Business in brief: Malls extend weekend hours

Three area malls are extending their hours to cater to changing shopping trends.

NorthTown, Spokane Valley and Silver Lake malls will close an hour later on Friday and Saturday nights and open two hours earlier on Saturday mornings.

The malls will now open at 8 a.m. on Saturday and close at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

Olympia

Commissioner reappointed

Gov. Chris Gregoire has reappointed Patrick Oshie to a second six-year term on the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. If confirmed by the state Senate, Oshie will serve until Jan. 1, 2013.

The commission regulates the rates and practices of privately owned electric, natural gas, telephone, water and garbage utilities, as well as residential moving companies. Among those regulated utilities is Avista Corp. of Spokane. The commission also is responsible for railroad and pipeline safetyprograms.

Commissioners serve six-year terms and no more than two of the three commission members can be from the same political party. The commission announced the reappointment in a news release.

Oshie, 54, was named to the commission by Gov. Gary Locke in 2001. Previously, he had practiced law in Yakima, and was an assistant city attorney in Seattle and assistant attorney general in Utah.

Oshie’s annual salary is $110,998.

Boise

Idaho reaches deal on unwanted faxes

A Virginia company that allegedly sent dozens of unsolicited fax advertisements to Idaho consumers has agreed to permanently stop, Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said in a news release.

Wasden’s Consumer Protection Unit reached a settlement agreement with The Performance Institute that prevents the company from sending faxes to 208 area code telephone numbers, the release said. The agreement requires the company to pay a $5,000 civil penalty and calls for liquidated damages of as much as $10,000 if additional faxes are sent.

The faxes advertised educational programs and conferences for law enforcement and other government agencies. Sending unsolicited fax advertising is illegal under Idaho law.

“The complaints we receive from consumers express … frustration with businesses that disregard Idaho’s unsolicited fax laws,” Wasden said in the release.

Since the Legislature outlawed unsolicited fax advertising in 1997, the Attorney General’s Office cited 22 companies, which have collectively paid more than $225,000 in civil penalties.

In 2006, Idahoans who received unwanted faxes forwarded thousands of them to the attorney general’s consumer protection unit.

Consumers can obtain complaint forms from the attorney general’s Web site at www.ag.idaho.gov or by calling (208) 334-2424 or toll-free at (800) 432-3545.