John Stucke

Spokane hospitals began restructuring the way they operate and found new ways to make money and trim costs in 2005. It's a practice they plan to continue this year. The changes were quick and necessary after a difficult 2004 when both Sacred Heart Medical Center and Deaconess Medical Center lost millions of dollars in one of their worst financial years in memory.

People who invested with the Guthrie family in Spokane through a now-defunct company called Pacific Security Companies Inc. have had most of their principal repaid. It's turning out to be an acceptable outcome for 180 investors, most of whom live in Spokane. And it stands in stark contrast to the financial disaster that unfolded at Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., which was in essentially the same business as Pacific Security Cos. The two firms sold unsecured notes, called debentures, to mostly local investors.

More than a dozen Eastern Washington farmers may have cheated a new federal subsidy program designed to reward environmental stewardship. It's a troubling start to the much-heralded Conservation Security Program (CSP) in Washington state, a taxpayer-funded initiative folded into the 2002 Farm Bill that paid $2.7 million to 146 farmers in Spokane, Whitman, Lincoln, Grant and Adams counties last year.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane has offered $45.7 million to settle sex abuse claims that ultimately drove the church into bankruptcy 14 months ago. A press conference will be called today, said James Stang, an attorney representing alleged victims. A settlement would be a major development in a case widely criticized for its slow pace and high fees. Attorneys and a small group of alleged victims involved in the bankruptcy are recommending approval of the deal following a meeting at the Davenport Hotel on Tuesday night.

The Spokane Tribe of Indians said it will unveil next week big plans for a 145-acre parcel on the western outskirts of Airway Heights. Speculation has swirled for many months that the tribe is preparing to build a big casino in the area.

Columbia Lighting is shifting 78 office jobs from its Spokane Valley plant to a new headquarters complex in Spartanburg, S.C. The changes are part a broad restructuring under way by Columbia's corporate parent, Hubbell Inc., as it attempts to integrate companies it has merged with or purchased. The initiative, an $80 million corporate plan to boost production and cut costs, has led to layoffs, consolidations and factory closings throughout the company during the past couple years.

Spring will deliver rain and cool temperatures this year, saturating the soil and setting up a good year for wheat crops, a weather expert told farmers Tuesday morning during Spokane Ag Expo. The wet spring will give way to a warm, dry summer.

Neighbors upset with a planned subdivision between Indian Trail and Five Mile roads have invoked the developer's past role with Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co. to try to scuttle the proposal. Thomas Masters, fired from his executive post at the bankrupt firm and later accused of fraud by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, has been busy attempting to line up development projects. His effort to subdivide acreage into 42 housing lots in the fast-growing North Spokane area ran into stiff opposition led by Steve Mumm.

About 450 technical workers at Sacred Heart Medical Center anticipate a new contract this month as union bargaining with the hospital moves along. The employees, including those in jobs such as respiratory therapists, surgical technicians, X-ray technicians and mental health counselors, have been working without a contract since Dec. 31.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane proposed a new plan Friday to pay alleged victims of priest sex abuse and resolve its thorny bankruptcy case. The new bankruptcy plan shows the diocese, stung by soaring legal costs and slow progress, may have double the money available to pay victims than the diocese's initial estimates – $57.5 million without selling or mortgaging a single church or parochial school.

One of Spokane's finest restaurants, Paprika, has closed. Larry and Karla Graves decided for now that 14 years in the Spokane restaurant business is enough. The intimate café at 1228 W. Grand Blvd. was known for its elegant dinners — especially the perfectly seared peppercorn-crusted ahi.

A federal judge denied on Wednesday an effort by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to escape blame in the failure of Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co. The Big Four accounting firm, Metropolitan's one-time auditor, asked U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle last week to dismiss a lawsuit that could cost it tens of millions of dollars.

Boeing Co. announced Tuesday that it has signed a new long-term contract to buy aluminum plate made at Kaiser Aluminum Corp.'s Trentwood rolling mill. The deal is another big boost for the company as it prepares to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and invests $75 million in new equipment at the Spokane Valley factory.

The Catholic Diocese of Spokane will spend $160,000 on an advertising campaign asking people who believe they may have been sexually abused by priests to file claims. The ads will appear in USA Today and in the Jan. 8 Western edition of Parade magazine, which is inserted in major West Coast newspapers. Also, the diocese is running advertisements in daily and weekly newspapers in Washington state.

An auditing firm that signed off on Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co.'s financial reports years ago was duped by dishonest executives and can't be blamed for the Spokane company's financial disaster, attorneys for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP argued Tuesday in federal court. The Big Four accounting firm on Tuesday asked U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle to dismiss a major lawsuit brought by Metropolitan alleging that auditors were negligent in not putting a stop to the company's questionable finances in 1999 and 2000.

Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co. creditors can expect a check early next year to help ease a bit of the sting out of Christmas shopping bills. Though their initial payout may be as little as a nickel to 9 cents on the dollar, at least enough progress is being made to dispense money – the first cash 16,000 investors caught in the debacle will receive since the company declared bankruptcy 22 months ago, said Metropolitan bankruptcy attorney Barry Davidson.

A group of Spokane investors has agreed to buy part of the Ridpath Hotel complex in downtown Spokane from Red Lion Hotels Corp. Though the sale hasn't closed, the deal will transfer ownership of the Executive Court building that fronts First Avenue, south of the main hotel tower. The building includes 77 guest rooms, a convention center, a swimming pool and underground parking.

Smoking inside buildings becomes illegal today in Washington state. Voters, by a ratio of 2-to-1, passed Initiative 901 last month to amend Washington's Clean Indoor Air Act to include smoking bans at bars, restaurants, bowling alleys and other indoor-smoking refuges.

An insurance affiliate of Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Inc. has leveled a $220 million claim against the bankrupt firm, an action that threatens to delay and cut the cash recovery of investors throughout the Northwest. Western United Life Assurance Co., which is being run by the Washington Insurance Commissioner's office, made good on its longstanding threat to file a claim — in essence blaming its massive losses and writedowns on the failed financial conglomerate.

Insurance regulators in Idaho and Arizona struck an agreement to sell two insurance affiliates of bankrupt Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., a deal that may return up to $20 million to some creditors awaiting payouts in the wake of Spokane's largest business failure. The sales of Old West Annuity and Life Insurance Co. and Old Standard Life Insurance Co. arrive 20 months after insurance regulators in Arizona and Idaho seized control of the companies and operated them under receivership.