Inflation running below Fed's target

U.S. producer prices up just 0.2 percent in July

Home prices increase in 17 cities in June

Prices expected to fall through rest of the year

COEUR d'ALENE - Home prices rose in June for a third straight month as now-expired tax credits inspired a burst of home-buying. But prices are expected to fall through the rest of the year now that demand has faded.

Stores focus on the hunt

Trader Joe's, the specialty grocery chain, might not have the cheapest toilet paper or the most varieties of ketchup, but it hooks customers with mango butter, chocolate-covered pomegranate seeds and cilantro-and-jalapeno hummus.

Random acts of green

Remember the joy of finding a penny on the sidewalk when you were a kid? Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you'll have good luck! Such a simple find, free for the taking. I had the good fortune to feel that girlish glee again recently. On a hectic business trip to the big city, I stopped by a cafe for lunch, and as I was leaving, I noticed a book lying on top of a trash bin just outside the door. Hardbound, clean dust jacket, popular fiction. Was it lost? I picked it up with the notion that I'd take it inside to the cashier. But a small yellow sticker on the spine of the book caught my eye. The sticker read, "Traveling Book! Look inside..."

The cart before the horse?

Movie studios' view-everywhere system has soft launch

A permanent nest

Olympia owner hopes to buy heron art that was stolen, returned

COEUR d'ALENE - To (mostly) ensure the blue heron statue never leaves again, Eva Itskos, co-owner of the Olympia restaurant, wants to buy it.

Local jobless rate drops

Kootenai County's unemployment rate dropped from 11.8 percent in July to 11.6 percent in August, according to a report released this morning by the Idaho Department of Labor.

Feel fine dating online

By DEVIN HEILMAN

Osgood-Schlatter possible cause of 'growing pains'

DEAR DR. GOTT: I wonder why you didn't mention Osgood-Schlatter disease in your column about growing pains. Our son, who is now 38, had this condition when he was 12 and had to have both legs (one at a time) put into a cast for two months.

U.S. construction down 0.6 percent in March

Home building, government projects both decline

Stocks edge lower after weeks of gains

NEW YORK — Stocks took a pause Monday from their big September rally as worries about the financial sector offset excitement over a fresh round of corporate dealmaking.

Stocks rise as Greece nears debt solution

NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks closed higher for the third day in a row Wednesday after Greece cleared a hurdle toward getting more emergency loans. Financial stocks rose after Bank of America reached a settlement with investors over failed mortgage securities.

OPINION: Idaho must once again send the hate mongers packing

Hate and bigotry often lurk just beneath the surface of civil societies. So long as a society is united in disapproving of hateful words and actions, those evil twins remain suppressed. When they receive official approval, they rise to the surface and infect society like a virus. A society must maintain continued vigilance to keep them in check.

No over-the-counter for Plan B pill

Election-year politics seen in move by Obama administration

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a surprise move with election-year implications, the Obama administration's top health official overruled her own drug regulators and stopped the Plan B morning-after pill from moving onto drugstore shelves next to the condoms.

Shopping early - extreme version

Sales prices entice people to leave home on Thanksgiving

COEUR d'ALENE — Tammi Garrett and Don Downey of Post Falls left their dirty Thanksgiving dishes on the counter, grabbed a bottle of apple cider and rushed over to Target in Coeur d'Alene Thursday evening.

Planting a position: The business of political yard signs

The ubiquitous reminders of the upcoming election continue to thrive.

At what cost?

Constantly changing online prices stump shoppers

NEW YORK - Online shopping has become as volatile as stock market trading. Wild, minute-by-minute price swings on everything from clothes to TVs have made it difficult for holiday shoppers to "buy low."

U.S. consumers slow down in March

WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans increased their spending more slowly in March, a sign that scant pay increases may be causing consumers to become more cautious.

The time is right to buy or sell

This week's news of rising interest rates should get the attention of those contemplating a change in their housing status. These last three weeks we have seen a modest rise in interest rates among the nation's lenders. Fannie Mae reports that last week's typical 30-year loan rate was 4.46 percent, up from 4.17 percent last month. Although this rate increase is modest, less than half a percent, the cost of housing has risen accordingly.

Marty and Max: Real Estate Recipes

Today we will discuss two ways to buy an actively marketed home at a bargain, where you actually want to live.