Along with taking in the Economic Development Board luncheon today at the convention center, I took a short stroll to the exhibition hall upstairs with center director David Bobo.

We visited the remodeling show. It's worth a visit this weekend - if only to see what's new among the 270 exhibitors.

Here's what caught my attention: Viscoelastic Tempur-Pedic beds and pillows; Sky Chairs (something akin to a one-man hammock); rubber roofing made from recycled tires; a hot tub with more jets than the Norwegian Air Force.

There's also an array of faucets, gutters, countertops, heaters, windows, tile, furniture and such.

As it turned out, Bobo bought two of "The Web" (an attachment that truly does make a chair comfortable), and I had an interesting conversation with Lena Gunderson, who was selling sheets.

The sign at her booth said the sheets, at $20, were 400-thread-count. (I have no idea what this means, but I'm sure it's important.) She lamented that the company sent a shipment of 600-thread-count sheets instead of 400.

She said she'd just sell them anyway.

The Associated Press is reporting today that Moody’s Investors Service cut Washington Mutual’s credit rating and said the country’s largest savings and loan will need at least $4 billion more than it expected to cover bad mortgages in 2008.

Investors reacted by taking shares down $1.54, or 12.7 percent, to close at $10.59. Bloomberg reports that the stock is down 22.19 percent so far this year, and down 71.97 percent over the past 12 months.

Moody’s said its action reflects a “rapid deterioration” of the housing market, echoing the rationale behind another rate cut by Standard & Poor’s a week ago.

Moody’s also downgraded WaMu’s senior unsecured rating to “Baa3” from “Baa2.” It also cut the bank’s long-term deposit rating to “Baa2” from “Baa1.” The new ratings are still considered investment grade, but reflect moderate credit risk - but another downgrade would put the ratings for the thrift into speculative grade, or “junk,” territory.

Olivia Riley, a WaMu spokeswoman, responded to the AP in an e-mailed statement. “WaMu has several funding sources in addition to the capital markets, including the Federal Home Loan Bank and deposits generated through our retail bank.”

Alaska Air Group bill buy back $50 million worth of Alaska Airlines stock, the airline holding company's board has decided.

The buyback program continue's a $100 million program the airline concluded at the end of February.

The airline's stock closed Friday at $18.04 a share, down 56 cents a share. That price is near the 52-week low of $17.44 a share and less than half of the 52-week high of $40.10

Wall Street has pummeled airline stocks on news of rising fuel prices. Airlines in the meantime, have been raising prices to try to cope with those increasing expenses.

Seattle Inn at the Market owner Bob Thurston is partnering with former Tacoma developer Doug Howe to create a sister hotel across Seattle's First Avenue from his existing property.

The new hotel will be part of a planned 11-story building that will include some 75 apartment units and as much as 15,000 square feet of retail space.

Thurston is the main backer of a proposed boutique hotel and condominium project on Tacoma's Foss Waterway that has exprienced some four years of delays getting started.

Thurston faces a deadline to begin construction on the Foss hotel or risk violating his development agreement with the Thea Foss Waterway Development Authority.

But that deadline has been extended many times by the authority as Thurston has redesigned his planned building on the west side of the Foss to meet changing market conditions.

Does this plan to create a 100-room hotel as part of a multi-purpose building with apartments and retail mean that Thurston's energy is being diverted to other matters?

We've tried to contact Thurston, but haven't connected yet. We'll let you know when we do.

In what's becoming a weekly ritual, United Airlines has initiated a systemwide fare increase of up to $50 a flight on some leisure fares, and Continental Airlines has followed United's lead.

If the fare increases stick, that is if all the major carriers follow United's lead, the fare increase will be the seventh this year.

The fare increases fare widely with the highest increases, $30 and $50, coming in some of the deepest discounted leisure fare categories. The lower fare increases affect business fares, which have already seen a steady stream of hikes.

The increases reflect the airlines' push to recover the burgeoning cost of jet fuel, which is adding billions on extra cost to their bottom lines.

Thanks to all of you who have called and e-mailed already this morning to point out my error in today's column regarding the effort to build a memorial to Allen C. Mason.

The plaza will go up at the corner of North 26th and Adams streets in the Proctor business district, on property occupied by the Wheelock Library. I knew that. For some reason, however, I typed "South" and didn't catch it in the editing process.

My apologies for the error and any confusion caused by it. Please don't let it detract from the main point: a group of dedicated volunteers have banded together to put together an exceptional memorial to one of the great men in Tacoma's history.

Now, as a bonus for those of you reading this mea culpa...Here's an image showing what Mason's Tacoma Star of Destiny advertisement looks like. You won't be able to read the 120 phrases he came up with to praise Tacoma. But it'll give you an idea of what the star looked like. A replica of this star – cast in bronze and five feet across – will be embedded in the ground in the plaza...at North 26th Street.

Allen C. Mason created this promotional star for an 1880s newspaper advertising campaign proclaiming the greatness of Tacoma.

Hotel occupancy in Pierce County fell 4.4 percent in January as compared to January, 2007. For the month, 58.8 percent of rooms were taken. Statewide – with 56.2 percent of rooms occupied – the rate fell 3.4 percent from the year before.

The cost of a room in January in Pierce County, $81.50, rose by the state’s highest level, up 12.9 percent from 2007. Of the state’s nine regions, Pierce County’s rate was the fifth highest, according to Bellevue hospitality consultant Wolfgang Rood.

The statewide rate, $118.88, was up 2.6 percent from the year before. Only the rate in Bellevue, $152.38, fell in January, down 0.1 percent from 2007. The least expensive rooms in the state, $70.68, were to be found in Southwest Washington, where the occupancy rate fell 8.3 percent from January of last year.