Latest News

Getting back to basics in recession

Schneidmiller Cd'A real estate brokerage pulls back to its roots in down economy

July 2, 2009

Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty, a 27-year-old Coeur d'Alene real estate brokerage, has pulled back to its roots as part of its strategy to endure the recession.Gary Schneidmiller, the agency's owner and broker, says he has done some of fit

Rendering courtesy of Spokane Public Schools

City's urban design awards program seeks applications

Mayor Verner continues recognition effort started two years ago by Hession

June 18, 2009

Ben Rascoff

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner says the city is seeking applications for this year's Mayor's Urban Design Awards program.The program, started in 2007 by former Mayor Dennis Hession, is intended to recognize and thank those who contribute to Spokane's

Height, style of 'McMansions' are what turn off neighbors

Size disparity, not absolute size, found in study to stir strongest negative reaction

June 18, 2009

A new study provides a first glimpse of exactly what people find offensive about super-sized houses that have sprouted up in neighborhoods around the country.Researchers found that people particularly dislike when these large homes, often called

All-female design firm targets 'green'

ZDS Architects' revenues climbed by double-digit percentage again last year

June 18, 2009

Emily Holt

As the owner and founder of ZDS Architects Inc., Suzanne Zahr-Fleming plans to weather the economic storm with plywood and a rosewood veneer.Since 2002, ZDS Architects, a small firm on Seattle's Capitol Hill made up of four minority women, has a

ALSC says mix will carry it through

Longtime firm relies on education, recreation projects, avoids speculative developments

June 18, 2009

Mike McLean

The workload at Spokane-based ALSC Architects PS has slowed somewhat this year, following a strong year for the firm in 2008. Yet Rustin Hall, its president, says the firm's mix of design expertise will carry it through the recession."This year

Designing a path through a slowdown

Architectural firms seek to be more competitive in tight market

June 18, 2009

David Cole

Architectural firms here say they're weathering the recession well—by making changes to be more versatile and competitive in a market where there is less design work to win.Some firms accustomed to having plenty of work say there're more are

Inland Imaging expands its digital X-ray database

More rural hospitals and providers in region get instant image access

June 18, 2009

Jeanne Gustafson

Inland Imaging LLC, of Spokane, says it has expanded the reach of its digital X-ray database into rural and metropolitan areas around the region, including Seattle and Portland, and as far away as Phoenix.The imaging company has been building a

Spokane physician heads new health-care company

Premera starts Vivacity to help employers find health-care cost savings

June 18, 2009

David Cole

An affiliate of regional health-care insurer Premera Blue Cross has launched a subsidiary that will offer services to employers aimed at improving the health of their employees and reducing health-care costs—and has named a Spokane doctor to a

NW Orthopaedic launches Spokane Hand Center

Four of clinic's surgeons have specialty training to offer care, do surgery

June 18, 2009

David Cole

Northwest Orthopaedic Specialists PS, of Spokane, says it has formed what it calls the Spokane Hand Center to help it market the services it offers to patients who suffer ailments and injuries to the hands, wrists, and elbows.The center offers a

First patients implanted with latest mechanical heart pump

Surgeons placed devices without putting patients on heart-lung machines

June 18, 2009

Three patients at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center were among the first in the U.S. to be implanted with a next-generation artificial heart pump called the DuraHeart Left-Ventricular Assist System.The surgeries a