Snow continues to mess with shipping across The 509. The Cascade passes have been blocked, of course, and on the Palouse, U.S. 195 and some of the secondary highways have been closed off and on for several days, due to drifting snow. That's been good for business in Spangle, but probably nowhere else.

Be sure and check the roads before heading out. And if you can't drive to Yakima . . .

Maybe you could fly. Horizon Airlines is moving larger planes onto its Seattle-to-Yakima routes, 76-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops. Horizon is reducing the number of flights to SeaTac, but the larger planes mean more seats are available, especially for the most-popular early morning and evening flights.

In addition, Delta Airlines will resume its daily flights to Salt Lake City next week.

Or maybe you use a lower-tech form of transport, like a cattle drive. Yakima is buzzing about an area rancher's plans to move 300 head of cattle through the Yakima Canyon along State Route 821 this weekend. The highway will remain open, but you'll definitely want to use caution.

So this weekend may be out, but if you can get to Central Washington next weekend, you should take your sweetheart around to sample some seductive treats during local wineries' annual red-wine-and-chocolate event. They've been holding the event on Presidents Day weekend for years in the Yakima Valley; now it has spilled out to include wineries at Lake Chelan, the Rattlesnake Hills and Maryhill, in the Columbia Gorge.

The wine industry is now pumping $3 billion a year into the state's economy, according to the Washington Wine Commission. That industry continues to develop plans for a new interpretive center, in Prosser. WSU is the latest entity to get on board, saying it will provide exhibits and workshops on the science of grape growing and wine making.

Meanwhile, in Spokane, backers of a proposed children's science museum say they expect to have enough money raised to start construction on the new, $33 million Mobius Science Center next year. The goal of the museum is to raise enthusiasm for technology and the sciences among children, in hopes of steering them towards careers in those fields, supporters say.

Elsewhere, discount grocer WinCo Foods has bought a site for a second Spokane-area store. This one's out in Spokane Valley, and is the former location of a HomeBase home improvement store.

And a new retail-and-office building is in the works near Gonzaga University. Developers think retailers will like the location, but they told the Spokane Journal of Business that given the volatility in Spokane's office markets, they're trying to line up tenants before moving ahead with the project. That's something to keep an eye on.

In manufacturing news, Servatron, a spin-off of Spokane-based Itron, reported a 40-percent jump in profits in 2007.

Servatron manufactures a variety of electronic devices and components for other companies. In recent months there have been signs that this sector - which has been hammered by off-shoring - is on the rebound. A weak dollar, rising fuel costs and rising wages in China are making it less worth the headache of sending production overseas, insiders say.

Finally, from Walla Walla, a setback for Spokane-based AmericanWest Financial, which says it's closing an experimental "neighborhood financial center" in suburban College Place. Smaller than a traditional branch, the center was seen as a way to intrduce new customers to the bank, which has two main-line branches in Walla Walla.

"We thought we could reach out to an untapped marketshare," , AmericanWest's executive vice president of retail banking, Nicole Sherman, told my friends at the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. "What we have found is that just didn't happen with the slowing of the economy."