OLYMPIA, Wash., June 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Heritage Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: HFWA), the bank holding company for Heritage Bank and Central Valley Bank, today announced that it was recently honored and recognized by The Seattle Times as one of the Best of the Northwest for 2009.

A golf dispute in King County, Wash., led to one man receiving a debilitating head injury and another receiving a jail sentence, authorities say. Prosecutors said the conflict between two golf foursomes at the Auburn Golf Course last July was based on the lead foursome playing too slowly for the foursome trailing behind them, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Thursday. Nicholas Shampine, a member of the lead foursome, said he felt compelled to strike James Compton, a member of the trailing foursome, after the conflict turned physical. I though that my brother was in trouble and, you know, I just, I snapped, prosecutors quoted Shampine as saying about the wrestling match that occurred between Compton and Shampine's brother, Greg.

Seattle joins most other U.S.

A television report in Seattle surprised two daily newspaper newsrooms when it said the Seattle Post-Intelligencer may be on its last legs. A KING/5 news report said the newspaper would be put up for sale by Hearst Corp.

By Natalie Singer, The Seattle Times Jul.