John Stucke

Ron Graham has invested his life serving his country as an Army sergeant in Iraq. Yet when he returned home, he couldn’t find an employer willing to invest in him. His story strikes a familiar chord among veterans returning from the rigors of war amid a grinding recession. Jobs are scarce, businesses choosy, soldiers are too often viewed as damaged and their military training and experience dismissed as irrelevant, Graham told U.S. Sen. Patty Murray during a forum Friday afternoon in Spokane.

The Catholic Diocese of Spokane and members of its legal team have appealed a ruling that they were in contempt of court for intimidating a bankruptcy trustee. It’s the latest in a series of appeals by the diocese, which has suffered legal setbacks since reopening its bankruptcy case late last year to protest a rash of newly filed claims alleging sex abuse by priests decades ago.

Avista Utilities is seeking to raise the price of electricity and natural gas for its customers in both Washington and Idaho. The requested rate hike would add $10.62 to the average Eastern Washington homeowner’s monthly electric bill and another $4 a month for natural gas, according to Avista.

Avista is seeking to raise the price of electricity and natural gas through a series of rate filings. For the average Avista ratepayer in Eastern Washington, the request amounts to adding $10.62 to a homeowner's monthly electric bill and another $4 a month for natural gas.

Avista seeks 13 percent rate hike

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center may add 75 patient beds after reaching a proposed settlement with state health officials. Such an expansion would make Sacred Heart a 719-bed hospital, but at a cost to sister hospital Holy Family, which would surrender 25 of its beds under the terms of the agreement announced Wednesday afternoon.

Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center may add 75 new patient beds after reaching a proposed settlement with state health officials.

Dr. Cheryle Hart and her husband have filed for personal bankruptcy after closing their alternative hormone therapy practice last year. Hart had been a popular physician who recruited thousands of women to attend her “Hormones by Hart” seminars, where she promised help handling menopause through supplements and consultations.

Orville Moe’s bankrupted racetrack company may pull together enough money to pay lawyers, taxes and a handful of business vendors, but the several hundred people who invested in an affiliated company will have to wait to hear how much they’ll be repaid. A federal judge signaled Tuesday that she will sign an order that will end the bankruptcy of Spokane Raceway Park Inc. and formally dissolve the business that Moe used to control his Airway Heights racetrack from 1971 until it was taken over by a receiver in 2005.

Orville Moe’s bankrupted racetrack company may pull together enough money to pay lawyers, taxes and a handful of business vendors, but the several hundred people who invested in an affiliated company will have to wait to hear how much they’ll be repaid.

The Rockwood Clinic will have to vacate 48,000 square feet of offices, patient exam rooms and surgery suites on the Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center campus after failing to rework lease agreements. The changes are the latest fallout from Rockwood’s surprise $50 million sale last year to Community Health Systems Inc. to form an integrated health care system with Deaconess Medical Center.

The Rockwood Clinic will have to vacate 48,000 square feet of offices, patient exam rooms and surgery suites on the Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center campus after failing to rework lease agreements. The changes are the latest fallout from Rockwood’s surprise $50 million sale last year to Community Health Systems Inc. to form an integrated health care system with Deaconess Medical Center.

A federal judge ruled that the Catholic Diocese of Spokane, its law firm Paine Hamblen, and one of the firm’s attorneys, Gregory Arpin, are in contempt of court for using intimidation tactics against a court-appointed bankruptcy trustee. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Patricia Williams stopped short Tuesday of issuing costly sanctions, but ordered the diocese and its attorneys to pay what will be expensive legal costs of the trustee and others.

A $38 million settlement proposed Tuesday in the Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co. class action lawsuit would help several thousand investors recoup some losses from Spokane’s largest business collapse. Investors sued the bankrupted company’s outside auditors and former executives six years ago.

A federal judge has ordered Orville Moe to pay $983,000 to his bankrupted company that owes money to hundreds of creditors. It’s the latest twist in a complicated episode that stripped Moe of his Airway Heights racetrack and touched off round upon round of legal maneuverings, lawsuits and business intrigue.

Community Health Systems Inc. paid about $50 million to buy Spokane’s Rockwood Clinic from its 77 physician owners. Company executives disclosed the sales price for the first time Thursday during a telephone call with stock analysts.

An attorney for the Catholic Diocese of Spokane faces a contempt of court hearing for allegedly threatening a bankruptcy trustee with a personal lawsuit. The hearing involving attorney Greg Arpin will be held Feb. 22 in front of U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Patricia Williams.

Spokane County’s United Way has raised $4.7 million from businesses and residents to fund programs that do everything from helping children prepare for school to offering job counseling for adults. The charitable organization said the donations were 4 percent more than the prior year, marking the largest year-over-year gain in 15 years.

The United Way has raised $4.7 million to fund programs helping the poor throughout Spokane County. That's a 4 percent increase from the amount raised last year, the largest year-over-year gain in 15 years.