The discussion of public-policy matters here should get a welcome boost with the Washington Policy Center adding its well-researched opinions to the mix more frequently, following its recent opening of an Eastern Washington office here.The says

Randall L. Fewel, president and CEO of Inland Northwest Bank, has projected that the Spokane-based institution will return to profitability this year.The bank's parent, Northwest Bancorporation Inc., reported recently a fourth-quarter net loss a

Central Pre-Mix Development Corp. is seeking to rezone for mining uses 85 acres of land it bought in 2008 at an auction of part of the former Spokane Raceway Park property.Central Pre-Mix, which produces ready-mix cement and sand and gravel to a

The operator of Red Lion Hotels Corp.'s TicketsWest call center here says it has begun having some of the employees in that center work from their homes. TicketsWest outsourced its call center ticket sales in Spokane last spring to Dallas-based

Accurate Molded Plastics Inc., of Coeur d'Alene, is erecting a 20,000-square-foot addition at its manufacturing plant there, says Scott Gabbert, the company's general manager.The company currently occupies about 35,000 square feet of floor space

Inland Power & Light Co., the Spokane-based electric cooperative, says its net margins jumped 56 percent last year to slightly more than $5 million, due largely to record power sales, lower operating costs, and the sale of its former headquarters

Washington Trust Bank managed to make a profit last year, although the just under $3 million in net income it posted was less than a fifth of the $15.8 million in profit that it logged in 2008.As of Dec. 31, the Spokane-based bank's loans were a

The operator of the Olive Garden Restaurant chain has applied for a permit to build a $1.3 million "new Olive Garden" at the site of a former Hollywood Video Store near Northpointe Plaza.The operator, GMRI Inc., of Orlando, Fla., submitted an a