Arlington’s Oso Lumber Inc. has been purchased by ProBuild of Denver for an undisclosed amount. ProBuild said in a statement that the purchase of the building materials supplier’s assest was a strategic move to help it expand its market to the Puget Sound area. Oso has six locations in Western Washington that offer a variety of building materials.
Riots in Greece kill three in bank arson
Rioting over harsh austerity measures left three people dead in a torched Athens bank and clouds of tear gas drifting past parliament, in an outburst of anger that underlined the long and difficult struggle Greece faces to stick with painful cutbacks that come with an international bailout. The deaths were the first during a protest in Greece in nearly 20 years. Fear that the bailout won’t stop the debt crisis from spreading to other financially troubled EU countries such as Portugal and Spain intensified amid the violence Wednesday, as credit ratings agency Moody’s put Portugal on watch for a possible downgrade. The euro sank, dipping below $1.29 for the first time in over a year, on fears of crisis contagion and concerns that political upheaval might keep Greece from keeping its end of the bailout bargain. Greece faces a May 19 due date on debt it says it can’t repay without the help. The new government cutbacks, which slash salaries and pensions for civil servants and hike consumer taxes, are being imposed as condition of getting a euro110 billion package of rescue loans. With people beginning to feel the pain of austerity measures, anger boiled over.
Facebook opens Seattle office
Facebook plans to open an engineering office in Seattle. Facebook announced the plan Wednesday on its Facebook page and said it’s “looking for a handful of stellar engineers to form the initial team.” Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn says he’s excited about more software jobs. The city says Facebook is looking to lease an office in July to accommodate 30 employees.
Newsweek for sale by Washington Post
The Washington Post Co. is putting Newsweek up for sale in hopes that another owner can figure out how to stem losses at the 77-year-old weekly magazine. The publishing industry has been struggling as businesses cut back on ad budgets during the recession. But Newsweek, along with Time magazine and U.S. News &World Report, faces a particular challenge finding a relevant niche in the age of up-to-the-second online news. Once handy digests of the week’s events, they have been assailed by competitors on the Web that pump out a constant stream of news and commentary. Despite staff cuts, Newsweek has remained a drag on its parent company, which is also struggling with ad declines at its namesake newspaper. The Post Co., which owns The Herald, said Wednesday that it has retained the investment bank Allen &Co. to find a buyer.
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