Republicans in the state Senate announced more than 60 ideas Thursday for bolstering Washington’s sagging business climate, but said most can be summed up in one thought: Bureaucrats should sweeten their attitudes and stop making life tough for business. “It’s a culture change state government has to have,” Senate Minority Leader James West said in describing the demands of frustrated businesses.
HomeStreet Bank’s chief executive, Richard S. Swanson, will step down and be replaced by his brother-in-law Bruce W. Williams, currently the company’s president and chief operating officer, the company said Thursday. Swanson, who has served as chief executive since 1990, will continue his role as chairman of the board. HomeStreet Bank, formerly Continental Savings Bank, is one of the largest privately owned banks in the Pacific Northwest.
Federal Way-based Weyerhaeuser Co., which launched a hostile bid for Portland’s Willamette Industries Inc. a year ago, extended its $5.5 billion tender offer for the rival forest products company until Jan. 9. Weyerhaeuser said about 47.7 percent of Willamette’s 110 million shares were tendered under the $50-a-share offer, Dow Jones News Service reported.
When Microsoft Corp. announced a proposal last month to settle most of its private antitrust suits by donating computers, software and resources to the nation’s poorest schools, company officials confidently asked how anyone could dislike a plan that gave kids more access to computers. It turns out plenty of people – including many of the cash-strapped educators who would benefit most. More than 200 educators, parents, technology experts and private citizens have written to the U.S. District judge in Baltimore who is reviewing the proposal. The vast majority oppose the settlement terms. U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz will hear arguments Monday, and a decision is expected before the end of the year.
With the accounting industry in the hot seat over Enron Corp.’s collapse, the chief accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission warned Thursday that a recent spate of reporting irregularities at big companies could undermine investor confidence. Enron’s swift and stunning demise “gives pause to all of us who care about financial reporting and about its customers – the investors,” Robert Herdman said in a speech to accountants.
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