May 19 / Avista seeks to reduce gas rates; credit rating improves
Avista Corp., the Spokane based energy company, filed requests with utility commissions in Washington state and Idaho to reduce natural gas rates by 8.1 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively, saying natural gas prices had continued to decline since an earlier reduction in January. Separately, Avista said that Fitch Ratings had upgraded the company's credit rating to investment grade, following upgrades Avista received earlier from Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investor Service rating agencies.

May 19 / Job numbers decline; unemployment rate climbs
Nonagricultural wage and salary employment in the Spokane metropolitan area fell to 211,300 in April, down 8,600 jobs from the April 2008 level, according to preliminary Washington state Employment Security Department figures. Preliminary figures from another survey put the unemployment rate at 9.5 percent in April, up sharply from 4.7 percent in the year-earlier month.

May 16 / City considers business license fee increase
The city of Spokane has considered the idea of raising business license fees to help balance the 2010 budget, possibly bringing the base rate up to $100, from $60, and doubling the per-employee charge, said city spokeswoman Marlene Feist. The increase isn't proposed at this point, but is one revenue-enhancing idea being considered among others, and could raise an additional $2.4 million, she said.

May 15 / AmericanWest announces plan to meet order
AmericanWest Bancorp., the Spokane parent of AmericanWest Bank, announced a plan to meet objectives of a pending cease-and-desist to be issued by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Washington state Department of Financial Institutions requiring it to improve its capital ratio. In the plan, the bank has launched initiatives to pursue new private-equity investments, to reduce its land-development and construction loans by 35 percent, and to reduce its reliance on brokered deposits largely by replacing them with retail certificates of deposit.

May 8 / April home sales below last year's pace
The Spokane Association of Realtors reported 329 homes were sold in Spokane County in April, down 26 percent from 445 home sales in April 2008. The median home sales price in April was $172,500, compared with $183,500 in the year-earlier month.

May 7 / Avista raises stock dividend
Avista Corp. declared a quarterly dividend of 21 cents a common share, payable June 15 to shareholders of record on May 21. The dividend is up 3 cents a share, or 17 percent, from the previous quarterly dividend issued in March. The company said it is continuing to make significant investments in its infrastructure, and a solid dividend and growth toward a dividend payout ratio more in line with the industry average is important in continuing to attract investment capital.

May 6 / Red Lion Hotels reports first-quarter loss
Spokane-based Red Lion Hotels Corp. reported a first-quarter net loss of $2.9 million, or 16 cents a share, compared with a net loss of just under $4.5 million, or 25 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. The company said it had total revenues of $34.3 million for the first quarter, down 13.2 percent compared with the year-earlier period, primarily due to the weak economy.

May 5 / Spokane anticipates boost from skating event
The city of Spokane said it's expecting an economic impact of $25.7 million from the 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, scheduled to be held here next January. The city's finance division said it expects $14.7 million in ticket and concession sales and hotel-motel, dining, and rental car sales and other direct spending, with a 1.75 percent multiplier effect, plus $1.3 million in city, county, other local, and state tax revenue.