Latest News

Pro Heating's assets sold to employee

Renamed Pro Mechanical shifts focus to reducing customers' energy costs

February 10, 2011

Longtime Pro Heating & Air Conditioning Inc. employee Jon Vanos has bought the assets of the 25-year-old Spokane company for an undisclosed sum and renamed it Pro Mechanical Services Inc. The commercial heating, air conditioning, and ventilation

EWU studies find little gain in regionalizing services

Government consolidating hasn't produced significant cost savings, researchers say

February 10, 2011

Kim Crompton

City and county consolidations, although a popular topic when local governments are under extreme fiscal pressure, haven't been shown nationally to produce the savings that advocates might expect.That's the conclusion of one of two new studies a

Acme Concrete submits low bid on runway rehab

$20.3 million project will help airport meet standards

February 10, 2011

Acme Concrete Paving Inc., of Spokane, is the apparent low bidder for a $20.3 million project to reconstruct part of Runway 21 at the Spokane International Airport so it meets current international visibility standards.The project involves the a

Games on wheels

February 10, 2011

Chey Scott

Video games increasingly are becoming a means of social interaction for almost every age group, and a fairly new franchise here has captured that idea through its offering of a mobile gaming unit for all types of group events.GameTruck a of with

Apartments planned on Sprague site

Walker named contractor for $5 million housing project with retail space

February 10, 2011

Mike McLean

A Spokane nonprofit concern plans to develop a $5 million, four-story work-force housing project at 1420 E. Sprague that would include 35 apartment units and ground-floor retail space.The nonprofit, Inland Empire Residential Resources, recently

Businesses to start sustainability group

About 40 concerns said to be interested in joining; March launch is planned

February 10, 2011

Linn Parish

In coming weeks, a group of sustainability-minded Spokane-area business owners plan to launch a local chapter of a quickly growing national organization called Business Alliance For Local Living Economies, or BALLE. About 40 businesses have a

Cascade merges with Oregon firm

Window maker in Valley boosts work force to 450 with Empire Pacific deal

February 10, 2011

Kim Crompton

Cascade Windows, a longtime Spokane Valley manufacturer of vinyl windows, says it has merged with a Portland-area window maker, boosting its regional presence and enlarging its total work force to about 450 workers.Randy Emerson, Cascade and the

Opposition stirs against tribal casino

Zak Designs CEO brings together business leaders concerned about proposal

February 10, 2011

Linn Parish

A prominent West Plains business owner is organizing opposition to a $130-million development proposed just west of Airway Heights by the Spokane Tribe of Indians. Irv Zakheim, president and CEO of dinnerware designer and manufacturer Zak Inc.,

- Rendering Courtesy of Integrus Architecture PS

Jail project costs cut to $199 million

Ballot measure targeted for August, rather than April; campaign planned

February 10, 2011

Kim Crompton

The Spokane County Sheriff's Office says it has made draft master plan updates that would trim 592 inmate beds and $66 million off previous size and cost estimates for a detention-services project designed to meet its needs over the next 25 Office

Printers here broaden offerings

Recession pushes local shops to expand services, tweak business

February 10, 2011

Chey Scott

Some Spokane-area printers are changing their business models and expanding the services they offer as part of an effort to offset a general downturn in the industry over the past two years due to the recession and a trend toward digital some are a