Avista Utilities plans to launch new energy-conservation programs for business customers this summer as it moves deeper into a three-year drive to delay the need to develop a thermal generating plant.The effort will include agreements under pay

Downtown Spokane, which used to fall asleep when the sun set, now is staying awake into the wee hours, and doesnt appear to be likely to resume its slumber anytime soon.In recent years, new restaurants and bars, spurred on by development in a

A unit of Danish industrial-equipment manufacturer FLSmidth & Co. A/S has bought the materials-handling business and name of RAHCO International Inc., a longtime Spokane concern, in a transaction the buyer says likely will lead to employment growth

The city of Post Falls plans to build a new City Hall this summer, and has begun contract negotiations with Ginno Construction Co., of Coeur dAlene, which submitted the lowest bid for the project.The new, two-story, 41,500-square-foot City be

The busy two-block section of Sullivan Road that crosses Interstate 90 in Spokane Valley will be closed for three weeks in July while the roadways leading up to both sides of the overpass are replaced with concrete.That project was one of four,

A new planning concept, called form-based zoning, is being implemented in Spokane Valley to blend retail, office, and residential uses, beginning with those on the Sprague-Appleway corridor, while Post Falls is developing a similar zoning method in

An additional per-night room assessment collected by hotel operators here for a tourism promotion effort launched nearly four years ago has generated about $5.5 million so far and is beginning to pay dividends, say tourism officials.Primarily a

Spokanes hotel industry, which has seen demand for rooms grow steadily over the last few years, expects that pace to quicken even more as Spokane becomes more well-known to tourists, and the expanded convention center draws larger groups from the

The Bank of Fairfield says it plans to open a branch in Spokane Valley later this year, which would give it two offices in the Spokane area.Construction of the planned 3,300-square-foot branch, to be located at the southeast corner of 32nd and

Susan Rae has found a way to turn her horse sense into living wages.She conceived and created Ride the West Horse & Ranch Expo, the Inland Northwests biggest annual event dedicated to horses and the people who love them. Rae organizes the her