Feb. 12 / City, council OK new dumping fees

The Spokane City Council, following similar action taken by Spokane County commissioners last week, approved new garbage dumping fees that lower rates for commercial haulers but raise them for household haulers who take trash to Spokane's waste-to-energy facility and transfer stations. Beginning May 1, commercial haulers and larger-volume individual haulers will pay $98 a ton at the waste-to-energy facility, down from $107 currently, and $103 a ton at the transfer stations, down from $112. The city claimed the new tipping fees ultimately will lead to lower rates for residents who have curbside garbage pickup. The minimum rate for individual haulers will increase, though, from $7 for the first 120 pounds to $15 for the first 300 pounds of trash.



Feb. 8 / STCU to expand into Hutton building

Spokane Teachers Credit Union, of Liberty Lake, said it plans to open a new branch on the ground level of the Hutton Building and to move the bulk of its commercial lending operations to an upper floor of the seven-story downtown structure, located at 9 S. Washington. Those operations currently are located in Schade Towers, at 528 E. Spokane Falls Blvd. The Schade Towers retail branch, however, will remain open. STCU had held the loan on the Hutton Building and foreclosed on it last summer. Its board decided last month to keep the building rather than put it on the open market.



Feb. 6 / Ambassadors posts loss

Ambassadors Group Inc., the Spokane-based educational-travel program provider reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $10 million, or 58 cents a diluted share, compared with a loss of $7.8 million, or 45 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. For all of 2012, Ambassadors posted net income of $1.7 million, or 10 cents a share, which was down from $3 million, or 17 cents a share in 2011. It projected that the number of delegates it serves will drop again this year, following an 11 percent decline in 2012, but that it's working to adapt to maintain profitability.



Feb. 6 / Avista reaches Idaho settlement

Spokane-based Avista Corp. said it has reached an Idaho rate case settlement that, if approved by the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, would result in new rates being imposed on its customers there in two phases. A residential natural gas customer using an average 60 therms a month would see a $2.82 per month increase on April 1 and a 30 cent increase on Oct. 1, for a revised monthly bill of $55.68. A residential electric customer using an average 930 kilowatt hours a month would see no base rate increase on April 1, but a $2.04 increase on Oct. 1 for a revised monthly bill of $80.73.



Feb. 5 / Providence acquires anesthesia groups

Providence Medical Group of Eastern Washington said it has acquired the two anesthesia groups that work at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital and at Providence Holy Family Hospital. The acquired practices are Physician Anesthesia Group PS, which operated at Sacred Heart, and Anesthesiology Inc., which was at Holy Family. Providence has combined the two groups as Providence Anesthesia Services, which employs 39 anesthesiologists and 94 certified registered nurse anesthetists. Providence Medical Group now includes more than 400 physicians and advanced practitioners.



Feb. 4 / Las Vegas hotel joins Red Lion

Red Lion Hotels Corp., of Spokane, said the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, also known as the LVH, is the first to join its new Leo Hotel Collection and is expected to be integrated into the Red Lion chain by the end of the first quarter. The LVH, formerly the Las Vegas Hilton, has nearly 3,000 guest rooms, as well as 220,000 square feet of meeting space and a 95,000-square-foot casino, plus 14 restaurants, a 1,650-seat showroom, and a 350-seat cabaret. Described as a new brand segment meant for boutique and historic hotels, the Leo Hotel Collection is expected to complement Red Lion's full-service Red Lion Hotels and its limited-service Red Lion Inns & Suites.