Allegiant suspending nonstop Hawaii flights

Allegiant Air said it will temporarily halt flights to Hawaii from Spokane and several other U.S. cities, including Boise and Eugene.

The last Spokane flight to Honolulu will leave Aug. 10.

Allegiant launched the weekly nonstop flights to Hawaii from Spokane in February.

The Las Vegas-based airline said it will suspend flights from Boise; Eugene; Phoenix; Fresno, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; and Santa Maria, Calif. The flight originating in Boise stops in Spokane, then heads to Oahu.

“It’s a seasonal suspension of service” related to declining travel during the late summer and fall, Allegiant spokeswoman Jessica Wheeler said.

“Allegiant can offer low fares in large part because we respond to the changing leisure travel demand,” Wheeler said.

The airline’s three-days-a-week service to Honolulu from Las Vegas and twice-a-week service to both Maui and Honolulu from Bellingham will not be affected.

Wheeler said the airline expects to resume the flights to and from Hawaii in the winter and during the busy spring.

Tom Sowa

AmericanWest Bank completes largest buyout

AmericanWest Bank completed its $16.6 million purchase of an Oregon bank this week, adding 32 branches to its network.

Spokane-based AmericanWest now has a major presence in Oregon and California after acquiring PremierWest Bancorp of Medford. The deal includes AmericanWest also repaying the U.S. Treasury’s $41.4 million investment in PremierWest as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

AmericanWest now has 112 branches across five states and assets of $3.8 billion. The PremierWest buyout is its largest to date.

Staff report

Home foreclosures down, but not in Washington

LOS ANGELES – The number of U.S. homes repossessed by lenders last month fell to the lowest level in more than five years, the latest evidence that the nation’s foreclosure crisis is abating.

While some states still saw increases in homes taken back by banks, nationally home repossessions fell 3 percent in March from the previous month and were down 21 percent from a year earlier, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said today.

Thirty-four states posted annual declines in completed foreclosures. Among those bucking that trend: Washington, Arkansas, Maryland and Pennsylvania. All told, lenders repossessed 43,597 homes last month, the lowest level since September 2007.

At the current monthly pace, completed foreclosures will total roughly 550,000 this year, down from 671,000 last year, RealtyTrac said.

An uptick in homes that entered the foreclosure process last month, however, may end up pushing that total to 600,000, said Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac.

Associated Press

Treasury sold $621 million in GM stock last month

DETROIT – The government has sold another piece of its stake in General Motors Co.

The Treasury Department said in its March report to Congress that it sold $621 million worth of GM common stock last month.

The report dated Wednesday said the government has recovered about $30.4 billion of the $49.5 billion bailout it gave the Detroit automaker. That means taxpayers are still $19.1 billion in the hole. The Treasury said the price per share will be revealed at a later date.

GM stock sold in a range of $26.75 to $29.30 in March. At the midpoint of $28, the government would have sold roughly 22.2 million shares. That would leave it with about 255 million shares. Those would have to sell for around $75 each for the government to break even, more than double the current trading price.

Associated Press