October 19 / Sterling reports big quarterly swing
Sterling Financial Corp., Spokane-based parent of Sterling Savings Bank, reported third-quarter net income attributable to common shareholders of $33.6 million, or 2 cents a share, up dramatically from a loss of $463.7 million, or $8.93 a share, in the 2009 third quarter. It reported a net operating loss of $48 million for the latest quarter, compared with a $490.4 million loss from operations in the year-earlier period, but the latest loss was more than offset by a one-time, noncash increase to income available to common shareholders of $84.3 million related to the conversion of U.S. Treasury preferred stock into common shares as part of Sterling's $730 million recapitalization on Aug. 26.

Oct. 19 / Employment here falls
About 202,600 people held nonagricultural wage and salary jobs in the Spokane area in September, down by 5,200 from the September 2009 level, but up by 2,000 from August this year, preliminary state figures said. Preliminary results from another state survey put the unemployment rate at 8.2 percent during September, down from 8.4 percent in the year-earlier month.

Oct. 19 / Spokesman-Review names Johnson to post
The Spokesman-Review announced that Daniel M. Johnson will become the newspaper's director of sales and marketing, effective in January. Johnson will succeed longtime sales and marketing director Shaun O'L. Higgins, who announced earlier this month his plans to retire in January, after 31 years with Cowles Co. Johnson has headed the Spokesman-Review's circulation department for the past five years.

Oct. 18 / More Providence employees laid off
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center and Holy Family Hospital announced that they had laid off 46 more employees as a result of the hospitals' $7 million budget shortfall. All 46 of the employees were certified nursing aides who assisted patients with bathing, walking, and meals. This is the hospitals' second round of job cuts recently made, including one last month, and a total of 107 employees have been laid off.

Oct. 14/ Spokane, Kootenai foreclosures climb
During the third quarter of this year, lenders either foreclosed on or filed notices of foreclosure on 727 properties in Spokane County, up sharply from 198 foreclosure actions in the year-earlier quarter, said RealtyTrac Inc., an Irvine, Calif., company that compiles a database of foreclosed properties. Third-quarter foreclosure actions in Kootenai County totaled 670, up from 615 in the year-earlier quarter.

Oct. 11 / September home sales here plummet
The Spokane Association of Realtors said 317 homes were sold here in September through the Multiple Listing Service, down sharply from 443 sales in September 2009. Sales during the first nine months of this year totaled 3,330 homes, just less than 3,338 homes sold in the year-earlier period. The median sales price here in September was $165,000, down from $171,575 in the year-earlier month.

Oct. 7 / Schweitzer Engineering announces expansion
Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Inc., of Pullman, said it plans to build a 70,000-square-foot delivery center at its headquarters; a 104,800-square-foot manufacturing facility in Lewiston, Idaho; and a 68,500-square-foot expansion in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Both stateside projects are to be completed in September 2011, and the Mexico expansion is to be completed in November 2011. The company also announced that it currently has 160 job openings.

Corrections & Amplifications
Boundary Dam is located north of Metaline Falls, Wash. That location was reported incorrectly in the Journal's Oct. 7 issue.