her grandmother’s hip. But she hopes to help other seniors avoid similar injuries. McGrath, a firefighter, paramedic and community risk reduction specialist with the Pasco Fire Department, spearheaded efforts to launch a new fall and fire prevention program in Pasco at the beginning of the year. It’s also prompted the formation of a new community-wide coalition. Its goal is to educate seniors about
fall hazards and how to reduce their risks. After McGrath’s 95-year-old grandmother fell, she was confined to a wheelchair. “She was down for quite some time and I didn’t have the resources to get help to her because she lives in Ellensburg,” McGrath said. Her grandmother caught her foot on a rug and went down. “This is very personal to me,” said McGrath, who has been a firefighter and paramedic for eight years. uFALLS COALITION, Page 10
Defense secretary honors Richland surgeon with public service medal BY LAURA KOSTAD for Senior Times
A Richland doctor’s legacy across the globe for treating trauma fractures in impoverished countries recently earned him a federal public service award. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a Richland native, presented the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service to Dr. Lewis Zirkle on Monday, Feb. 26 at SIGN Fracture Care International’s north Richland headquarters. “Some things in all of our lives are work and some are pleasure, and this is a humbling pleasure — a humbling honor — to be here for this,” Mattis said. “It’s unique, obviously, for a Richland guy to
be honoring a Richland guy.” Nominees for the award must have provided service to the Department of Defense “at considerable personal sacrifice and inconvenience … motivated by patriotism, good citizenship, and a sense of public responsibility.” Zirkle, founder and president of SIGN, was recognized for his significant contributions to improving the field of orthopedics in developing countries. “This is only the latest chapter in what was a self-assigned, never-ending mission for you, Doc,” Mattis told Zirkle. Since 1999, SIGN has treated more than 210,000 patients in 50 countries, educated more than 5,000 surgeons, and launched 330 SIGN programs.
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