Hannelore Sudermann

It was one of the biggest days in aviation history. On Monday morning more than 200,000 Boeing Co. employees gathered at workplaces around the country, including Spokane, to hear talks officially inaugurating the newly enlarged Boeing the largest company in the aerospace industry following its merger with McDonnell Douglas.

Bargaining talks continued Friday, but even the threat of a Teamster strike sharply cut deliveries at the United Parcel Service branch in Spokane. Some local businesses delayed shipments or used other ways to ship their goods. Meanwhile, UPS and the Teamsters resumed negotiations in Washington, D.C., under the guidance of a federal mediator. The company's contract covering nearly two-thirds of UPS's 302,000 U.S. employees expired at midnight Thursday. Nationally, UPS spokeswoman Gina Ellrich said the company "lost (delivery of) hundreds of thousands of packages" as customers shifted to rival carriers. UPS carries about 12 million packages and documents daily.

Washington State officials are seeking to stop the spread of an unwanted transplant: California grape vines which could be infested. The state Department of Agriculture is cautioning consumers about vines recently brought to the state in violation of a 50-year-old quarantine. The plants may carry pests and viruses that could devastate the wine industry, officials said. "This is not a food safety issue," said Jennifer Boaz of the Washington State Department of Agriculture. "It's not affecting the grapes themselves, but it does affect the vine."

Customers line up Thursday to refuel their vehicles at Costco's new gas station on North Division. Photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review

It involves legumes, a world-class athlete and an international marketing campaign. Idaho farmers liked the idea, but Washington farmers didn't. According to the results released Monday, legume growers voted against a Washington Dry Pea and Lentil Commission assessment increase which would have planted more money into both crop research and an international marketing campaign featuring decathlon world champion Dan O'Brien.

Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, gesturing, tours CRP land. He got an earful from farmers such as Jerry Snyder, top, during an informal question-and-answer session. Photo by Shawn Jacobson/The Spokesman-Review

Though there are no Teamster shops in the Washington apple industry, the national labor union produced a report Tuesday criticizing the billion-dollar business for paying its warehouse and field workers poverty-level wages. The apple growers responded that the facts and statistics in the report titled "Ripe for Fairness" have been twisted to suit the purposes of the union and the whole campaign is designed to distract from the real issue: that apple workers aren't unionizing. "They aren't feeling that they have the support of the workers," said Mike Gempler, executive director for the Washington Growers League, a Yakima-based association of growers and packers. "The real issue here is whether the apple packing employees have the right to have a union. The answer is, they do."

1. Field of dreams. Willow Wind Organic Farms owner Steve Walser shows off one of his potato fields. Walser's operation produces about 6,000 tons of potatoes, most of which will be exported to Japan. Photo by Liz Kishimoto/The Spokesman-Review 2. Arlene Tugel checks the soil at Willow Wind Farms during a tour highlighting sustainable agriculture practices.

More than 80 Darigold employees, most of them Teamsters, will lose their jobs now that Darigold Inc. and Broadview Dairy are consolidating their Spokane processing plants. And the joint processing and distribution operation will likely be based at the Darigold-owned plant in North Spokane. Darigold Inc. and Broadview Dairy announced Wednesday they would join their processing operations to improve efficiency and expand distribution for both brands. All Darigold employees will lose their jobs, though Broadview, which is to be the majority owner of the merged processor, has encouraged the workers to apply at the new operation to be called Inland Northwest Dairies, L.L.C. On the same day as the merger announcement, Teamsters Union 582 met with Darigold authorities to negotiate a labor contract that had expired in May. It was all for naught since the 85 jobs, including those of 64 Teamsters, will soon be over. "It was a shock to all of us. We didn't know anything about it," said Denny Young, secretary-treasurer of the Teamsters in Spokane. "There are no negotiations now except for severance packages for those who will be laid off."

Nelson Cordill has raised wheat and buckwheat the conventional way for as many years as it has taken for his hair to turn gray. But this week the Cheney-area farmer considered a change as he wandered out to a test plot deep in a barley field just east of Davenport, Wash.

Broadview Dairy and Darigold Inc. announced a plan Wednesday to consolidate their Spokane processing plants in order to cut production and distribution costs. Though customers won't see a difference at the grocery stores, the two companies say they will save money and stay competitive by using only one plant for processing. The merger would increase the plant's volume by as much as 200 percent, the companies claim. Spokane-based Broadview Dairy, which is owned by Goodale & Barbieri Cos., will be the majority owner and operations manager of the new processor, which will be known as Inland Northwest Dairies, L.L.C. The location of the consolidated plant has yet to be determined.