In both Washington, D.C. and here in Washington State, Boeing’s supporters reacted with shock and even anger to the Pentagon’s announcement today that a consortium of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. and Northrop Grumman had beaten Boeing for a $40 billion Air Force tanker contract.
In Everett, where the 767 tanker would have been assembled, union members who had gathered at the Machinists Union Hall intending to celebrate the tanker contract award to Boeing, instead found themselves hastily arranging a protest rally.
“I would have to say the mood here is angry,” said International Association of Machinists District Local 751 spokeswoman Connie Kelliher.
“I don’t think that anyone who has worked on this 767 tanker project can believe that the deal went to a plane manufactured overseas.”
The Machinists represent among others workers who build 767s in Boeing’s huge Everett wide-body plant.
At the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which represents Boeing engineers and technical employees, shock described the reaction.
“I am very disappointed for our members and all employees at The Boeing Co.,” said Cynthia Cole, SPEEA’s president. “I’m surprised the Air Force chose an unproven technology and and inferior product for this important program that supports the men and women in our armed forces,” she said.

=> Read more!

Boeing Co. shares were down $3.40 or 4.11 percent in afterhours trading on leaked news that Boeing has lost perhaps the biggest military contract of the decade, the deal for new Air Force tankers.

A combine of Europe-fased EADS and U.S.-based Northrop Grumann reportedly won the $40 billion contract for 179 aircraft.

EADS had offered a militarized version of its A330 commercial airliner made by its subsidiary, Airbus. Boeing had offered a version of its 767 airliner.

Ultimately, the value of the contract could exceed $100 billion as the Air Force replaces more of the 535 tankers it has in inventory now. The average age of those tankers is 44.

The market had been anticipating Boeing winning the contract for 179 tankers worth $40 billion, so those who had bet on U.S. planemaker were quickly bailing out of company's stock.

Northrop Grumman and EADS had promised to do the final assembly of the new tanker at a new plant in Mobile, Ala. Airbus had promised to assemble its A330 freighters in Alabama should it get the tanker contract.

When the explosion hits tomorrow morning, don’t be afraid.

If you live near the Port of Tacoma or in Northeast Tacoma, you may hear a loud noise at around 9 a.m. Saturday. If you do, rest assured that it’s the result of a “planned, small-scale demolition” of a structure at the closed Pioneer Chlor Alkali facility on Alexander Avenue.

That’s the word this afternoon from the Port – although the demolition will not be on Port-owned land, nor is the demolition part of a Port project.

In an attempt to turn around dipping sales at Victoria's Secret, the famous lingerie chain will be toning down the sex, according to a Washington Post story on the company’s new direction.

CEO Sharen J. Turney said sexy has overpowered ultra-feminine at the stores, which sell everything from bras and underwear to perfume, makeup and bathing suits. The introspection comes as Victoria’s Secret, like many retailers, saw declining sales in the fourth quarter.

Now the chain will aim its marketing and merchandising at 26 year olds with focus groups and by walking malls with them, Turney said. The Post says the recent and popular Super Bowl ad, where a woman seductively tossed a football while wearing a blank tank top and undies, is indicative of the new marketing direction at Victoria’s Secret.

Find the story here.

Here at the end of Washington Saves Week – and America Saves Week – here’s a tip aimed directly at high school students in Washington: Now’s your chance to win some money by writing an essay about saving money.

The Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants is sponsoring a Savings Week essay contest wherein students are invited to respond to the following: “Are you great with your money? Have you been able to set a financial goal and accomplish it? Maybe you are not so great with money but you are trying to become so and have learned some lessons along the way that are worth sharing. Tell us your story and share your money-smart tips.”

Essays should be between 250-500 words and typed. One entry per person. Send your essay to: Financial Literacy Program, Washington Society of CPAs, 902 140th Ave. N.E., Bellevue, WA 98005. Entries must be received by March 31.

The 100 students who write the best essays will each receive a $25 savings bond (plus immortal electronic fame on the WSCPA Web site).

And the winners, should they ask for advice from those CPAs about what to do with the winnings, may well be told: Save it.

Boeing gained 59 new orders this past week through Tuesday bringing its 2008 commercial airplane orders to 189.

If this pace continues throughout the rest of 2008, Boeing will end the year with about 1,220 orders, far more than the 700-800 it predicts.

But airliner orders don't happen in even increments, so extrapolating the orders from the intial results probably isn't a valid predictor of year-end totals.

The company gained orders for 19 737s and six 777s from Continental Airlines and four 737s from the Mideast's RAK airlines. Thiry orders for 737s last week came from unidentified customers.

The 767 still has no orders for the year, though that could change this afternoon if the Pentagon chooses the 767 as the base plane for its new aerial tanker. As many as 179 planes are at stake in that order.

Here's the link to Boeing's orders and deliveries page for those who want a closer look.

Southwest Airlines today started a new fare war with $29 one-way fares from Sea-Tac to Spokane and return. With taxes, that amounts to $39.50 each way.

Alaska Airlines and its Horizon Air sister airline have yet to match those fares, though they've initiated a $49.50 each way fare including taxes.

The Southwest fares must be purchased 21 days in advance. They're good through Aug. 22, and not all flights offer seats at that low price.

If gas is $3.15 a gallon and your car averages 20 miles per gallon on the highway, gas costs for the 584-mile roundtrip to Spokane from Tacoma would cost $91.98 in gas and consume about nine hours driving time.

Flying time roundtrip would total about two hours plus about three hours of waiting time for a total of five and a half hours.

The composite fuselage of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner has passed a series of tests to determine whether the structure meets strength requirements for flight.

Boeing said its engineers stressed the fuselage barrel to its design limit and then increased the stress on the structure to 150 percent of the design load. The fuselage survived without damage.

The testing team then increased the load on the fuselage to well above test limits until engineers head audible cracks from the fuselage.

"Testers observed audible indications of damage as the test progressed but the piece did not reach the level of destruction that had been anticipated," Boeing said.

Delta Airlines today initiated $10 domestic airfare increases on more than 18,000 different pairs of cities, according to Farecompare.com.

This is the second week in a row when a major airline has started a round of fare increases. Last week United started the fare increases, and all the major carriers had followed along by early Tuesday.

The airlines are battling fuel price increases. So far, the fare hikes have not driven down business enough that they are beginning to have a negative effect on airlines' total revenues.

Last year, airlines tried 23 times to start general fare increases. Seventeen of those fare hikes stuck.

Fare increases fail when a major airline doesn't follow another's lead to hiking their prices, and the initiating airlines are forced to rescind their fare increases to avoid losing business.

Boeing's venerable 747 reached a new milestone today.

The Boeing Co. delivered its 1,400th 747, a 747-400 Freighter delivered to GE Commercial Aviation Services.

GECAS will lease 747 to AirBridgeCargo Airlines, a subsidiary of the Volga-Dnepr Group.

AirBridgeCargo 747

The 747s production numbers have far exceeded those of many smaller and less expensive airliners including Boeing's own 757 and 767, Lockheed's L-1011 and McDonnell Douglas' DC-10 and MD-11.

According to Boeing, the 747 fleet has completed more than 17 million flights through 2007. It has logged approximately 89 million flight hours or more than 10,000 years of flight time. The airplanes have flown approximately 42 billion nautical miles (78 billion kilometers), which is equivalent to making nearly 203,000 trips to the moon.

Gov. Chris Gregoire spent nearly an hour today with a couple hundred Realtors at the Fircrest Golf Club today, focusing much of her lunchtime speech on the economy.

But not before the governor, who's up for reelection in the fall, talked golf, lauding the new Chambers Bay Golf Course while also being quick to knowledge that the Fircrest course was also very nice too.

The rest was a lot of good–times talk, from the state budget to exports to the wine industry and a pinch of today’s housing market: “It is an amazing time in Washington state. I am not going to let the national economy slow us up.”

Among the highlights:

• She played to the real estate sales crowd with a story about how she sold a glass-making company on Washington state. (It involved wine and Forbes rankings.) “My philosophy is sell, sell, sell,” she said, to laughter from the agents and brokers.

• The state of the economy, Gregoire said, largely comes down to a self-fulfilling prophecy: “We can go out and say woe is me … don’t by a home or don't buy a car. Or we can truly get the facts out about the truth about our economy. If you want to buy a home, you can buy a home. If you want to sell a home, we’ll find a buyer.”

• She took credit for getting direct SeaTac flights to Mexico City and Paris and one to Beijing to begin in August. She said there’s so much interest in the Paris flight that a competing airline is adding another direct flight. “My friends, that’s how you promote tourism and keep the economy going.”

• And, apparently, the governor is contributing to an incentive package for Russell Investments, which is contemplating a move out of downtown Tacoma. I’m tracking down more details on that.

We've heard that the Baby Boomers and are redefining "retirement."

But a new survey released by Careerbuilder.com reveals many may actually be postponing retirement altogether.

Careerbuilder.com reports that 51 percent of workers age 50 or older plan to retire after the age of 65 and 16 percent plant to retire after the age of 70.

That's a lot of years of work. When asked why they are postponing retirement, workers reported:

- I can't afford to retire financially (44 percent)
- I need the health insurance benefits (30 percent)
- I enjoy my job (23 percent)
- I fear retirement may be boring (17 percent)
- I enjoy where I work too much (13 percent)

The news may help out quite a few employers who are worried about a shortage of qualified employees.

The same survey – conducted in November and December of last year - reports that 22 percent of employers plan to rehire retirees from other companies in this and 14 percent will provide incentives for older workers to stay with the company longer.

Careerbuilder released its survey results in conjunction with the launch of a new Web site by the company aimed at "experienced workers."

This from the company:

PrimeCB.com allows retirees and other experienced workers to search for part-time, full-time and contract positions from CareerBuilder.com's database of over 1.6 million jobs.

Any of you putting off retirement? What's your reason? Are you continuing your same career or starting anew?

Let us know in the comments section.

As Washington Saves Week draws to a close – along with America Saves Week – here’s today’s Money Tip. It comes from David Bennett, director of public relations for the Washington Credit Union League.

“Avoid credit card interest charges by paying off your entire bill each month. If you are unable to pay off a large balance, pay as much as you can or shift the balance to a credit card with a lower annual percentage rate (APR) by shopping around at a variety of financial institutions.”

Six new retailers have joined Kent Station, the mall's owner announced today. Kent Station is now 93 percent leased.

They are:

Links Golf Café: This is the first Links Golf Café in the United States. Slated for a May opening, Links Golf Café will provide food, drinks, golf apparel and accessories, Quantum Business Golf seminars and various tiers of memberships.

The Mac Store: The Mac Store will sell Apple products including the iPod. The 2,539-square-foot store, which opened in late January, is located adjacent to Ann Taylor Loft.

Waxen Art: A 1,098-square-foot make-your-own candle studio located next to See’s Candies. “Customers can choose their size, shape and scent to crate a unique signature mosaic candle,” owner Laura VanderMeer said.

Portrait Innovations: A professional portrait photography studio. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Portrait Innovations (www.portraitinnovations.com) is rapidly expanding throughout the United States and occupies 2,000 square feet next to Waxen Art.

Marie Haggin Accessories: The 1,071 square foot store will offer handmade jewelry and soaps, cards, custom stationary, wedding invitiations and baby gifts.

Peridot Boutique: This is the second store at Kent Station for Peridot Nail Salon owner Tweety Bui who opened her first business at Kent Station as part of the fashion retail launch in fall 2006.

I’ve been meaning to catch up with Chuck Valley, vice president and manager of hotels with Hollander Investments. He’s back at his first South Sound hotel - the 100-room South Hill Best Western – after overseeing the opening of the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Tacoma. Hollander also owns the nearby Holiday Inn Express.

Last night Valley was hosting an open house at the Best Western, which Hollander bought while it was under construction in 1993. Heres’s a look at the lobby and one of the rooms.

They’re doing something new with the beds, Valley said. Bedspreads are on the way out, to be replaced with a duvet, top sheet and “bed scarf.”
“The hotel industry is going away from bedspreads,” he said.

Instead of guests worrying about the hygiene of an unwashed spread, now all linens - sheets a duvet – are washed daily.

Beyond that, he said, the rooms at the Best Western will get a major upgrade next year with the replacement of the drapes, carpets and upholstered furniture.

As to any expansion by Hollander, Valley said the company “continues to look in Pierce County. We have talked with the Fair. Those decision are still out there. We think downtown Tacoma is continuing to grow.”

But instead of one large hotel to serve conventions, as some Tacoma leaders prefer, Valley expects to see “several smaller ones.”

I was out working on a story this morning - it's about a group of Puget Sound livestock growers who are banding together to secure a portable processing facility.

One of the people I spoke to was Cheryl Ouellette, who grows cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, goats and pigs on her farm out in Summit, between Tacoma and Puyallup.

And what better way to celebrate the promise of spring than with a litter of piglets? So here's Gardenia and her piglets born three days ago.

The two Boeing 747s used by the president are now 18 years old, and the Air Force is shopping for replacements.

The aircraft presumably would be customized versions of Boeing's new 747-8 aircraft, though some reports have suggested that the Air Force will also look at the Airbus A380.

If Boeing gets the contract, the 747s would be built in Everett but customized with special communications equipment in Wichita.

The newer aircraft would have updated engines and avionics and would have airborne refueling capabilities.

US Airways became the second major carrier today to implement a $25 charge for the second checked bag per person.

United Airlines started the trend earlier this month.

The charge takes effect for US Airways on May 5. Those who've already bought tickets for flights on May 5 or later will be exempt from the charge.

Likewise, US Airways' premium level frequent fliers will get a pass on the extra charge as will frequent fliers on its partner airlines.

The second bag charge is another effort to recover more revenue from passengers to cope with higher oil prices. Those prices were over $100 a barrel in intraday trading today.

Less than a two weeks after the United States Golf Association announced Chambers Bay as the site for its 2015 U.S. Open golf tournament, Tacoma has landed a big fish as a result.

Par 5 Events, a national golf event planner based in Cheney, Wash., has booked the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center for a four-day golf trade show in July. The show will generate 1,800 room nights in South Sound hotels, making it one of the top two convention center events booked in Tacoma this year.

The trade show – formally called The AAC 19th Hole Premier Golf Show – will occur July 24-27 in conjunction with the 2008 American Amateur Championship, a golf tournament that will play its seeding rounds at several Western Washington courses before finishing at Chambers Bay.

"I thought someone was pulling a joke on me when I first heard about it," said David Bobo, general manager of the convention center. "This is $70,000 of food and beverage. In July."

Summer months tend to be slow for convention business.

Expect more golf-related events and shows to flood the market, said Mike Combs, the City's director of public assembly facilities.

"We're already feeling the (positive) effects," Combs said. "That's going to do nothing but increase as word (about the U.S. Open coming to Chambers Bay) gets out."

Exhibitors for the trade show include golf gear and apparel retailers, golf resorts and travel brokers from across the country. You can buy tickets at Ticketmaster. For more information go to the event's official Web site at golfthenorthwest.com.

Along with being America Saves Week, Feb. 25-March 2 is also Washington Saves Week as proclaimed by Gov. Chris Gregoire.

In celebration of that (and realizing that Americans have reached a “negative savings rate,” which means they spend all they earn and reach into savings, or borrow, to spend some more), we’re offering a week-long Daily Savings Tip.

Today we hear from Scott Jarvis, director of the state Department of Financial Institutions. He was in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday attending a financial literacy forum. He spoke while awaiting a flight home.

“Starbucks won’t like it, but you might just want to skip a latte a week and put the money aside. That’s for adults. And for kids: Do you really need to stop at a fast food joint? Why not go home and have a peanut-butter sandwich? Look at what you spend. Make prudent decisions when you spend. Just by knowing the value of money - it’s really simple stuff. That’s where you start.”

Lufthansa, which begins Seattle-Frankfurt service on March 30, has announced new introductory round-trip fares to Europe.

The German airline's roundtrip fare to Frankfurt, for instance, is $694 To Budapest, $660. To Kiev, $720 and to Rome, $834. Comparable fares are available to other European destinations.

As with most such special fares, these come with restrictions:

Tickets must be purchased by March 7 for travel through May 15.

Lufthansa is one of several airlines that have announced new foreign flights from Sea-Tac in the last year.

Air France began service to Paris last summer. Northwest begins service to London this spring. And China's new Hainan Airlines begins Sea-Tac-Beijing flights in June.

Overall, banks in Washington did better than banks nationwide during 2007, and most banks are preparing for loans that may find trouble in 2008. That’s the meat from today’s release of data from the Federal Insurance Deposit Corp.

Nationwide, commercial banks and savings institutions reported net income of $105.5 billion in 2007 - which may sound like a lot, but which represents a $39.8 billion (or 27.4 percent) drop from the record $145.2 billion in profits during 2006.

Fewer than half of the institutions, 49.2 percent, reported increased income in 2007. The trend may continue.

“Weakness in the housing sector and the credit squeeze in financial markets made it a very challenging time for many institutions,” said FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair. “And we can expect those problems to continue in 2008.”

In the fourth quarter, noncurrent loans (90 days past due or in nonaccrual status) registered the largest quarterly increase in 24 years. At the end of the quarter, 1.39 percent of the industry’s loans were noncurrent. This is the highest percentage since the third quarter of 2002.

In Washington in the fourth quarter, the state’s 80 FDIC-insured commercial banks reported that their return on assets fell from 1.34 percent the year before to 1.22 percent. The percent of institutions with earnings gains fell from 76.83 percent to 67.50 percent.

Nonperforming assets at state institutions rose from 0.29 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006 to 0.88 percent at the end of 2007.

Jim Pishue, president and CEO of the Washington Bankers Association, said this afternoon, “Sheila Bair is right. Times are tougher than they were last year, but banks in Washington have done better than those nationally because of our robust economy, even in housing. Our economy here is good and strong. Even though we’re facing tougher times, it’s important to know that the capitalization of banks remains strong. That’s a result of the good years we’ve had in the last decade. There is no indication that banks are in trouble. We will be able to weather this downturn.”

Gov. Gregoire has proclaimed Feb. 24 - March 2 as Washington Saves Week, and in the spirit of that – and because this is also America Saves Week – here’s today’s savings tip, via the state Department of Financial Institutions.

As it turns out, a brown bag means green. How often do you pack your lunch? If you spend $8 per day for lunch eating outside the office, that totals than $40 a week, $160 a month, and $2,080 a year.

Cut your meals outside the office in half and you'll save at least $1,000 a year (not counting the cost of the sandwich you made in the morning).

BusinessWeek has a feature this week on Trader Joe's, the specialty grocery store with an unusually loyal and often-spendy following.

If you're already a regular at the chain's Federal Way or University Place stores, you'll likely be familiar with many of the secrets to success: customer service, including no-questions-asked returns; an abundance of house brands; and knowing what shoppers want: one type of laundry soap vs. 10 kinds of hummus.

Find the story here.

And, yes, Puyallup we know you want your own Trader Joe's.

The gas station isn't the only place where you'll be feeling the effects of higher oil prices.

The nation's major airlines have boosted most fares by $10 roundtrip in the last few days.

They're blaming increased fuel costs. At Alaska Airlines, for instance, those fuel expenses are expected to raise the airline's costs by more than 10 percent this quarter.

The fare increases aren't universal. In some highly contested markets where several airlines including low-cost carriers are battling for market share, fares weren't affected.

United Airlines initiated the fare increases Friday, and most major airlines had followed United's lead by Monday.

Traffic at the nation's major ports is expected to be down over the next several months compared with last year due to the nation's slowing economy, according to the National Retail Federation and Global Insight.

"Container traffic at the ports is a leading economic indicator because it reflects retailers' expectations for sales," said Jonathan Gold, NRF's vice president for supply chain and customs policy.

Those expectations may be playing out in Tacoma.

In Tacoma, port volume was down 9.1 percent in January compared to the same month last year. The port was down by 7 percent in 2007 compared to 2006.

Tim Farrell, the port's executive director, said January is typically slow. The port will have a better indicator of what the rest of the year may hold when it completes its first quarter update in April.

Port officials anticipate that cargo volume in Tacoma will be flat overall in 2008.

"It will take another couple months before we see what trend is," Farrell said. "The first half will probably be pretty soft. But if the economy takes off in the second half of the year the port will rise with it."

The NRF expects that traffic in February will be down across the country, but cargo growth may pick up in March.

There may be one benefit of slower business. That's less congestion.

With the exception of a few weather delays, "most ports are operating without congestion from the harbor to the gate," Global Insight economist Paul Bingham said earlier this month.

Stock pile your Starbucks. Tuesday is the day that the stores will close for three hours for training.

This is part of a plan to get the coffee company back to its roots and make sure everyone knows how to make the perfect latte.

The stores close at 5:30 p.m.

Battling competition from fast food restaurants that have upgraded their coffee and are wooing financially battered consumers, Starbucks has been struggling to hold onto customers who once flocked to its hip vibe and hand-pulled espressos, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

In the month since chief executive officer Howard Schultz unveiled plans for regaining the buzz, he’s discontinued warmed breakfast sandwiches (the smell interferes with the coffee aroma that customers love), slowed new store openings and reorganized operations.

And now, he’s closing stores for training that he promises will re-energize baristas and enhance the customer experience. Translation: Baristas will learn how to pull the perfect shot again and steam milk to order, not just press a button on the automatic espresso machine.

If you're looking for the world's best airport service, don't look in the U.S.

A new survey by Airports Council International lists five airports, none of them in the U.S., as tops in service quality.

Those airports are: Incheon, Korea; Kuala Lumpur, Malasia; Singapore; Hong Kong, and Central Japan.

Among North American airports, the top-rated ones were: Dallas-Fort Worth: Halifax, Canada; Ottawa, Canada; San Diego, and Detroit Metropolitan.

Sea-Tac didn't make the top-five list, and ACI doesn't publish the rankings beyond the top five.

The rankings were determined by a survey of more than 200,000 international passengers.

A senior pilot for Hong Kong's Cathay-Pacific Airways has been fired for failing to get permission for a low-level fly-by at Everett's Paine Field.

The airline had just taken delivery of a new 777-300ER from Boeing's Everett assembly plant Jan.30, and the airlines' senior executives were aboard the new aircraft for flight back to Hong Kong.

The British pilot took off from Paine Field, circled the airport and returned about 30 feet off the tarmac for a fly-by down the length of the Paine Field runway.

A video of the fly-by got posted on YouTube, and the pilot was sacked for violating company procedure that requires explicit permission for such stunts. Here's a link to the video

RAK Airways today formally signed orders for four Boeing 737-800 single-aisle aircraft.

The airline, based in the United Arab Emirates, also acquired purchase rights for two other 737s.

The deal is worth about $450 million at list prices, but airlines commonly receive discounts.

Besides, Boeing Co., another Washington company, Imperium Renewables, played a big role in Sunday's first airline flight powered by biofuels.

Imperium provided the biofuel used to power a Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747-400 in a test flight from London to Amsterdam. The flight took about 90 minutes.

The test was designed to show the viability of using fuels derived from plants to run jet engines. One of the 747's four fuel tanks contained 20-percent mix of biofuel derived from coconut and babassu oil.

John Plaza, President and CEO for Imperium Renewables said: "We're extremely proud to have produced the fuel used today for this historic flight. A successful flight will not only validate the use of biofuels in aviation, but also provide a glimpse into the future of all fuels. Today's biojet fuel offers higher-quality standards and a more sustainable fuel than traditional jet fuel.

Some environmental groups, however, say biofuels are the wrong answer to global warming and tightening oil supplies.

Creating fuel from plants takes too much cropland and will inflate the cost of food normally grown on that land.

Mega-retailer Wal-Mart is trying out smaller stores, features designed to draw the luxury shopper and eco-friendly formats in some new Texas locations.

According to a story in the Austin Business Journal, we're talking bottles of wine for $500, sushi bars, bike repair shops and LED lighting. When I covered Wal-Mart just four years ago, a spokesman for the nation's largest retailer told me the chain was about making life more affordable for working-class shoppers. That was just as Target was hitting its stride as the go-to retailer for that magical, hard-to-duplicate formula of (supposedly) affordable fashion and decor that not only looked good but has that ever-elusive cache. Still far and ahead the world's No. 1 retailer, Wal-Mart has been trying to grab a piece of that cache shopper ever since.

Here's an excerpt from the story:

Wal-Mart says it has always tinkered with store formats, but some analysts say the retailer is thinking more outside of the Supercenter-sized box to gain market share.

"For years the ROI [return on investment] is clearly, first and foremost, with the Supercenter," says Al Meyers, TNS Retail Forward vice president. "But there's less and less places where you can put that size of a store, and there are certainly niche concepts that can coexist with a Supercenter that go after these groups. I think it just makes sense for them to have more arrows in their quiver, if you will, to be able to take more market share in a particular area."

Find the whole thing here.

And what with today marking the beginning of the 2nd Annual American Saves Week, here's today's Anecdotal Savings Tip (via KeyBank):

A person who begins investing $2,000 per year between the ages of 21 and 30 will earn $347,508 more by the age of 65 than someone who invests $2,000 per year beginning at the age of 30.

Paul Ellis, secretary-treasurer of Tacoma Angel Network, and John Dimmer and Larry Kopp, co-counders of Tacoma Angel Network, were recently recognized by the TAN board for their service. Ellis, director of metropolitan development for the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, will leave Tacoma early next month – I'm speaking with him this afternoon for a story on his work with TAN, the Chamber and regional development.

The board of the Tacoma Angel Network announced late last week that the members of the group have invested $3 million in early-stage small businesses that sought funding. That $3 million in two years - for a group that has grown in membership beyond early estimates.

A similar group in Bellingham, says founding co-chairman and investor Larry Kopp, didn’t reach the same level for 10 years after formation.

At a recent TAN meeting, according to Kopp, four new Northwest start-ups and early-stage companies presented to about 60 onlookers. The candidates represented companies or firms from Fox Island, Bellevue, Redmond and Beaverton, Ore. Products ranged from software and board games to high-tech devices.

“The fact that these companies can acquire funding inspires other companies who might never have thought the acquisition of outside funds was possible,” Kopp said. “The whole community benefits. And, once a company has ‘passed the bar’ here, they can present anywhere else with confidence.”

Out of the almost 200 companies that apply each year for funding on the organization’s website (www.tacomaangelnetwork.com ) about 100 are scored and ranked, and about 50 are pre-screened and coached in person. Twenty-five finalists present to members. Fifty percent of these finalists will most likely receive funding - one of the highest funding ratios in the Northwest.

First of all - get out those party hats and get going to a bank or credit union - today marks the beginning of America Saves Week as proclaimed by the American Savings Education Council.

And to celebrate, here's the results of a recent poll (by KeyBank and Zogby International) of Washington Baby Boomers (ages 43-61 with between $100,000 - $500,000 of investable assets) on investing for retirement. Among the results:

• 50 percent are engaged in financial planning and say their goals are "set and on track."
• 63 percent believe they will or could run out of money in their lifetime.
• 82 percent say retirement planning should begin by age 30.
• 34 percent have have reconsidered the age at which they will retire, with 67 percent delaying the date because of health care costs (50 percent) and the need for more savings or investments (43 percent).
• What keeps them up at night? Health care coverage, caring for aging parents, job security and energy costs.

I'm not talking karaoke here.

A last bit that I forgot to blog from the ports of Tacoma and Olympia public meeting Wednesday night regarding the South South Logistics Center.

At the public hearing the port held Jan. 31, moderator Jason Robertson (you may know him as the Olympia consultant the Tacoma port has hired to do public outreach on the controversial SSLC issue) kicked off the public comment period with a list of rules for people wishing to speak.

Included: That port staff would hold the microphone for speakers.

Now I don't how this would go over elsewhere, but in Thurston County not so much. There wasn't a riot. but many of the 300 people in attendance were frustrated.

Some called to take back the power. And throughout the evening people complained that they couldn't hear and called out to "let her (or him) hold the mic."

Fast forward to Wednesday.

Two hundred more people show up in Lacey for the ports' public meeting, most in opposition to the SSLC project. Do note: Commissioners say they remain undecided whether to pursue the project and where the facility would be.

And while attendees still hammered the port – Land owners handed out fliers saying they would never sell their land to the port; people questioned the ports' transparency, economic analysis, job creation estimates, etc. – Robertson did start the meeting off on a high note.

We heard you, he said. And tonight you can hold the microphone.

This will buy a lot of Tommy Bahama shirts: Nordstrom Inc., the 107-year-old Seattle department-store chain, approved $1.46 million in bonuses for its executives.

The announcement comes two weeks after the retailer reported a second month of sales declines.

President Blake Nordstrom will receive a $377,860 bonus and executive vice presidents Peter and Erik Nordstrom will be paid $350,870 each, the Seattle-based company said today in a regulatory filing, according to Bloomberg News.

Chief Financial Officer Michael Koppel and Chief Administrative Officer Daniel Little will receive a combined $378,369.

Nordstrom sales at stores open at least a year sank 6.6 percent in January as discounts failed to lure consumers concerned about losing their jobs.

Nordstrom fell 41 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $34.83 at 9:46 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares declined 4 percent this year through yesterday.

RealNetworks Inc., the developer of online games for Nintendo Co.’s Wii console, bought game-syndication company Trymedia from Macrovision Corp. to reach more players, Bloomberg News reports.

Trymedia helps Web portals, online retailers and game developers distribute personal-computer games over the Internet. The deal should close later this year, Seattle-based RealNetworks said today in a statement. Terms weren’t disclosed.

RealNetworks will use Trymedia’s partnerships with companies such as Time Warner Inc.’s AOL and Yahoo! Inc. to extend its reach into the online video-game market, spokeswoman Audrey Craipain said. RealNetworks’ fourth-quarter revenue from online games, including Monopoly and Scrabble, gained 29 percent to $30.9 million, almost one-fifth of total sales.

Tacoma-based developers the Gintz Group, is considering giving downtown's historic eyesore Luzon Building a new name after they resurrect the building from decay.

Gintz Group Chief Operating Officer Ron Gintz says the developers are considering renaming the building the Burnham and Root Building after the noted Chicago architects who designed it.

"As far as we can determine, the Luzon name has no particular historic significance," said Gintz. "If we can deal with any problems with permissions, we intend to rename it after the architects."

Luzon Building

The Luzon Building at South 13th Street and Pacific Avenue is one of two remaining Burnham and Root buildings on the West Coast. The other is in San Francisco. Another Burnham and Root-designed building in Tacoma was demolished in the early '50s.

=> Read more!

News that Boeing is slowing design work on the shorter-range version of the 787 Dreamliner, the 787-3, in favor of the longer-range 787-9, reportedly has Japanese airline customers thinking dark thought about Boeing.

Those Japanese customers, Japan Air Lines and All Nippon Airways, are the main customers for the 787-3, which is designed for higher density, shorter-range routes than the Dreamliner's two other variants, the 787-8 and 787-9.

The 787-3 is somewhat of a niche product designed with a range of about 4,000 miles compared with about 9,500 miles for the 787-9.

It will have a higher capacity, about 296 passengers, and shorter wings to work in tightly-configured Japanese airports.

Boeing has sold just 43 of the -3s compared with 814 of the other two versions of the plane.

787-3

With production of the 787 running about 9 months behind schedule, Boeing is diverting precious engineering resources to the 787-9, the first of which was to emerge from Boeing's factory after the first 787-3.

In a Japanese press report today, JAL, a loyal Boeing customer, said it was considering shopping with Boeing rival Airbus. Airbus has been looking for such an opening with the Japanese airlines, which have been a bastion of solidarity for Boeing in part because Japanese aerospace manufacturers are playing a big role in producing the Dreamliner.

Starbucks Corp. said Thursday it has laid off about 220 support staff who worked at the coffee retailer’s headquarters and in field operations, and will leave about 380 open jobs unfilled, The Associated Press reported.

Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Schultz announced the 600 job cuts in an e-mail to Starbucks’ more than 170,000 employees, calling it a difficult decision aimed at sharpening the company’s focus on customers.

“We realize that we are operating in an intensely challenging environment, one in which our customers and (employees) have extremely high expectations of Starbucks,” Schultz wrote. “And we have to step up to the challenge of being strategic as well as nimble as our business evolves. Unfortunately, we have not been organized in a manner that allowed us to have a laser focus on the customer.”

While most pundits lean to scaring people about recession, there’s also inflation to consider. Here’s the latest local numbers, released this week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• The price of housing rose 1.7 percent in the Tacoma-Bremerton-Seattle area in January, and increased 5.5 percent over the past year.
• Within the shelter category, rents advanced 0.8 percent over the past month.
• Despite a January decrease of 1.6 percent, gasoline prices were still 17.6 percent higher than a year ago, strongly contributing to an 11.8 percent annual increase in the overall energy index.
• Grocery prices increased 0.8 percent in January, and compared to a year ago were up 5.7 percent.

About 200 people turned out – the vast majority in opposition – for a joint ports of Tacoma and Olympia meeting Wednesday night regarding the proposed South Sound Logistics Center.

Last month the Port of Tacoma revealed the results of its alternative site analysis is – a study of other potential places for the South Sound Logistics Center.

The Tacoma port purchased 745 acres near Maytown in South Thurston County in 2006.

The potential for a rail yard and logistics center at the Maytown site has caused much concern among Thurston County residents, many saying the facility will have negative effects on the environment and rural quality of of life.

Last night many of the owners of properties that popped up as potential, alternative sites told the port commissions that they weren't interested.

"We don't want you folks on our land, in our neighborhood and we don't want a logistics center in our county," said Fred Colvin.

Colvin and his relatives live and work on a ranch in Tenino. The land has been in their family since the 1850s.

=> Read more!

The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber of Commerce is accepting applications through Friday to become the organization's next Director of Metropolitan Development.

That's org speak for the chamber's Mr. Downtown. The job is open because Paul Ellis, who has managed the chamber's downtown activities including the Business Improvement Area security, cleanup and promotion effort, is leaving to take an economic development job in Illinois.

Paul Ellis

Ellis is leaving as the City Council is giving the assessment-supported BIA another 10-year lease on life.

The BIA was begun in 1988 with an eye toward addressing some of downtown's issues.

Ellis during his tenure has created a popular downtown blog and has carefully organized efforts to deal with such problems as graffiti and downtown crime.

He is leaving for Columbia, Ill., a suburb of about 10,000 people about a dozen miles north of St. Louis.

When Boeing and Airbus develop the next generation of their meat-and-potatoes airliners, successors to the popular 737 and A320 lines, they may have twin aisles instead of just one.

That's the thinking of one of the most powerful customers in the airline business, Steven Udvar-Hazy, president of International Lease Finance Corporation, the world's leading aircraft lessor.

Speaking with Flightblogger's John Ostorow at the Singapore Airshow, Udvar-Hazy said he prefers a 2-2-2 seating arrangement in next generation of narrow-bodied aircraft.

That arrangement would be more comfortable for passengers who won't often find their way to the restroom blocked by service carts in a single aisle.

And with the 2-2-2 seat arrangement there would be no dreaded middle seats.

The planes, of course, would have to be wider than today's narrow-bodies to accomodate the extra aisle.

Boeing's studied such a narrow wide body and has even considered a slightly wider 2-3-2 seating arrangement in the 150-to-210-seat class of aircraft. That wouldn't eliminate all middle seats, but would mean a plane would have to be 86 percent full before a passenger had to take a middle seat.

The more comfortable seating arrangement would make longer-range travel such as coast-to-coast and West Coast-Hawaii trips of five or more hours more comfortable than in today's 3-3 seating arrangement aircraft.

If the two major aircraft makers built such a plane, how would they cover the 110-150-seat segment of the market?

Boeing has studied a 3-2 arrangement plane (like today's MD-80's seating arrangment) for that segment. The question is whether that niche is big enough to merit the capital costs of developing a whole new plane just for that market.

To ignore that market would cede it to other plane makers such as Canada's Bombardier, Brazil's Embraer, or Chinese and Japanese planemakers that are just now developing aircraft in the lower end of that range.

Udvar-Hazy's wishes carry more than a little influence among the aircraft makers.

When he told Airbus that its A350 wouldn't make the grade two years ago, Airbus redesigned the plane and reintroduced it as the much upgraded A350 XWB.

Venture Bank has signed a five-year deal for the naming rights to the Tacoma Rainiers Gold Club. Any Gold Club branding - including stadium signage, on-site hospitality locations and within Rainiers publications – will mention Venture.

Neither Venture nor the Rainiers released the cost of the new agreement. Venture is also now the “official bank” of the Rainiers.

Aaron Artman, Rainiers general manager, said yesterday that for Venture, the agreement “makes a lot of sense. The gold club is made up of so many businesses in the South Sound – I think that Venture Bank will make some exciting banking offers to Gold Club members. It gives them a partnership with an icon in Pierce County, and it lets them contact a lot of small business people.”

No other bank will be offered an advertising board on the outfield wall, nor will another bank be offered space on the concourse, Artman said.

And one good piece of symbiosis for music fans, Artman said he’s in the early stages of planning a stadium concert featuring the Ventures, a Northwest rock group headed this year to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Continental Airlines announced today it is ordering a total of 27 new aircraft from Boeing Co.

That order consists of eight new Boeing 777s for international routes and 19 737 Next Generation aircraft for shorter routes.

With those orders, Continental's order sheet with Boeing has a total of 111 new aircraft, 25 787 Dreamliners, eight 777s and 78 737NGs. The Houston-based airline also has options to purchase an additional 102 Boeing planes.

The airline has already taken delivery of five 737s this year and will receive 27 more by the end of the year.

The new 737s will allow the company to replace older, less efficient planes and to expand its network.

Boeing nearly doubled its orders for the year this week.

The new total: 130. That total includes 64 new orders as of Tuesday.

The new orders break out this way:
* 56 737-900ERs ordered by Indonesia's Lion Air
* 4 777-300ERs ordered by Garuda Indonesia
* 4 777s ordered by unidentified buyers.

The 737 with 79 orders in 2008 leads the order parade. It's followed by the 787 with 40 orders, the 777 with 10 and the 747 with 1. The 767 has no 2008 orders.

The weekly total doesn't include the Continental Airlines order announced Thursday. See the above item.

Carl’s Jr. is already known for their fattening sandwiches and salads that pack enough calories to fuel a sumo wrestling tournament.

Now the company running the restaurant chains is breaking new boundaries — this time for sloppy eating, The Associated Press reports.

CKE Restaurants Inc. unveiled a new line of cheeseburgers and french fries Wednesday that will be smothered in chili and sold at its Carl’s Jr. chain.

The company says most restaurant chains avoid chili-laden dishes because of the mess they create at the drive-through window. But Carpinteria, Calif.-based CKE is betting its core market of “hungry young men” will help it buck a trend, regardless of the stained upholstery and clothing that might result.

“There is only one way you can make a chili burger, and if you made it so you could eat it at the drive through it wouldn’t be any good,” CKE Chief Executive Andrew Puzder said.

The messy burgers are in line with CKE’s strategy to give consumers what they want — not what they think they need. The strategy is exemplified by the company’s Monster Thickburger — a sandwich that packs 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat. The product helped revitalize the ailing Hardee’s chain and drive up the company’s stock price, even as other fast food chains focused on adding low-calorie salads and sandwiches to their menus.

Virgin America is offering cut-rate fares from Sea-Tac to San Francisco and Los Angeles to introduce its new service from Seattle.

And the dominant carrier on those two routes, SeaTac-based Alaska Airlines, is matching those introductory fares.

Those fares, $69 each way from Sea-Tac to SFO and $79 from Sea-Tac to LAX, are available through Friday for travel through May 21.

Virgin America, based in San Francisco, starts three daily roundtrips to the Bay Area on March 18 and four daily roundtrips to LA on April 8.

Alaska is not only matching those fares, but offering frequent fliers double miles on those routes if they meet certain qualifications. See the fine print on the airline's Web site at www.alaskaair.com

Now a bit of good news to balance out news from earlier this month that news that Roy's Wilcox Family Farms dairy is closing.

The family-owned operation has received an award from the Pierce Conservation District for a two-year salmon habitat restoration project completed last year.

The award stemmed from a project in which more than 400 volunteers planted more than 3,000 native trees and shrubs along Horn Creek where it flows through Wilcox's Roy farm.

The vegetation will shade the stream, keeping water temperatures low for spawning fish and other aquatic creatures. The plants will also help filter runoff from nearby fields.

Horn Creek provides spawning and rearing habitat for Chinook, chum, pink and Coho salmon.

Wilcox announced two weeks ago it was closing its dairy operations on the farm and potentially laying off 130 workers. The farm will continue to produce eggs in Roy and in an operation in Oregon.

If you're headed to Europe on British Airways, pray that the software malfunctioned that shut down the computerized baggage in Heathrow Airport's Terminal 4 is resolved before you get there.

Until that happens, the airline is limiting economy class passengers to the luggage they can carry on. That limitation has created chaos at Heathrow Airport where passengers are trying to shift to other airlines or to ship their luggage via package express companies. Here's a story from the London Daily Telegraph explaining the situation.

The latest British Airways luggage problem will no doubt add grist to the allegations made in a proposed class action lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle against BA for luggage problems last summer.

The airline lost thousands of bags during the high tourist season because the Heathrow baggage system was overwhelmed by the volume of checked bags.

Some people, including the Tacoma couple that are lead plaintiffs in the suit, waited days before their damaged and watersoaked luggage caught up to them.

Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday it will make Xbox 360 video games developed by players available for download through the console’s online service, The Associated Press reports.

The new service will double the size of the Xbox 360 game library, to 1,000 games within a year of its launch, scheduled for this holiday season, the company said.

=> Read more!

SeaTac's Alaska Airlines since 2001 has expanded its route network to include a variety of cities outside its traditional West Coast home territory, first flying to Washington, D.C. and then adding Boston, New York, Orlando, Miami, Chicago, Denver and Dallas.

Most recently, the airline added Hawaii to its repertoire. Now, industry reports suggest the airline is considering establishing service to Philadelphia or Atlanta.

Competition would be less to Philadelphia. The only non-stop flight from here to there is a single US Airways flight daily. Atlanta, Delta Airlines' major hub, is served by several daily Delta flights and by Air Tran Airways, which also maintains an Atlanta hub.

The Indian navy has named Boeing's Renton-built P-8A maritime patrol aircraft as a finalist in a competition to supply it with eight new submarine-hunting airplanes.

The P-8A is a militarized version of Boeing's popular 737 airliner. The Boeing plane won a U.S. Navy competition to replace a Lockheed-built turboprop plane that serves the sub-hunting function now.

The other finalist is a military version of the 737's rival, the Airbus A320.

Originally, several other aircraft, including a Russian patrol aircraft, were being considered.

Boeing is building a separate assembly line at Renton for the military patrol aircraft.

Starbucks' new premium cup of coffee, which is being tested in Seattle and a few other cities, is made in a machine that brews each cup individually.

That's a departure from the large pots of coffee from which a $1.55 cup of coffee is pulled today.

The coffee, which will sell for $2.50, is made in an $11,000 machine called the Clover.

The Clover was designed in 2005 by two Stanford University graduates working from a converted trolley shed in Seattle, Bloomberg News reports.

Their machine is now used in more than 100 cafes and has gained a cult following among coffee aficionados. The Clover’s price compares with $1,000 to $4,000 for standard commercial brewers.

Servers can make cups of Sumatra or Ethiopia Shakisso in 30 to 50 seconds. At one cafe in Seattle, Starbucks offers a choice of six brews, with tasting notes styled after a wine list.

“We have made much progress as we begin to transform and innovate and there is much more to come,” Schultz said last week in another memo to Starbucks employees.

He said he was writing at 6:30 a.m. on a Sunday over “a spectacular cup of Sumatra, brewed my favorite way — in a French press.”

The state’s oldest town is looking for someone to manage the town’s oldest drug store – which no longer serves as a drug store and most recently featured a soda fountain and restaurant.

The Steilacoom Historical Museum Association – which owns the building and has repaired the roof – has issued a request for proposal seeking an operator for the historical Bair Drug Store. The association will accept proposals through March 30.

The RFP does not require a specific use, although the facility does come equipped with the soda fountain and other equipment that could support a cafe. The association requires that the Bair maintains a small museum and gift shop.

The Bair opened at the turn of the 20th century and once was the centerpiece of Steilacoom. It closed last August for repairs, and the tenant did not return.

For a copy of the RFP, visit: www.steilacoomhistorical.org/bairRequest.htm

Port Orchard-based Kitsap Bank today reported record 2007 earnings of $10.9 million. Assets rose 6 percent during the year, growing by more than $43.4 million to an all-time high of $770 million at the year’s end.

Total loans grew by $49 million to $653 million, an increase of 9 percent, while deposits totaled $601 million.

“We are very pleased with our performance, especially given the recent turmoil in the financial markets,” said President and CEO Jim Carmichael.

The bank this year celebrates its centennial. Established in 1908 as Kitsap County Bank, the company operates 27 offices in Western Washington – including three in Pierce County.

This from the Associated Press:

The Supreme Court today turned away, without comment, an appeal by Ford Motor Co. in a tax dispute with the cities of Seattle and Tacoma.

The court’s action means the Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker won’t be able to recover the $1.7 million in taxes it paid the two cities after they audited the company and assessed it for back taxes in 2003.

While the financial stakes are small, several business groups urged the court to take the case because they argued that more and more localities are imposing the type of tax at issue. Seattle and Tacoma impose a “business activity” tax on a company’s gross receipts from wholesale sales.

“Without the Court’s guidance, businesses will be subject to an increasing number of unapportioned business taxes, resulting in multiple taxes” in different jurisdictions, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers and other groups said.

Lawyers for the cities said the tax is neither an income tax nor sales tax but a tax on “the privilege of doing business” in their jurisdictions. They also said in court papers that the tax has been in existence for decades and its use hasn’t significantly spread.

Seattle and Tacoma assess their business activity taxes on 100 percent of the gross receipts Ford receives from wholesale sales of cars to Ford dealers in the two cities.

But the automaker argued in court papers that much of its wholesale activity, such as invoicing and transfer of ownership, takes place outside Washington state. As a result, it should pay taxes on only a portion of its receipts, the company said.

The Supreme Court’s refusal to consider the case lets stand a ruling by the Washington state Supreme Court in favor of the cities.

International Lease Finance Co., the California-based aircraft leasing company, is in talks with Airbus and Boeing to buy as many as 286 aircraft.

Reports from the Singapore Airshow say ILFC wants to buy 100 Boeing 737-800s and 26 more 787 Dreamliners. The leasing firm is talking with Airbus to buy 150 A320s and 10 A350XWBs.

The need for such huge orders is driven by demand from growing Asian airlines eager to take advantage of new demand for air travel in their countries.

ILFC is already Boeing biggest 787 customer with 74 orders. The new Dreamliner order would give ILFC an even 100 787s on order.

Two Indonesian airlines ordered a total of 56 airliners worth some $5.4 billion at list prices from Boeing Co. as the Singapore Airshow opened Tuesday.

Lion Air, launch customer of the largest member of the 737 family, the 737-900ER, ordered 60 more of the twinjets. The order is valued at $4.4 billion at list prices, but volume customers such as Lion Air usually receive generous discounts.

With the latest order, Lion Air has ordered a total of 178 737s from Boeing. The 737-900ER is manufactured in Boeing's Renton plant.

The Jakarta-based airline also acquired options for 50 more of the aircraft.

"We have good support from Boeing, but most of all, we make money from this aircraft," Lion Air President Rusdi Kirana told the Associated Press. "I think that it is the perfect aircraft in the emerging market."

In other order activity, Indonesia's national carrier, Garuda Airlines, ordered four long-range 777-300ERs from Boeing. The twin-engine wide bodies will replace Boeing 747-400s in Garuda's fleet and help it broaden its route structure.

The four aircraft, built in Everett, list for more than $1 billion.

The airline also said it would convert its previous order for six 777-200ERs to six 777-300ERs.

The Ports of Tacoma and Olympia are holding another public meeting Wednesday regarding the proposed South Sound Logistics Center.

The meeting is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Worthington Center at Saint Martin's University.

It will include an overview of the SSLC project, why it's being considered and answers to questions raised by citizens during a meeting last month.

The port commission will take public comments for the rest of the meeting. No decisions will be made at the meeting.

Boeing Co. began final assembly today of the second flight-test version of its 787 Dreamliner at its Everett plant.

The second flight test aircraft is the fourth 787 to move down the Everett assembly line. The second and third aircraft will never fly. They will be used in fatigue and static testing to determine the strength and durability of the 787 airframe.

The last fuselage section of the second flight aircraft arrived in Everett earlier this week aboard a modified Boeing 747 called the Dreamlifter. That fuselage section was airlifted from Charleston, S.C. where Boeing partners had created it.

The latest fuselage section came to Everett much more fully equipped than the first one that arrived last June.

The sections are supposed to come equipped with wiring, plumbing and other equipment pre-installed, but the first section was an empty shell that had to be finished at the Everett factory prompting more than a nine month delay in the Dreamliner's first flight.

The first Dreamliner is scheduled to fly now in late June.

An Horizon Air regional jet painted in the colors of the University of Washington will be unveiled Tuesday at Sea-Tac Airport.

The UW jet is the last of four Horizon Bombardier CRJ-700 jetliners to be painted in the colors of major Pacific Northwest universities.

The others with paint schemes from the University of Oregon, Oregon State University and Washington State University, are already flying on Horizon Air regional routes.

The UW plane was painted in Oklahoma City by an aircraft maintenance company. The four jets had formerly done contract flying for Denver's Frontier Airlines and had been painted in Frontier JetExpress colors.

Here's a preview of the new paint scheme:

The Associated Press reports that a California pulp maker and the Grays Harbor Public Utility District are negotiating to buy and reopen a pulp mill in Cosmopolis.

According to a Weyerhaeuser Co. news release today, the forest products company plans to enter into formal talks with Evergreen Pulp Inc. of Samoa, Calif., and the PUD. Evergreen Pulp has ties to Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Ltd. of Hong Kong.

The news release describes the offer for the half-century-old mill as “very competitive” and says Weyerhaeuser is optimistic about agreeing on terms.

The mill employed 342 hourly and salaried workers before being closed last year. A subsequent effort by Charlestown Investments of Zurich, Switzerland, to buy and reopen the mill collapsed last year.

Iraq's Transport Ministry may soon authorize the $6 billion purchase of 40 Boeing aircraft.

Those aircraft, according to the government's official newspaper, al-Sabaah, will augment the Iraqi Airways fleet.

The national carrier will expand its route network to Europe and eastward to Pakistan.

The airline has already said it will buy or lease six Airbus aircraft.

The airline has been flying since 2003 to several Middle East destination as well as to domestic cities.

Boeing Co. reports that it's commercial airplane order book expanded by only one order this week.

That order, for a 737, came from an unidentified buyer.

The addition of that order raises Boeing's total for the year to 66 aircraft. The top seller this year so far is the 787 with 40 orders. The 737 is in second place with 23.

Jet Airways and Air India are reportedly talking with Boeing Co. about substantial increases to existing orders for new airliners.

The additional orders may be for as many as 60 additional aircraft worth more than $15 billion.

The two airlines say they'll need additional aircraft to cope with additional growth both internationally and domestically.

Alaska Airlines' transformation of its check-in facilities at Sea-Tac is now two-thirds done with the opening this morning of another phase of its "Airport of the Future" concept check-in desk.

The airline opened the first phase of the new check-in operation last October.

Those facilities replace traditional check-in counters with island-like facilities where one customer service agent can serve two customers in an alternating fashion from the same service podium.

Experience with the first phase of the modernization shows check-in times are cut in half.

The new facilities include a large bank of electronic check-in kiosks where passengers can obtain their boarding passes before moving any luggage that needs to be checked to a customer service island. Those islands feature conveyor belts that carry the bags from the location where the bags are weighed to a larger belt that carries the to the airport's internal circulation system for security checks and sorting.

Alaska and its sister airline, Horizon Air, plan to complete the modernization later this year when the third phase is completed.

It's been a busy morning at Tacoma's Johnson Candy Co., 924 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. But can it match yesterday's sales - when customers bought a record amount of confections for Valentine's Day?

So far this season, Cupid's messengers have purchased seven of the store's largest offering, a $195 heart filled with truffles, nut clusters and other chocolates.

The heart is held here by Marieva Riche, standing between Carole Hill and Hope Gunn.

Alongside the seasonal hearts, Riche said the biggest sellers lately have been caramel turtles and assorted truffles. Part of the increase in business, she said, may be due to the addition, about a year ago, of candymaker and family member Bill Johnson, 36.

And there's still time today please your valentine with a box of sweetmeats. Here's part of the selection.

Forget that $1.55 cup of coffee. Starbucks is trying to raise the price of its brew to get customers to spend more.

The coffee chain is experimenting with a $2.50 cup of coffee that would add a new, premium product to help fight the first drop in U.S. customer visits in its 37- year history, Bloomberg News reports.

In Seattle, Starbucks is testing a 12-ounce (360-milliliter) cup of “fresh-pressed” coffee at $2.50 each. The price is $2.25 in a Boston trial.

McDonald’s Corp. has been stealing customers with $1.39 coffee and is challenging Starbucks by adding espresso counters.

The new drink, made in a machine that brews each cup individually, may become part of Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz’s plan to increase traffic in the 15,000 stores of the world’s largest coffee chain.

Starbucks is also experimenting with a $1 refillable cup of coffee and slowing its expansion.

“If they can create a better-tasting product and if they can get people to pay more for it, then you’d have the missing ingredient, which is pricing power,” said Larry Miller, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets in Atlanta who has a “sector perform” rating on the stock.

At the same time, selling a more expensive drink may be tough as U.S. consumer spending slows, Miller said.

Starbucks has declined 10 percent in Nasdaq Stock Market trading this year after dropping 42 percent in 2007, the worst performance in the company’s history. The stock fell 43 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $18.42 at 12:30 p.m. New York time.

Appliance-maker Whirlpool is building a 900,000-square-foot distribution center in Frederickson in east Pierce County.

"The Seattle-Tacoma facility is part of Whirlpool Corporation's nationwide plans to transform its supply chain organization into a more agile, responsive and efficient organization to better serve retail trade customers and consumers," said Jody Lau, the company's spokeswoman.

The facility will be located at 19700 38th Avenue E. and construction has yet to begin. Whirlpool expects the distribution to be up and running in the second half of 2009, Lau said.

But don't show up planning to buy a washer or dryer – the facility will be distributing products out to stores, but not selling them directly from the center.

No word yet on how many people the site will employ. Penske Logistics – a third-party logistics provider – will manage the center.

I wonder if Boeing considered U.S. News and World Report's Airport Misery Index when it pulled its headquarters out of Seattle and fled to Chicago?

If it had, the company HQ might still be on the west side of Boeing Field.

The latest version of the index invented by the magazine ranks Chicago's O'Hare Airport as the nation's most miserable.

Sea-Tac is rated tenth among the nation's 47 largest commercial airports.

The index is derived from two statistics, the percentage of delayed flights and the average percentage of seats filled on flights departing the airport.

Chicago ranked higher on both those measures. Some 33.5 percent of arriving flights were delayed 15 minutes or more, and 83 percent of seats were filled.

In Seattle last year, 23.5 percent of flights were late, and 82.8 percent of seats were filled.

Newark Airport was the nation's second most miserable airport. San Francisco International occupied the third spot. The least miserable was San Francisco's Bay area neighbor, San Jose.

Of course, the misery index is an incomplete measure of an airport. If my plane's late departing, give me Sea-Tac or SFO anyday over the crowded and inadequate confines of San Jose.

Southwest Airlines may have failed in its attempt two years ago to operate four dozen flights a day from near-downtown Boeing Field, but that doesn't mean the airport isn't getting any new airline business.

Kenmore Air Express recently announced a non-stop flight to the Tofino-Ucluelet Airport on Vancouver Island.

The flights start at a four-a-week pace on May 15 and move to a daily flight beginning June 27.

The flight isn't inexpensive, $498 roundtrip, but the one hour, forty-five minute flight, beats waiting in a ferry line and an eight-hour drive.

The airline said the island airport has multiple instrument approaches, so it's unlikely that bad weather will prevent a flight from landing.

If the flight is diverted by weather, Kenmore Air will provide land transportation from the nearest airport where it can land.

The area on Vancouver Island's west coast is noted for fishing, kayaking, surfing, diving and storm watching.

Boeing has won the annual airliner order race for two years running, so Boeing isn't doing much complaining about recent order race results.

But a recent blog by Boeing executive Randy Tinseth uncovers what Boeing considers an unfair method of determining who beat whom in past years, Boeing or Airbus.

Boeing, of course, contends that its method of coming to a year-end total is the proper one and that by implication Airbus's is not.

The difference in those two methods concerns the difference between net and gross orders. Boeing's final totals are net numbers, the number of gross orders minus the number of order cancellations in a given year.

Airbus counts the number of new orders it receives, the gross number of orders.

Boeing contends it would have made a much better showing in recent years if Airbus had counted its cancellations because Boeing's cancellations are far lower than Airbus's.

Over the period of 2003 through 2007, Boeing had 49 cancellations. Airbus had 241 by Boeing's calculations.

The difference in net and gross orders makes a big difference when you consider a plane such as the Airbus A350. Airbus rolled up more than 150 orders for its original A350 design, then it went back to the drawing boards.

It then canceled that program and rolled out a redesigned A350 called the A350XWB. When airlines that had ordered the old A350 canceled orders for the older plane and ordered the new version. Airbus then counted the orders again.

Commercial condos are for sale at downtown Tacoma’s former Mecca Theater, likely replacing previous plans to recruit a restaurant to the century-old building.

The three business spaces will join a dozen residential condos and should be finished in April, said Dominic Accetturo, the GVA Kidder Mathews commercial broker who’s listing the commercial condos.

Each will measure about 5,500 square feet and be priced from $875,000 to $1.2 million, he said. The priciest of the three will front Broadway, with big windows and tall ceilings.

You might remember the Mecca’s former life as an adult theater and bookstore, which closed in 2006. One of the three condos could still end up being a restaurant but the operator who’d expressed interest in the concept found space elsewhere, Accetturo said. He envisions architects, engineers or marketing firms as potential buyers.

“The plan is we’re flexible. The owners would like to put in a restaurant,” he said.

Businesses typically lease office or restaurant space, but Accetturo outlined some of the same advantages pushed by real estate agents who recommend home ownership: low interest rates, building equity and locking in payments rather than being subjected to fluctuating rents.

A handful of other commercial condo projects dot downtown Tacoma, though Accetturo said they’re more common in larger cities such as Seattle.

Port of Tacoma Executive Director Tim Farrell has reorganized his staff and management in an effort to streamline the port's decision making process.

Farrell sent a memo to his staff Friday noting the change and the reasons behind it.

Starting this week the port staff will be organized into seven teams made up of people originally from different departments or lines of business.

The change will give Farrell more time to spend with commissions, staff and the community, according to his memo.

Farrell writes that the port's community presence is becoming more important as the port grows.

"It's critical that our neighbors be able to interact with us directly, ask us questions directly, and share ideas directly with us," he writes.

"The alternative is that our neighbors view the port as a large, faceless organization, and that they make negative assumptions about the port's intentions."

=> Read more!

Those of you who read the print version of The News Tribune's stock listings may have noticed our more visually appealing stock page.

Today, we swapped our gray stock listings for a series of graphs and charts that provide an at-a-glance look at the day's market activity.

As happens any time we change your newspaper, you called. I have heard from about three dozen readers today with opinions on the new format. Most of them want to know what happened to the oil prices. The answer: We forgot them. As we were rearranging the various pieces on the page, we didn't notice the commodity price didn't make it into the new format. But we heard you. They will return in Wednesday's paper.

Let me know if you have other thoughts about our print stock page. Or thoughts on our online edition. Where do you, blog readers, get your stock information?

I had a nice lunch today down at Freighthouse Square - Greek yogurt and a gyro. Walking out, I stopped at one of my favorite stores, A British Affaire.

Not only didn't they have what I was looking for, but the man behind the counter informed me the store would close by the end of the month. He handed me an information sheet.

Closing Feb. 29. Online sales will continue at wwww.abritishaffaire.com. Fixtures and cabinets for sale: call 253-906-3388 for more information.

Now if somebody could just tell me where I can get McVitie's Digestive Biscuits here in Tacoma, I'll feel better.

Amazon.com seems to be catching the eye of some consumers with its diamond store.

The Seattle company said today that diamond sales increased more than 100 percent in fourth quarter 2007 compared with fourth quarter 2006. (Of course, we don't know how many diamonds were actually sold. A jump from 100 to 200 would equal 100 percent.)

Here's what Peter Lai, head of the Jewelry & Watches store had to say: "We’re very excited about the growth in our Jewelry store. Not only are our customers choosing to purchase shoes, electronics and beauty items from Amazon.com, but they are also choosing to make, at times, very personal purchasing decisions with us, such as diamonds, and we take that very seriously."

When the beverage cart rolls down the aisles on Alaska and Horizon airlines flights beginning April 1, Cokes and Sprites won't be among the offerings.

The two SeaTac-based airlines instead have allied with another Puget Sound-based business, Seattle's Jones Soda Co., to offer its line of carbonated sodas.

The complimentary drinks available will include Jones Pure Cane Cola, Sugar-free Cola, Lemon-Lime and Sugar-free Cream Soda beverages, the airlines said.

The deal with Alaska and Horizon is another mass distribution coup for Jones.

The company last year became the official soft drink at Qwest Field when the Seahawks are playing. Qwest is the only major football stadium featuring a carbonated drink other than Coke or Pepsi.

Alaska and Horizon are tweaking their food and snack choices to give them a little healthier and edgier feel. Alaska Monday announced a new line-up of first class snacks that contain no trans-fats or other unhealthful ingredients. Among the additions to Alaska's food repertoire were Tacoma-made Brown & Haley Mocha Roca and Almond Roca.

The Jones Soda health claim to fame is that it is the only nationally distributed soda that uses cane sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup, as a sweetener.

Besides the usual choices of flavors, the airlines were silent on what flavors they intend to offer "periodically" in the language of their news release.

Jones is noted for conjuring up some notable flavors including "Turkey and Gravy" and Green Bean Casserole" at Thanksgiving.

British and American accident investigators are narrowing their search for the culprit in last month's non-fatal crash of a British Airways Boeing 777 at London's Heathrow Airport.

That plane, inbound from Beijing, landed on a grassy area short of the runway when its twin engines failed to respond to the pilots' command for more thrust.

According to aerospace sources, the investigators are considering whether a slush of ice crystals clogged the fuel lines just as the plane was about to land, starving the engines of fuel.

According to the Wall Street Journal, both United and American airlines are reviewing their procedures to ensure that fuel contaminated with water isn't loaded onto their aircraft.

If aerospace analysts and pundits were deciding, Boeing would already have one of the biggest military contracts of the 21st century in the bag already.

They're saying that given Boeing's home country advantage over its rival, Northrop Grumman and Europe's EADS, the Air Force will give the $40 billion contract for new aerial tankers to Boeing as early as late next week.

Boeing is proposing a version of its 767 commercial airliner. EADS and Northrop Grumman are offering a tankerized Airbus A330 twin-engine commercial jet.

Boeing KC-767 refueling an F-22

The Boeing tanker would be assembled in Everett. The EADS tanker would be put together in a new plant in Mobile, Ala.

Boeing's offering is smaller and an older design than the A330, but Boeing says its what the Air Force specified when it drew up its want list.

Airbus says the A330 uses newer technology, offers greater cargo-carrying capability when it's not carrying fuel and is more fuel efficient for its size.

In this election season, however, don't bet against Boeing.

The company has been on country-wide roadshow touting the 767 tanker's benefits not only to the Air Force but to local communities where making pieces of the plane creates jobs.

Airbus notes that large parts of the 767 are made overseas in Italy and Japan.

EADS has upped the ante by saying it will build commercial freighter versions of the A330 in Mobile if it gets the contract.

The initial deal will be for 179 tankers, but the ultimate market could include more replacement aircraft for the Air Force's 30-some-year-old tankers and for foreign air forces. In the end, the tanker deal could mean $125 billion in new business for the winner.

By the way, forget a face-saving split deal. The Air Force says it doesn't want the hassle of dealing with two different planes doing the same job.

Candy from Tacoma's Brown & Haley will be part of Alaska Airlines' upgraded first-class snacks beginning this week.

The airline will serve the company's Mocha Roca candy as part of its "morning basket" snack service on West Coast and Alaska flights of one to three hours.

Brown & Haley's Almond Roca will be be part of a "daytime basket" snack served after 10:30 a.m.

The airline said the new baskets will be more healthful than the previously offered first class snacks of nuts, cookies or a cheese plate. The new offerings will be free of transfats, high fructose corn syrup and MSG.

The morning basket will include Sweet Perry Orchards pears in pear juice, Copper Cowbell white cheddar cheese slices, Emergen-C energy drink mix, Emerald Deluxe mixed nuts, Mocha Roca and Barry's Bakery cinnamon pastry twists.

The daytime basket will include Regenie's pita chips, Wild Garden hummus, Brother's fuji apple crisps, Emergen-C energy drink mix, Almond Roca and Mrs. May's cranberry trio bars.

The Indonesian press is reporting that national airline Garuda Indonesia is close to ordering 10 777s from Boeing.

Such an order may be formally announced later this month at the Singapore Air Show.

The orders could put Garuda back into the international flight business again in a big way. The 777s have the range to reach either North America or Europe from Indonesia.

For those keeping score, Airbus has opened a wide lead over Boeing in the first month of the year.

The European manufacturer reports orders for 238 planes in January compared with Boeing's 65.

I suspect Airbus had hoped to finalize most of those orders last year, putting it ahead of Boeing in the stretch to the wire for 2007, but it didn't happen and Boeing finished the year the order leader.

Airbus' orders came from China where the central purchasing agency signed for 110 single-aisle planes in the A320 family and from Ireland where AWAS, an aircraft lease company ordered 75 A320s.

Don't expect this pace to continue the rest of the year. Both Boeing and Airbus say orders will likely to slow to 600-700 each this year after three record-setting years with more than 1,000 planes order from each.

The Port of Tacoma is now one of Tacoma Power's largest purchasers of green power, the city utility reported today.

The port recently made a $700 monthly commitment to Tacoma Power's EverGreen Options program, which supports the development of new wind generation projects in Washington and Oregon.

“One of our biggest challenges in coming years will be meeting goals for increasing renewable energy resources. The Port’s participation in this program is a positive step toward those goals,” said Tacoma Power Superintendent Gary Armfield.

Port Executive Director Tim Farrell said investing in cleaner energy makes sense.

"The Port’s environmental leadership has brought cleaner fuels to port docks and now cleaner power to our cranes," he said.

In case you are curious Unico Properties is Tacoma Power's largest purchaser of green power.

The Seattle-based real estate company owns seven million square feet of properties in the western United States, including the Wells Fargo Plaza and Allenmore hospital buildings B and C.

Unico starting buying Tacoma Power's green power last year, spending about $1,100 per month for 1.1 million kilowatt-hours.

A football-field-sized floating marina built in Tacoma is approaching its destination at Union in the Hood Canal this afternoon after a two-day tow from the Thea Foss Waterway.

New dock heads out of the Foss Waterway Saturday

The dock, built by Tacoma's Marine Floats, was originally scheduled to leave the waterway at mid week last week, but blustery winds kept the dock from venturing out into more open waters.

The dock is part of the redevelopment of an existing marina at Union, said Brian McGinnis, the marina developer.

The new facilities will make the southern end of Hood Canal more accessible to power boats because it will include a fueling station, he said.

The southern part of the canal has been without fueling facilities since the three marine filling stations there closed for various environmental and economic reasons.

The new dock will be much more rugged and environmentally friendly than the older docks that once served the area. The floats that support the docks are sealed, and the decks are made of composite materials that don't rot or leach toxic materials into the water.

The new marina facilities will be near the Alderbrook Resort, which was also redeveloped by McGinnis

The journey thus far has been smooth except for some rough water at the northern end of the canal, said Marine Floats president Wendell Stroud.

A piledriver is awaiting the dock's arrival to drive the metal pilings that will secure it in place. The marina developer has until Friday to get those pilings in place before the "fish window" closes to protect juvenile salmon.

Farecast.com, the Seattle-based Internet travel information provider, has added international destinations to its repertoire of cities where it monitors and predicts airline prices.

The selection of city pairs is somewhat limited at first, but Farecast promises to add more as time goes on.

A variety of European and Canadian destinations are available when you select Seattle as your originating airport.

Farecast, for instance, shows that airfares from Seattle to London and return vary from $563 to $695 dollars during the next two months.

Farecast's service helps you decide whether to grab a fare now or to wait for a better opportunity. The information allows a potential traveler to save money by adjusting their travel dates to days with lower airfares.

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo Inc. spurned Microsoft Corp.'s $44.6 billion takeover bid as inadequate Monday, betting that it can elicit a higher offer from the world's largest software maker or find another way to deliver a comparable payoff to its shareholders.

The rebuff by the slumping Internet pioneer had been widely anticipated after word of Yahoo's intention was leaked during the weekend.

In its formal response, Yahoo said its board had concluded Microsoft's unsolicited offer "substantially undervalues" the Sunnyvale-based company.

Yahoo indicated it could be lured to the negotiating table if Microsoft ups the ante, without mentioning the price it has in mind.

"The board of directors is continually evaluating all of its strategic options in the context of the rapidly evolving industry environment and we remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value for all stockholders," Yahoo said in a statement.

Investors appeared confident that Microsoft wants Yahoo badly enough to raise the stakes. Yahoo shares rose 25 cents to $29.45 in Monday's morning trading while Microsoft shares fell 48 cents to $28.08.

Yahoo's stock price had dropped by more than 40 percent in the three months leading to Microsoft's bid, valued at $31 per share when it was announced Feb. 1. The offer was 62 percent above Yahoo's market value at the time.

Many analysts believe Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft will eventually raise its bid to $35 to $40 per share, sweetening the pot by $5 billion to $12 billion in an effort to negotiate an amicable sale.

Microsoft was prepared to pay at least $40 per share for Yahoo a year ago, according to a person familiar with the talks between the two companies a year ago. Yahoo wasn't interested then because it was confident in its own strategy, said the person, who didn't want to be identified because Microsoft's 2007 offer was never publicly disclosed.

But a higher bid now could hurt Microsoft's own stock price, which has been slipping amid concerns that a Yahoo takeover could be more trouble than its worth. Microsoft's market value has plunged by more than $40 billion, or 14 percent, since the bid was made public.

Microsoft representatives didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Monday morning.

=> Read more!

Three internationally focused companies and a Port of Tacoma commissioner who helped spur trade were honored Thursday night at the World Trade Center Tacoma's Globe Awards dinner.

Some 400 business and government leaders heard the prize recipients lauded at the dinner auction at the Hotel Murano Bicentennial Pavilion.

The honorees were:

Russell Investments - Port of Tacoma Vitality Award

This 72-year-old, internationally known, Tacoma-based investment advisory company has expanded its reach around the world with offices in 14 countries. Russell employs more than 1,000 workers in Pierce County and has contributed generously to local endeavors. It serves 2,800 institutional clients and has $2 trillion in assets under advisement.

BabyLegs -- World Trade Center Marco Polo Award

This two-year-old Seattle company has expanded aggressively overseas with two Chinese production factories and 25 distributors around the world. BabyLegs, child-oriented leg warmers, are sold in 50 countries on five continents.

Jack Fabulich -- George Francis Train International Business Commemorative.

Fabuluch, who served on Port of Tacoma Commission for more than three decades, helped govern the port during an era of tremendous growth. In 1976, the port handled some 85,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units containers. Last year, the more than two million TEUs crossed the port's docks. Fabulich's leadership helped triple the number of family-wage jobs created by port industries and trade, the port said.

Sunstream Boat Lifts -- 2008 Globe Award

Sunstream's business was born when a former Boeing engineer, tired of the complication and unreliability of most boat lifts, fashioned an hydraulic lift from parts he bought at Boeing's surplus store. His neighbors asked him to build them lifts, and he discovered an untapped demand for reliable, quick boat-lifting equipment. Kent-based Sunstream's lifts are now sold in 18 countries and total foreign sales have increased to 14 percent of the company's business.

Keynote speaker Scott Carson, president of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, told the dinner crowd that Boeing depends heavily on the 30,000 Boeing employees living in the South Sound to ensure the company's continued prosperity.

And international trade plays a key role too in the company's business.

Of the 856 787 Dreamliners airlines have ordered, for instance, only 34 have been ordered by domestic legacy airlines.

Boeing employs some 1,700 workers in its Pierce County plant at Frederickson where they produce tails for the 777 and 787 and wings for the 777, he said.

Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest Internet retailer, posted its biggest two-day gain since November in Nasdaq trading after saying it plans to buy back as much as $1 billion of stock in the next two years.

Amazon.com, based in Seattle, jumped $2.02, or 2.9 percent, to $72.93 at 12:14 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. In the past two days, the shares have risen 6.7 percent, the largest advance since Nov. 27-28.

The buyback is the biggest authorization since Amazon.com’s 1997 initial public offering and amounts to 3.3 percent of its outstanding stock. The repurchase comes after the shares declined 23 percent this year before today, Bloomberg News reports.

Amazon.com’s stock more than doubled in 2007, reaching a high of $101.09 on Oct. 23. The buyback shows Amazon.com management thinks the shares are undervalued at its current price, said Scott Tilghman, an analyst at Soleil Securities Corp.

“It certainly sends a very bullish signal as it pertains to their stock-price expectations near-term and longer-term,” Tilghman, based in Baltimore, said today in an interview. He recommends investors buy the shares and doesn’t own any.

The Internal Revenue Service is extending a free service to Pierce County taxpayers in need of assistance in completing their 2007 tax returns.

The IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center in Tacoma will expand service to taxpayers eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit by opening for the next two Saturdays – at 1201 Pacific Ave. from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

In addition to helping taxpayers who may be eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, the extra days and hours are being added to the Tacoma IRS office to help taxpayers – with total income of $40,000 or less – prepare their returns.

EITC is a refundable credit which can result in a refund of more than $4,700 for eligible taxpayers. Those with incomes of $39,783 or less may be eligible to claim this credit, depending on their filing status.

For more information, visit www.irs.gov.

Cliff Rubert has been appointed executive vice
president of Lakewood-based Northwest Commercial Bank. Kurt Graff, NCB president and CEO, said Rubert will continue serving the bank as chief lending officer.

The bank will open a full service branch in Auburn early in April, Graff said this week, and is planning to open another branch on Puyallup’s South Hill in 2009.

Graff pointed out that with the planned expansion, the bank’s board of directors felt there was a need to create the new executive post.

Rubert joined NCB in 2004 after spending
more than 25 years in banking, primarily in Pierce County. His positions have included commercial lending officer and branch manager.
He grew up in Alaska and attended the University of Alaska-Anchorage. He left there to accept his first banking job at the First
National Bank of Nevada.

Rubert and wife Renee have made their home in Puyallup for more than 20 years. They have two grown sons. Rubert serves on the board of Greater Lakes Mental Health in Lakewood and is a member of the Rotary Club of Lakewood.

The hotel occupancy rate for rooms in Pierce County fell 7.7 percent in December compared to the same month in 2006. In December, 55.3 percent of rooms were occupied. The state average also fell, down 5.7 percent, reflecting declines in every region in the state.

Downtown Seattle led the slide, with occupancies falling 10.8 percent, according to Bellevue hospitality consultant Wolfgang Rood.

The average daily room rate in the Tacoma area, $80.02, was up 16.7 percent from December, 2006. The statewide rate, $113.94, rose 3.4 percent.

The state’s lowest regional daily rate – $60.71 in Southwest Washington – was also the only rate that fell in December, down 1.2 percent. The state’s highest – $141.49 in downtown Seattle – rose 1.2 perent over the year.

Overall for 2007, the occupancy rate in Pierce County was down by 0.7 percent to 70.7 percent, Rood reported. Statewide, the annual rate rose 1.3 percent from 2006, marking 73.1 percent.

You might have guessed lumber. Apples. Fish. Maybe even lentils.

It’s wine. Washington is the country’s second largest producer of premium wine. The state’s wine, grape and grape juice industries contribute $3 billion annually to the state’s economy and more than $4.7 billion annually to the U.S. economy, according to a new study – “Economic Impact of Washington Grapes and Wine” – commissioned by the Washington Wine Commission and the Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers.

The study illustrates “that Washington wine is a marquee industry for the state,” said Robin Pollard, executive director of the Washington Wine Commission.

Among the key findings of the study:

• Employment: 19,000 jobs across the state with a payroll of nearly $579 million; nationwide the number jumps to 29,000 and $850 million. These figures represent a significant increase from 11,000 jobs and wages of $350 million in 1999.
• Taxes: The wine, grape and grape juice products sectors paid over $145.1 million in state and local taxes. These sectors were also responsible for an additional $268.7 million in federal taxes and $57.5 million in taxes in other states.
• Winery Revenues: The number of wineries has increased from 160 in 1999 to 534 in 2006. Winery revenues have increased 51 percent from $289 million in 1999 to $436 million in 2006.
• Tourism: Wine-related tourism expenditures increased 1,157 percent over 1999 reaching $237.6 million for 2006, a 165.3 percent increase per year. The number of wine-related tourists in Washington increased from 350,000 in 1999 to 1.7 million in 2006.
• Agriculture: The number of grape farm entities increased 30 percent reaching 325 in 2006with 57,000 grape bearing acres, a $144 million farm gate grape value and a$463 million value for grape juice production.

SeaTac's Alaska and Horizon airlines, the Web pioneers who first brought you on-line reservations and check-in, are adding a new feature to their Web site, a virtual customer service agent named Jenn.

Jenn, who lives in the upper right hand corner of the site, is designed to provide travelers with verbal and written answers to commonly-asked questions about air travel on the two airlines.

Want to know the Saturday schedule between Sea-Tac and LAX? Jenn will provide the information.

Are you curious about how many bags you can check and how big they can be? Jenn has the answer.

"We're always on the lookout for new capabilities that will make our Web site easier to use," said Ann Ardizzone, Alaska's managing director of customer experience.
"Jenn was the answer."

The airline wanted to enhance the search capabilities on its site. The natural language interpretative ability developed by Spokane's Next IT provided that capability, Ardizzone said.

Alaska manager debated whether the avatar or virtual customer service agent should be a man or woman and what its style should be.

"The feeling was pretty strong that the avatar should be female," she said. "Then we decided on every aspect of her personality from her hairstyle to her voice."

"We wanted her to be modern yet relaxed and helpful," Ardizzone said. Thus Jenn was born.

An impromptu test showed Jenn was able to answer about 80 percent of a reporter's questions correctly. Jenn failed, however, on questions about how to earn double miles in the airlines' frequent flier program and how to change the name on a ticket.

If Jenn proves successful, the avatar could reduce the call volume to Alaska's customer service center by about 10 to 15 percent, said the airline.

Unlike some unsuccessful avatars such as Microsoft's Clippy and its infamous Bob, Jenn doesn't make unscheduled appearances while you're making a reservation. She only appears when you ask for her help.

Several local businesses and government agencies are set to take part in this Saturday's South Sound Sustainability Expo at the University of Washington Tacoma.

Free and open to the public, the Expo is a chance to learn about sustainable services and products in the Tacoma area.

Exhibitors include the Northwest Biodiesel Network, City of Tacoma, Best Loved Baby, MC Construction Consultants, Washington State Parks, Tacoma Food Cooperative and the U.S. Green Building Council.

There will also be an array of speakers from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Topics include organic farming, community gardens and low-impact development.

Sunday is dedicated to discussing sustainability on college campuses.

The high cost of operating big fleets of fuel-inefficient aircraft may force United States airlines to order new fuel-sipping aircraft this year, the president of Boeing's commercial aircraft division predicted today.

Scott Carson told financial analysts at a New York conference that big American airlines may no longer be able to hold out for a new generation aircraft and will order Boeing's 737 instead.

U.S. airlines are operating more than 500 aging MD-80 aircraft, Carson said. With oil prices approaching $90 a barrel, those aircraft are costing those airlines dearly.

Those airlines had hoped to skip the current generation of single-aisle aircraft and order the next generation, said Carson. But that new generation is unlikely to debut until at least 2015 or even later.

The technology to cut fuel use by 15 or 20 percent more may not exist until then, he said.

Boeing is now producing about 30 737s a month and may expand that production if Boeing's suppliers can keep up with the expanded demand, Carson said.

Meanwhile, the Boeing executive said, the company continues to believe that its new schedule for the first flight of the 787 Dreamliner is achievable.

The company now expects to fly the twin-aisle plane for the first time in June, some 10 months later than Boeing had originally planned.

The extra time in assembly is allowing Boeing engineers and pilots to work out any glitches in the plane's flight control software, he said.

Pilots are now flying the eighth generation of that software in flight simulators.

Carson also predicted that Boeing's other big developmental project, a new generation of the venerable 747, is proceeding on schedule.

The freighter version of the 747-8 is expected to roll out early next year. The passenger version will debut about a year later.

Tacoma Rail Superintendent Paula Henry will leave the city-owned railroad to serve as a senior executive-at-large for a private railroad company.

Henry’s last day at Tacoma Rail will be March 31.

Henry has been Tacoma Rail’s superintendent since 2005, but has served a 23-year career with the City of Tacoma, with 10 of those years at Rail.

“This is a huge career move for me and a very personal decision,” Henry said in a news release. “In the rail industry, executive positions just don’t become available often. For me, it’s pretty much now or never.”

Tacoma Rail Assistant Superintendent Alan Hardy will serve as interim superintendent upon Henry’s departure.

Hardy has worked at Tacoma Rail for nearly four years and has 34 years of experience in the rail industry as both a manager and road master.

“I look forward to leading Tacoma Rail because of the solid foundation that Paula has built,” said Hardy. “I will do what I can to make the transition in leadership seamless for the utility and its customers.”

Henry will relocate out of state to begin her new position.

Anyone driving by Westfield Southcenter can see lots of construction. The mall announced today some of the new restaurants that will open there. I've included some descriptions from the company Web sites:

Joeys: "Big tastes shine through new world cuisine and a charged atmosphere melds with hip comfort."
Duke’s Chowder House: :A casual, comfortable place to eat."
Blue C Sushi: "Japanese inspired dishes that raise the quality bar for conveyor belt sushi."
Racha Thai & Asian Bistro: No description on the site
BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse: "A high energy, casual dining restaurant that offers quality food and handcrafted beer."

The new restaurant collection, which will open this summer, will be located in an outdoor promenade under the new 90-foot glass façade entry, according to the mall.

Tacoma architecture, design and planning firm BCRA is expanding to Seattle.

The firm said today it has opened a new office overlooking the Pike Place Market.

BCRA President Jeffrey Brown said BCRA is well-suited to meet the demand for creative, sustainable and livable design work in King County.

BCRA, which has 160 employees, has an office in Virginia and satellite studio capabilities in Wenatchee, Arizona and Texas. The company's headquarters are in Tacoma.

If you must say anything about Delta's flight 7758 from Los Angeles to Seattle, you'll have to praise it for its consistency.

That flight, operated for Delta by ExpressJet Airlines, was 100 percent in December. One hundred percent late.

That dubious distinction won it the honors as the most consistently late flight in the U.S. in December. The flight was an average of 57 minutes late arriving at Sea-Tac airport during December. Never once did it arrive within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival time.

Delta 7758 barely beat another ExpressJet-operated flight for bottom honors. Number two of the federal Department of Transporation's list was Delta flight 7824 from Los Angeles to Spokane. That flight too was 100 percent tardy in December, said the DOT. It took second place only because its average delay, 56 minutes, was a minute less than Delta 7758.

The DOT's year-end Air Travel Consumer Report also revealed other fascinating facts:

* Alaska Airlines, whose on-time performance has been sub-par most of the year, finished 2007 with a relatively good performance. The SeaTac-based carrier finished sixth in on-time performance in December among the 20 U.S. carriers the DOT tracks. Its on-time record of 71.1 percent was significantly better than the 20-airline average for December of 64.3 percent on-time.

=> Read more!

Word today out of Macy's is that it is consolidating its Seattle office into its San Francisco-based Macy's West. About 750 jobs in Seattle will be affected.

The department store operator said it will cut about 2,300 management jobs as it consolidates three regional divisions and decentralizes buying in a bid to reduce costs and boost sales, according to The Associated Press.

The Cincinnati-based retailer said it will immediately begin consolidating its Minneapolis-based Macy's North headquarters into its New York-based Macy’s East, its St. Louis-based Macy's Midwest organization into its Atlanta-based Macy’s South and its Seattle-based Macy's Northwest headquarters into its San Francisco-based Macy's West.

=> Read more!

Passenger traffic grews faster than capacity at both Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air in January, the airlines report.

Alaska and Horizon are both owned by SeaTac-based Alaska Air Group.

Alaska Airlines' January traffic increased 9.9 percent to 1.411 billion revenue passenger miles while the airline's capacity was 6.2 percent greater than in January of 2007, the airline reported. A revenue passenger mile is one mile flown by a paying passenger.

That increase of passenger traffic over capacity meant that Alaska's planes operated closer to capacity than in January 2007. On average 68.9 percent of seats were filled with fare-paying passengers last month compared with 66.5 percent a year ago.

Horizon Air, Alaska's regional affiliate, saw traffic increase 7.2 percent in January while capacity rose 4.9 percent. That increased the passenger load factor (the percentage of seats filled by paying passengers) to 64.7 percent compared with 63.3 percent in January 2007.

Two Russell Investment executives have been promoted to new positions in the Tacoma-based global money management company.

Peter Gunning is leaving his position in Sydney where he has served as Asia-Pacific chief investment officer for five years to become global chief investment officer and managing director of multi-manager investments at Russell Investments. His promotion is effective Feb. 15.

Gunning joined Russell in 1996 in Sydney. Most recently, he was responsible for the oversight of investment research in Asia and the South Pacific.

Gunning

Tom Hanly, the executive now chief global investment officer, will become Russell's chief operating officer. Both men will report to Russell chief executive officer Craig Ueland.

The News Tribune's state government reporter Joe Turner just posted this bit about Simpson on The Politics Buzz:

The House Finance Committee this morning held a hearing on a bill that would extend the same tax exemption now enjoyed by wind and solar power operations to biomass plants.

House Bill 3116, sponsored by House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, also would extend the sales tax exemption to 2014. Otherwise, it expires in 2009.

Don Johnson, vice president and general manager of Tacoma Simpson Kraft for about seven more weeks, said the bill puts the co-generation plant they've got in the works on Tacoma Tideflats on equal footing with the solar- and wind-powered generating machinery that also use renewable energy sources.

The Tacoma plant, which will cost in the $90 million to $100 million range and will produce 43.5 megawatts of electricity each year, should be operational by August 2009, Johnson said.

It will burn beauty bark, stumps from the woods, sawdust, ground-up houses and shavings -- about 230,000 tons a year, Johnson said.

All the machinery and equipment to turn those products into electricity would be exempt from the sales tax.

Johnson, by the way, is leaving Simpson after 37 years. His last day is March 28. He got elected to the Port of Tacoma commission.

This from Bloomberg News:

United States lawmakers said they will examine Microsoft Corp.’s proposed $44.6 billion takeover of Yahoo! Inc. to determine whether the combination would hurt competition and consumer privacy.

The House subcommittee that oversees consumer protection will request a confidential briefing from regulators as part of a broader probe into consolidation in online advertising, the committee’s leaders said today in an e-mailed statement.

Microsoft, the largest software maker, made its unsolicited offer for Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo on Friday, a move to combine the second- and third-biggest Web search providers.

The companies have some of the most popular e-mail and instant messaging programs, and both sell graphical display ads.

Buying Yahoo, the owner of the most-visited group of Web sites in the U.S., would help Redmond-based Microsoft quadruple sales from online advertising.

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Romania's Blue Air Transport Aerian has ordered two Boeing 737-800 aircraft, the airline announced today.

The all-Boeing carrier also acquired purchase rights for two more of the aircraft.

The order is valued at $150 million at list prices.

Sea-Tac gained another overseas destination today when China's Hainan Airlines announced a new Seattle-Beijing service.

The four-times-weekly service will begin operating on June 9 with an Airbus A330. Hainan, China's largest privately held carrier, said it would use a Boeing 787 on the route when its aircraft are delivered by Boeing.

Sea-Tac and the state have been seeking a non-stop connection to China for years.

China is Washington's number one trading partner.

The flight will take 11.5 hours westbound and 10.5 hours eastbound because of prevailing winds. Flights will leave Seattle on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

The Seattle route is the first North American destination for Hainan.

In the last year, Sea-Tac has added several new foreign non-stop destinations to its route map. Air France began non-stop service to Paris. Aeromexico initiated service to Mexico City. Northwest will begin non-stop service to London to compete with existing service from British Airways, and Lufthansa will start service to Frankfurt later this year.

The developers of a proposed 160-room hotel on the site of the old Columbia-Heidelberg Brewery say they're redesigning the hotel after the hotel's preliminary design failed to impress historic preservationists on a city board.

Han Kim, principal at Seattle's Hotel Concepts, said he's hired Albany, Ore., architect Don Johnson to modify the initial design to make it more compatible with the nearby Union Station Historic District.

A Hilton Garden Inn in Corvallis, Ore., architect Don Johnson clad with brick to blend in with the Oregon State University campus buildings nearby.

Members of Tacoma's Landmarks Preservation Commission were critical of initial drawings Hotel Concepts presented at the commission's December meetings. Kim then said those drawings were meant to give a rough idea of how the eight-story building might appear.

Commission members told Kim those drawings looked too much like a suburban freeway hotel.

Kim said the new design, which he hopes to submit to the commission by the end of this month will likely incorporate a brick facade like the one on the Silver Cloud Hotel near Safeco Field in Seattle.

But incorporating the old brewery's water tower into the design, as some preservationists had suggested, has proven to be too expensive, he said.

Kim's group owns the northern two-thirds of the brewery block at 2120 S. C St. He would demolish a hodgepodge of old brewery buildings to create the new hotel.

The brewery produced its last bottle of beer in the '70s and has been used only for warehousing since then.

The hotel developers say the hotel they want to build will be a modestly priced Holiday Inn Express with rates of about $120 a night.

Two Tacoma companies ranked among the Top 10 best performing, most efficient health systems in the United States.

Franciscan Health System came in at No. 6 on the Top 100 Integrated Health Networks compiled by Verispan. The company was No. 8 last year. This is the fifth consecutive year that Franciscan has been on the list.

What does the company say about the rank?

From the company's news release: "Franciscan is renowned for its continuous effort to efficiently provide care and for its investments in technology to further enhance care. St. Joseph Medical Center, for example, is the first hospital to bring Gamma Knife technology for minimally invasive brain surgery to the South Puget Sound.”

MultiCare Health System was No. 8, rising from No. 56 in 2007. This is the sixth consecutive year MultiCare has ranked in the Top 100.

How did MultiCare jump so far this year?

From the company's news release: This week’s edition of Modern Healthcare magazine, which listed the rankings, says MultiCare’s strong financial performance, new electronic health record and integration with Good Samaritan Community Health Care were key factors in the higher ranking.

ProMedica Health System in Toledo, Ohio, is rated No. 1 by Verispan.

The details about the rankings:
Verispan has ranked health care networks for the past eight years based on their financial and clinical performance and degree of integration. Verispan rates each system on several categories designed to measure success, including financial stability, integration, technology and hospital utilization. Ratings are based on critical success factors determined by Verispan.

United Airlines will charge an extra $25 to passengers who check a second bag beginning May 5.

Members of United's frequent flier program who have achieved "premier" status or a comparable level in the frequent flier programs of United's Star Alliance Partners won't be charged for the extra luggage.

The move is expected to generate an additional $100 million in revenue and savings for United.

About a quarter of United passengers check a second bag, said a United spokesman.

United follows the example of low-cost carriers in Europe and Skybus in the U.S. who charge extra for all checked baggage.

Tell us how this news will affect you traveling behavior. Will you pack lighter? Carry bags aboard? Get a bigger suitcase? Or avoid United?

North River Boats Inc. is moving all of its aluminum boat-building business from its Tacoma site on Puyallup Avenue to its Roseburg, Ore. plant.

The company, which bought the former Almar Boats Inc. business in 2001, said the scarcity and high costs of skilled labor in Tacoma and the limited size of the Tacoma facility were the motivation behind the move.

Twenty persons worked at North River's Tacoma facility, said North River Boats marketing coordinator Amy McKillop.

Four of those workers will be retained as consultants who will travel to Roseburg from time to time to help with the manufacturing transition. The remaining 16 have been laid off.

North River produced aluminum boats ranging from 24 feet to 45 feet long in Tacoma. Many of those boats were used in government patrol operations. North River produces recreational boats from 16 to 24 feet long in Oregon.

Brian Bush, North River owner, said closing the Tacoma operation was one that the company had planned since the acquisition.

"As North River continues to grow its commercial and government business, it was important to move all production into one location, and Roseburg was the best fit," he said.

RealNetworks Inc., owner of the Rhapsody online music service, rose as much as 11 percent on the Nasdaq after Yahoo! Inc. said it would shut a rival service and transfer subscribers to Rhapsody, Bloomberg News reports.

Rhapsody will become Yahoo’s exclusive on-demand music service, the companies said today in a statement. Yahoo will move clients of its Music Unlimited service to Rhapsody over the next few months, they said.

Yahoo, the Internet company that is considering a $44.6 billion takeover bid from Microsoft Corp., said it will also collaborate with Rhapsody on other digital services, such as music downloads. Rhapsody is co-owned by Viacom Inc.’s MTV unit.

RealNetworks, based in Seattle, jumped 29 cents to $6.24 at 9:31 p.m., after rising as high as $6.58, the most since Oct. 31. The stock had dropped 2.3 percent this year before today.

Yahoo also said it bought FoxyTunes, the developer of a tool that allows users to control desktop and online music players. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

The Pacific Northwest's newest aircraft manufacturer, Sandpoint, Idaho's Quest Aircraft, has delivered its first two Kodiak aircraft to two customers.

The Kodiak is a single-engine turboprop, 10-passenger aircraft designed for rugged backcountry conditions. The company claims the Kodiak will serve the same kinds of markets as the classic De Havilland Beaver and Otter aircraft. Those aircraft, used frequently in float plane configurations, have been out of production for years.

The first operator of the Kodiak is Sprint Air which plans to use the aircraft in Alaska and Idaho.

The second operator is Spokane Turbine Center. The company will provide maintenance and flight training for non-profit organizations using the Kodiak.

The Kodiak is a short takeoff and landing aircraft that can land on short, primative fields in undeveloped countries. The aircraft will likely find a significant market among humanitarian organizations.

Former Alaska Airlines Chairman Bruce Kennedy was a founder of Quest, playing a significant role in its development. Kennedy died in a plane crash last June 29 in Cashmere.

Hawaiian Airlines' on-again, off-again deal with Boeing rival Airbus to buy a new fleet of long-haul planes is on again.

The Honolulu-based carrier, now all-Boeing, announced today that it has signed a purchase agreement to acquire six Airbus A330-200 and six Airbus A350XWB aircraft and options on a like number of each aircraft.

Hawaiian had first announced its intent to order those wide-bodied aircraft from Airbus in November but recently said it might not carry through because it couldn't reach agreement with its pilots' and cabin attendant unions regarding the new planes.

The airline today said it has reached those agreements and has proceeded with the order, worth $4.4 billion if all options are exercised.

Hawaiian will gradually replace its fleet of 18 Boeing 767-300ER aircraft with the Airbus planes begining in 2009.

The A330 is a newer design than Boeing's 767, and the A350XWB is Airbus' belated answer to Boeing's popular 787.

Hawaiian flies from Sea-Tac to Honolulu and Maui.

Tacoma Guitars is leaving Tacoma.

The 44,000-sq.-ft. plant in Frederickson will be closed by the end of the year, and 70 employees are being given assistance, said Jason Padgitt, spokesman for Fender Guitars, this afternoon.

Fender is the latest owner of the brand. The move, Padgitt said, is being made because of economies of scale with other Fender brands. Manufacturing will move to Connecticut.

"It certianly wasn’t anything anyone looked at as an easy decision," Padgitt said. "It had to do with the long-term success of the brands overall."

I spoke late yesterday with Ferdinand Boyce, who managed the Tacoma facility during its most productive years, when the employee count hit 96. He said he was surprised at the news the plant was closing.

"I think the view of management of how to attack the marketplace moved away from the heart and soul of music," he said. "Fender’s commitment obviously is to make money."

This has become a familiar strain from Weyerhaeuser Co.: The Federal Way company said today it is considering selling its commercial construction sales business.

“We are positioning our Wood Products business to grow in areas that present the greatest opportunities for our shareholders and employees,” said Lee Alford, senior vice president – Residential Wood Products. “The decision to proceed with a strategic alternatives review is driven by our desire and need to focus n our core strategies in the residential structural frame market. Our goal during this review is to ensure that the Commercial Business is optimized for long-term growth.”

From the company's press release:

The business includes three manufacturing plants across the United States and operates 13 design and sales offices. Approximately 320 employees concentrated in the Northwest, Southwest and East serve the business.

The Commercial Business has served customers for the past 45 years by designing and delivering unique wood-based building solutions, including engineered lumber products and services, to the commercial building contractor.

Weyerhaeuser has been battling slumping sales and falling prices for many of its core products. The company has sold or closed many mills and operations around the country including several in Western Washington.

Microsoft Corp. has pounced on slumping Internet icon Yahoo Inc. with an unsolicited takeover offer of $44.6 billion in its boldest bid yet to challenge Google Inc.'s dominance of the lucrative online search and advertising markets, The Associated Press reports.

The surprise offer of $31 per share, made late Thursday and announced today, comes with Sunnyvale-based Yahoo in a vulnerable position.

In a statement Friday, Yahoo said it will "carefully and promptly" study Microsoft's bid.

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