Week in review

TUESDAY

A company that offered to rescue desperate Washington homeowners from foreclosure – and then allegedly did little or nothing – has agreed to refund tens of thousands of dollars to an estimated 200 customers across the state.

•Three teams from Gonzaga and Whitworth universities won top prizes in the eighth annual Hogan Business Plan Competition, held in Spokane recently.

WEDNESDAY

Gas and oil prices pushed further into record high territory Tuesday, with retail gas reaching a national average of $3.51 for the first time and crude nearing $120 as the dollar fell to a new low against the euro.

•Attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice have notified the U.S. Court of Federal Appeals they will appeal a Feb. 19 decision that awarded Sterling Financial Corp. barely $1 million of a claim for more than $58 million.

THURSDAY

Fruit growers are tallying losses from an unusually cold spring across Eastern Washington. Temperatures recently dropped into the upper 20s and 30s across most of the region.

• Dazzled by the bull market in gold, people are digging through drawers for old dental caps, fillings and bridgework and are turning them over to pawnbrokers, coin shops and specialized firms that buy “dental gold,” hoping to grab a bite of the metal’s historic run to $1,000 an ounce.

Friday

AmericanWest Bank on Thursday reported a $31.6 million first-quarter loss and suspended its dividend, triggering a 28 percent plunge in the price of its stock.

•Potlatch Corp. reported improved first quarter earnings of $10.3 million Thursday, despite a continued slump in the nation’s housing market that has depressed prices for 2-by-4s. Strong sales in the company’s real estate, pulp and paperboard divisions helped Potlatch buffer a $10 million loss in the wood products division.

•A Sunset Hill landowner is proposing a 400-unit, seven-building condominium complex near Interstate 90.