Apartment vacancy rate climbs The recession and job losses have contributed to a steep rise in apartment vacancies here recently, ending an extended period of high occupancy rates, industry observers say. Other related factors contributing to the near doubling of th... Full Story

Wading into social media So-called social media, Web sites that allow people to interact with one another on the Internet, are growing fast and changing the marketing and public relations game, some companies and organizations here say. People engage with social... Full Story

Refrigeration company expands here SCS Refrigerated Services LLC, a big Seattle-area provider of refrigerated and frozen storage, plans to open a 100,000-square-foot cold-storage facility here this month, in the former SuperValu Inc. distribution center, in Spokane Valley. Full Story

Deposits top loans in new bank reports Banks are heading back to the future—before the era of aggressive lending that predated today's softer economy—judging by the changed relationship between two important figures on their balance sheets. Partly because of slacke... Full Story