Bert Caldwell

Bob Flory - unplugged - is singing the blues. The project manager for a Valley apartment complex wants to tie into Inland Power & Light Co. power lines about 200 feet away across North Argonne. But his 66-unit project, Pasadena Ridge Phase 2, is within Washington Water Power's service territory.

Residents of seven outlying Spokane and Whitman county communities will continue dialing long-distance to Spokane for at least two more months as a result of a ruling Wednesday by Washington regulators. GTE had asked the Utilities and Transportation Commission to extend toll-free calling into the city by its customers in return for increases in monthly phone bills.

Half of the Smith's Home Furnishing customers who bought extended warranties from the defunct company will not benefit from a settlement announced Wednesday by the Idaho Attorney General's office, a Spokane attorney said Thursday. Nor will they get their money returned, as proposed in a lawsuit filed against General Electric Capital Corp. last November, said attorney John Giesa. Giesa represents four Washington residents who claim GECC refuses to honor the warranties.

Would you bank with the Costanza family, the dysfunctional television tribe of "Seinfeld" fame? Of course you wouldn't, and that's why Sterling Savings Bank's newest radio and television ads feature Jerry Stiller, who plays Frank Costanza on the top-rated comedy.

A newly formed Washington Water Power Co. subsidiary will analyze energy use at 50 U.S. Bank of Washington branches in the first of what could be many deals expanding the Spokane utility's businesses. The value of the contract will depend on how much energy WWP Energy Solutions can help the branches save, and whether U.S. Bank decides to extend the evaluation to all of its 165 Washington branches, account executive Dave Miller said Monday. U.S. Bancorp, U.S. Bank's parent, could also use Energy Solutions at its bank subsidiaries in Nevada, Idaho, California and Oregon, he said.

Term limits are not just a political issue. The insurance industry and its state overseers are pondering the adoption of regulations that would change the way many term life insurance policies are priced. And pending that change, some companies are discounting their policies to grab as much of the market as they can.

Spokane inventor Stephen McGrew has sued The Upper Deck Co. alleging the maker of deluxe trading cards infringed on his patents for producing stereograms, a form of hologram. Upper Deck, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Spokane, contracted with McGrew in the early 1990s to produce the shimmering silver images that have made its cards among the most distinctive in the industry. McGrew had obtained the first of several holography patents while living in Spokane in 1976.

Washington Water Power Co. Monday asked Washington and Idaho regulators for permission to open its transmission grid to large customers looking for a better deal on electricity. The precedent-setting move anticipates what many say is the future of the energy business - wide open buying and selling between utilities, independent generators and power brokers on one hand and industrial, commercial and even residential customers on the other. Just last week, WWP announced it would form a new subsidiary to pursue opportunities for power services all over the United States.

Eaglecard Inc. has been grounded permanently. Despite an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service that provided for the return of company assets, attorney Barry Davidson said Eaglecard President C.E. "Ed" Franklin decided to liquidate the company rather than reorganize as proposed in a U.S. Bankruptcy Court petition filed April 15 in Spokane. Eaglecard issued credit cards good for merchandise from company catalogs, or use at a limited number of merchants around the country.

Eaglecard Inc. will be in U.S. Bankruptcy Court this morning seeking an order that would force the Internal Revenue Service to return assets seized earlier this month. The action against the Spokane credit card issuer shut down the company and froze the paychecks of its employees, some of whom were owed more than $500. Last month, state authorities filed suit against the company for alleged violations of consumer protection and telephone solicitation laws.

The sale of the Spokane Industrial Park and an increase in wholesale electricity revenues put a charge in Washington Water Power Co. earnings in the first quarter. The Spokane-based utility Tuesday reported a 48 percent jump in income for the period ended March 31, and a 27 percent boost for the 12-month period. Per share earnings were 71 cents vs. 48 cents for the first quarter of 1995. For the 12 months, earnings per share were $1.65 vs. $1.30 a year ago.

An acquisition late in the first quarter dragged down the earnings of Itron Inc., the Spokane maker of automated meter-reading systems for utilities. Including results from Utility Translation Systems Inc., Itron revenues increased 26 percent to $48.1 million. But net income slipped to $3 million from $3.3 million, or 21 cents per share, vs. 24 cents, after allowing for the additional 400,000 outstanding shares created as a result of the merger.

US West Communications Inc. has asked a King County Superior Court to block a $91.5 million rate reduction ordered last week by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission. The company late Monday asked for a stay, which would prevent a $1 rollback in the monthly cost of residential service from going into effect May 1, the date set by the commission. "We hope that we don't ever have to implement those rates," said US West spokeswoman Kathi Willis.

The benefits from a proposed merger between Washington Water Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Resources fall short of original estimates, according to documents filed last month with federal regulators. But the utilities say the decrease will not affect rate freezes that are in place until the year 2001. The Spokane- and Reno-based utilities shaved $52 million off the $450 million they had said a merger would save over 10 years.

Robert Hunter has developed a dent puller that is quickly being adopted by the auto repair industry. Photo by Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Tax deadline! Time to Party! Monday, thousands in Spokane will troop to post offices or special mailing centers to drop off their Internal Revenue Service forms. Their collective tax obligation probably runs into the millions of dollars. Their collective patience should be down to nanoseconds. But spirits always seem to be high. Why? Negative task gradient.

Washington regulators Thursday stunned US West Communications Inc. by cutting, not raising, the cost of telephone service for most state residents. US West says residential customers in Spokane will pay the second lowest urban telephone rate in the nation after the cut.

Getting to the point. Karen McMackin, a Group Health licensed practical nurse, prepares to immunize Phillip Sims as his mother Cynthia assists. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

WWP Chairman Paul Redmond File/The Spokesman-Review

A groundbreaking policy adopted by the Bonneville Power Administration should improve relations with Native American tribes in the Columbia Basin, officials from the agency and tribes said Tuesday. The policy they unveiled is the result of two years of talks between the federal power-marketing agency and tribal authorities, Bonneville administrator Randy Hardy said. Provisions emphasize discussions between the agency and tribal officials will begin early when new programs are under consideration.

A third provider of telephone service could be operating in Spokane by the end of the year, officials with the newcomer say. GST Lightwave (Washington) Inc. has applied for a city franchise to run fiber-optic cable through an area bounded by Ninth Ave., the Spokane River, and Monroe and Sherman streets. Most downtown businesses and South Hill hospitals would be within the franchise boundaries.

Washington authorities have filed suit against Eagle Card Inc., alleging the Spokane credit card company violated consumer protection and telephone solicitation laws. Eagle, according to the complaint filed Monday in Superior Court, misrepresented the benefits of holding the company's three cards: the Credit Builder, Gold and Classic.

Spokane Capital Management has raised $5.8 million for investment in growing Northwest companies, Managing Director Tom Simpson said Monday. Inland Northwest Investors, the limited partnership holding the money, will fund as many as a dozen businesses over the next three years, he said. "Deal flow is not going to be a problem," Simpson said, noting he has more than 15 proposals on his desk already.

Global aspirations. Jim McCabe sorts and grades lumber which Plum Creek Remanufacturing, a major Spokane exporter, will turn into square posts to be shipped to Japan for use in building homes. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review <