John Stucke

LA CONNER, Wash. – In this idyllic town nestled near the Puget Sound and surrounded by tulip fields, residents of the Shelter Bay neighborhood are in an uproar: They have inherited a Spokane problem that has left them in disbelief. Patrick G. O'Donnell, a former priest in the Spokane Catholic Diocese and notorious pedophile who has admitted

Washington's insurance commissioner will again ask state lawmakers to restore his authority to oversee insurance companies to rein in rates for people who buy health insurance on their own rather than through company-sponsored plans. Similar attempts failed during last year's legislative session. This year, however, Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler comes armed with statistics that show rates have climbed by an average of 16 percent a year since the Legislature stripped his office of regulatory power over the relatively small market eight years ago.

Doctors at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Spokane have filed an unfair labor practice complaint against administrators, claiming that work-schedule changes are shortchanging doctor care for hospitalized patients. Administrators say that's untrue, claiming the schedule changes are aimed at better accommodating veterans seeking care at the VA's busy outpatient clinics and do not jeopardize care standards at the hospital.

Sacred Heart Medical Center is acquiring a heart-surgery practice in a deal both parties say is designed to stabilize cardiac care in the region. The surgeons at Northwest Heart and Lung Surgery Associates perform nearly 1,100 procedures at Sacred Heart each year and draw patients from throughout the area. They perform 400 surgeries at other hospitals.

The Jesuits have agreed to pay $4.8 million to 16 people who said they were sexually abused as schoolchildren by priests on the Colville Indian Reservation in the 1960s and early 1970s. The abuse happened at the Catholic order's St. Mary's Mission and School near Omak. The allegations involve two Jesuits, John J. Morse, a priest now living in Spokane, and James Gates, a Jesuit brother living in Michigan.

Despite billion-dollar advertising campaigns warning that smoking cigarettes is a dangerous habit, about one in five high school seniors in Spokane County continue to light up. The problem, officials worry, is that too many retailers are allowing teens to buy tobacco products.

Eastern Washington's Catholic community has raised most of the money needed to settle the clergy childhood sex abuse cases, surpassing expectations and ensuring that the diocese will emerge from bankruptcy. "This could have been very divisive," said Robert Hailey, of the Association of Parishes. "But in the end this was a fundraiser that brought people together. We're overwhelmed by their generosity."

A group of physicians at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Spokane fears that new staffing decisions may mean too few doctors in the hospital and lower patient care standards. Beginning in early January, the doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners at more than a dozen VA outpatient clinics throughout the region will no longer work hospital shifts that had helped augment the central staff. As a result, doctors at the medical center will stagger their hours to cover the extra shifts.

Washington state laws need to be rewritten to close a loophole that allows people who have been detained because of mental health issues to possess guns, Attorney General Rob McKenna said Thursday. Citing the shooting tragedy in Moscow, Idaho, that killed four and the Virginia Tech campus rampage that left 32 dead, McKenna said the state's firearms statute is inconsistent with federal law.

Eight people have been arrested statewide in connection with a penny-stock scheme, including a Bellevue woman who was banned eight years from participating in U.S. securities markets. A 21-count federal grand jury indictment alleges they fleeced investors of $1.2 million through "pump-and-dump" scams, using mass spam and faxes to falsely inflate the worth of a stock, then dumping the shares through brokerages in the United States, Canada, and the islands of Turk and Caicos.

Deer Park Hospital will close early next year as predicted after failing in recent years to admit enough patients. Executives and board members of Providence Health & Services reviewed data that showed the hospital north of Spokane admitted on average less than one patient a day.

Spokane Valley real estate magnate Alvin J. Wolff Sr. died Sunday. He was 89 and leaves behind a legacy of business achievement and community involvement. The son of a noted optometrist and medical device inventor, Wolff founded his own company in 1949, several years after serving in the infantry during World War II. He was a West Valley High School graduate, and attended the University of Washington and Gonzaga University's law school. He was given an honorary law degree two years ago.

The physicians behind Spokane Radiology Consultants have dissolved the group after it struggled to meet the service and staffing needs of Deaconess Medical Center and Valley Hospital and Medical Center. The hospitals, part of Empire Health Services, have since signed a contract with Everett-based Radia for radiology and interventional radiology services.

Kaiser Aluminum Corp.'s rebound from bankruptcy continues as executives reported a $25 million third-quarter profit and said the company was poised to continue earning money even as prices and demand for aluminum products softens. With a $140 million expansion under way, Kaiser's Trentwood rolling mill continues to produce high-grade aluminum sheet and plate that fetched high prices and led the company's performance, chief executive Jack Hockema said.

Spokane-based Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories (PAML) will expand its reach by forming a joint venture with a hospital system operating in Utah. It's the latest move for rapidly growing PAML, which now has 1,300 employees, including 900 at work in its Spokane headquarters. The company is a subsidiary of nonprofit Providence Health and Services, the same health care group that operates Sacred Heart Medical Center and Holy Family Hospital.

Avista electricity customers will receive a $3 monthly bill credit beginning next fall if a settlement regarding an arcane federal power program holds together. The credit is not part of Avista's pending rate case. Rather, it is funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, the agency that markets electricity from the federal government's massive Northwest dams.

Itron Inc.'s chief financial officer exercised stock options that netted him $803,430 before taxes in the days leading up to the company's disappointing third-quarter earnings report, but Itron said there are no insider trading concerns. The executive, Steven Helmbrecht, used a prearranged trading plan designed to comply with a U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission rule, called 10b5-1, that addresses insider trades, the company said in response to a reporter's questions. Under the plan, Helmbrecht exercised four sets of stock options in October – the latest coming Oct. 29 as the company prepared to release earnings results to Wall Street.