New building filling offices
Downtown Spokane’s newest office building opened on Tuesday with about 75 percent of its space leased.
The Bank of Whitman Building, at 618 W. Riverside Ave., is in the former Lamonts-Newberry’s site between Howard and Wall streets. The three-story, 68,000-square-foot building will house the newest branch of the Bank of Whitman on its ground floor.
The law firm Etter, McMahon, Lamberson & Clary announced Tuesday that it would move into 7,500 square feet on the building’s second floor by the end of the year. The law firm, which is moving from the Paulsen Center, also has added attorneys Susan Troppmann and Carl Oreskovich, whose last names will be added to the firm’s name. The firm will have eight attorneys and a total staff of 14.
The Spokane office of the Seattle-based Preston, Gates and Ellis law firm announced in May that it would occupy 13,500 square feet of space in the new building’s top floor. The second floor also will hold a deli and restaurant, according to past news reports.
San Jose, Calif.
HP investigators plead not guilty
Three private investigators who obtained confidential telephone records as part of Hewlett-Packard’s boardroom spying probe pleaded not guilty Tuesday to identity theft and other felony charges.
Ronald DeLia of Massachusetts-based Security Outsourcing Solutions Inc., Matthew DePante of Florida-based Action Research Group Inc., and Bryan Wagner of Colorado were arraigned in Santa Clara County Superior Court. Each was released on personal recognizance.
DeLia, DePante and Wagner are among five people criminally charged last week for their roles in the spying scandal at the computer and printer giant. Former HP Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and the company’s ousted ethics chief, Kevin Hunsaker, appeared in court late last week.
All five are charged with using of false or fraudulent pretenses to obtain confidential information from a public utility; unauthorized access to computer data; identity theft; and conspiracy to commit each of those crimes. Each charge carries a fine of up to $10,000 and three years in prison.
State Attorney General Bill Lockyer has said the investigation is ongoing and could lead to more charges.