There's a blip in Spokane's housing market: Foreclosures jumped up 12 percent last year.

Still, it was the second-lowest foreclosure total in a decade, roughly 75 percent below the peak of 1,152 set back in 2002. As the Spokane Journal of Business notes, "the higher foreclosure numbers here still would be the envy of much of the country."

Mortgage lenders suggest that one reason for that is that Spokane bankers shied away from some of the riskier subprime products, back during the boom.  

"We have not seen a decline in our business at all due to market conditions," Lauri Mathews, a residential sales and marketing manager for Sterling subsidiary Action Mortgage, told the JoB. "We don?t do any subprime - that?s just not on our product list."

And a little good news: Statewide, new mortgage lending may be back on the rise after hitting bottom in November, said Dave Erickson, the president of the Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers. December's numbers were up, he told the paper. "My gut feeling is we?ve turned the corner."

Another Spokane-area company with good news: Acme Machine Works, which is doubling the size of its production plant. Acme makes casting equipment for aluminum mills, and sells a lot of it overseas. Sohar Alu­minum, a smelting company based in Oman, is the top customer currently.

In Yakima, a Denver-based furniture retailer has filed for a zoning change that would allow it to open a store and warehouse complex along Interstate 82. The company, Furniture Row, wants to build 125,000 square feet of new space on 8.5 acres that used to be home to a Jeld-Wen window and door plant.

But in Ellensburg, redevelopment plans are more contentious. The owner of a building that covers a block in downtown Ellensburg won't be allowed to tear it down, after the city denied his request for a demolition permit. Owner Larry Nickel says he might want to raze the old Geddis/Hubbel building on Pearl Street. It's old and dangerous enough that local firefighters have put it on a list of buildings they won't enter in a fire, he says.

But during what the Ellensburg Daily Record called a heated debate, opponents said that tearing down the historic building would have a significant impact on neighbors. City officials agreed.

Meanwhile, the in-fighting also continues over a proposed wind farm in Kittitas County. Gov. Chris Gregoire has approved a plan to build 65 turbines at a site 12 miles northwest of Ellensburg, over local objections. Now, Kittitas County is appealing, and suggesting that there may have been improper contacts between supporters of the project and the chairman of the state body that recommended approval of the plan.

The state Attorney General's office denied any impropriety. "The county is releasing only that part of the record that supports their contentions," assistant AG Kyle Krews told the Record.

From the Tri Cities comes more good news for farmers: Asparagus growers are looking at record prices for the coming year. However, if they can't get enough labor - and labor at reasonable cost - they might not be able to capitalize on it.

Eastern Washington growers complain that cheap asparagus from Peru is flooding the U.S. market and forcing them out of business. Even with the higher prices, Washington farmers plan to cut their asparagus acreage by 10 percent this spring, to 8,200 acres, the head of the state asparagus commission told the Tri-City Herald. 

Wheat, hay and corn also are at record prices these days, and those are easier crops to grow, requiring far less labor. Asparagus chief Alan Schreiber said prices may hit 65 cents a pound this year, but even 70 cents might not be enough to make it worthwhile to grow. 

In Tri-Cities tech news, Iso-Ray, the Hanford spin-off that develops medical isotopes, has bought a stake in a Russian competitor. And CH2M Hill, one of the prime contractors at Hanford, has been named one of Forbes' 100 best places to work for 2008.

(And a reminder, you've got about three weeks to nominate your company or non-profit for Washington CEO's annual rankings of the best places to work in Washington. Here's the form.) 

Finally, from Walla Walla comes this tidbit: A Harley-Davidson dealership is moving into the city's downtown - into a location formerly occupied by an interior design gallery. Talk about mixed use.