Fries family departs Washington wine industry with Desert Wind sale
Fries family departs Washington wine industry with Desert Wind sale By Eric Degerman on May 14, 2021
Greg Fries, and his father, Doug, and their family recently sold Desert Wind Winery and 470 acres of vineyards to a group led by Columbia Valley growers Josh Lawrence and Tom Merkle. (Photo by Lynn Howlett Photography/Courtesy of Desert Wind Winery)
PROSSER, Wash. – Less than three years ago, the Fries family owned a combined 1,017 acres of grape vines in Washington state and Oregon while producing 120,000 cases of wine under brands in each state.
This week brought news that the Fries family has sold all of its holdings in Washington Desert Wind Winery in Prosser and 470 acres of vineyards on the Wahluke Slope to a group led by acclaimed Columbia Valley growers/vintners Josh Lawrence, Tom Merkle and their families.
National News
Apr 19, 2021
FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2012, file photo is the site of a proposed station for the DesertXpress high-speed rail line to Las Vegas, foreground, with Interstate 15 in the background, on the far outskirts of Victorville, Calif., the Mojave Desert city on the route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Proposed federal infrastructure funding for rail projects has transportation planners taking another look at a Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas passenger route that Amtrak stopped in 1997 and at a high-speed rail line along the congested Interstate 15 corridor to Victorville, Calif. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
LAS VEGAS (AP) Proposed federal infrastructure funding for rail projects has transportation planners taking another look at a Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas passenger route that Amtrak stopped in 1997 and at a high-speed rail line along the congested Interstate 15 corridor to Victorville, California.
Federal infrastructure plan spurs talk of Vegas-LA rail service
Published article
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 18: A view of the Las Vegas Strip near Caesars Palace shows light vehicle and pedestrian traffic as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States on March 18, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. On Tuesday, Nevada Gov.
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LAS VEGAS - Proposed federal infrastructure funding for rail projects has transportation planners taking another look at a Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas passenger route that Amtrak stopped in 1997 and at a high-speed rail line along the congested Interstate 15 corridor to Victorville, California.
President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion jobs bill would finance Amtrak plans to expand service nationwide and launch multiple new routes, including one between southern Nevada and Southern California.
Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft called both the Amtrak and Brightline plans attractive and said the one that begins operating first likely will fare better.
“Clearly they both have benefits,” Naft said. “Either option will help alleviate traffic from the 15, which we cannot tolerate more weekends of stacked-up traffic.”
He referred to Sunday afternoon and post-holiday traffic jams that sometimes result in 17-mile backups for Los Angeles-bound motorists where three freeway lanes in Nevada narrow to two in California.
Amtrak CEO Bill Flynn issued a statement March 31 focusing on improving Northeast U.S. Corridor rail service, and said Biden’s $80 billion in funding also could bring intercity rail service to up to 160 communities in the U.S.