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Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Posted by C.R. Roberts @ 07:23:05 am
We're drinking less than expected, buying fewer cigarettes and not replacing our tables and chairs. Maybe it's all the aspirin for all those headaches, but drugs stores are doing better. Not so with real estate. Not so at all. Without including special factors, state tax collections between April 11 and May 10 were down 3.7 percent – or $43.7 million – from predictions, and are down 0.5 percent – $13.6 million – for the three months since February. The state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council has released its latest figures, which show Revenue Act receipts down 0.7 percent over a year ago, This was the first year-over-year decline in receipts since March 2003. Preliminary data for the latest period show tax payments by firms in the retail trade sector were 4.5 percent below a year ago. Among the sector decliners: Two retailing sectors reported good gains: Among non-retailing sectors, construction reported a 2.3 percent increase. Payments from utilities declined 2.3 percent and businesses in the finance and insurance sector reported a 3.6 percent decline. Real estate excise tax payments were $7.6 million less than expected; property tax was $3.9 million less; cigarette tax was $346,000 less and liquor taxes were $683,000 below expectations, the department said. Without figuring for special circumstances, taxable real estate activity in April was 34.2 percent below the level a year ago, which represents a slight improvement from a 37.5 percent decline the month before. On a year-over-year basis, real estate activity has declined 16 of the last 18 months. In March, the number of real estate transactions was 27.4 percent below a year ago, while the average value per transaction declined 13.9 percent, the department said.
Categories: General
Monday, May 12th, 2008
Posted by Kelly Kearsley @ 03:52:48 pm
The cost of gas continued its upward march today as the Tacoma area set yet another record for the price of a gallon. A gallon of regular unleaded averaged $3.80 in Tacoma and some pumps even flirted with $4. Diesel averaged $4.54 per gallon, according to the AAA of Washington. Janet Ray, AAA's spokeswoman, said prices have been increasing since the beginning of March. "Pretty much every day is a new record," Ray said. In a typical year the spring price increases curtail in mid-May and often retreat by June and July, Ray said. Unfortunately, this isn't a typical year. "So much of the increase is due to stock market speculation ... it's difficult to project because it looks so different," Ray said. But when the world gives you lemons, The News Tribune gives you eight ways to turn the money you'd spend on a gallon of gas into something bigger, better or at least tastier. So what exactly can you get for $3.80 (or less)? - A pint of domestic beer from Terry's Office Tavern only sets you back $3. Shoot, upgrade to a microbrew for $3.75. - $2.99 will get a bike tire patch kit from Old Town Bicycle. Fix up that rusty Schwinn and stick it to Big Oil as you pedal to work. - For the same price, you can also get a gallon of milk at Safeway (Better for your bones than gasoline anyway). - 15 quarters ($3.75) will buy you 15 giant gum balls. Seriously, that's a lot of gum. - In the treat department, $2.99 will also buy 15.4 ounces of Almond Roca from the candy maker's Tacoma factory outlet store. - Drive as fast as you want (Fuel schmuel!) through 15 rounds of Cruisin' World - the car simulation video game at Chuck E. Cheese. - You may not be able to afford an Incredible Journey, but you can watch the movie on demand from Click! Cable for $2.99. - And you could, actually, make lemonade. Squeeze a whole pitcher with five lemons (two large lemons for $1.50 at Tacoma Boys).
Categories: General
Posted by C.R. Roberts @ 02:55:48 pm
 A penny saved is ... something you’ll probably be spending for postage. Starting today, the postal rate for a first-class letter has gone up to 42 cents. The only saving grace from the Postal Service are those “Forever” stamps, which, until today, cost 41 cents. Today, they cost 42 cents. A year ago, they cost 39 cents. And a year from now, they'll probably cost 43 cents, as the rate will likely increase in what is becoming a mid-May ritual. The cost of mailing a postcard also went up today – to 27 cents. Among other new rates in effect today, according to Associated Press: a large envelope is up 3 cents to $1; certified mail is up a nickel to $2.70; first-class mail to Canada and Mexico is up 3 cents to 72 cents, and first class to other countries up 4 cents to 94 cents; priority mail flat-rate envelope, up 20 cents to $4.80; and express mail flat-rate envelope, up a quarter to $16.50 But there’s good news also from the Post Office, especially for philatelists, or stamp collectors. This year’s selection of newly minted stamps will include several colorful new entries, including those commemorating the careers of Bette Davis and Frank Sinatra; Disney art; Alzheimer’s awareness; holiday Nutcrackers; tropical fruit; the Olympics; and a quintet of American journalists, including Martha Fellhorn, John Hersey, Ruben Salazar, George Polk and Eric Sevareid.
Categories: General
Posted by John Gillie @ 02:25:44 pm
Notices of the impending death of Boeing's California cargo plane assembly line could prove premature if two prospects for more orders pull through. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has told the Defense Department it may buy three C-17 cargo planes from Boeing. The planes list of a total of $700 million. In the meanwhile, Congress is considering a bill to authorize the purchase of 15 more of the cargo jets. The Bush administration has not included those jets in its defense procurement requests. Unless Boeing gets more orders for the four-engine cargo jet, it will shut down the production line, the last large fixed wing plane construction site in California.
Categories: Aerospace
Posted by John Gillie @ 02:14:18 pm
Just when you thought Boeing had cornered the market on untimely production delays, Airbus once again is raising the possibility of further delays with its super jumbo jet, the A380. The 550-passenger airline, already two years late in its first deliveries, has told airline customers it is restudying its projected production rates with the double-decked aircraft. Airbus has delivered four of the big jets to launch customer Singapore Airlines, but is four months behind in producing the second version of the jet that features a new wiring system. The original two-year delay came about largely because the old wiring scheme was riddled with problems caused by design incompatibilities between various Airbus plants producing the giant jet. The new wiring scheme was designed to do away with those differences. But now Airbus thinks it may not be able to produce the jets as quickly as it had hoped.
Categories: Aerospace
Posted by Marce Edwards @ 02:05:57 pm
There's a shortage of iPhones around the country. While that may seem like nothing new, some are saying that means a new version is coming out. Apple Inc. said Monday its online stores in the U.S. and U.K. are sold out of the iPhone, a sign supplies are being winnowed ahead of the launch of the device’s next generation featuring faster Internet surfing speeds, The Associated Press reports. The company confirmed that the iPhone is out of stock online, but added that brick-and-mortar stores run by Apple and iPhone carriers including AT&T Inc. might still have units available. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris declined to comment on reasons for the shortage and on Apple’s plans for an update to the device, which is widely expected to be unveiled in June at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The paucity of iPhones for sale in some markets comes as Apple is hustling to meet its goal of selling 10 million of the hybrid iPod-cell phone-Internet surfing gadgets by the end of 2008. So far, Apple has sold 5.4 million iPhones, according to the latest data as of the end of March. One way Apple’s expanding the iPhone’s reach is by inking deals with wireless carriers around the world, even breaking with its pattern of requiring exclusivity to sell in a certain country.
Categories: Technology
Posted by Marce Edwards @ 02:03:47 pm
In the category of what not to do on a plane: A Southwest Airlines passenger who refused to get off his cell phone during a flight found Dallas police waiting for him Monday, The Associated Press reports. Southwest officials had summoned police, who met the jet when it arrived at Love Field from Austin. Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King said flight attendants had repeatedly asked the man to get off the phone while airborne. Police said Joe David Jones, 50, of Austin, was cited for disorderly conduct. Jones did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press seeking comment. The Federal Aviation Administration bars use of mobile phones when planes are flying due to concerns about interference with navigation systems. King said airlines can be fined up to $25,000 for allowing cell phone use, and passengers also can be fined.
Categories: Aerospace
Friday, May 9th, 2008
Posted by John Gillie @ 04:31:54 pm
BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse will open a new location at Tacoma Mall in September, the mall's owner, Simon Property Group announced today. BJ's will occupy a building in the mall's new lifestyle section. The mall plans to announce yet another full-service restaurant later this year, said the mall's marketing director, Sarah Bonds. The lifestyle section being built on the mall's south side, will feature seven new retailers, the mall management said. The names of those retailers are set to be announced later this summer. BJ's originated in Santa Ana, Calif., in 1978 and then spread to several locations along the California coast. The chain now has multiple locations on the West Coast and in other states throughout the country. The restaurant is expanding to Washington with locations at the Tacoma Mall and in Southcenter in Tukwila.
Posted by C.R. Roberts @ 02:43:11 pm
This just in from Washington State University: John Rodenberg, certified business advisor for WSU’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Tacoma service center was awarded the Ron Battles Excellence Award at today’s meeting of the SBDC Statewide Advisory Board. The award, presented by SBDC State Director Brett Rogers, was given in recognition of Rodenberg's quality service to his clients in Tacoma and Pierce "John was selected for this award based on a number of glowing client nominations, his body of work demonstrating commitment to excellence, and his 'above and beyond' approach to clients," Rogers said. The Ron Battles Excellence Award was conceived as a means to honor the late Ron Battles legacy as a gifted business adviser and to recognize in others the same qualities Battles displayed in his nine-year career with the SBDC. Battles died in October 2005. Rodenberg provides no-fee, confidential advising to clients on loan application packages, forecasting, all aspects of debt and equity funding, written business plans, business turn-around, market positioning for small companies, developing new groups of customers, managing production costs, site selection for retailers, expansion from a single location to multiple units, planning for trade shows and other topics. Rodenberg operates his center on the campus of Bates Technical College in downtown Tacoma.
Categories: General
Posted by C.R. Roberts @ 01:18:48 pm
Organizers described it as a meet-and-greet, and that’s what people did late in the working day on Thursday in the Dome District. Or SoDo. Or DoDi. Call it what you will – it’s the area roughly surrounding the Tacoma Dome. The question on the table (along with a nicely catered spread of cheese, crackers, fruit. shrimp and sweets aplenty) was: “What happens next?” Representatives from the City of Tacoma, Cross District Council and University of Washington Tacoma were there, as were business owners and managers from retail, service, development and manufacturing firms. Tacoma architect Jim Merritt did much of the talking – to 50 or so folks who attended the gathering, held at the eclectic furnishing, jewelry and design shop Dragonfly. The tone of the meeting seemed more social than serious, which seems like a good way to get something started. What happens next – will be more gatherings, particularly under the aegis of the regularly assembled Dome District Council. What happens next – concerns development in the area, and planning with people in mind, and assisting the city and the LeMay Museum construct plans for retail and other forms of economic growth in the area. Among the quotes I heard (in no particular order):
Categories: Economic Development
• 1 comment
Posted by C.R. Roberts @ 12:40:27 pm
Not to sound like a broken record - but that’s just what it is. Again. With oil prices up to $126 a barrel today, and with a confrontation looming with OPEC-member Venezuela, the fallout fell in Tacoma bringing yet another all-time-high average price for a gallon of regular-grade gasoline. This morning, according to AAA, the price hit $3.758, up more than two cents from yesterday’s $3.737. Today’s price here in town is up from $3.50 a month ago and $3.441 a year ago. Folks in Bellingham are paying the state’s highest rate today, at $3.85, while Spokanites enjoy the lowest, at $3.632.
Categories: General
Posted by John Gillie @ 09:26:18 am
More than 80 percent of flights at Sea-Tac Airport arrived on time during April, new figures show. Statistic's from Portland's Flightstats.com show 80.62 percent of flights at Sea-Tac arrived within 15 minutes of their schedule, the definition the federal Department of Transportation uses for on-time arrivals. That figure placed Sea-Tac eleventh among 40 domestic airports Flightstats tracked. First on the list was Salt Lake City with an 86.58 on-time percentage. Second was Portland with 83.57 percent of flights arriving on schedule. At the bottom of the list were the New York area's three airports, La Guardia, JFK and Newark. Just 55.43 percent of La Guardia's flights were on time in April. JFK had a 67.1 percent on-time record, and Newark Liberty Airport posted a 68.03 percent on-time figure. One of the anamolies of the report is that Chicago's Midway Airport was seventh on the list with 81.51 percent on-time arrivals, while that same city's O'Hare Airport ranked 37th with just 69.37 percent on-time arrivals.
Categories: Aerospace
Posted by John Gillie @ 08:39:34 am
Reporters got an advance tour of Southcenter's new quarter billion dollar addition Thursday morning. The new structure is in many ways impressive with its dining terraces, expansive views of Mount Rainier and it upscale shops. But much still has to be done before the July 25 grand opening -- perhaps too much. Workers still were putting up wallboard, laying tile, erecting supporting structures in the common areas Thursday. That work's bound to take weeks more before its done. And then the 75 new merchants have to build out their spaces, which now are mere bare bones shells without ceilings, floor coverings, fixtures and so forth. Westfield says contractors are actually ahead of schedule. I suspect, however, that contractors will be putting in more than a few all-nighters to meet the opening day deadline. Here are more drawings of the completed project:  This view shows the south side of the center with the 90-foot glass wall of the atrium at the center. Flanking the main entrance are restaurants with outdoor seating during warm weather. On the second floor terrace above is outdoor dining for the food court. The third floor terrace is reserved for special events. The exterior is a mix of brick that almost but not quite matches the brick of the existing mall, stone facade accents and "wood" beams and supports. The main beams appear to be glue laminated wooden beams like those that support the Tacoma Dome, but the wood appears to be a veneer that sheaths steel beams. Escalators ascend through the sunlit lobby to the 16-screen AMC theater on the third level.  This shows the interior of the food court with the large atrium window beyond. By placing the food court on the second level and the cinema on the third, Westfield is attempting to draw customers upward to the second level shops. Two and three-level malls in the early days suffered from the failure of customers to venture to the higher levels to shop, relegating second and third-floor merchants to second class status. The new mall also attempts to deal with that issue by giving some larger merchants such as Borders, H&M and Forever XXI two-story stores with internal escalators which give those merchants twice the mall frontage and move customers of these popular spots to the higher floors.  This is shows the interior first floor space that parallels the long mall space in the existing shopping center. Note that the corridors are not as wide as in malls built in the '60s and '70s. Developers found that making the mall corridors too wide encouraged shoppers to browse only one side of the mall. Narrower corridors will encourage shoppers to cross and recross the mall to inspect something that catches their eye.
Posted by John Gillie @ 08:18:44 am
Northwest Airline this week announced it will begin flying between Sea-Tac Airport and Beijing beginning in March next year. Northwest will compete on that route with China's Hainan Airlines, which begins Beijing-Seattle flights this summer. With the addition of the Beijing flight, Northwest will have four international destinations from Sea-Tac: Amsterdam, London, Tokyo and Beijing. In a little more than a year, Sea-Tac has added more than a handful of international flights to its repertoire. Those include Air France to Paris, Lufthansa to Frankfurt, AeroMexico to Mexico City, Horizon to Prince George, B.C., Hainan to Beijing and Northwest to London and Beijing
Posted by John Gillie @ 08:12:28 am
Boeing added 32 airliners to its order book this week bringing its year-to-date total to 378. Those orders included two 777s from Asiana Airlines of Korea, four 777s from El Al Israel Airlines, six 737s from Oman Air and 20 737s from unidentified buyers. Boeing identified the Republic of Iraq as the buyer of 30 737s previously attributed to an unidentified buyer. The new orders bring 737 orders to 261; 747 orders to two; 777 orders to 36 and 787 orders to 79. The company has no orders for its 767 this year.
Categories: Aerospace
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
Posted by John Gillie @ 03:36:03 pm
Alaska Airlines has restored the mileage tracking function to its frequent flier site on alaskaair.com. The airline brought the system back up Wednesday afternoon after tweaking new software that was bogging down its system. Alaska last month took down its frequent flier mileage tracking Web site for a brief period to install a new system, but like many computer upgrades, not everything went as planned. The new system bogged down in letting Alaska frequent fliers know the recent history of miles added to their account. Now, the airline says, the system is back up and working as intended. Alaska's site always showed total miles earned and allowed frequent fliers to book tickets, but didn't show whether recent flights had yet been credited.
Posted by John Gillie @ 03:21:26 pm
SeaTac's Alaska Airlines and its regional sister airline, Horizon Air improved their on-time performance significantly last month according to new figures from Portland's Flightstats.com The two airlines, whose on-time record had lagged last year, were ranked second (Horizon) and ninth (Alaska) among the 41 domestic airlines Flightstats tracks. Among the eight so-called legacy major carriers, Alaska ranked second only to Southwest Airlines. Horizon flights were on time 89.43 percent in April. Alaska's were on-time arriving 81.03 percent last month.
Categories: Aerospace
Posted by C.R. Roberts @ 03:07:46 pm
Military veterans, transitioning military personnel and family members of either can visit the current landscape of civilian jobs and careers next Thursday, May 15, at the Greater Seattle Area Career Fair being held – not in Greater Seattle – but at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center in downtown Tacoma. The event runs from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. and will feature national, regional and local recruiters and employers from such areas as sales, customer service, management, manufacturing, law enforcement, security, operations, logistics, transportation, engineering, project management, marketing, food service and maintenance. Those attending are urged to bring a few dozen resumes. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.recruitmilitary.com.
Categories: Employment/Workplace
Posted by John Gillie @ 02:51:02 pm
Majestic America Line, a coastal and river cruising company based in Seattle, has been put on the sale block by its parent company, Ambassadors INternational. Majestic America operates paddle-wheel-style boats on the Mississippi, Columbia and Snake rivers and in coastal Alaska waters. Majestic America has been hit by a series of setbacks in the last year including low water on the Mississippi which disrupted cruises, an engine fire on the Queen of the West and a political reversal in Congress that will keep the company from continuing to operate the historic Delta Queen of modern safety equipment.
Categories: Port and trade, Tourism
Posted by John Gillie @ 02:41:48 pm
A massive Cascade mudslide that blocked the major rail route between the Pacific Northwest and California has finally been cleared. The Union Pacific route through the Cascades shut down Jan. 19 after a huge slide wiped out tracks and carried some 400,000 cubic feet of trees, rocks and earth down a mountainside. Amtrak discontinued its premiere West Coast train, the Coast Starlight, after the slide. It now has resumed service. About 15 freight trains a day also used the route. They were rerouted on UP rails east from Portland along the Columbia and then southward toward Klamath Falls where they hooked up with the line north from California until the cross-mountain route was restored.
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