Parker Howell

Kaiser Aluminum Corp. will spend an additional $34 million on equipment for its Trentwood rolling mill to further increase its heat-treated metal plate production, the company announced Tuesday. Unspecified new agreements with customers necessitate the equipment, a follow-up to $105 million in capital upgrades already under way in Trentwood, said company CEO Jack Hockema. He declined to elaborate on the type of equipment to be added or on any new Kaiser contracts, but said the agreements "do have sufficient length that it justifies us making additional investment.

Movie fans soon will be able to rent high-definition DVDs at select Blockbuster Inc. video stores in Eastern Washington, but only in Blu-ray format – a setback for those who've invested in competing HD DVD players. Stores in Spokane Valley, Pullman and Richland are expected to be among 1,450 more nationwide to offer the next-generation discs starting July 10, said Randy Hargrove, a Blockbuster spokesman. The nation's largest rental chain announced its choice Monday, lending its support, at least for now, to one side of the "format war" between rivals Blu-ray, backed by Sony Corp., and HD DVD, supported by Toshiba Corp.

Sandpoint-based Pure Health Solutions Inc. has tapped a lucrative market with its water-purification devices for businesses. The company expects revenues of roughly $20 million this year, up from $4 million in 2003, said Craig Story, PHSI president.

As many as 200 poor people who found refuge in downtown apartment buildings could be displaced before Labor Day as redevelopment transforms Spokane's city center, and housing advocates worry some residents may end up back on the streets. RenCorp LLC recently told about 60 low-income tenants of the New Madison Apartments on First Avenue that they have weeks to move before the developer converts the aging structure into mixed-income apartments.

A North Idaho software company bills its forthcoming product as "game over" for Alt-Tab — a keyboard shortcut PC gamers use to multitask while playing online. That key combination allows players of "World of Warcraft" and other online titles to quickly switch between full-screen games and other programs they use to communicate with fellow players and research game strategies and back-stories.

Caffé Pazzesco offers to help local companies jump-start productivity and morale, one cup at a time. The 17-month-old coffee service will arrange an automatic, single-serving coffee machine, condiment rack, wooden cabinet and artistic poster in a company's office – all at the supplier's expense.

Massive plastic tanks in the basement of the renovated Saranac Hotel in Spokane capture groundwater and rainwater to irrigate plants and flush toilets. At outdoor equipment retailer Mountain Gear's remodeled building in Spokane Valley, skylights and custom fluorescent lights reduce energy use. Although government mandates have increased green construction for public buildings, use of sustainable technology for commercial projects in Spokane has lagged, especially compared to larger cities such as Seattle and Portland. Installing energy- and water-saving equipment may require larger upfront costs and specialized know-how, which can be a turnoff to people overseeing for-profit projects.

Concerned low-income residents of the downtown Commercial Building questioned local housing authority officials Friday afternoon about their imminent move from single-room units to private, government-subsidized apartments. Relocating to make way for a Blu-ray disc plant might offer tenants, many of whom suffer from mental and medical disabilities and chemical dependency, a chance to upgrade their housing, officials said.

Mike and Susan Fuchs sold their house last fall so they could buy new machinery for their welding equipment-manufacturing business. Now the Fuchses, majority owners of ARC Manufacturing, face a three-month backlog of orders for their new product, a resistance spot welder and dent puller that doesn't require a special power outlet.

What's about 7 feet tall, bright red and coin-operated? It's the Big Red Machine, a Spokane family-owned company's answer to keeping car windshield wiper fluid reservoirs filled without leaving leftover fluid in plastic jugs. Whirlwind Concepts Inc. has tested 10 of the contraptions, which spout 40 seconds-worth of washer fluid for $1, at area Zip Trip convenience stores for more than two years. It now aims to offer the product outside Spokane.

Jim Hardenbrook hefted six boxes of records out of the back of his pickup, setting them on a hand cart in the parking lot of a doctors' building on Spokane's lower South Hill. The 58-year-old wheeled the cart through the lobby and navigated to a room filled with records at the Northwest OB-GYN office.

Running a chiropractic practice involves a lot of paperwork, from pulling patient records to billing. A fledgling Spokane Valley company wants to change that with a new electronic system it designed for alternative medicine practitioners.

A vaccine against solid cancers might someday be possible based on a Washington State University researcher's study of an unusual gene. But developing such a product would take more years of work and millions of dollars of investment, WSU associate professor J. Suzanne Lindsey told potential investors Thursday afternoon in Spokane. Her presentation was part of a first-ever event by the Washington State University Research Foundation and Greater Spokane Inc. designed to promote "technology transfer" – connecting WSU faculty with business people who can get their ideas to the marketplace.

Steven Hamari drank from a juice box and sat bent over a trash can Saturday evening as two piercers stuck more than 60 hypodermic needles through his scalp. The 27-year-old from Coeur d'Alene said he felt a little woozy after receiving the "crown of thorns" – a type of surgical, artistic piercing – at the Spokane Tattoo Expo.