In brief: Call center to lay off 167 workers in March

A Spokane Valley call center intends to lay off 167 employees.

Sykes Enterprises notified state regulators of the action. The layoff date is effective March 12, according to records released Friday afternoon.

Sykes has 43,000 employees, with offices in 24 countries.

In 2010 the company purchased ICT Group Inc., which first set up the call center in Spokane Valley a decade ago inside the former U-City Mall.

Representatives of Sykes could not be reached Friday afternoon. The layoff announcement was made by the Washington State Employment Security Department.

John Stucke

Bail set for man accused of homicide

MISSOULA – Bail has been set at $250,000 for a Washington man accused of beating another man to death in Missoula.

David Sekou Hylton, of Tacoma, appeared on a deliberate homicide charge in Justice Court on Friday. A warrant for his arrest was issued in December, nearly six months after 41-year-old Angelo Fuentes, of Spokane, was found unconscious and bleeding from the head outside a concert at the Elks Lodge.

Hylton, who is accused of punching Fuentes, causing him to fall and hit his head, turned himself in to Tacoma authorities last month.

Prosecutors requested the bail amount based on the 39-year-old’s lack of ties to Missoula and extensive criminal history, including unlawful possession of a firearm, bail jumping, drug charges, domestic violence and failure to appear.

Associated Press

Flaherty named to lead Revenue

OLYMPIA – Brad Flaherty has been appointed to head the Washington state Revenue Department, replacing Suzan DelBene, who resigned to run for Congress.

Gov. Chris Gregoire announced Flaherty’s appointment Friday, praising his knowledge of the agency and his more than 30 years of experience at the Revenue Department.

Flaherty started in 1979 as a revenue auditor.

In 2006, he was named assistant director of the agency’s property tax division. Last August, he was named agency deputy director.

Democrat DelBene is a former Microsoft executive who was defeated in 2010 by Republican Dave Reichert for the 8th Congressional District seat. She said this week she’ll join the crowded field running for the 1st District seat.

Associated Press