Oct. 5 / Spokesman-Review's Higgins to retire
The Spokesman-Review announced that Shaun O'L. Higgins, director of sales and marketing and a frequent presenter at economic forecast events here, will retire in January after 31 years with Cowles Co. A replacement for Higgins, 62, will be announced soon, said publisher W. Stacey Cowles.

Oct. 1 / City sends out layoff notices
The city of Spokane mailed 116 layoff notices to employees to help address a $12 million budget shortfall for 2011. About 70 people could lose their jobs entirely and others could be demoted, the city said. The notices went mostly to employees of the police, street, fire, and building services departments, which are funded through the city's general fund, revenues for which have been in decline, the city said.

Oct. 1 / Cleveland chooses Itron water metering
Itron Inc., the Liberty Lake-based maker of automated meter-reading technology, said the city of Cleveland signed a contract for 425,000 of Itron's ChoiceConnect 100 water modules, network infrastructure, and software, to be deployed over three years. The new system will allow Cleveland to collect hourly meter data over a two-way communications network, Itron said.

Sept. 29 / Medical Lake jail site chosen
Spokane County commissioners chose a site near the Medical Lake interchange with Interstate 90 for construction of a corrections center to replace the Geiger Corrections Center. Commissioners declared an emergency to change zoning at the site to light industrial before an April bond measure comes up for vote. Plans call for the new jail to be built in stages, for up to 1,600 inmates, if voters approve funding for it.

Sept. 29 / West Corp. hires call-center employees
West Corp., of Omaha, Neb., announced plans to hire more than 120 full-time and 70 seasonal employees to handle incoming calls at its downtown call-center facility at 157 S. Howard. The company says it will host job fairs with on-the-spot interviews at the Howard location on Tuesdays in October. West Corp. bought Spokane-based Dakota Direct II LLC about eight years ago and already employs about 1,100 people here.

Sept. 25 / Sacred Heart lays off 33
Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital said it had laid off 33 employees and plans to close its Cuddles & Care sick-child day-care center. More cuts are expected in labor, services, and supplies as the hospital seeks to meet a $7 million budget shortfall.

Sept. 24 / Lookout Pass Ski Area eyes expansion
Lookout Pass Ski Area submitted a $20 million, 20-year expansion plan to the U.S. Forest Service that would add 2,000 acres to the 540-acre resort that straddles the Idaho-Montana border. Pending approval, development of the first of two phases would start in a few years and would include two chairlifts on a second peak southwest of Lookout's current base area.

Sept. 21 / Inland Imaging to open at new center
Inland Imaging LLC, of Spokane, announced it has leased 3,200 square feet of space for a new medical imaging center in the Liberty Lake Health & Wellness Center under development by Baker Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane. Inland Imaging will offer X-ray and magnetic resonance imaging when it opens the center. Other tenants there will include Columbia Medical Associates LLC, of Spokane, and Spokane-based Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories.