Wenatchee News Digest

A couple bits of news from the Apple Capital:

Yahoo! appears to be headed here. The Internet brand will operate a data center at the Confluence Technology Center, located in the Olds Station area just north of the city. Apparently, the cheap electricty and high-speed fiber optic network infrastructure made the area attractive to a major player such as Yahoo!

From The Wenatchee World: The Internet giant, a household name among computer users, has agreed to a $6.23 million 10-year contract this morning to rent 45,000 square feet of the Port of Chelan’s four-level facility for a data center. The company will occupy the building’s remaining vacant space, roughly half of the Olds Station building that opened in May 2004.

“We were really looking for a marquee-name company, and I think people will agree, we got one,” said Mark Urdahl, Port of Chelan director.

Yahoo! has signed the agreement, but the deal won’t be completed until early next week, said Jon Eberle, a property developer hired by the PUD to find tenants for the CTC. Chelan County PUD commissioners must approve the deal since the utility is part-owner of the building. Yahoo! must also reach a separate deal with Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet), a nonprofit corporation that helps develop a fiber-optics network with local utilities and communities.

Yahoo! will pay for more than $12 million in improvements to the building, which cost $12 million to build, Urdahl said. The company will move in toward the end of 2006, he said.

“The CTC is just an awesome mix of office space and technical space,” Kevin Timmons, vice president of operations for Yahoo!, said during a port meeting this morning announcing the deal. Timmons made his comments by phone from Yahoo!’s headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The deal comes less than a month after Microsoft signed a tentative agreement with the Port of Quincy to buy 74 acres for a data-storage center that could employ 30 to 40 people.

Speaking of cheap power, the Bush Administration again has included increased debt repayment from the Bonneville Power Administration in its annual budget. While a year ago the administration sought all of the BPA power be sold on the open market and revenue used to pay down debt, this year the administration only seeks to have surplus power sold and used to repay debt. Northwest Senators and Representatives in Congress are united in their efforts to keep the current model, which uses surplus power to reduce rates paid by NOrthwest power customers. It's the deal we have had for generations, and it is the deal we expect to keep. Look for Sen. Maria Cantwell to continue to use energy as a primary issue in her re-election campaign this year.

The Eastmont School District across the Columbia River appears to have failed its maintenance and operations levy, falling short by three percent of the necessary 60 percent.

Officials in Kittitas County to the south have put up some money for a study that would determine the viability of a road to Wenatchee's Mission Ridge ski area from the Ellensburg area over Colockum Pass, currently a primitive road passable only during the summer. THe road would allow a back entry to the ski area and easier and faster access from I-90 and Seattle. The route would bypass Wenatchee. I say go for it.

-- Wenatchee, Wash.