Flathead Valley Business: Kalispell, Montana News

Your SD5 education tax dollars were well spent last week.

Remember the Beacon story that talked about Kalispell School District 5's failed levy?

Just in case you missed it, here's the reason why your tax dollars were well invested...

Heading into the frantic Christmas shopping season, national headlines are proclaiming a resurgence of layaway payment programs as businesses respond to cash-strapped customers who have grown weary of credit cards. Large chains that previously regarded layaway as archaic are now viewing it as a viable alternative. For customers, wobbly from the recession, it’s a safer way to budget and avoid rising credit card interest rates.

Layaway’s return to prominence is significant, as it represents a shift away from the credit-driven consumer philosophy that has taken part of the blame for the nation’s economic woes. Instead of shoppers getting what they want now and dealing with payments later, more are buying what their current budget allows and exhibiting patience. Credit cards, of course, will still be popular during the holiday season.

HELENA – Montana businesses will be paying higher unemployment insurance premiums next year because of the increased amounts of benefits paid out due to the economic recession.

Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly says the contribution rates in 2010 will average 1.92 percent of wages paid, up from 1.12 percent in 2009. Employers will receive notice of their 2010 rates in mid-December.

CHICAGO – As it maneuvers to close the Guantánamo Bay terrorism camp and move detainees to the US, the Obama administration is eyeing an underused state prison in tiny Thomson, Ill., a town of about 600 people on the Mississippi River in the northwest part of the state. On Monday, a delegation from the US Bureau of Prisons toured the Thomson Correctional Center.

To overcome a congressional ban on detaining the suspects on US soil, local support for the move would likely be key – a hurdle helped over the weekend by strong backing from Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) and Sen. Richard Durbin (D). Both touted the idea as a rare opportunity to bring some 3,000 jobs and up to $1 billion over four years to a part of the state in desperate need of an economic jolt.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Applied Materials Inc. said Tuesday it offered to buy Semitool Inc. for $364 million in cash, a move the company says will broaden its portfolio of chip manufacturing equipment.

Applied Materials CEO Mike Splinter said the acquisition will help the company tap the growing market for semiconductors that go into mobile gadgets including "smart" phones and notebook computers.

WASHINGTON – When it comes to paying for a health care overhaul, Americans see just one way to go: Tax the rich.

That finding from a new Associated Press poll will be welcome news for House Democrats, who proposed doing just that in their sweeping remake of the U.S. medical system, which passed earlier this month and would extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans.

MISSOULA – A former administrative assistant and bookkeeper for CTA Architects in Missoula has been charged with felony theft by embezzlement.

Fifty-year-old Linda Faye Harris appeared in Missoula County Justice Court on Monday with her attorney, Phillip O'Connell. She's accused of embezzling nearly $240,000 from the firm between 2001 and 2009.

BILLINGS – Attorneys for Montana have filed a lawsuit against BNSF Railway Company for failing to live up to a 1984 agreement that the state says requires the company to pay some grain shipping costs in central Montana.

BNSF had agreed to pay a state-designated rail operator for each carload of grain shipped between Geraldine and Lewistown.