June 16 / Job numbers dip; unemployment rate climbs
Nonagricultural wage and salary employment in the Spokane metropolitan area fell to 212,200 in May, down 9,300 jobs from the May 2008 level, according to preliminary Washington state Employment Security Department figures. Preliminary figures from another survey put the unemployment rate at 9.1 percent in May, up sharply from 4.8 percent in the year-earlier month.

June 12 / Cd'A Tribe plans $75 million resort expansion
The Coeur d'Alene Tribe said it plans a $75 million expansion of its Coeur d'Alene Casino Resort Hotel, in Worley, Idaho, and expects to complete the project by 2011. The project, which will be the seventh and largest major expansion there yet, will include adding 105 hotel rooms and a 15,000-square-foot fitness spa to its 202-room resort. It also will add more casino space, a gourmet steakhouse, a promenade, and a natural amphitheater for concerts and other outdoor events.

June 11 / Advantage IQ chief to leave company
Advantage IQ CEO Stu Stiles announced he will leave the Spokane-based utility and telecom cost-management service provider by the end of June to pursue ministry work overseas. The Advantage IQ board will select a new CEO, and Jeff Hart, Advantage IQ's chief operating officer, will lead the Avista Corp. subsidiary through the transition, Avista said.

June 8 / Scafco to buy property from city
The city of Spokane accepted a $2.1 million bid by Scafco Corp., of Spokane Valley, to buy 45 acres of the 63-acre former Playfair race course site, at 300 N. Altamont. The grain-storage system and steel stud manufacturer previously had met a $5.1 million minimum bid for the site, but it had anticipated that the city would pay for infrastructure improvements. Under the reduced bid, it will complete all such improvements for the business-industrial park it intends to create there, city spokeswoman Marlene Feist said. The sale is expected to close in about 60 days, she said.

June 8 / Clearwater nets $144 million in offering
Clearwater Paper Corp., the Spokane-based spin-off of Potlatch Corp., also of Spokane, said it netted $144 million by offering senior notes with an aggregate principal amount of $150 million. The company said it expects to use about $107 million of the net proceeds to satisfy credit-sensitive debentures originally issued by an affiliate of Potlatch, and for which it had assumed the obligation prior to its spin-off from that real estate investment trust. The rest of the net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including possible acquisitions and capital expenditures.

June 2 / Hecla Mining sells $60 million in stock
In a private placement, Hecla Mining Co., of Coeur d'Alene, sold roughly $60 million in common stock at a price of $3.45 a share. The 17.4 million shares included warrants buyers could use to purchase an additional 12.2 million shares six months after the offering closed. The company said the offering allowed it to reduce debt and gave it the flexibility to increase reserves and production.

June 2 / State to close part of women's prison
The Washington state Department of Corrections said it will close a unit at Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women west of Spokane by July 1 "to bring prison capacity in line with the declining prison population." Closure of the unit will reduce the operating capacity of Pine Lodge to 187 women, from 359. The state said it will attempt to find vacancies within the department for about 30 staff members whose positions at Pine Lodge will be eliminated.