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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Briefcase

Providence holds most INHS board seats

The Inland Northwest Health Services board of directors has changed in the wake of a settlement this year that ended the nonprofit’s partnership with Deaconess Medical Center.

Providence Health Care, which operates Sacred Heart Medical Center and Holy Family Hospital, will now appoint five of the eight seats.

INHS operates Northwest MedStar air ambulance, St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute, and an electronic medical records division that links many providers and hospitals across the region.

The new board includes Providence appointee Ron Wells, a Spokane developer who will serve as board chairman and president. Other Providence appointees are Terry Smith, John Fletcher, Mike Reilly and Gary Livingston.

Dr. Brian Seppi will act as the board’s vice chairman and was appointed by the Spokane County Medical Society.

Michael Senske and Antony Chiang of the Empire Health Foundation also are on the board.

Staff reports

Rise in oil prices linked to hurricane

NEW YORK – Oil rose to near $89 per barrel Tuesday on expectations that supplies will be tighter in the wake of Hurricane Irene.

The storm forced several refineries and petroleum terminals to reduce production or shut down altogether. The East Coast may deal with lower fuel supplies in coming weeks, and traders are betting oil and gasoline prices will rise.

Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.63 to finish at $88.90 per barrel in New York. Brent crude jumped $2.14 to end at $114.02 per barrel in London.

“There is clearly a worry about the contribution of some key northeastern refineries,” said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.

Analysts note that U.S. energy demand likely will decline after Hurricane Irene as massive flooding keeps many people off roads along the East Coast and in the Northeast, and millions of others remain without power.

Gasoline pump prices appeared to hold steady in states hit by Irene, including North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont. The national average was unchanged Tuesday at $3.612 per gallon. A gallon of regular has come down 37 cents from its 2011 peak near $4 per gallon in May, but it’s still 93 cents higher than at the same time last year.

Associated Press

CNN purchases iPad service Zite

SAN FRANCISCO – CNN has acquired Zite, an iPad service that learns about readers’ tastes and customizes a digital magazine with stories from hundreds of different websites.

CNN, a cable news channel owned by Time Warner Inc., has no plans to change Zite’s format, said K.C. Estenson, general manager of CNN’s digital division.

“This is a product that people love,” Estenson said. “It just needs to be in the hands of more people.”

Zite delivers different editions to different readers based on their individual interests. After downloading Zite’s free iPad application, readers can specify certain topics they want to read about, such as stories about the Pittsburgh Steelers or Lady Gaga. The magazine is programmed to learn more about readers over time, based on the kinds of stories that they tend to click on.

The same technology may be used to help CNN customize its news on the iPad and other mobile devices, Estenson said.

Zite unveiled its magazine for the iPad in March. It had 125,000 downloads in the first week; the company would not provide a more recent number.

Associated Press