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

In brief: Lee & Hayes buys Atlanta patent law firm

From Staff And Wire Reports

Lee & Hayes PLLC of Spokane has purchased an Atlanta patent law firm.

By adding Hope Baldauff LLC and its 11 attorneys and eight staff, Lee & Hayes now has seven offices in the United States.

The Atlanta group specializes in patents, electrical technologies and aerospace. Their clients include Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing.

Lee & Hayes focuses on intellectual property. It has 145 employees, including 85 attorneys.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Chain purchases Hawaii, Washington papers

HONOLULU – The owner of Hawaii’s largest newspaper bought two daily publications on Hawaii’s Big Island and several newspapers in Washington state.

Oahu Publications, which owns the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, said Wednesday it is buying West Hawaii Today and the Hawaii Tribune-Herald from Stephens Media.

Oahu Publications, a subsidiary of Black Press, also owns The Garden Island newspaper on Kauai.

The purchase of the Daily World of Aberdeen, Washington, and three weeklies by another Black Press subsidiary closed Wednesday.

Amazon to close Kansas distribution center

WICHITA, Kan. – Amazon.com plans to close a distribution center in southeast Kansas in February, a move that will affect hundreds of workers in this rural area, the online retailer said Wednesday.

The Seattle-based company said it regularly evaluates its network to ensure the business is placing fulfillment centers as close to customers as possible.

Construction spending slips during August

WASHINGTON – U.S. construction spending fell in August, the second decline in the past three months, with housing, nonresidential and government projects all showing weakness.

Construction spending dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.8 percent after a 1.2 percent increase in July, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. The July increase followed a 1.6 percent June decline.

U.S. manufacturing pace slows in September

WASHINGTON – The pace of U.S. manufacturing growth slowed in September, as expectations for hiring and new orders slipped.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Wednesday that its manufacturing index fell to 56.6 from 59 in August. Anything above 50 signals that manufacturing is growing.

The decline reverses slightly solid gains in the previous two months, putting the index at a level consistent with annual economic growth of “just above 3 percent,” said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics.