While soaring energy prices have clouded the viability of Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp.s Northwest smelters, other challenges and uncertainties raise questions about the future of Kaisers plants here, its parent companys new annual report

COEUR DALENEThe most common phrase uttered by customers upon entering the store where Judy Norton works here is, I feel like a kid in a candy store. With all due respect to those customersduh. The Original Penny Candy Store, nestled

In what could be an omen of things to come based on rising energy concerns, the Spokane Cummins engine dealer has sold diesel-powered generating equipment worth more than $10 million to a Central Washington public utility district to help cover a a

The shortage of available pharmacists that has plagued hospitals, home-health agencies, community clinics, and retail pharmacies here for years hasnt run its course yet, but steps are being taken to ease the pain.Larry Bettesworth, director of

Post Falls-based Medinex Systems Inc. has spent nearly all of the $21 million it raised two years ago in an initial public offering, has posted a $30 million net loss for 2000, and has trimmed roughly 80 percent of the about 180 employees it had on

The Washington state Department of Transportation wants to exchange a parcel of land on Spokanes North Side that has strong development potential for construction of a building in the Spokane Valley and for a project north of Spokane.The swap

Stoneridge Golf Course, just north of Spirit Lake, Idaho, closed last weekend for a yearlong, $2.5 million renovation.The project includes rebuilding all of the greens on the 18-hole golf course, adding new tee boxes and rebuilding older tee a a

MSC/Premera Blue Cross, one of Eastern Washingtons largest health insurers, has started work on a $1.7 million remodeling project at its main office complex.The complex, which is located at 3900 E. Sprague, includes two buildings with a total

Farmers & Merchants Bank, of Spokane, posted healthy gains in loans, assets, deposits, and net income in 2000.We had a good year, says John Tombari, the banks chief operating officer.The banks net income soared 28.7 percent to $2.8 up

GranTree Furniture, of Portland, has re-entered the Spokane market, opening a store at the northwest corner of Second Avenue and Bernard Street, and plans to open two more stores here within the next 12 months.Once GranTree has opened three it a