Melodie Little

Operators of some adult family homes in Washington say they are struggling to afford state mandated professional liability insurance. The insurance is required for about 2,200 adult family homes across the state that have contracts to care for low-income elderly and disabled people on Medicaid. The homes are licensed for two to six residents each and operate as small businesses, while providing 24-hour care.

Black Rock Development is building an exclusive camp for kids of parents who belong to The Club at Black Rock. Kootenai Camp, a fantasyland for the young, will include a manmade fishing lake, a secret agent-like zip line that traverses the lake and outings that include scavenger hunts by boat and day trips to Silverwood Theme Park.

The YMCA and YWCA are hosting a groundbreaking to kick off construction of their new central Spokane campus. Demolition on the old Big Brothers and Big Sisters Bingo hall that occupies the site at 930 N. Monroe St. has begun, said Trish McFarland, campaign manager for the project.

A Spokane Valley retirement complex devoted to healthy living is opening in mid-November. Evergreen Fountains Senior Living Community, on Evergreen Road off Interstate 90, has six cottages, 75 independent apartments and 25 additional units catering to residents needing assisted living services.

The thousand-gallon aquarium is gone, the fishing tackle a thing of the past. White's Boots, a 102-year-old Spokane sporting goods store, is headed in a different direction. Although the company's sales have grown by 11 percent for two straight years, the fishing gear wasn't profitable, said Gary March, president and CEO of White's Boots. When he assessed how to best compete with the newly arrived Cabela's and other big-box retailers, it became obvious which way to go. Boots have always been the mainstay of the company, located near the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center. So White's Boots is doing a $250,000 remodel that will add both retail and manufacturing space. Instead of looking at bass and walleye in an aquarium, customers will be able to watch boots being crafted by hand.

Local developer Dick Vandervert is building a $6 million office complex that will boast views of a man-made lake and become home to his construction company. Preliminary work has begun on the three-story Wandermere Professional Building, which is being built on the northeast corner of Addison Street and Farwell Road. It will have 44,500 square feet of space and house about a dozen businesses, including medical and dental professionals, said Dave Lindquist, principal of Spokane-based Lindquist Architects.

They come and go nearly as fast as a bagful of Halloween loot in the hands of a 10-year-old trick-or-treater. Temporary Halloween stores move into vacant retail space at the end of the summer, set up shop and then, like an apparition in a good ghost story, disappear without a trace. They compete with established stores selling Halloween merchandise, yet have three short months to move in and break down, while stocking and restocking inventory to maximize profit.

The Spokane area is flush with pumpkins this Halloween season in spite of a shortage in other parts of the country. "There are plenty of pumpkins out here and there's no crowd," said Kami Mackleit, a Valleyford resident who browsed through a two-acre pumpkin patch at Amicarella's Valley Produce on Sunday with her family.

After nearly 17 years of working for Spokane Teachers Credit Union, Steve Dahlstrom understands the local market. People here are honest folks with decent credit ratings who, by and large, pay their bills on time, the credit union CEO said. Like the rest of the nation, they could do a better job of saving. Dahlstrom estimates that 60 percent of STCU's members don't have savings accounts, adding, "It's everybody. I've got retirees who don't have a cent in savings either." To inspire members to set aside money for a rainy day, the credit union is offering a savings account that pays 6 percent interest on the first $500. It's an expensive move for a credit union, he said, but the board of directors agreed that encouraging members to plan for the future is worth the investment.

Beverly and Milo Ball, both in their 70s, were tired of yard work and wanted to travel. So they sold their south Spokane home and moved into a two-bedroom apartment with an attached garage. "We decided we'd try apartment living. It seems to work for us," said Beverly Ball, who lives in Adirondack Lodge, a south Spokane apartment complex.

A Spokane company that just celebrated its 50th birthday is outfitting fire departments with cutting-edge trucks and equipment to battle fires, chemical spills and even meth contamination. General Fire Equipment Co., which operates out of six buildings that cover a city block at 4000 East Trent, carries everything from protective gear and air-packs for firefighters to smoke alarms, first-aid kits and fire extinguishers for restaurants and the general public.

The INB Performing Arts Center is open for business after the latest in a series of spruce-ups. Crews were tidying up almost to the moment that the media arrived for the unveiling of $2.7 million in updates that further solidified the 30-plus-year-old former opera house as a contemporary events facility. Although some elevator and landscaping work remains to be completed, the facility is ready to host the season opener for the Spokane Symphony in style.

When Bonnie Klein's 9:30 a.m. Horizon Air flight was canceled, she was offered a later flight that would get her into Baltimore about 4 a.m. So the 26-year-old postponed her departure date a day.