Oct. 21 / Spokane County selects racetrack operator
Spokane County commissioners unanimously selected Midway Muffler & Radiator Inc., headquartered in Fife, Wash., and owned by businessman Bucky Austin, to operate Spokane County Motorsports Park on the West Plains. Commissioner Todd Mielke said Midway Muffler's winning proposal included substantial capital improvements to the motorsports park and that Spokane County could receive nearly $40 million dollars over the next 25 years under the agreement. Spokane County bought the former Spokane Raceway Park property and three adjoining parcels, totaling 314 acres, for $4.3 million last spring.

Oct.21 / Employment here falls
Nonagricultural wage and salary employment in the Spokane area dropped to 218,400 in September, a decrease of 600 jobs from the September 2007 level, according to preliminary state figures. Preliminary results from another state survey put the unemployment rate here at 5.5 percent during September, up from 4.3 percent in the year-earlier month.

Oct. 21 / Sterling posts steep drop in earnings
Sterling Financial Corp., of Spokane, reported third-quarter net income of $5 million, or 10 cents a diluted share, down from $26.5 million, or 51 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. It also reported net income for the nine months ended Sept. 30 of $19.5 million, down from $76.4 million in the year-earlier period. Sterling said the drop reflected higher provisions for credit losses primarily relating to its residential construction portfolio. The company set aside $37 million in the third quarter for credit losses, compared with $3.9 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Oct. 16 / Red Lion gets no solid proposals
Red Lion Hotels Corp., of Spokane, said it completed a review of its options after several parties earlier had shown preliminary interest in acquiring the company. It said it hadn't received any definitive offers, and it added that Seattle-based shareholder Columbia Pacific Opportunity Fund LP had withdrawn its previous interest in acquiring Red Lion's outstanding shares. Separately, the company said it had obtained a $14 million loan from Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., of San Francisco, to refinance its 181-room hotel in Bellevue, Wash., to pay off an $8.2 million higher-rate loan on the hotel, and for general corporate purposes.

Oct. 16 / Hecla pays down bridge loan
Hecla Mining Co., of Coeur d'Alene, said it repaid $200 million of a $240 million short-term bridge loan it used to acquire the rest of the Greens Creek silver mine near Juneau, Alaska, from subsidiaries of United Kingdom-based Rio Tinto. Hecla President Phillips S. Baker Jr. said the company could have repaid the entire amount but opted to extend the term on the remaining $40 million to Feb. 16, 2009, to maintain liquidity.

Oct. 9 / Foreclosure rate doubles in August
The foreclosure rate in August in Spokane County rose to 0.6 percent, up from 0.3 percent in August 2007, said a report from First American CoreLogic Inc., a Sacramento, Calif-based real estate data service. The mortgage delinquency rate here in August rose to 1.60 percent, up from 0.9 percent in the year-earlier month, the report said.

Oct. 6 / South Hill neighborhood activists' challenge fails
The Eastern Washington Growth Management Hearings Board ruled that neighborhood activists from southeast Spokane failed to prove the city of Spokane didn't comply with the Growth Management Act by amending its comprehensive plan and land use plan map, allowing big-box stores to locate on South Hill parcels near Regal Street and the Palouse Highway. The Southgate Neighborhood Council, Neighborhood Alliance of Spokane, the nonprofit Futurewise, and neighbor Ginger Patano petitioned the hearings board.