There's not much room at the inns in Spokane. Hotel occupancy rates last year grew by 14 percent - the fastest rate in 16 years, the Spokane Journal of Business reports. That's more than four times the growth rate in Seattle.

What's causing the growth? Big events, like the recently concluded NCAA Division I regional basketball tournament, and a major motorcycle rally set for this summer. Expansion at the Spokane Convention Center, completed in 2006, is starting to bring more business groups to town. But mostly, insiders say, it's Canadians, coming south to spend their loonies in Spokane's stores and restaurants.

One of the beneficiaries of this would be Magnuson Hotels, a five-year-old company that offers reservation management services to independent hotels nationwide. The company now has 600 clients, 100 of whom are using the Magnuson brand.

Among the Canadians who've been visiting a lot lately are the owners of Smokin' Grill Products, who are considering moving their business from Cranbrook, B.C., to Spokane. The company sells a line of fat-free barbecue seasoning sprays, which are big sellers in the Southeast United States. "We think the community is ideal for what we want to do,? says founder Tom Piros.

Meanwhile, Spokane County commissioners are considering whether to bid on Spokane Raceway Park. It's to be sold at auction next week, the result of a lawsuit. Some commissioners want to keep the raceway open, while considering other public uses for the rest of the 200-acre site, such a softball fields or a law enforcement training center. Others say it's silly to spend the money on a racetrack, given the county's need for a new sewer plant and jail cells.

In Yakima, Delta Air Lines is cutting back on its daily flights to Salt Lake City. Rising fuel costs are making it too expensive for Delta to run regional jets on many of its secondary routes ? including Bellingham, where it is pulling out completely. Delta will keep one round-trip a day to Yakima.

On the other hand, Montana-based Pacific Steel & Recycling is expanding its Yakima operation, a move that pleases local development officials. "It's great to hit the home runs and get big companies in the region, but sometimes it's the small companies, even the branch offices (of larger companies) that are the engines of economic development," Dave McFadden at New Vision, the county's development agency, told the Yakima Herald-Republic.

And the redevelopment of downtown Yakima continues, with two new restaurants set to open this summer.

The Tri-Cities continues to buck national employment trends. While the number of people filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits shot up nationally in March, in Benton and Franklin counties, the number fell sharply, local economists report.

Even if there's a national recession, the Tri-Cities won't be affected too much, ever-quotable labor economist Dean Schau told the Tri-City Herald. With agriculture booming, the local food processing sector will do well, he said, and work on Hanford's vitrification plant can be expected to generate more construction jobs ? at least as long as Congress cooperates.

And as in Spokane, Tri-Cities businesspeople are looking to lure more Canadian visitors, perhaps through a new state tourism campaign targeted at "urban naturalists" - someone who enjoys outdoor activities like hiking and biking as well as wine, fine dining and other urban offerings. The Tri-Cities should capture more of these kinds of visitors, says Kris Watkins, the head of the Visitor and Conventions Bureau. "Wine and culinary tourism is right up there in terms of interest to visitors and we are in the heart of Washington wine country."

High prices for aviation fuel are also a topic for conversation in Walla Walla, where in 2007 Horizon Airlines recorded its highest passenger totals since before September 11^th. That's got local officials pushing the airline to add a fourth daily flight from Seattle, but it ain't happening, Horizon spokesman Dan Russo tells my friends at the Union-Bulletin. "At $100 a barrel for oil, that is making air service difficult for airlines in general."

However, Horizon is looking at adding more seats on its Wally World routes, by replacing the 37-seat Bombardier Q200s with 70-seat Q400s, Russo says.

Meanwhile, down on the ground, Walla Walla residents are trying to decide what to make of a proposed new subdivision on the city's eastern edge. The first three phases would be a large-lot development of some 50 houses, but the fourth phase envisions about 50 cottages of between 500 and 1,000 square feet, which developer Michael Corliss (no relation) foresees being second homes for wine lovers.

Some neighbors are concerned that the cottages will become low-income rentals, which would push down the value of their homes (which in that part of Walla Walla would tend to be rather gracious). Developer Corliss vowed to work with the neighborhood to come up with an acceptable plan.