Sterling Financial

Heidi Stanley has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Sterling Savings Bank. Her appointment will follow the Dec. 31 retirement of William Zuppe, who founded the Spokane bank with Harold Gilkey in 1981.

Les Weatherhead and Carol Friend saw each other for the first time in 17 years Thursday morning. The pleasantries were brief. Weatherhead, as attorney for Sterling Financial Corp., was questioning Friend about her actions as a former assistant director of the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision Seattle office.

Sterling Financial Corp. says the United States owes it $63 million for breaching contracts dating back to the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s. The U.S. Justice Department says the government owes Spokane-based Sterling perhaps $900,000.

A trial to determine if the United States owes Sterling Financial Corp. perhaps more than $90 million begins 9:30 a.m. Monday in the historic courtroom on the third floor of the U.S. Post Office Building in downtown Spokane. It is a trial 16 years in the making and one that recalls the financial debacle of failing thrifts and the federal government's efforts to lessen the hit to taxpayers. The government turned to companies such as Sterling to assist in the bailout by asking them to absorb derelict institutions.

Sterling Financial Corp., the parent company of Sterling Savings Bank, announced on Monday that the company earned $22.9 million for the first quarter of 2007. Sterling's earnings amounted to 50 cents per diluted share of stock— up from the same period last year, a company news release said.

Sterling Financial Corp. announced plans Wednesday to buy a Northern California bank in a roughly $196.2 million deal, the latest in a series of acquisitions by the Spokane-based bank holding company. Purchasing the 25-branch North Valley Bancorp of Redding, Calif., would expand Sterling's total assets to roughly $12.5 billion. Sterling would offer 196 branches across five Western states after the merger, which still requires approval by North Valley shareholders and government watchdogs.

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge will journey to Spokane in June to preside over a trial pitting Sterling Financial Corp. against the United States of America. By the time Judge Thomas Wheeler enters the courtroom, the case will be more than 16 years old. He will be the fourth Court of Claims judge to preside over the matter. He may not be the last.

Area bankers say their businesses performed even better than they'd expected last year and are optimistic 2007 will turn into another good year. "I'm still very bullish on the economies in which we operate," said Curt Hecker, chief operating officer of Sandpoint-based Intermountain Community Bancorp. During his 11 years at the helm, Intermountain has grown from two branches to 19, with total assets of $882 million, he said. The bank-holding company operates under the Panhandle State Bank, Intermountain Community Bank and Magic Valley Banks banners. Each branch is designed to reflect the atmosphere of the small community in which it's based.