The Washington state Department of Labor and Industries proposal to raise workers compensation premiums by 19.4 percent next yearfollowing a 29 percent hike this yearis likely to be met with vehement opposition.The department was to the

An investment group affiliated with Spokane developer John Stone has sold partial interests in three Seattle-area assisted-living centers it owns to Seattle-based Merrill Gardens LLC, a big operator of senior-housing communities nationwide. As

Coeur dAlene Mines Corp., of Coeur dAlene, says it has reached a major milestone in its 10-year quest to obtain permits to mine gold at its Kensington property near Juneau, Alaskaa project that could boost the companys annual gold by 150 by

Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative is investing $40 million to $45 million in new technologyincluding in the Spokane-area marketthat will standardize its computer systems and allow electronic medical record keeping at all of its 25 clinics

The Coeur dAlene Tribe has begun a $15 million expansion of its hotel and casino complex near Worley, Idaho, with projects that will almost double the size of the hotel and add 400 gaming machines to the casino.Construction of the projects to

Dr. Leroy Hood, a scientist who knows a thing or two about the biotechnology businesshes had a hand in the creation of a string of successful biotech companies, including Amgen Inc., a $5.5 billion-a-year industry leadersays a city or region

WestCoast Hospitality Corp. Chairman Don Barbieri says hed like to fill the legislative seat being vacated by 3rd District state Rep. Jeff Gombosky, but only if hes appointed to the posthe doesnt plan for now to run for election. thats on

Developer Marshall Chesrown, fresh from opening the exclusive Black Rock golf course at Coeur dAlene Lake, has begun work on an upscale, 500-home housing development in Liberty Lake. Aapex Construction Inc., of Post Falls, has started site at

For Isothermal Systems Research Inc., a Clarkston, Wash.-based defense contractor that opened a Liberty Lake operation last year, a lot will be riding on a flight test that the U.S. Navy will conduct in September. The test, involving an EA-6B a

SANDPOINT, IdahoWhen the bright red Turbine Lancair IV-P airplane thats being built here finally gets aloft later this summer, it also could give flight to a startup venture owned by father-and-son aviation buffs Don and Buck Simmons. The a