Here's an idea for a Christmas vacation you'll never forget. You can take the family to the Colville National Forest to find the perfect tree. We can't promise a Griswold moment, but you might find the tree of your dreams for just five dollars.

After prior attempts to secure union rights, employees at Usk-based Ponderay Newsprint have hit the picket lines again.

About 40 operations technicians walked out Thursday morning during scheduled equipment downtime to picket outside the company’s gates.

The newsprint mill’s general manager, Derrick Lindgren, called to confirmed the union walk out.

“Our union has decided to walk out for a 23 hour period. It coincides with a planned maintenance downtime of 16 hours. We expect to complete maintenance as planned,” Lindgren said.

Lindgren added that maintenance technicians did not participate in the walk out.

Whether it's saving the Spokane Symphony's Labor Day concert in Comstock Park, building houses for Habitat for Humanity, or donating thousands of coats and dollars to KXLY's Coats 4 Kids campaign, Sterling Savings Bank has an established tradition of generously giving back to its communities, and that commitment has earned the Spokane-based bank the state's most prestigious civics award.

Sterling Savings will receive the 2011 Corporations for Communities award, which honors exceptional Washington business that make community a priority. Sterling is the winner of the large-company category.