Thomas Clouse

The NCAA made the unprecedented move Wednesday of requiring all men’s and women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament games to be played in mostly empty arenas.

Avista Corp. announced Tuesday that it plans to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including asking employees who can to work from home and encouraging customers to pay their utility bills online rather than in person.

Time actually stood still Monday as financial markets dropped so fast they triggered an internal “circuit breaker” that shut down trading for the first time since 1997.

Despite the University of Washington’s announcement Friday to move all classes online, Washington State University, the University of Idaho and other area colleges will continue holding classes while monitoring developments with the coronavirus outbreak, officials said. The UW said it will stop classes for nearly 60,000 students at its three campuses. The change will take effect Monday and run through the end of winter quarter on March 13.

Spokane-area homeowners are flocking to local lenders as they seek to take advantage of mortgage rates at or near historical lows.

Visitors to major gatherings at the Spokane Convention Center and sporting events at the Spokane Arena can expect to find additional hand-sanitizer stations and more aggressive cleaning of restrooms but all events are proceeding as scheduled as reaction grows to the coronavirus outbreak.

Shoppers at the Costco on East Sprague in Spokane Valley walked Monday past the place where they expected to find toilet paper. They found the bundles of paper towels and cases of bottled water but all of the outhouse necessaries were sold out.

Federal agriculture officials announced Tuesday that they have reached an agreement to export U.S. potatoes to China for processing. The deal, which includes crops grown in Idaho, Washington and Oregon, is expected add about $20 million worth of exports a year.

A North Spokane restaurant re-opened Tuesday after videos went viral on social media earlier this month depicting the unsanitary way cooks were preparing meals on the kitchen floor.

Boeing’s latest variant of the jumbo jet has been flying test runs in and out of Spokane International Airport this week.

As Boeing’s wait for federal approval for updates to troubled 737 Max grows longer, the trickle-down effect continues to strain several smaller Spokane-based companies that contract for everything from the airplane’s overhead storage compartments to its seats.

The power of social media broadsided a North Spokane sushi restaurant this week after a volunteer dishwasher posted videos of cooks preparing meals on a dirty floor, leaving raw food out at room temperature and using the same cutting board for everything from fish to vegetables.

Two young boys wearing matching cowboy hats climbed up the ladder into the Case/IH Steiger quadtrac that was as big as a barn. The farm boys sat in the plush seat and pretended to drive the 580-horsepower machine that costs about $600,000.

Eastern Washington wheat growers face an uncertain future even with returning market stability following recent trade agreements with China, Mexico and Canada, an agriculture economist said Wednesday.

Hundreds of farmers will plow into downtown Spokane this week to look at the latest equipment and get forecasts for everything from rainfall to economic markets at the Spokane Ag Expo and Farm Forum.

Almost without notice earlier this month, decades of collective on-air experience ended as a half dozen radio professionals in Spokane lost their jobs as part of industry layoffs that continue to erode local connections.

The bikini-clad baristas have left the building, but commuters can still pick up their caffeine fix at the drive-thru that recently changed owners and names from Whip It A-Latte to the new TacoVado on North Ash Street in Spokane.

A federal judge on Thursday told Shane J. Pariseau that he is running out of chances after he successfully escaped a high-speed police chase in 2018 only to be discovered days later in a Spokane hotel room with what one prosecutor described as a “mountain” of drugs.

Trade wars and high global supplies decimated prices for Washington dairies over the past two years, but demand remains high and prices recently have begun to surge along with hopes for the state’s third most valuable farm product.

Two defendants tied to an insurance-fraud scheme that included Spokane developer Ron Wells were sentenced to federal prison on Tuesday.

While the trade agreements President Donald Trump signed earlier this week with China, Mexico and Canada may not be everything Washington farmers hoped for, most analysts believe the deals will at least provide a level of certainty moving forward.

On this day 100 years ago, the nation officially went dry.

Idaho state Rep. John O. Green said Wednesday that he has no immediate plans to step down after a Texas jury convicted him of the felony charge of conspiracy to defraud the federal government.