Week in Review

Sun., May 23, 2004

top story The Spokesman-Review

Kaiser Aluminum corp. said it has received Bankruptcy Court permission to sell its idled Mead smelter to a St. Louis company for about $7.4 million. The buyer, Commercial Development Co. Inc., bought the smelter with plans to rehabilitate it for use as a small manufacturing park or temporary warehouse space. CDC does not plan to restart the smelter.

Tuesday

• The nationwide average retail price for a gallon of gasoline passed $2 for the first time, the Energy Department said. Also, oil prices surged near $42 a barrel as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries planned emergency talks to discuss increasing member countries’ output.

• India’s stock market took its biggest plunge in its 129-year history as investors panicked over how much communist-party influence there might be in a new coalition government.

Wednesday

• President Bush nominated Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to a fifth term. Greenspan has served in that economy-steering role for 17 years, under four presidents. Financial markets took the news in stride because it had been widely expected.

• Western United Assurance Co., an insurance subsidiary of Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co., said it would move from Metropolitan’s downtown high-rise to a building in Spokane Valley. About 170 employees of Western United and two other Metropolitan insurance subsidiaries will move in August to 4424 N. Sullivan Rd. The insurance companies, all of which are under state receivership, are seeking financial separation from Metropolitan, which sought bankruptcy protection earlier this year.

• Starting tomorrow, cell-phone customers in Spokane and North Idaho can take advantage of rules allowing cellular users to keep their phone numbers when switching to new wireless carriers. The rules first went into effect last November in the 100 most populous metropolitan areas. That “number portability” requirement now will expand to the rest of the country.

Thursday

• AmericanWest Bancorp. said it will move its corporate and regional headquarters to the new AmericanWest Bank Building downtown. AmericanWest’s administrative offices will occupy the fourth and fifth floors of the building at the corner of Riverside and Browne, and the bank’s downtown branch will move from its current location on Wall Street to the building’s first floor.

Friday

• A Richland company said it would build a four-story Holiday Inn Express next to Triple Play in Hayden. The hotel, which is expected to cost $7 million to $10 million, will feature an indoor water complex and will connect by sky bridge to Triple Play, a family-entertainment center.

• A closely watched gauge of future economic activity edged higher in April. The Conference Board said its Composite Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose 0.1 percent in April, which economists said points to an economy with plenty of momentum.

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