John Stucke

Jeff A. Nelson, an executive brought in to attempt a financial turnaround of Deaconess Medical Center nine years ago, was found dead Tuesday of a gunshot wound at his home outside Minneapolis.

Two Spokane Valley businessmen with a history of consumer complaints about their credit card processing company are now accused of running a scam.

Marshall Chesrown, who became the face of posh housing and gated golf course developments in the region but struggled as the economy soured, has filed a $72 million personal bankruptcy to complete the stunning collapse of his fortunes. Chesrown listed his net worth at $514,173 – a tiny sum compared to his billion-dollar aspirations that once included the Black Rock luxury golf club along Lake Coeur d’Alene, Kendall Yards near downtown Spokane, and Legacy Ridge in Liberty Lake. He now lives in Delray Beach, Fla., where he shares a modest condo with a woman and works as an automotive consultant.

By the end of this week, Jesse Sheldon hopes to have collected more than 100,000 diapers for infants and toddlers in need across the Inland Northwest. The fourth-annual diaper drive is happening at Walgreens drug stores and Trading Company groceries through Saturday.

Ten years ago, doctors called the shots when it came to health care in Spokane. Most owned their practices or plied their specialties in larger clinics. They freely referred patients to other doctors and hospitals, engaged in research trials and melded into a health care community where collaboration often trumped competition.

Health care reform should come with a Help Wanted sign: Nurses are needed to help care for 32 million people. That’s how many Americans are expected to gain health coverage starting next year.

A state official asked a judge Thursday to strip management of the Montvale Hotel from Rob Brewster Jr., saying the once-prominent Spokane developer owes $140,000 in back taxes and may have committed “a fraud upon the court and creditors.” Zachary Mosner, an assistant attorney general, said Brewster hasn’t “paid a dime” of taxes since August.

Vulgar and threatening comments about a female FBI agent have unraveled Greg Jeffreys’ latest efforts to bond out of jail as he fights a massive federal fraud and money laundering indictment. His name-calling and menacing description of FBI special agent Lisa Jangaard captured on a taped jailhouse phone call to his son also included an expletive-laden threat to “bury” her.

Mounting bills and economic malaise has forced downtown Spokane developer Rob Brewster to file for bankruptcy protection on his Montvale Hotel. The multimillion-dollar bankruptcy reorganization is the latest setback for Brewster, a young and ambitious entrepreneur who bought and refurbished several downtown buildings as part of the past decade’s downtown resurgence before losing ownership when the economy soured.