March 5 / Cd'A Tribe receives broadband funds
The Coeur d'Alene Tribe said the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded it $12.3 million in a combined stimulus grant and loan to construct a broadband network that will provide high-speed Internet access for rural communities on the Coeur d'Alene Indian Reservation and surrounding areas. The project calls for fiber-optic lines to be installed in Plummer, Worley, Tensed, and DeSmet, Idaho, the tribe said.

March 4 / AmericanWest to delist its common stock
AmericanWest Bancorporation, the Spokane-based parent of AmericanWest Bank, said it had notified Nasdaq of its intent to delist its common stock voluntarily, and trading of its common stock will be suspended on March 15. Nasdaq had notified AmericanWest last September that the minimum bid price of its common stock had fallen below $1 a share for 30 consecutive business days, putting it out of compliance with Nasdaq rules. AmericanWest's stock closed at 42 cents a share on March 4.

March 3 / Coldwater Creek posts loss, predicts profit
Coldwater Creek Inc., the Sandpoint-based specialty women's fashion retailer, reported a net loss of $9.7 million, or 11 cents a share, for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 30, much improved from its loss of $18.6 million, or 20 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. For its entire fiscal 2009, the company lost $56.1 million, or 61 cents a share, compared with a loss of $26 million, or 29 cents a share, in 2008. It said it anticipates full-year earnings for fiscal 2010 in the range of 8 cents to 12 cents a share, with most of its earnings growth coming in the third and fourth quarters.

March 2 / Employment here falls
Nonagricultural wage and salary employment in the Spokane metropolitan area fell to 203,700 in January, down 7,100 jobs from the January 2008 level, according to preliminary Washington state Employment Security Department figures. Preliminary figures from another survey put the unemployment rate here at 10.6 percent, up from 8.8 percent in January 2008.

Feb. 27 / Providence cancels Rockwood Clinic leases
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital said it will cancel leases for Rockwood Clinic PS doctors at its Sacred Heart Doctor's Building as of June 30. Providence opted not to allow Rockwood to assign its leases for about 48,000 square feet of space to Community Health Systems Inc., of Franklin, Tenn., which recently bought Rockwood Clinic. Providence said, however, that Rockwood doctors will retain medical privileges and can perform surgery at the hospital.

Feb. 26 / City ponders proposals for vacant YMCA
The city of Spokane said it received three responses to its call for development proposals for the vacant YMCA building, at 507 N. Howard, in Riverfront Park downtown. Wells & Co. and Pinch Development & Investment Co., both of Spokane, submitted separate proposals for a private, mixed-use development, and Jennifer Childress, of Spokane, proposed that the building house American Indian cultural exhibits. The city, which borrowed $4.4 million from an investment fund to buy the building, has until April 1 to decide whether to develop the building or accept Conservation Futures funds from Spokane County to repay the borrowed sum, which would require razing the building and restoring the land to a natural state.

Feb 23 / Pentagon issues new RFP for tankers
The Pentagon issued a revised request for proposals to replace the U.S. Air Force's aging fleet of aerial refueling tankers, including those at Fairchild Air Force Base here. Major Boeing Co. competitor Northrop Grumman-European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co. said it wouldn't bid for the contract, leaving Boeing as the sole bidder. "The bottom line is that the tanker brings jobs, not only on the assembly lines in Everett, but also to aerospace suppliers and businesses large and small across our state and nation," said U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

Feb. 23 / Spokane County picks new raceway operators
Spokane County commissioners selected a partnership of two longtime speedway operators to take over operation of Spokane County Raceway Park under a 10-year contract. The new operators, Ronald Hodgson and Charles Allen, operate raceways in Edmonton, Alberta, and Chandler, Arizona, respectively. The county said it's negotiating a 10-year contract that would net base rent of more than $750,000 and 10 percent of gross revenues over $1.5 million annually. In addition, the city of Airway Heights agreed to contribute half of the proceeds from a recently approved admission tax to the raceway and to extend city water and sewer infrastructure to it to the Raceway Park, in exchange for 70 acres there for a planned regional sports park.