SEATTLE - August 19, 1997 - In an agreement with the State Attorney General’s Office, Leonard E. Vainio, owner of American Eyecare of Bellevue, has been barred from owning and operating any type of optical business in Washington for at least 10 years. The agreement is part of a settlement in an AG consumer protection lawsuit against Vainio.

Seattle - September 18, 1997 - The Office of the Insurance Commissioner and the Office of the Attorney General today announced major action has been taken to improve the way auto-related products including credit insurance and service contracts are sold to consumers.

Seattle - July 1, 1999- Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire today announced that Sleep Country USA has agreed to stop using deceptive advertising, including a false claim that its prices are "the lowest ever in Sleep Country’s history."

"Without accurate information, consumers can’t make informed choices," said Gregoire. "Our investigation found Sleep Country ads were misleading and deceptive."

Seattle - May 31, 2002 - Avista Utilities will not increase its rates further and will have to absorb a greater share of its expensive power purchasing agreements, according to a settlement reached today between the utility, state regulators and the Washington State Attorney General.

If approved by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC), the settlement would essentially freeze Avista’s rates at current levels.

Olympia – August 3, 2001 - Attorney General Christine Gregoire has sued tobacco companies in Arizona and the Philippines for failing to make state-mandated payments that are set aside to cover possible judgments against them in future state lawsuits.

The lawsuits, filed Friday in Thurston County Superior Court, were brought against Earth Tobacco and Single Stick, Inc.

December 23, 1998 - The Attorney General's Office has filed a petition with the U. S. Supreme Court appealing a Ninth Circuit ruling that awarded shellfish harvesting rights to Washington Indian Tribes.

The state petition questions whether the tribes have rights to an allocation of 50 percent of deepwater shellfish, such as crabs, sea urchins, and geoducks, since those shellfish were rarely used by Indians at treaty time. The state's petition also focuses on the issue of whether tribes can harvest shellfish from staked and cultivated beds as the treaty language says they cannot.

SEATTLE - May 5, 2000 - The state Attorney General's office today filed papers formally opposing a rate increase for Avista Corp. and recommending instead that the utility's rates be decreased.

In papers filed with the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission, the Attorney General's office contends that the requested increase would produce an excessive profit margin and would force Washington state consumers to pay for company restructuring, a name change and expansion.

OLYMPIA -April 5, 1999 - State Attorney General Christine Gregoire said she is disappointed with today’s refusal by the U. S. Supreme Court to hear arguments in a case that awarded shellfish harvesting rights to Washington Indian Tribes.

"State agencies, private landowners and shellfish growers were looking to the Court to clarify lower court rulings on treaty rights," Gregoire said. "There are several questions unanswered and we are disappointed the Court declined to review these issues."

Olympia - February 20, 2002 - In a settlement with the state filed today, Avista Utilities has agreed to cut in half its proposed interim rate increase and contribute $50,000 to a fund providing emergency energy assistance to consumers, Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced.

“While no one likes to see rate increases, this agreement protects customers from a far more drastic hike,” the Attorney General said. “At the same time, it provides much-needed assistance for those consumers least able to absorb these higher costs into the family budget.”

Washington, D.C. - April 30, 2003 - Attorney General Christine Gregoire and Federal Trade Commission consumer protection chief Howard Beales today announced a nationwide enforcement sweep targeting fraudulent online auction sellers.

In the sweep, 27 states announced the filing or settling of about 65 cases, and the FTC announced the filing of four cases of its own.

In most cases, Beales and Gregoire said, victims complained they received merchandise that wasn't of advertised quality or they never received the merchandise they paid for.