Week in review
TUESDAY
Gas prices at the pump surged to a new record Monday even as crude oil accelerated its slide amid a broad-based commodities sell-off. The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded rose to $3.287, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.
•As Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed overhauling the regulatory framework for the financial system, Democrats in Congress said it was far more urgent to try to quickly stabilize the housing market.
WEDNESDAY
Liberty Lake-based IT-Lifeline has announced it will double its office space and expand its marketing efforts to Boise and Portland. •Further weakness in the manufacturing sector and construction industry underscored concerns that the U.S. economy has fallen into recession, though most analysts believe a downturn will be mild and relatively short-lived.
•Automakers reported double-digit U.S. sales declines in March as demand for trucks and sport utility vehicles plummeted and consumers held back because of concerns about gas prices, the housing slump and tightening credit.
THURSDAY
For the first time, Ben Bernanke as Fed chief acknowledged that the U.S. could reel into recession from the powerful punches of housing, credit and financial crises. Yet he was coy about the Federal Reserve’s next move.
•From Maine to Oregon, the price of sawdust, along with other wood byproducts, has soared.
When they can find it, sawdust buyers – dairy farmers, particleboard makers and wood pellet manufacturers among them – are paying up to $50 a ton or more. That’s double what they paid a year ago, some say.
•Two longtime Spokane radio stations will swap formats Monday, transforming KGA-AM into sports radio and “The Fan” KJRB-AM into news and talk.
FRIDAY
Fed chair Bernanke and the Bush administration defended the decision to rescue Bear Stearns amid questions by lawmakers about why the government was helping Wall Street investment houses but not people on Main Street.
•Corn prices jumped to a record $6 a bushel Thursday, driven up by an expected supply shortfall that will only add to Americans’ growing grocery bills.