Sept. 15 / Employment here falls
Nonagricultural wage and salary employment in the Spokane metropolitan area fell to 204,800 in August, down 12,100 jobs from the August 2008 level, according to preliminary Washington state Employment Security Department figures. Preliminary figures from another survey put the unemployment rate here at 8.5 percent in August, up steeply from 5.5 percent in the year-earlier month.

Sept. 14 / Avista seeks big reduction in natural gas prices
Avista Corp., of Spokane, said natural gas prices for its residential and small commercial customers in Washington and Idaho will drop by 20.2 percent and 17 percent, respectively, on Nov. 1 if the utility commissions in both states approve annual Purchase Gas Cost Adjustments it filed. This is the third time this year Avista has requested permission to decrease rates for its 145,500 natural gas customers in Washington and its 73,000 Idaho customers due to steep declines in wholesale gas prices.

Sept. 14 / Pence assumes CEO duties again at Coldwater Creek
Coldwater Creek Inc., the Sandpoint-based specialty women's fashion retailer, announced that co-founder and Chairman Dennis Pence assumed the duties of president and CEO, replacing Daniel Griesemer. Pence, who served as Coldwater Creek's CEO from 1984 through December 2000 and from 2002 to October 2007, said the company's board had asked him to take over in an effort to accelerate Coldwater Creek's growth and return it to long-term profitability. The company last month reported a net loss of $4.9 million for its fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 1.

Sept. 10 / Southwest adds nonstop Spokane-Denver flight
Southwest Airlines, of Dallas, said it plans to add a roundtrip daily flight between Spokane and Denver beginning Jan. 10 and has begun accepting reservations for those direct flights.

Sept. 2 / Raceway operator's contract in limbo
Spokane County issued a letter of default to Austin Motorsports Management LLC, contract operator of Spokane County Raceway, in Airway Heights, citing more than $1 million in outstanding bills from local construction contractors that haven't been paid. The letter warned Austin that it had 60 days to pay the outstanding amounts owed to contractors for work done improving the raceway, or the county, which owns the track and surrounding grounds, would terminate its contract.

Sept. 2 / Complaint filed against CHS
Service Employees International Union Healthcare 1199 NW said the National Labor Relations Board issued complaints against Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems Inc., owner and operator of Deaconess Medical Center and Valley Hospital and Medical Center, for alleged failure to engage in good-faith bargaining with more than 1,100 nurses, technicians, and other health-care workers at the two Spokane-area hospitals. The union said it has been negotiating a new contract with CHS since 2008, and a hearing is set for Oct. 19 in front of an administrative law judge here.

Corrections & Amplifications
The Kalispel Tribe of Indians' Northern Quest Resort & Casino opened in December of 2000. A story in the Journal's Sept. 3 issue misstated when it opened.