Say a big welcome back to LeRoy Nosbaum, Itron's 'new' CEO
The SR posted this story a few minutes ago, announcing the return of former CEO LeRoy Nosbaum, to the same job at Liberty Lake-based Itron Inc.
Office Hours archive for Aug. 2011
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 31, 2011
Frontier finishes repairs and restores DSL service to North Idaho customers
About 10,000 customers of Frontier Communications in North Idaho regained DSL service Wednesday, following a major equipment failure, the telecommunications company said. Frontier, based in New York state, acquired all of Verizon's phone and Internet customers last year in a major acquisition. On Monday the…
Area BBB starts consumer review service; plus a suggestion to make it better
Spokane’s Better Business Bureau, which covers North Idaho and Montana as well, has begun testing an online review system process for customers to describe good or bad experiences with local businesses. The goal of the new review option is to allow consumers to give high-fives…
TUESDAY, AUG. 30, 2011
Seattle man loses web service after Comcast penalizes him for data use
Will Comcast cut off your Internet service if you use a ton of data, for whatever reason? Basically, yes, provided you go above their 250-gigabyte limit per month (and do so twice). Here's a YouTube video posted by Seattle blogger-geek Chris Pirillo about the Comcast…
Nordstrom simplifies online ordering, offering free shipping for nearly all orders
Seattle-based fashion and apparel retailer Nordstrom Inc. has decided to offer free shipping on online orders for nearly all purchases less than $200. Up to now, the policy had been free shipping only for purchases over $200. Jamie Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Direct, told media…
MONDAY, AUG. 29, 2011
Deadline near for Washington Secretary of State awards for civic commitment
Know any social-minded company worth nominating for a decent award? The Washington Secretary of State's office is looking for nominees of corporations that demonstrate a commitment to giving in order to improve local or regional social and environmental conditions. This honor is called the Corporations…
GoFroyo will move into the new retail strip taking the spot of China South
The first tenant in the new retail strip that will replace the China South restaurant has been announced: GoFroyo, a Spokane-based frozen yogurt seller, will take one of the end-cap locations. (End-cap means at the far left or far right bay of the strip, which…
FRIDAY, AUG. 26, 2011
Marshalls will open a store in NorthTown Mall this winter
Clothing retailer Marshalls will move into the vacated NorthTown Mall location last used by the Nordstrom Rack. A Spokane city building permit notes that Marshalls, a division of TJX Companies of Framingham, Mass., will remodel the 25,000-square-foot location and open this winter. It will spend…
If you think camelina is like any other crop, take a little time to dig deeper
Since stellar staffer John Stucke was on vacation this week, we had to rely on Tom Sowa to cover the recent visit by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., talking about a newly created federal crop support program specifically for camelina, under an effort called BCAP (biomass…
THURSDAY, AUG. 25, 2011
Lee & Hayes launches IPStreet, a site devoted to IP analysis and insight
Spokane intellectual property law firm, Lee & Hayes, formally launched its IP Street site on Thursday, looking to become the equivalent in IP to what Morningstar is to stock market funds. The site is IPStreet.com. It's targeted to investment bankers, IP attorneys, business decision-makers, and…
Sacred Heart nurses lose state appeals court ruling over overtime rule
The Washington Court of Appeals has ruled Providence Sacred Heart registered nurses are not entitled to overtime pay when their duties prevent them from taking their contract-provided two 15-minute daily breaks. The ruling, issued Thursday by the court's Division III, overturned a Spokane court's ruling…
David's Pizza: new location selected; opening date not certain
Well-established pizza places tend to hang on. Case in point: popular David's Pizza, which has operated for more than a dozen years on North Hamilton in the Gonzaga district, is relocating downtown. Owner Mark Starr said he hoped to reopen the new David's in September.…
TUESDAY, AUG. 23, 2011
Spokane No. Division Kmart store to close in November, cutting 68 jobs
View Larger Map Kmart and Sears Holding Co. officials on Tuesday confirmed that the Spokane North Division Kmart store will be closed in mid-November. This is the location, at 6606 N. Division, where Lowe's is going to build a bigger, better hardware store for north…
Tuesday graphic: looking at social sites through the eyes of SuperHero Comics
We are dedicated to collecting and posting interesting, odd or slightly useful graphics and charts, wherever they may be. All we ask for is clean and fun infotainment. Today's offering is a cool find, a superhero treatment of popular social media sites. We found it…
July jobless rate hits 9 percent in Spokane County
Spokane County's unemployment rate ticked up a notch in July, to 9 percent. The jobless rate in June was 8.9 percent, and in July 2010 it was 9.1 percent. There were 20,250 unemployed workers in the county last month, according to the Washington Employment Security…
MONDAY, AUG. 22, 2011
The Riverside Station's big move: who will feel it most? Plus, bonus name trivia
Some leftovers from last week's big announcement that the U.S. Postal Service will move out of the downtown Riverside post office. First: some of the area's businesses will feel the impact. Close to 1,000 post office boxes are rented at the Riverside office, and many…
More Americans at risk of foreclosure in 2nd quarter
The number of Americans at risk of foreclosure is rising, reflecting the U.S. economy’s continued struggles, the Associated Press reports. The Mortgage Bankers Association says 8.44 percent of homeowners missed at least one mortgage payment in the April-June quarter. That figure, which is adjusted for…
FRIDAY, AUG. 19, 2011
There goes the neighborhood. Where does the Bulldog go after it closes?
The SR today has a story on the imminent closing (possible relocation) of the old Bulldog, formerly known as the Bulldog Tavern. Once we dove into the background, it became clear this is a tangled mess. There's a lawsuit, all sorts of angry feelings on…
Employment picture not improving in N. Idaho
The Idaho Labor Department today released the July unemployment numbers, and the news is not encouraging in North Idaho. Four of the five counties in the panhandle saw the unemployment rate go up last month, and the rate remained the same in the fifth: Kootenai…
THURSDAY, AUG. 18, 2011
Collectible first bottle of Dry Fly Bourbon sells for $2,650 on eBay
Someone must have really wanted that bottle. Spokane's Dry Fly Distilling offered Ronald McDonald House and Casting4ACure, two area charities, the first bottle in its first ever batch of new bourbon. That bottle was recently bought for $2,650, in an eBay auction. The winning bidder…
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 17, 2011
Spokane airport offers free Wi-Fi, luggage carts
Spokane International Airport said today that it will offer travelers 20 minutes of free Wi-Fi inside the terminal and free luggage carts, both in response to customer demand. Lawrence Krauter, airport CEO, said in a news release that the airport's Wi-Fi access fee has been…
Wells Fargo to test $3 debit card fee
NEW YORK — Wells Fargo plans to test a $3 monthly fee for its debit cards starting this fall. The San Francisco-based bank said the fee will be applied to checking accounts opened in five states starting in October, according to the Associated Press. The…
Ecommerce at highest-ever level, Spokane below average in 'digital deals'
Two shopping related items caught our attention. First, the online retail industry had a very successful second quarter. For various reasons more folks are shopping online than ever before. Ecommerce sales rose 17.6 percent over last year, jumping to $47.5 billion in the second quarter,…
TUESDAY, AUG. 16, 2011
Moscow diagnostic firm to research using nanotechnology to improve animal tests
A Moscow-based diagnostic test company has received a $150,000 federal grant to study the use of nano particles in pregnancy blood tests for animals. The money comes in a SBIR (small business innovation research) grant to BioTracking LLC, a 14-person company that currently provides 24-hour…
The Riverside post office's history includes the notorious office 'sneak hole'
Today's story about the plan to close the Riverside Avenue Post Office and relocate in a smaller building downtown provokes this question: How will this affect your regular life? As a business person, what's the impact? As a regular or occasional user, how does it…
The Spokesman-Review business team follows economic development in Spokane and the Inland Northwest.
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