Bert Caldwell

The Federal Housing Administration is back on the block. Largely overlooked when mortgage lenders had a product for any borrower who could draw breath, the FHA has re-emerged as an important player in the real estate market.

Spokane Teachers Credit Union has stopped making student loans. Despite its roots in education, President Steve Dahlstrom said this week, STCU cannot justify making loans sure to lose the institution money.

Sterling Financial Corp. announced Thursday that its first-quarter earnings will fall far short of earlier projections largely because it set aside $35 million to $40 million to cover potential loan losses. Instead of the 38 cents to 42 cents a share bank officials projected early this year, and the 36 cents a share anticipated by analysts, the Spokane bank will likely show returns of just 4 cents to 6 cents when it releases first-quarter numbers April 21, according to a statement released after markets closed.

Prompted in part by depositor anxiety, the Idaho Department of Finance on Tuesday took the unusual step of reassuring residents there is no Bear Stearns in the woods. In fact, said Financial Institutions Bureau Chief Mary Hughes, Idaho banks, thrifts and credit unions are in no danger of going the way of the Wall Street investment bank rescued from failure last month by JPMorgan Chase and the Federal Reserve Bank.

Regional ties and a reservoir of customer goodwill keep Horizon Air flying while competitors fall from the skies, President Jeff Pinneo said Thursday, a day when a second airline this week ceased operations. Although pressed by the same high fuel costs that claimed Aloha and ATA airlines, Horizon and sister carrier Alaska Airlines keep passengers coming back by offering a free morning cup of Starbucks coffee or a late-afternoon microbrew, he said, amenities he jokingly referred to as "chemical dependencies."

Spokane County United Way has put up $20,000 to encourage low- and moderate-income taxpayers to save a portion of the tax rebates they will receive starting next month. The money, said United Way President Tim Henkel, will be used to match up to $200 in rebate money recipients commit to a savings account. If the money remains in the account three months, and they attend five hours of financial classes provided by Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs, they will qualify, he said.

The publisher of Spokane Sizzle and Idaho Cuisine magazines is suing the Spokane Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau, alleging the organization has suppressed the two entertainment guides and copied their formats in order to capture more revenue for itself. The suit, filed Thursday in Spokane County Superior Court, says the CVB and President Harry Sladich violated commitments made to Premier Publishing Inc. when the company joined the bureau, including a promise Sizzle would be displayed in the organization's directory. Also, the CVB Web site was supposed to link to Sizzle's.

Mike Kuhn, who remembers the days DigiDeal could not make payroll, Monday leaned on a golden shovel at a groundbreaking for the Spokane Valley company's 42,000-square-foot, $3 million headquarters. DigiDeal last year sold 300 of its electronic gaming tables, as many as it did during its first decade in business, Kuhn said, and will likely double that total again this year. He said he expects DigiDeal and its majority owner, International Game Technology, will sell 1,000 gaming tables annually.

It's business as usual in bracketville. Despite the Spokane area's passion for Gonzaga and Washington State basketball teams, companies have made little formal accommodation for employees who cannot sit still for wondering whether Jeremy Pargo is driving the lane or Robbie Cowgill blocking a shot.

The Transportation Security Administration has chosen Spokane to take part in a new program to reduce the wait and frustration caused by lines of travelers at security checkpoints. Under the program that started Friday at Spokane International Airport, the TSA sometimes will have three security lines: expert, casual and family/special assistance lanes.

Financiers hungry for risk a year ago have slammed the vaults shut, precipitating the credit crisis that claimed one of the nation's most venerable investment banks over the weekend. Washington State University professor John Nofsinger said Tuesday that Bear Stearns will not be the last casualty.

A method for identifying proteins instrumental in the spread of cancer has become the first Washington State University technology to attract venture funding. Accelerator Corp. will invest $2 million to $5 million in Recodagen Corp. and move the new company into its research and administration facility in Seattle.

A national effort by business to lower school dropout rates and better prepare students for work may launch in Spokane next fall. Ben Stuckart, executive director of the Spokane affiliate of Communities in Schools, said he is discussing the program with school districts in Spokane, Medical Lake, and Cheney.

Officials in four Eastern Washington counties are considering an agreement that could put them in the railroad business. The Spokane County Commission approved the agreement Friday. The Port of Whitman and the Lincoln and Grant county commissions are expected to act next week.

Coldwater Creek Inc. Wednesday reported a loss for 2007, its first ever, and anticipated a 2008 with break-even results the best likely outcome. The news cut the price of Coldwater shares more than 15 percent, to $4.25, in after-hours trading. The stock closed down 25 cents per share, at $5.04, during regular trading.

Several state treasurers, including those for Idaho and Washington, on Tuesday protested debt rating practices that penalize public bonds safer than the derivative investments blowing up on Wall Street. In a letter to the three main credit rating agencies, the officials say taxpayers pay billions in additional interest costs because states and local governments are graded differently from investment banks and corporations. Yet defaults on public-issued debt are a fraction of those for private debt, they say.

The most ambitious ongoing construction project in Washington is just out of sight of Interstate 90 near Moses Lake. For $1.2 billion, REC Silicon expects to double output of polysilicon at a facility that only five years ago stood idle for lack of demand. Now, the world cannot get enough of the stuff.

Triumph Composite Systems Inc. could be stung by the U.S. Air Force decision to go with a tanker bid submitted by the maker of Airbus planes, the purchasing manager for Triumph's West Plains plant said Friday. The facility manufactures floor panels and ducts for the Boeing 767, the plane rejected Friday by the Pentagon, said Mike Mooney. It makes no components for the Airbus plane that was selected, the A330.

Spokane County has purchased one of the two large properties needed for construction of the Geiger Rail Spur and has an agreement to buy the other, Operations Director Gerry Gemmill said Thursday. Negotiations for a third "sliver" continue, he said, but the agreements in hand will let the county take bids for building the four miles of new rail that will connect industry in Airway Heights with a spur of the Palouse River and Coulee City Railroad. The existing spur crosses Fairchild Air Force Base and must be removed for security reasons and to make room for a new Army Reserve center.