Politicians And City Folks To Get A Look At Wheat Farms

Bus loads of politicians and city slickers from across the state will join the Washington Association of Wheat Growers this week for the organization’s annual wheat tour.

The gathering kicks off a series of seasonal field tours that commodity groups, chemical companies and Washington State University typically hold between spring planting and summer harvest in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.

WAWG officials say they may need three tour buses this year to accommodate the large number of government officials who say they’re coming to to learn about Eastern Washington agriculture.

Participants will visit a wildlife reserve, organic wheat farm, a pea harvest, fruit orchards and a french fry processing plant.

The two day tour leaves at 8 a.m. Tuesday from the Hallmark Inn in Moses Lake. For information, call WAWG at 509-659-0610.

In other events this week:

Today

Washington Oil Marketers Association opens its annual convention at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park. Call 624-1341.

OPEC meeting begins in Vienna.

Tuesday

Bob Skinner, Mark Rogers and Mike Harvey from Van Waters & Rogers Inc. will speak at noon about dealing with hazardous materials to the National Association of Purchasing Management-Spokane. The luncheon will be held at the Schoenberg Conference Center at Gonzaga University. Cost: $6.25. Call Rose Faust at 456-2305.

ISO 9000 auditor Dick Gorecki will discuss changes in Common Market law and trends towards additional ISO layers at 7:30 a.m. at the ISO 9000 roundtable at the Applied Technology Center, 3939 N. Freya. Call 533-4725.

U.S. Department of Commerce Department releases May housing starts report.

Wednesday

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco holds oneday seminar on the Community Reinvestment Act for bank officers and other lenders at the Sheraton Spokane Hotel. Cost: $150. Call 415-974-3437.

Commerce Department releases trade report for April and first-quarter current account trade report.

Federal Reserve issues Beige Book regional economic survey.

U.S. Department of Treasury releases budget statement for May.

Thursday

Spokane Area Economic Development Council board meets at 7:30 a.m. at the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce building.

American Society for Training and Development presents membership dinner on “Workforce Readiness in the Nineties and Beyond” at 6 p.m. at Cavanaugh’s River Inn. Call 625-6354.

U.S.-Japan auto talks resume in Geneva.

Friday

Commerce Department issues report on durable goods orders for May. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Graphic: Measuring the economy - Lumber prices

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: ON THE SHELF Washington CEO, June: Profiles William Bradford, the new dean of the University of Washington School of Business Administration. Individual Investor, July: Picks Walla Walla-based Key Technology, a manufacturer of automated food processing equipment, as one of five hot stocks to watch.

Satisfaction Top-rated automobile lines in J.D. Power and Associates 1995 Sales Satisfaction Index survey. The index measures buyers’ satisfaction with their car-buying experience. Industry average was 125. Saturn, 160 Infiniti, 150 Cadillac, 149 Lexus, 149 Volvo, 148 Mercedes-Benz, 147 Audi, 145 Lincoln, 141