Briefcase

Foreclosures double in Spokane County

Exactly 1,800 Spokane County homes were subject to a foreclosure notice in 2010, almost twice the 979 for 2009, according to a report released today by RealtyTrac, a foreclosure monitoring service.

The rate of one filing for every 110 homes ranked Spokane 161st of the 205 metropolitan areas included in the report. The county ranked 181st out of 203 counties in 2009.

Kootenai County was not included in the rankings but, with one home out of 34 subject to a notice, it would have tied Pensacola, Fla., for 44th in the United States.

The statewide rate for Idaho was also one in 34, the eighth highest in the nation. Washington ranked 18th with one of every 64 homes vulnerable, or already taken over by the lender.

Las Vegas, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla., and Merced, Calif., in that order, kept their rankings from 2009 as the markets with the highest rates, one in nine homes in the case of the Nevada city.

Among Northwest cities, Boise was ranked 20th, Portland-Vancouver- Beaverton 63rd, Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue 84th, Olympia 119th, and Yakima 172nd.

The Tri-Cities, at 184th, remained the strongest housing market in the region.

Bert Caldwell

Telect donations help establish EWU lab

Telect Inc., a Liberty Lake communications equipment maker, has helped establish a student lab at the College of Science, Health and Engineering at Eastern Washington University in Cheney.

The college this week named the lab for the company, which donated nearly $100,000 in laboratory equipment and furniture plus $10,000 in financial assistance. Telect made the donations last fall.

Telect manufactures infrastructure and equipment for communications networks.

The donation helps Telect contribute to skills in technology-related education in the Inland Northwest, the company said.

Scott Maben

All Horizon planes to carry Alaska brand

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is converting all Horizon Air airplanes to its own brand, starting this month, the company announced.

The change is part of a trend among regional air carriers, said Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Bobbie Egan. She emphasized the two airlines are not merging. Horizon has operated as a separate, second airline inside the Alaska Air Group.

The shift will allow Horizon to market itself with the “higher profile” of the Alaska brand, said Egan.

Alaska acquired Horizon Air in 1986.

Horizon schedules won’t change and passengers will see little impact on operations, she said. The sides of all Horizon planes will have the airline’s name next to a larger “Alaska Airlines” logo.

Tom Sowa