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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Life Flight in Sandpoint gets faster helicopter

From Staff And Wire Reports

Life Flight Network has put a new, faster helicopter at its base at the Sandpoint Airport and will be doing the same at its Lewiston base soon.

The AgustaWestland 119Kx “Koala” helicopters are among 12 that the Aurora, Ore.-based company is introducing this year at bases in Idaho, Washington and Oregon. Each one costs about $4.5 million.

Life Flight, a nonprofit company, provides air and ground transportation for seriously ill or injured patients from accident scenes or between hospitals.

The Sandpoint base provides critical care air medical transport in North Idaho, Eastern Washington and Western Montana.

The Koala helicopters can carry two patients and two flight medics or nurses and fly up to 175 mph.

Life Flight also has bases in Lewiston and Pendleton, Ore.

Expedia profit falls, misses expectations

BELLEVUE – Shares of Expedia Inc. plunged more than 20 percent in after-hours trading Thursday after the online travel agency reported that second-quarter profit fell by one-third and badly missed Wall Street expectations.

Higher costs were the culprit, as expenses such as sales and marketing grew much faster than revenue.

Its shares rose $1.22 to end regular trading at $65. But in late trading after the results were released, they were quickly down by $14.28, or 22 percent, to $50.72.

The Bellevue-based company said net income fell to $71.5 million, or 51 cents per share, compared with $105.2 million, or 76 cents per share, a year earlier.

China plans to spend billions on pollution

BEIJING – China will spend $275 billion to tackle air pollution over the next five years, a state newspaper reported Thursday, highlighting how the issue has become a priority for the leadership.

The amount is more than the total economic output of Hong Kong last year and underlines how the government is eager to bring about a visible improvement in China’s bad air, which has become a source of discontent among its citizens and tarnished the country’s image abroad.

The China Daily newspaper said the plan targets Beijing, the neighboring port city of Tianjin and densely populated Hebei province, which surrounds them.

The environment ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

China’s government was long indifferent to the environment as it pursued economic development. The country’s major cities have some of the world’s worst smog and water supplies are badly polluted.