Spokane-area employers can't expect that the nation's economic strife will translate into slower-rising health-plan costs next year. To the contrary, one of the big questions is to what extent the recession will cause those costs to soar even the a

URM Stores Inc., the Spokane-based grocery distribution cooperative, is considering moving ahead with construction of a long-postponed, multimillion-dollar building on the West Plains for Peirone Produce Co., which it owns.Dean Sonnenberg, URM's

In the face of economic turmoil and a projected $5.1 billion state budget shortfall, business advocates here say their wish list for the Washington Legislature's upcoming session includes a stimulus package of capital improvements, expanded local a

Christmas has come early at Deaconess Medical Center and Valley Hospital & Medical Center.The two Spokane hospitals have been unwrapping some of the $11.5 million in new equipment that's being bought this quarter by their new owner, Franklin, of

The four-day closure of Interstate 90 at Snoqualmie Pass last winter cost the state 170 jobs and the loss of $27.9 million in economic output, $1.42 million in state revenue, and $8.6 million in personal income, a Washington state Department of at

The dramatic increase in diesel prices earlier this year has hurt trucking companies here and nationally—with the potential of increasing the cost of everything transported by truck, including food, retail products, and manufactured industry a