John Stucke

The region's five major hospitals labored through the first six months of 2004. Three lost money and the only two profitable hospitals, Sacred Heart Medical Center and Kootenai Medical Center, had significantly poorer results than they did in the first six months of 2003.

Global trade talks designed to halt subsidy payments to American farmers while lifting tariffs in other countries could be a positive, albeit risky, move for Washington and Idaho wheat farmers. The World Trade Organization's 147 member nations recently agreed upon a framework that restarts negotiations after last year's calamitous meeting in Cancun, when sharp divisions between developing and rich countries stalled talks. The dissent was led by Brazil and India, which blamed subsidies in the United States and Europe for a global food glut that suppresses prices.

Coeur d'Alene police are investigating scores of tips concerning the whereabouts of two children feared abucted by a fugitive sought by authorities in six states. An Amber Alert has been issued and the mother of one of the children issued a plea Sunday for her daughter's safe return.

Aaron Anstett plans to carve, cut and saw the way to his first car. By turning discarded blocks of hickory, pine and maple into whimsical fish puzzles, he has discovered that art might just pay after all.

In a moment of financial panic, Philip Marlatt pulled off his patient identification bracelet and walked out of Holy Family Hospital's bustling emergency room. "I don't have insurance, and I knew it would be too expensive," he said.

When the huckleberry harvest begins later this month, Jerry Gill will spend hour after hour making local favorites. There are milkshakes and sundaes, single-scoop dishes and double-header ice cream cones.

Spokane Mayor Jim West said Thursday that the city is no longer interested in buying the Metropolitan Financial Center. Facing a budget crunch and skeptical voters, the city is just not ready to embark on such a bold proposal as buying the 17-story white high-rise in downtown Spokane and moving City Hall there, he said.

As Eric Penney unfurls a Kenyan flag, he just grins about his first international business opportunity. Penney is supplying about 600 flags to the 2004 Olympics. That's three flags for every competing nation.

Workers have painted the walls, hung the doors and stretched 10 miles of special computer cable through new operating rooms as Sacred Heart Medical Center prepares to open its new surgery unit in late August. It's all part of the hospital's ambitious expansion project. Two years ago Sacred Heart began building what's called the west tower — a $137 million addition at Eighth Avenue and McClellan Street that will offer Spokane one of the largest and most modern surgery centers in the region. During a sneak preview of the operating rooms Wednesday, surgery director Marilyn Bash said the new technologies will lead to quicker, less invasive surgeries, speedier recoveries and shorter hospital stays. "This puts us out front for the next 10 to 15 years," she said. The 20 new operating rooms integrate information and tools for the surgeons on a computer-based system. While patients may appreciate more efficient operations, the hospital figures to boost the number of surgeries from about 13,000 a year to more than 17,600. The surgery center provides a significant upgrade for Sacred Heart. The current operating rooms were built in 1971. Although upgraded over the years, the operating rooms are considered cramped and inefficient by today's standards, Bash said. There will be no cords or tubes on the floor of the new 625-square-foot operating rooms, cutting the risk of accidents that can damage equipment. Instead, the monitors, cameras and other equipment are attached to mechanical arms suspended from the ceiling. This allows the surgeons performing endoscopic procedures to move flat-panel monitors where they need them, rather than looking up and down at a monitor sitting on a cart. In an endoscopy, the surgeon guides a flexible tube containing a tiny video camera down the throat and the relevant organs can be viewed on the monitors. Tony Epifane, representing equipment maker Storz, said the new technology is designed to give patients shorter and safer stays at the hospital. "It's all designed around bettering their experience, their quality of life," he said. Storz specializes in integrated surgery systems, which give surgical teams the ability to access information at the touch of a button without leaving the operating table. While Sacred Heart's surgery center opens in late August, work continues on the other units in the tower. A women's health center, for example, will include a birthing unit, maternity clinic, and other programs. A neonatal intensive care unit will expand to offer more beds to treat high-risk, premature babies. The six-floor, 316,794-square-foot west tower expansion is Sacred Heart's largest addition in more than 30 years, and is further evidence that the health care sector of Spokane's economy is promising. The hospital employs about 3,200 people and ranks among the largest health care facilities in the state.

Earlier this month, HearthBread BakeHouse in Spokane turned out its first loaves of bread made from wheat grown in Eastern Washington and Idaho. It was a significant moment for Northwest farmers Karl Kupers, Fred Fleming and about 10 others who are embracing a new system that holds the dual promise of protecting the land and opening new markets for farm products. Two years ago, these dozen farmers founded a Reardan, Wash., business called Columbia Plateau Producers to grow and market wheat that could be used in baked goods destined for tables right here at home.

Neighborhoods are buzzing this summer, thanks in part to Barry Parish. Stick-figure skinny, bushy haired and delighted to have a cigar plugged into his mouth, Parish has found himself in the midst of a business frenzy and, well, frenzied residents and police officers who don't like what he, er, peddles.

Investors burned by unscrupulous sales practices and fraudulent financial reports at Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Inc. may find payback by reaching into the deep pockets of prestigious accounting firms and wealthy former executives, according to a court-ordered investigation. Special examiner Samuel Maizel sharply criticized Ernst & Young LLP for auditing practices that failed to reveal a doomed company.