An Amtrak train with an on-time performance record so miserable that it earned the nickname "Coast Starlate" may finally get a boost.

Amtrak and the Union Pacific Railroad, on whose tracks the Amtrak's Coast Starlight runs for most of the distance between Los Angeles and Seattle, have reached a new on-time agreement.

That agreement calls for Union Pacific to limit what the railroad industry calls "slow orders" that cut train speeds for track maintenance.

The Coast Starlight, once a premier long-distance train, in recent years has become a chronic non-performer because of those slow orders. In some years, its on-time performance was measured in single-digit percentages.

The train's problems mostly occurred between Portland and Sacramento because of seemingly endless maintenance work on Union Pacific's line. The train sometimes was delayed so long that its crew "timed out," reached its maximum allowable duty day, before it reached a crew change terminal forcing Amtrak to bus a new crew to the location where the train stopped.

The Starlight's poor performance is in contrast to that of Amtrak trains on the Cascade Corridor between Vancouver and Portland. Those trains typically operate punctually.

Don't count on immediate punctuality. Union Pacific and Amtrak signed the deal last week. Tonight the Starlate was running nearly 3.5 hours late into Tacoma.

Our East Pierce reporter Eijiro Kawada sent this in today:

Washington officially has joined a multi-state effort to encourage merchants to begin collecting sales tax over Internet and mail-order purchases.

At a meeting Saturday, Washington joined 21 other states that have signed an agreement to radically simplify the collection of sales tax, according to a press release from the state Department of Revenue released today.

While these out-of-state sellers cannot be compelled to collect sales tax, more than 1,000 of them have agreed to do so in the 22 states, the press release said.

After several years of debate, Washington’s Legislature passed a law this year and paved the way for the state to join the group. Local brick-and-mortar retailers supported the bill, while some cities that feared losing tax revenues from the change opposed it.

Washington’s full membership in the multi-state group will be effective July 1, 2008. The out-of-state retailers who are part of the agreement can start collecting sales tax from Washington customers starting next month, but aren’t expected to do so until July 1 next year.

If you're flying on Alaska Airlines this week, don't be startled if you're flight attendant is wearing a uniform that looks like it just emerged from a time capsule.

The airline, which is celebrating its 75th year in 2007, will equip some of its flight attendants this week with vintage uniforms that recall a more free-wheeling time in the airline's history.

Then, flight attendants jobs didn't include such serious tasks as dealing with potential terrorists and making quick turnarounds at their destinations.

They served substantial meals and were responsible for carrying out the airline's current marketing schemes.

Thus such emerged uniforms such as the Russian cossack outfit when the airline began flying to the Russian Far East, the Miss Kitty saloon hostess look that enhanced the airline's Gay Nineties promotion.

If you're memory's foggy about such eccentric outfits or if you're too young to have seen them, here's a taste:

Airbus today signed two more commercial aircraft orders as its momentum from the Paris Air Show continued unabated.

European low-cost carrier easyJet signed a contract for a new order for 35 additional Airbus A319 narrow-body jets.

EasyJet operates the world's largest fleet of A319s in it's intra-European network.

Meanwhile, Saudia Arabia's National Air Service said it has signed orders with Airbus for 38 A320 aircraft worth $2.4 billion.

The aircraft will be used to operate new domestic and international routes.

If you're one of the holdouts on Comcast's analog cable system, you've no doubt recently received a bunch of offers from the cable provider to convert your service to digital.

The pitch say the deal is so good that its' "an offer you can't refuse."

Is Comcast just joshing, or does that statement mean what it hints: If you don't accept our deal, we'll shut down your analog signal and convert you to digital and charge you big time for the privilege?

Comcast spokesman Walt Neary says no need to worry. The cable provider has no plans to cut off its analog customers.

But at $1 month the digital is a good deal with more features and the ability to access hundreds more movies, some of them free and others at additional cost. Neary said.

The only hitch: In most cases, you'll have to get a set-top box to enable your TV to handle the digital signals.