The two halves of 2010 were like two different job markets, with unemployment here peaking at 11.2 percent in February, but private-sector employers increasing their hiring in the second half of the year, says Doug Tweedy, regional labor economist

The light at the end of the tunnel to economic recovery remained dim this year for most industry sectors here, but greater optimism about 2011 is providing a new glow. Expect improvements, albeit from lower levels of activity than we're used to, as

Action Moving Services Inc., of Spokane Valley, recently completed a $1.2 million building project and, after changing its affiliation to Hillside Ill.-based Bekins Van Lines LLC, is looking to expand its operations into other cities, says Jeff the

Spokane-based Coldwell Banker Tomlinson, a prominent real estate brokerage, says it has left its Spokane Valley real estate office building and has moved most of its agents formerly based there to office space it leases on the South Hill.Fred a

Red Diamond Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the apparent low bidder for an about $516,000 contract with the city of Spokane to repave and widen a major South Hill arterial route that includes parts of Hatch Road and 57th Avenue.The project is

Meridian Construction Inc., of Spokane Valley, says it has won a $3 million contract to erect an office building on the West Plains for Enduris Washington.Meridian owner Mark D'Agostino says the company expects to begin construction of the this

When I entered the newspaper business in 1972, it was well established that to boost circulation, small papers put peoples' names and faces in their pages so their friends and relatives could see them. Today, in a new twist on an old idea, Facebook

New deli provides frozen yogurt, lunch A new frozen yogurt and lunch eatery, Chill Spot, has opened at 2706 N. Monroe, says co-owner Rick Purcell.The 1,400-square-foot restaurant, which can seat 28 patrons, offers eight varieties of

Gibby Media Group, a Spokane multimedia production company, says it this week is releasing an interactive digital disc that highlights the Spokane region with staff-produced videos and hundreds of links to Internet sites.Titled "Spokane/Coeur at

DeVries Records Management Inc., a Spokane company that does business as DeVries Business Services and provides records management and storage services to about 500 businesses in the Inland Northwest, has acquired the records storage operations of