The Employment Security Department is working to improve the employment chances of people with criminal backgrounds.

The department is offering employers who hire offenders free fidelity bonds to protect their businesses against employee theft, forgery or embezzlement. The amount of insurance coverage can range from $5,000 to $25,000 per worker, depending on the job.

“Finding a good job is one of the biggest obstacles facing people with a conviction history,” said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee. “Fidelity bonds can help open employment doors for qualified offenders and prevent them from slipping back to crime.”

The bonds are issued only to individuals who cannot qualify for a regular bond. The department issued bonds to 148 clients providing some $850,000 worth of insurance coverage to Washington businesses.

The types of work bonded last year included property management, janitorial services, landscaping, food service and housekeeping.

The department reports that no insurance claims have ever been filed against a fidelity bond since the program was implemented in 1999.

And the fidelity bonds are also available for other high-risk job seekers, including individuals with bad credit, a history of drug use or little work experience. In addition, businesses that hire offenders may qualify for special federal tax credits.

To learn more about the fidelity bonds or about identifying qualified job candidates, employers should visit their local WorkSource office or call 800-669-9271.

The price of coffee is on the rise – and it could affect your own cuppa Joe depending on what you drink.

Kraft Foods, Inc. the world's second-largest food company, raised Maxwell House and Yuban coffee prices by about 7 percent Tuesday as bean costs climbed.

That's 20 cents more for an 11-ounce to 13-ounce container of the Kraft brand coffees.

You can blame the beans.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the price of coffee itself rose 7.7 percent last year. Now spurred by tight supplies of coffee beans and investors looking for the next commodity run-up, prices are boiling over.

The price of green coffee beans has risen 22 percent since the beginning of the year in trading on ICE Futures U.S., the journal reports.

"The prices go up and down, but it's been on a more upward trend pretty recently," said A.J. Anderson, master roaster and owner of Tacoma-based Vahalla Coffee Company.

His low overhead costs – Anderson is a one-man operation – has helped keep Vahalla's prices to customers steady.

Brad Carpenter, chief executive officer of Pierce County’s Forza Coffee Co., too, has escaped the high cost of beans.

“With 20 stores now, we are able to stay where we’re at,” he said Tuesday. “We’ve have already purchased most of our coffee – we’re four or five years out.”

But Carpenter has noticed “a huge increase” in the cost of milk, up 24 percent last year, and paper products.

“We’ve negotiated a better deal for napkins and cups,” he said.

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Washington lawmakers are making a big deal out of the federal government's snub of Boeing last week.

The latest is Sen. Maria Cantwell who issued the following statement on the Senate floor regarding the Boeing tanker decision:

“Just last Friday we were all stunned and extremely disappointed by the Air Force's decision to award its tanker bid to Airbus/Northrop Grumman. What I think stunned us the most was the Air Force's rationale.

“Boeing worked hard to meet the Air Force requirements for the tanker bid. It picked the 767 as the platform that best matched Air Force requirements. If the Air Force had called for a large tanker, Boeing would have offered a 777 tanker with far more “capacity” than the KC-30.

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Starbucks Coffee Company has a new line of chocolate products inspired by the drinks you buy at the company's coffee shops.

The collection includes: dark, mocha and milk chocolate bars and tasting squares
Tazo Chai, Passion and Citron tea-infused chocolate tasting squares
Caffe Mocha, Chai, Espresso, Caramel Macchiato and Madagascar Vanilla Bean Truffles
Milk Chocolate Covered Caffe Verona Coffee Beans.

About the product: With the help of the experts at Artisan Confections Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hershey Company, chocolatiers have created a portfolio of chocolate that showcases the artistry of the bean-to-bar chocolate-making process and flavor experience of Starbucks.

The line from the company: "Chocolate has always been a special part of the coffeehouse experience," said Wendy Pinero, vice president, consumer products, Starbucks Coffee Company. "We are excited to extend the Starbucks Experience into the world of premium chocolates with the same passion and care as we do our specialty coffees."

The buying details: Now available nationwide, Starbucks Chocolate retails for $2.99 and up and will be sold at grocery, mass retailers, club and drugstores. The Starbucks Chocolate portfolio will not be available in Starbucks stores at this time.

Costco Wholesale Corp. is voluntarily recalling about 10,368 pounds of frozen chicken meals that may be contaminated with potentially fatal listeria germs, according to the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service, Bloomberg News reports.

The recall involves the four-pack of 12-ounce packages of “Discover Cuisine Red Curry Chicken & Jasmine Rice,” according to the agency.

Each package has the Canadian establishment number “Est. 302” inside the Canadian Food Inspection Agency mark of inspection and a “Best By” date of Dec. 12, 2008.

The meals may be contaminated with bacteria that may cause listeriosis, an illness whose symptoms may include high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea, according to the agency. No reports of illness have been linked to this product, the agency said.

The meals were produced Oct. 18 and sent to stores in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah and Washington.

The agency said the problem was discovered during microbiological sampling.

Company spokesman Robert Nelson didn’t immediately return a voice-mail left after hours on his work phone at Costco’s headquarters.