Bert Caldwell

Final regulatory approval of the proposed merger of Washington Water Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Resources could come as soon as the end of the week with favorable action in Olympia and Washington, D.C. If the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission give their consents, said WWP spokesman Pat Lynch, the deal could close Dec. 15, almost a year and a half after the companies disclosed their plans. "We would like to get it done," he said.

Four customers of Smith's Home Furnishings have filed a class-action lawsuit against General Electric Credit Corp., backer of the defunct chain's revolving credit and extended-warranty plans. The four, residents of Spokane and Kitsap counties, claim GECC has not only failed to fulfill the warranty terms, but also continues to bill and collect on items backed by the warranties. Portland-based Smith's filed bankruptcy in August. All its Washington stores, including two in Spokane, were closed within a week. Hundreds lost their jobs.

U.S. Coast Guard officials Tuesday said inspection of a Spokane-made boat involved in a fatal Michigan accident did not turn up any defects that would compromise seaworthiness. The Outlaw 18 manufactured by Outlaw Marine Inc. was recovered Monday by Michigan Marine Ltd. The craft had beached 22 miles from the point on Saginaw Bay where the bodies of four duck hunters were found Nov. 13.

Don Bennett, owner of Watches by Gosh, has en eye for the timepiece business with the addition of his tenth store. Photo by Craig Buck/The Spokesman-Review

Spokane Realtors sold 465 homes in October, just one short of the number for the same month a year ago and an improvement on September. Prices continued to run slightly above last year's levels. But that is more than offset by the decrease in mortgage rates since last year. Spokane Association of Realtors President Bev Gates said local market activity does not reflect those attractive interest rates.

In a final push to complete a proposed merger before the end of the year, Washington Water Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Resources have accepted slightly more risk that a pie six states across can be sliced evenly. The companies Thursday agreed to language written by Washington officials that will increase safeguards protecting the split of merger benefits to be shared by Washington ratepayers.

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. Monday disclosed the signing of precedent-setting agreements with the Bonneville Power Administration and Washington Water Power Co. Together, the pacts should enhance prospects for continued full-scale production at the Mead smelter, which last month began restarting capacity idled since January 1993. They also expand an alliance between two or Spokane County's largest employers.

Gloria Cooper, administrator of Mt. Carmel Hospital in Colville, has earned acclaim from the state hospital association. Photo by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review

Haters of cell phones, beware. Son of Cellular is on the horizon. Personal communications services will likely be introduced into the Spokane market by late next year or early 1997.

Washington Water Power Co. had some warming news Wednesday for Inland Northwest residents who in recent days got a taste of the winter to come - heating costs for those who use natural gas are going down. The Spokane utility has asked utility regulators in Washington to approve an 11.1 percent rate cut for residential customers. The average homeowner's monthly bill would drop about $4.23.

Clarification clearly has become a big issue in the proposed merger of Washington Water Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Resources. Wednesday, the two utilities asked the Nevada Public Service Commission to clarify language in its Oct. 6 order approving the deal between Spokane-based WWP and Reno-based Sierra Pacific. Their petition followed by only a day a similar request to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission made by its staff and a state assistant attorney general who represents consumers.

The slipping timetable for closure of the merger between Washington Water Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Resources could skid into next year, officials with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission said Tuesday. Alan Buckley, a program manager for the commission, said a second regulatory review of the merger could even lead to rejection of the deal if additional consumer safeguards are not included. Washington commission staff and the assistant attorney general representing ratepayers asked the commissioners Tuesday to clarify language in last month's order approving the merger or to reopen the record in the case.

Sterling Financial Corp. has dramatically increased consumer, business and private lending as it prepares for conversion to a commercial bank, officials of the Spokane thrift said Tuesday. President William Zuppe said consumer lending climbed 47 percent to $101.4 million in the fiscal year that ended June 30, while business and private banking more than doubled to $103.6 million. "That's what the future is," Zuppe said following Sterling's annual meeting of shareholders.

Kenneth Cameron has launched a trade magazine for real estate brokers and agents in the SpokaneCoeur d'Alene area. Broker*Agent Magazine will not be a listings publication, he said. Instead, the feature article will focus on an individual in the industry. Other material will address legal, financial and insurance issues, as well as the latest in technology.

(From For the Record of Saturday, October 21, 1995): A draft permit for the proposed power plant at Creston applies only to its air emissions, not the project as a whole, as implied in Friday's Spokesman-Review.

The good news for Washington Water Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Resources was approval Wednesday of their proposed merger by the California Public Utilities Commission. The bad news was a decision Tuesday by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission to shelve temporarily an earlier ruling in favor of the deal. But officials of the utilities were downplaying the impact of the delay, which had been sought by the Washington commission's staff and state attorneys representing the public.

The new head of Medical Service Corp. of Eastern Washington said Monday that competition, not pending overhauls of Medicare and Medicaid, is driving change in medical insurance. Henry Keaton said purchasers of medical insurance plans are demanding restraints on premium increases. And many are shifting to plans based on managed care instead of allowing patients unlimited access to doctors, he said. Keaton, the successor to the outspoken Fred Jacot, who retired after 13 years as president, has extensive experience developing managed health care systems.

Homes sales in Spokane County fell significantly in September compared with August and the same month a year ago. But, according to the Multiple Listings Service of the Spokane Association of Realtors, prices managed to eke out a slight gain over year-earlier levels. That could be because the number of homes for sale continues to drop as construction subsides. The average home price was $111,052, down from $115,666 in August but above the August 1994 average of $110,171.

Inland Northwest Bank President Fred Schunter sees advantages to moving bank's charter to Idaho. File photo.

Price stability, not full employment, is the Federal Reserve Bank's primary responsibility, the president of the San Francisco Branch said Thursday. Robert Parry told Spokane-area bankers that steps taken to tighten the money supply between February 1994 and February 1995, while painful, had contained inflation before surging economic activity let prices get out of control. The central bank's success allowed officials to ease back somewhat in July, Parry said.

Regulators may approve the merger of U.S. Bancorp and West One Bancorp by year-end, but it will be mid-1996 before the two systems will be completely consolidated, U.S. Bancorp Chairman Gerry Cameron said Thursday. The merger, overwhelmingly endorsed by shareholders Tuesday, will create a $30 billion institution spanning six states and employing 14,000. But Cameron said employee numbers are likely to shrink as some of the more than 600 U.S. Bank branches are sold off to defuse antitrust concerns.

Northwest representatives who voted to sell a federal power-marketing agency serving the South could be haunted by their decision, the executive vice president of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association said Wednesday. Glenn English said the sale of the Southeast Power Administration, if carried out, could trigger a series of auctions that might eventually include the Bonneville Power Administration. The sale of one agency, he said, eliminates support for the three others among representatives and senators who no longer have an interest in preserving the federal government's power generation and transmission facilities.

Nevada regulators have again thrown a resistor into the proposed circuitry of a merger between Washington Water Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Resources. Although officials at Renobased Sierra Monday were downplaying a proposed opinion and order issued by Nevada regulators Friday, WWP spokesman Rob Strenge said executives in Spokane were wary. "We have some concerns," said Strenge, who declined to be more specific until officials had time to digest the 27-page document.

The Bonneville Power Administration and seven of its 15 industrial customers have agreed on new contracts after a day of confused negotiations on both ends of the country. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., which operates smelters in Spokane and Tacoma, was not among the companies whose contracts were acceptable to federal officials. Bonneville Administrator Randy Hardy said the companies that came to terms committed 95 percent of their load to the agency.