Week in review

TUESDAY

Sterling Financial Corp.’s plans to buy North Valley Bancorp of Redding, Calif., have fallen through, the Spokane-based company announced in a news release Monday. Sterling received notice that North Valley had decided to terminate the agreement for the merger, the release said.

“A North Idaho sawmill worker pleaded guilty last month to collecting more than $16,000 in jobless benefits between 2003 and 2005, even though he was working during the time the checks were issued.

WEDNESDAY

Miller Brewing Co. and Molson Coors Inc. have proposed the MillerCoors joint venture to sell more Coors Light, Miller Lite and Miller Genuine Draft in the United States. The operation would target No. 1 Anheuser-Busch Cos., which has nearly 50 percent of the market.

“An illustrated advertising section in last month’s Rolling Stone magazine violates the tobacco industry’s nine-year-old promise not to use cartoons to sell cigarettes, state officials charged.

THURSDAY

President Bush has announced an agreement with major mortgage firms to freeze interest rates for five years for financially troubled homeowners. The plan would apply to homeowners who got adjustable-rate subprime mortgages between Jan. 1, 2005, and July 31 of this year and are facing a sharp jump in their rates before July 31, 2010.

Friday

Regional homebuilders increasingly are constructing “green,” energy-efficient dwellings – houses that may cost consumers thousands of dollars more upfront but offer long-term rewards, advocates say.

“The Inland Northwest’s five regional ski resorts all planned to be open by now. Silver Mountain Resort in Kellogg opened Friday; Schweitzer Mountain Resort in Sandpoint, on Thursday. And Mount Spokane planned a Saturday opening. Lookout Pass in Idaho and 49 Degrees North in Chewelah opened earlier.