June 13 / Hecla to pay $263.4 million settlement

The U.S. Department of Justice said Hecla Mining Co., of Coeur d'Alene, agreed to pay $263.4 million to the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and the state of Idaho to settle claims that the release of waste from its mining operations harmed the environment. Settlement funds will be dedicated to restoration and remediation of natural resources in the Coeur d'Alene Basin. The Justice Department said the settlement resolves one of the largest cases ever filed under the Superfund statute.

June 13 / Group Health to close Coeur d'Alene center

Group Health Cooperative announced itplans to close its Coeur d'Alene Medical Center onNov. 4. Theorganization cited declining enrollmentduring the pastseveral years as its primary reasonfor closing the center, which employs 30 people and serves3,200 patients.Group Health said in a press release that thepeople who work there will be offered positions atother Group Health locations.

June 9 / AmericanWest to enter California

AmericanWest Bank, of Spokane, announced that it has agreed to merge San Diego-based Sunrise Bank into its operations. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year and will give AmericanWest a presence in California, with four offices in the southern part of the state. The announcement comes just two weeks after the bank announced that an affiliated company is acquiring Seattle-area Bank of the Northwest and converting its branches to AmericanWest.

June 8 / Spokane, Coeur d'Alene metros to merge

The U.S. Census Bureau said the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene metro areas will merge for potential statistical purposes in 2013. They will retain individual metro status, but also will be recognized as "Spokane-Coeur d'Alene." Currently, the two metro areas have a total population of 609,000.

June 8 / Home sales increase

The Spokane Association of Realtors said home sales here increased to 382 closed sales in May, down from 520 homes sold in the year-earlier month but up from 332 in April. The median sales price in May was $149,950, and the average price was $164,282.

June 2 / Coldwater Creek posts big loss

Coldwater Creek Inc., the Sandpoint-based women's apparel retailer, reported a first-quarter net loss of $30 million, or 32 cents a diluted share, compared with net income of $2.3 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Coldwater Creek Chairman and CEO Dennis Pence said the results are in line with revised expectations the company released May 17.

June 2 / Pyrotek to move factory to Valley

Pyrotek Inc., a Spokane Valley-based manufacturer of high-temperature materials for industrial applications, said that it will relocate a manufacturing line to Spokane Valley from Mexico. Pyrotek will hire 20 people to work at the facility, at which production is expected to start in August. The company said Greater Spokane Incorporated put together a relocation package that contributed to the company's decision to move that operation to the Valley.

Corrections & Amplifications

Washington State University plans to put the former Jensen-Byrd warehouse structure in the Riverpoint Campus up for sale. A headline in the Journal's June 2 issue could have left the false impression that Jensen Distribution Services, the big West Plains company that at one time operated in that building, was being sold.