Shawn Vestal

When people talk about the good news in the local job market, they invariably return to two kinds of work: health care and education. Those two pillars of the jobs scene are considered among the most resistant to recessions, and they make up a big part of overall employment in the Inland Northwest.

So, here it is – the recession’s second summer. Last year, all the talk about vacations centered around the “staycation,” and families will no doubt be looking for ways to cut back on their travel dollars this summer as well. The good news: Gas prices, while inching upward, are nowhere near as high as they were last year; airfares are expected to drop; hotels and destinations are discounting prices; and you – the resident of the Inland Northwest – just happen to live in the middle of a region that is full of recreational possibilities.

Kenneth Lalonde would like to move into a retirement community. At 72, he has problems with his vision and a “bum knee,” and he uses a cane to get around. It’s becoming harder for him to take care of his one-level home on the South Hill. And maybe most importantly, he’d like some company.

For many teens, a summer job means something temporary to pick up pocket money. For others who are older or who have been thrust into adult responsibilities, their job hunt is more serious.

For many teens, a summer job means something temporary to pick up pocket money. For others who are older or who have been thrust into adult responsibilities, their job hunt is more serious.

When Rob Butterfield needed to find someone to fix his ailing, 16-year-old Chevy Suburban, he thought he’d try something different. It was the same something different that Karla Turk decided to try this spring, in an effort to have her teeth straightened before her July wedding.

Robert and Louise Brown had their eye on the Leisure Park retirement community for several years. Three years ago, they decided they’d sell their Post Falls home and make the move. Both retired and in their 70s, they wanted a place with fewer stairs, less room and less maintenance. “We tried to sell it ourselves first, and that didn’t work,” Robert Brown said. “About the time we started doing that, the economy went into the tank.” Kootenai County’s housing market – following several years of booming sales and rising prices – had developed a sharp chill. Home sales dropped by 18 percent in 2007, and then by 22 percent last year. Average sales prices sank, too. The Browns eventually decided to hire a real estate agent. And their original asking price of $205,000 “went down in steps,” Robert Brown said.

HAYDEN – Robert and Louise Brown have had their eye on the Leisure Park retirement community for several years.

An elderly Spokane Valley couple’s battle to have a woman evicted from their backyard garage is apparently over. An eviction order was signed by a judge last week and sheriff’s deputies posted a notice on the door of the garage Wednesday, ordering Susan Pierce off the premises at the North McCabe Road home.

David Boley is a Farmers Insurance agent who’s seeing life insurance from both sides lately. On the one hand, despite the poor economy, there’s a steady interest in life insurance these days, what with falling premiums and an erosion in people’s sense of security.

If you drive, you’ve surely noticed a touch of volatility in the price of gas during the past year. Last April, prices in Spokane crested above $3.60 and were on their way to a record high of $4.19 a gallon for regular unleaded, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge report. Then they plunged in the fall – dropping below $1.50 around Christmas as the recession began showing its ugly face and worldwide demand tanked.