Briefcase

State’s minimum wage will climb to $9.04

Washington state’s minimum wage will rise to $9.04 next year, keeping it the highest hourly rate in the nation.

That’s a 37-cent-an-hour increase, and is based on a change to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, according to the state Department of Labor & Industries. Washington voters approved an initiative in 1998 tying the state minimum wage to inflation.

Fuel costs drove price increases in the index over the last year, a news release said.

Washington is one of 10 states that adjusts its minimum wage based on inflation.

Oregon has the second-highest minimum wage; that state recently announced that its per-hour wage will rise 30 cents to $8.80 an hour next year. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

Addy Hatch

Downtown group chooses Tedesco as president

The Downtown Spokane Partnership has chosen Mike Tedesco as its new president.

Tedesco recently served as the Puget Sound Attractions Council executive director, and was executive director of the Pueblo, Colo., Urban Renewal Authority before that.

Tedesco, who grew up in Spokane and recently moved back with his family, holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Kansas and a bachelor’s in geography from the University of Idaho.

DSP board chairman Mark Aden said in a statement Friday, “The continued development of the University District is a significant priority that will especially benefit from Mike’s skill set.”

Tedesco will begin his new job in mid-October.

DSP is a private, nonprofit organization that serves as Spokane’s central city advocate and service provider, dedicated to enhancing the quality and vitality of downtown Spokane.

Scott Maben

Solar energy loan deals worth $5 billion OK’d

WASHINGTON – The Energy Department on Friday approved four more solar energy loan guarantees worth nearly $5 billion, hours before a controversial loan program was set to expire.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department moved to take away control of a failed solar panel maker from its management and transfer it to a court-appointed trustee.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the department completed deals on four projects, including two that were sold late this week by Arizona-based First Solar Inc., a major solar manufacturer that had been seeking three federal loan guarantees for projects in California. The sales were announced Friday along with the loan guarantees.

The loans were approved under the same program that paid for a $528 million loan to Solyndra LLC, a now-bankrupt solar panel maker that has become a symbol for critics of the Obama administration’s green energy program.

Two other solar loan guarantees worth about $1.1 billion were announced earlier this week, as the Obama administration pushed forward with the loan program despite pleas from GOP critics to halt it to avoid another Solyndra-like debacle.

Associated Press