Four years after pushing to demolish a century-old warehouse on its growing Spokane campus, Washington State University has decided the historic structure should be preserved as a centerpiece. The university now envisions the six-story Jensen-Byrd building as the focal point of a new plaza and gathering place that also will serve as a downtown gateway to the Spokane campus. No budget or specific timeframe has been established, but the decision is part of WSU’s new master plan, which the university’s regents approved last month.

The battle over medical education in Spokane took an expected twist Friday. A new study commissioned by the University of Washington concludes that doubling the size of its physician training program in Spokane represents the most efficient option for boosting the number of doctors and warns that Eastern Washington’s health care system would be unable to support two medical schools.

Spokane County’s jobless rate in March dropped to 7.9 percent from February’s revised rate of 8.6 percent. State labor economists say Spokane County employers gained about 1,600 jobs in March. Washington’s overall March jobless rate is 6.9 percent, down from 7.3 percent in February.

A federal grant announced Friday will expand the number of medical residents in Spokane and help create a medical-training clinic in Spokane’s University District, where students and educators will work in teams to find better ways to deliver health care to area residents. The $900,000 grant from the Department of Health and Human Services will cover the cost of adding six more medical residents in Spokane. Some of the money will also cover the cost of adding faculty and outfitting the new clinic, said Mike Wilson, senior adviser for Providence Health Care’s Spokane operations.

Spokane’s Riverpoint campus on the eastern edge of downtown is generating $350 million in annual economic impact, the head of a national consulting company told a group of Spokane officials Thursday. Paul Umbach, president and CEO of Tripp Umbach, a health care and higher-education consulting firm, detailed how Riverpoint has grown faster than he predicted four years ago.

Spokane County’s jobless rate rose to 8.8 percent in July as the region’s overall economy remains stagnant. July’s unemployment numbers are usually higher than in June’s – which this year was 8.6 percent – as many school workers slip into job limbo until the fall.

A Texas company cannot move forward with plans to demolish the 103-year-old Jensen-Byrd building in downtown Spokane until after a public hearing next month. Austin-based Campus Advantage Inc. is buying the six-floor former warehouse from Washington State University and plans to tear it down. The company plans to build student housing on the spot.

Spokane will be offering a new program for second-year med students under a pilot effort that will start in 2013 and run through 2014. The pilot program will start with 20 students in 2013 and a second group of 20 in 2014, according to an announcement Friday by two directors of the program managed by the University of Washington.

OLYMPIA – Despite the snow and sleet covering Washington’s capital, a Spokane delegation lobbied legislators Thursday for key projects and issues, including the completion of the medical school on the Riverpoint Campus. A group of about 60 Spokane-area business and government leaders has been making the rounds for the last two days, getting briefings on general budget conditions as well as the capital and transportation budgets, and an overview from the leaders of both parties in both chambers.

A Texas company has bought the Jensen-Byrd building and plans to transform it to student housing for Spokane’s Riverpoint Campus. Austin-based Campus Advantage paid $2.85 million to Washington State University, which bought the six-story, 1.5 acre property several years ago. The university tried for a number of years to find a developer for the project, but without success.