DuPont based Venture Financial Group released its first-quarter earnings report earlier today with results comparable to other Washington banks – as net income fell a bit and bank officials have decided to increase the provision for loan losses.
“We had a pretty darn good quarter, just about even with last year,” said Jim Arneson, Venture president.

• Net income came in at $3.1 million, compared to $3.2 million in the same period last year.

• The provision for loan losses rose over the first quarter of 2007, from $375,000 to a current $1,525,000.

• Total deposits decreased $10.2 million, or 1.2 percent, from $837.1 million last year to $826.9 million at the end of March. Deposits were $39.5 million – or 5 percent – higher than at the end of the first quarter of 2007.

• Nonperforming assets – troubled loans – as a percentage of total assets were 1.72 percent at the end of the quarter, compared to 0.27 percent at the end of 2007.

• Arneson explained that four delinquent loans – three to land developers and one to builder – caused much the increase in the loss provision. “It doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll have a loss," he said.

• Concernign the increase in the provision, he said, "Based on the best information we have, it’s setting aside money to make sure we have enough in case things get worse. It makes sense in this environment to have those numbers increasing. In certain geographies we’re seeing the price of lots and real estate decrease more than others.”

On a brighter side, Arneson said, commercial loans are increasing, as are loan originations.
“This may sound counterintuitive,” he said. “Our originations are about three times what they were last year. There are mortgage originators who aren’t in the market any more, and we are taking advantage of that opportunity. There’s not a lot of homes being built – we’re seeing less of that – but we’re seeing a lot of commercial.”

Whether longshore workers will show up Thursday at the Port of Tacoma’s cargo terminals to unload and load ships remains up in the air on the eve of this year’s May Day.

The International Longshore & Warehouse Union began planning in February for a coast-wide protest Thursday against the war in Iraq. May 1 is traditionally a day that celebrates labor and workers’ rights.

Such an event could have an impact beyond the port, including companies that depend on importing and exporting goods.

A majority of delegates from each local voted in favor of a protest and notified its employers – the Pacific Maritime Association – that the union members wanted to stop work on Thursday’s day shift to express their opposition to the war.

The union contract allows for what are called “stop work” meetings to discuss union affairs as long as they notify the PMA, the organization that represents cargo carriers, terminal operators and stevedores operating on the West coast. But such meetings are usually held during evening work shifts. The PMA denied the union’s request for the day time meeting and in March the ILWU officially withdrew its request.

But that hasn’t stopped talk of a May Day rally up and down the West Coast.

Craig Merrilees, ILWU spokesman, didn’t make promises either way, but he did say there are strong feelings among rank-and-file union members that the war is wrong and needs to stop.

“The most important thing is that the union made an extra effort to let employers know that May 1 is a special day and that they may want to do some extra planning,” he said earlier this week.

Seattle’s ILWU Local 19 said its union hall will be open for dispatch Thursday.

The president of ILWU Local 23 didn’t return phone messages on Tuesday and Wednesday from The News Tribune.

The PMA reports that its members up and down the coast plan on working Thursday and it expects a work force will be available.

That’s true in Tacoma, where container terminal managers say they are planning for a regular work day – though a few anticipate it may not be business as usual.

“If you are a stevedore, you always plan to work,” said Steve Bassett, manager of the port’s Husky Terminal.

SEATTLE (AP) — Starbucks Corp. said today its fiscal second-quarter profit fell 28 percent as U.S. consumers responded to rising food and gas prices by making fewer latte runs.

For the quarter ended March 30, Starbucks’ net income sank to $108.7 million, or 15 cents per share, from $150.8 million, or 19 cents a share in the same period last year.

Revenue rose 12 percent to $2.53 billion from $2.26 billion in the year-ago quarter, the company said today.

Starbucks warned last week that results would fall short of Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts, on average, had forecast a profit of 21 cents per share on $2.63 billion in sales, according to a Thomson Financial survey.

Charges for closing stores or not moving forward with planned openings, as well as costs associated with Starbucks’ plan to reinvigorate U.S. sales, cut earnings by about 3 cents per share.

U.S. same-store sales, a key measure of retail health, fell in the mid-single digits as traffic declined. Starbucks’ past guidance called for 3 percent to 5 percent growth in same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year.

At the risk of sounding like Pollyanna spinning on a broken record, let me reiterate: We have not lately been in a recession. We are likely not in a recession. This is not what a recession looks like.

I say this thanks to a pair of contradictory notes that waited in my inbox this morning.

From the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants I read: “Sixty-eight percent of America’s adults believe the United States is heading toward a recession, and more than half (53 percent) are cutting their spending and paying down debt as a result.”

I also heard from Ken Mayland, principal with Clear View Economics. I’ve spoken to and written about Dr. Mayland before. He’s the kind of economist who spends his time with data the way other people spend time with family and food: To him, they are fundamental.

Mayland wrote: “Can you have a recession if GDP does not decline? I don’t think so. It would be unprecedented.”

So I called Mayland for a reality check. We talked about the CPA survey and other such doomsaying, fire-fanning, public-opinion outpourings.

“For goodness sakes,” he said. “We’ve taken to asking the man on the street technical questions? Are we in a recession? What is this world coming to?”

He took me back to 1982, back when a recession was actually a recession.

The unemployment rate was 9 percent. (Now it’s 5.1 percent.) The mortgage rate that March touched 17.16 percent. (Now it’s about 6 percent.) Inflation then
came in at 6.7 percent, down from 11 percent. (Now it’s about 4 percent.) Industrial production then, year-over-year, was down 3 percent. (Now it’s up 1.5 percent.)

“What the hell is the matter with people?” Mayland asked. “Are they going daft? Is it the media that may not be reporting the facts? Could politicians be pandering to the public’s fears?”

Or is it the collective breath of economists who seem to be tripping over themselves (at least on TV) to proclaim a falling sky?

Mayland said, “Economists have been faulted in the past for not making recession calls, for not anticipating recessions. A question in my mind - in order to overcompensate, are they rushing to judgement?”

Let's go back to 1980, to the George W.S. Trow essay in The New Yorker called "Within the Context of No Context." Trow talked about the TV show "Family Feud."

The logic goes like this: Say that out of 100 people asked if asparagus was animal, vegetable or mineral, 65 said mineral. That's what the survey said. That's the best answer.

But in the real world, asparagus is a vegetable. It doesn't matter what the survey said.

And this is not a recession - not yet, and maybe not at all.

I seem to recall a controversy several decades back concerning hidden images being introduced to advertising – Vance Packard wrote about it his “Hidden Persuaders” – and I recall looking, for instance, into images of shiny ice cubes in whiskey ads and finding, well, interesting things.

But now it’s OK, and in fact, KFC is taking such advertising to its logical and profitable extreme.

See the images of the Snackers? There is something hidden in each of the advertisements. It’s an image, and the image depicts either Colonel Sanders, an outline of a map of Kentucky, a KFC bucket, a dollar bill or four quarters. Find the image, go to www.kfc.com, answer the question correctly and you’ll get a chance to win a certificate good for a sandwich.

One thousand people will win daily over the next several days.

And I’d tell you the answer (I had to call the PR agency in Chicago to find out for myself, and then zoom in to see what I was looking for), but it just wouldn’t be right. But here's a hint: Begin with the headline.

The Federal Reserve Board announced yesterday that it had executed an agreement between WSB Financial Group Inc., the holding company that controls Bremerton’s Westsound Bank, and the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

The agreement, signed by WSB President and CEO Terry Peterson, places controls on the company’s debts, stock, dividends and various business practices

The state Department of Financial Institutions will later today post a Cease and Desist Order against Westsound Bank.

The order, first issued last month, refers to charges issued last October by DFI and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and demands that the bank follow several strict instructions and “cease and desist from following unsafe and unsound banking practices” which include, among others:

• Operating with management whose policies and practices are detrimental to the bank and jeopardize the safety of its deposits;
• Operating with a board of directors which has failed to provide adequate supervision;
• Operating with less than satisfactory capital;
• Engaging in unsatisfactory lending and collection practices;
• Operating with a large volume of poor quality loans;
• Operating in contravention of various rules, regulations and accepted practices.

Bank officials have agreed to abide with the ruling. Bloomberg News reported in March that the company “neither admitted nor denied any allegations of unsafe or unsound banking practices.”

The recent order states that the bank must, among other things, retain qualified management; empower the board; maintain a stable leverage ratio; increase its loan and lease allowance; improve loan quality and loan practices; and notify shareholders of the substance of the order to cease and desist.

According to its Web site, the bank operates branches in Bremerton, Federal Way, Gig Harbor, Port Angeles, Port Orchard, Port Townsend, Poulsbo, Sequim and Silverdale.

WSB Financial Corp. stock, trading as WSFG, closed Tuesday at $5.69 per share. The stock traded as high as $17.11 last May, and has fallen 63.87 percent in the past 12 months.

Columbia Bank stock has been enjoying a nice ride on the upside since the company’s annual meeting last Wednesday. The stock closed today at $27.01, up nearly 23 percent from where it was a week ago.

The stock was up 3.3 percent today.

And it’s doing quite nicely as measured against its commercial banking peers in the West. Bloomberg News reports that it is down 9.03 percent over the past year – which may not seem strong until the number is compared to what nearby banks are showing.

Bloomberg shows Oregon’s Umpqua down 41.6 percent; Sterling Financial of Spokane down 31.69 percent; Banner Corp. down 43 percent; Cascade Bancorp down 59.11 percent; Heritage Financial down 24.86 percent; and Frontier Financial Corp. down 36.48 percent.

So what’s going on?

Part of the answer is credit quality. Columbia conservative approach, and diversity of loans, has been showing results. And Gary Schminkey, Columbia executive vice president and CFO, said this afternoon, “I think investors are looking at banks that don’t have problems waiting in their wings.” He also mentioned a report by the analyst firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, which this week rates Columbia as “outperform,” thus giving a strong buy signal.

KBW’s target price for Columbia stock, trading as COLB, is $28 per share. The firm offers that Columbia’s latest operating results “were among the strongest in the Northwest.”

The chart above is from Bloomberg and shows Columbia stock over the past 12 months.

Wilcox Farms Inc. announced in a release today that Linda Thomas has been named chief executive officer.

Thomas has worked with the family-owned business in various capacities for the past 18 years. She takes over for senior family members who plan to spend less time in the day-to-day operations of the business. The new appointment is effective immediately.

“I am deeply honored to have been chosen to lead this company as we carry out the family’s vision of providing a healthy, local product for consumers in the Northwest – and beyond,” Thomas said. “We have incredible opportunities for growth and I am excited to be a part of our expansion in the organic and cage-free egg business.”

In announcing the promotion, the company emphasized its commitment to keep its 1,500 acre farm in Roy as farmland.

Thomas will mentor and prepare the fourth generation of Wilcox family members toward future corporate leadership.

While Thomas will serve as CEO, Jim and Barrie Wilcox will maintain advisory roles, and three members of the fourth-generation will hold senior management roles in the egg business. Family members will continue serving on the board of directors.

Before moving to Wilcox, Thomas served as executive director at a Tacoma law firm. She also represented the state’s 26th District. She has an MBA in managerial leadership from City University and a bachelor’s degree from The Evergreen State College.

It’s almost here – that $4-per-gallon gasoline. Actually, if you’re buying premium, it’s already arrived, according to AAA. The average price of a gallon of ethyl in Tacoma hit $4.03 today, up from $4.028 on Monday.

The sign above shows that a central Tacoma 7-Eleven is selling a bit below the city's average price for the highest grade, and a bit above the average for regular-grade, which topped out at $3.706 this morning, which is just a hair under the all-time record in Tacoma, set on Sunday, at $3.707.

And if Tacoma wasn’t in record territory today, other Washington cities were. Count Bremerton, Olympia, Seattle, Bellevue, Everett, Vancouver and Yakima among the pacesetters.

Tacoma did, however, hit a record price for diesel today – at $4.469.

Click! Cable TV is adding 16 new channels to its lineup Wednesday – including 13 high-definition channels.

The new HD services include A&E, CNN, Discovery, ESPN2, Food Network, Fox News, FX, HGTV, Speed, TBS, TLC, USA and Versus/Golf.

Click! will also three standard-definition channels: Chiller - a channel for horror movie fans, ESPNU – a college sports service with over 550 live games from 25 Division One conferences and RTN – Retro Network featuring classic reruns like Wild, Wild West, Hogan’s Heroes, Quincy and Happy Days.

“Customers have been clamoring for more HD programming and we’ve delivered,” said Mitch Robinson, Click! Cable TV’s marketing and business operations manager.

Robinson said that as far as Click! knows, no other cable operator has launched more HD in one day in Washington.

The cable provider is also offering free workshops Wednesday to familiarize customers with HD equipment.

“Cable 101: the ABC’s of HD” workshops will take place at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. in the Tacoma Public Utilities Auditorium, 3628 S. 35th St.

Customers should call (253)502-8900 to reserve a spot for the 7 p.m. class. The 3 p.m. class is full.

Nordstrom has signed a letter of intent to open a store at the Mall at Green Hills in Nashville, marking its entrance into the Volunteer State.

Scheduled to open in 2010, the three-level store will comprise 149,000 square feet, according to "Daily Clips," a business newsletter from the Palm Beach Post.

The Mall at Green Hills, owned and operated by the Davis Street Land Company, is a 735,000-square-foot shopping center currently anchored by Macy’s and Dillard’s alongside upscale tenants including Tiffany & Co. and Louis Vuitton.

Burberry, Juicy Couture and Kate Spade are slated to open stores at the mall later this year.

Nordstrom stock - which hit a 52-week high of $55.99 early last May – rose 39 cents to $37.00 in trading yesterday.

According to numbers released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, The News Tribune has followed a nationwide trend of circulation losses.

A News Tribune spokeswoman has emphasized that readership remains strong, and that the online presence of The News Tribune continues to grow.

Daily paid circulation of The News Tribune fell from 119,077 to 111,778, or 6.1 percent, from a year ago. Sunday circulation totaled 125,955 against a previous 131,212, for a decline of 4 percent.

Daily readership of The News Tribune in Pierce County stands at 282,381, said Cathy Brewis, News Tribune marketing director, and Sunday readership totals 322,751.

David Brown, News Tribune vice president of circulation, said, “We have increased the quality of our subscriptions. We are distributing fewer free copies to home subscribers.”

“We are retaining more of our existing subscribers,” Brewis said.

She also said online measurements continue to grow. The number of monthly unique visitors increased 7.5 percent for the six months just ended, at 829,027, versus the prior six months, at 770,824. Page views on thenewstribune.com grew 12.7% during same period with an average of 5.4 million pages viewed per month during the most recent six months.

Much of the loss in circulation was due to the planned elimination of “intermittent subscriptions,” which are less valuable to advertisers, Brewis said.

According to Bloomberg News, daily circulation nationwide dropped 3.6 percent and Sunday print circulation fell 4.6 percent. Among Seattle newspapers, daily circulation rose 0.8 percent and fell 3.4 percent on Sunday.

I’ve found some interesting numbers in the Gross Business Income - Taxable Retail Sales report issued Friday by the Department of Revenue in Olympia.

Among a few selected sectors, with statewide totals for local, taxable retail sales by industry:

• Motor vehicles and parts were at $12,714,581,313 in 2007, up 2.31 percent from 2006.
• Furniture and home furnishings, $2,289,270,437, up 2.63 percent.
• Grocery and convenience stores, $3,047,344,024, up 4.22 percent.
• Book, periodical and music stores, $558,873,746, up 1.25 percent.
• Restaurants, food services and drinking places, $8,860,289,128, up 7.29 percent.
• The greatest increase came from e-commerce and mail order businesses, at $569,077,471, up 23.09 percent.
• The greatest decline was in “electronic markets, agents and brokers,” at $25,765,497, down 11.3 percent.

As for total sales (including those generated by construction other non-retail industries) from a few selected South Sound cities and towns:

• Algona was at $33,993,100, up 48.15 percent from 2006.
• Carbonado, $1,921,546, up 69.15 percent (and Carbonado nearly led state – placing behind only Hunts Point and Lake Stevens – with retail sales not including construction and other non-retailing industries at $752,107, up an impressive 234 percent. What’s going onin Carbonado?)
• DuPont, $110,306,852, up 25.47 percent.
• Fircrest, $31,528,769, down 0.60 percent.
• Gig Harbor, $601,465,022, up 14.24 percent.
• Lakewood, $881,471,538, up 7.36 percent.
• Puyallup, $1,769,138,865 , down 2.32 percent.
• Steilacoom, $30,750,892, up 27.17 percent.
• Sumner, $443,333,976, up 1.46 percent
• University Place, $232,362,711, up 8.57 percent.

For a look at a full range of reports from DOR, visit dor.wa.gov/Content/AboutUs/StatisticsAndReports/2007/qbrcal07/default.aspx

The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday released the latest data tracking the Class of 2007 – the nearly 3 million youth who graduated from high school between October 2006 and October 2007. Among the numbers, as of October:

• 67.2 percent were enrolled in colleges or universities. The college enrollment rates were 68.3 percent for young women and 66.1 percent for young men.

• Among recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2007, 93.2 percent were enrolled as full-time students.

• The proportion of the student population with a job or looking for work was 37.3 percent for full-time students and 72.7 percent for part-time students.

• About 64.1 percent of recent high school graduates enrolled in college were attending 4-year institutions. Of these students, 31.4 percent participated in the labor force; in contrast, 54.7 percent of students enrolled in 2-year institutions were the labor force.

• Between October 2006 and October 2007, 426,000 people between the ages of 16 and 24 dropped out of high school. Hispanics represented a disproportionately large share of dropouts at 27.9 percent.

• In October 2007, 21.1 million young people between the ages of 16 and 24, or 56.2 percent of the 16- to 24-year-old population, were either enrolled in high school (9.7 million) or in college (11.3 million).

• Among college students, the labor force participation rate for part-time students (85.3 percent) was higher than for full-time students (48.6 percent). Female college students were more likely to be in the labor force than male college students – 56.6 per-cent versus 51.0 percent.

I was up in Seattle earlier today at the Washington Restaurant Association annual convention, and I'm working on a story for Tuesday's Business Section on what I found.

What I found was green. Sure, there was a lot of nice cheese, and some fine salami, and Miller Springs Ultra-Premium water and other foodstuffs and a few thousand other things - but the theme was green.

Plates made of corn. Take-away boxes made from sugar cane. Dinnerware made of wheat. And so on.

And I got to thinking - we're hearing a lot these days about how the high cost of energy goes back to the environmental movement, how corn-based ethanol is taking corn out of the food chain, and ergo, corn at the store costs more.

Well, alongside energy use, blame green dinnereware, cutlery, take-away boxes and cups and such for higher food costs.

Don't even get me started on sporks.

Despite gloom, doom and spreading proclamations of a recession, the Washington State Department of Revenue reported today that taxable retail sales were up last year across the state and across several business sectors.

In Pierce County, taxable retail sales were up 3.1 percent to $12.5 billion. Retail trade, which tracks retail sales only (and not construction trade), was up 2.1 percent to $6.1 billion.

In Tacoma, taxable retail sales were up 2.9 percent to $4.7 billion; retail trade was up 2 percent to $2.2 billion.

Statewide, taxable retail sales in 2007 increased 7 percent over 2006 to $118.2 billion. Taxable retail sales for construction were up 12.4 percent to $24.2 billion; motor vehicles and parts were up 2.3 percent to $12.7 billion; accommodations and food services were up 7.8 percent to $10.9 billion; general merchandise store sales were up 4.6 percent to $10 billion; and miscellaneous retail store sales rose 6.5 percent to $6.1 billion.

King County enjoyed an 8.6 percent increase in taxable retail sales, and Seattle saw an increase of 9.4 percent. Bellevue saw the state’s highest increase (among the cities with the highest sales) at 15.9 percent, while only Clark County (among the state’s five most populated counties) fell, with sales down 0.4 percent from the year before.

For a look at the full report, visit dor.wa.gov/Content/AboutUs/StatisticsAndReports/2007/qbrcal07/default.aspx.

South Korea has ordered 21 additional F-15Ks from Boeing worth some $2.3 billion including spare parts and other aircraft-related items.

The South Korean Air Force had previously ordered 40 of the twin-engine fighters from Boeing's defense division. The final 10 of those jets are to be delivered by year's end.

Boeing builds the F-15K, an advanced version of the U.S. Air Force's long-time stalwart, the F-15, at its St. Louis plant.

In other defense news, Boeing this week submitted a 7,000-page bid to India's Air Force for next generation fighter aircraft. Boeing is offering the Indians the F-18 Super Hornet. India expects to buy 126 of new fighters to equip its Air Force.

Boeing has ample competition for the contract from around the world. Sweden's Saab is proposing its JAS-39 Gripen, France's Dassault Aviation is offering its Rafale, Russian Aircraft Corp. is bidding its MIG-35, the U.S.'s Lockheed Martin is offering the F-16, and a consortium of European companies is offering the Eurofighter Typhoon.

The deal is worth an estimated $10 billion to Boeing.

Boeing added orders for eight airliners to its 2008 order book this week bringing the total year-to-date orders to 346.

Those orders were credited to Biman Bangledesh Airlines. That carrier ordered four 777s and four 787s.

Boeing also identified Aviation Capital Group as the buyer of 17 737s previously listed in the unidentified buyer column.

Alaska Airlines said this week it plans to announce changes in the next couple of months to its frequent flier plan to "better align it with the realities of $118-a-barrel oil."

The SeaTac-based airline didn't give any more specifics, and its chief spokesperson, Caroline Boren, couldn't provide any hints.

Alaska executives involved with the program Thursday afternoon ironically were all headed to Phoenix where they received InsideFlyer Magazine's Freddie Awards for Best Elite Program, Best Web Site and Program of the Year.

Alaska's mileage program has always been more generous than others, so there are a couple of areas where the airline could alter the program and match the industry.

The principal areas of difference: non-expiring miles and 20,000-mile domestic trips.

Most airlines have imposed limits on how long its frequent fliers have to use their miles or watch them go away. Those limits have swept millions of miles off those airlines' balance sheets.

The standard for a free domestic trip on most carriers is now 25,000 miles. Alaska's been a holdout at 20,000, though that's eroded recently when the airline raised the amount of miles needed to 25,000 when frequent fliers used a live agent to make their free trip reservations. Trips made on the Web remained at 20,000.

There are dozens of other ways, Alaska could alter its program: raising fees and so forth, so its anyone's guess what the changes will be. Those Freddie Awards could be in jeopardy next year if they make substantial negative changes.

If I had 20,000 miles in my account and knew when I was hoping to take a free trip, I'd make those reservations now while the rules are still as they are.

Considering how scarce free seats have become on all airlines, planning ahead is an even better idea these days even if Alaska doesn't up the mileage requirement.

Horizon Air's jets and its smaller Bombardier Q200 aircraft may not be the only victims of Horizon's move to standardize its fleet on 70-seat Q400 turboprops to cut costs.

In that process, Horizon will reduce its 65-plane fleet to somewhere between 48 and 50-some aircraft depending on market conditions.

That means two things: some smaller cities will have fewer flights because the airline has fewer aircraft, and Horizon will need fewer pilots, cabin crew members, mechanics and other personnel to operate its fleet.

Horizon spokesman Dan Russo says the airline hopes to make the transition as painless as possible. The change will take about two years.

During those two years, the company thinks natural attrition will reduce its workforce and other voluntary staff reduction programs, yet unspecified, could bring staff requirement into sync with staff size.

But if those don't, there's a possibility the company will have to resort to layoffs.

On the issue of service to smaller cities now served by the 37-seat Q200s, Horizon will juggle its schedules to provide the appropriate number of seats in the larger Q400s as in the smaller Q200s. That's likely to mean fewer daily flights. The airline has already converted from 200s to 400s in cities such as Bellingham with no adverse results.

But Bellingham generates enough daily traffic that the airline can maintain a decent number of flights even after reducing the daily schedules.

The problem will come in some small markets, say Pendleton, North Bend, Klamath Falls in Oregon and Walla Walla in Washington where passenger numbers are fewer.

If transitioning to all Q400s in those markets doesn't make sense, Alaska Airlines, Horizon's sister carrier, may contract with another carrier like it does with PenAir in Alaska, to provide service with smaller planes, company officials say.

"We're working to maintain air service to all of the communities we now serve," said Russo.

Grab a latte and your laptop. Starbucks Corp. began offering a wireless Internet service called AT&T Wi-Fi at its coffee shops in San Antonio.

By the end of this year, consumers in the South Sound should be able to connect, too.

The high-speed internet and Wi-Fi service from AT&T Inc. will be available at more than 7,000 U.S. Starbucks locations by the end of 2008, the companies said today.

Adios, Otis.

That’s Otis Huemmer, former culinary director magnifique for Aramark at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center. His last day was Wednesday, having taken the position as executive chef at at the Anaheim (Calif.) Convention Center. (It was always interesting to watch people eat the cheese bread. Is it cheese? Is it bread? It was Otis.)

But welcome Mr. Wambaa.

That’s Allan Wambaa, newly hired by Aramark (which holds the catering contract at GTCTC) to take the food and beverage reins. According to Brad Nelson, Aramark lead at the center, the final choice came down to Wambaa and Peter Weikel, former chef at the former Stadium bistro. In an Iron Chef-ish head-to-head cookoff, one contestant prepared a lamb Wellington, the other a tenderloin with red wine reduction. The tenderloin took the day, but both were outstanding, Nelson says.

Wambaa hails from Kenya, speaks seven languages and served, at the beginning of the decade, as chef de cuisine for the family of HRH Prince Fabad bin Kahlid al Saud in downtown Saudi Arabia. More recently he worked as executive chef for Washington Hospitality in Seattle, and before that as executive chef at Bell Harbor Conference Center & World Trade Center in Seattle.

In an attempt to stay competitive in the ever-evolving world of movie rentals and downloads, Blockbuster is testing several new concepts in Dallas.

A Dallas Morning News story I ran across says the chain is attempting to find news ways to make money in the face of potential obsolescence.

Here's some of what the chain is testing, according to the story:

• Whether customers want to rent movies as early as 6 a.m. on their way to work, instead of after work.

• Including the option to buy a cappuccino or a fountain drink.

• Offering new technology for watching movies, reading books or shooting video at a Blockbuster.

• Whether customers would stop in more often if they or their children were entertained with a game of Rock Band on a 62-inch screen or they had access to free Wi-Fi.

Book an overseas flight with United Airlines or Lufthansa this year and then decide you want to leave a day earlier or go in August instead of July.

You'll pay dearly for your indecision.

Both airlines have upped their change fees for overseas flights from $150 to $250. That's just the change fee. If the new fare is higher, you'll have to pay the difference in fares too.

That move is all part of the airline industry's effort to raise revenue to pay for fuel price increases by raising not only fares but the price of other services. It doesn't cost the airlines $250 to change your ticket, but it's an opportunity to raise revenues without affecting the price that appears on the computer screen when you're hunting for low-cost fares.

It should have been a great quarter for Alaska Air Group.

Just look at the figures at its principal subsidiary, Alaska Airlines:

Passenger traffic: Up 11.3 percent
Percentage of seats filled: Up 3 percentage points.
Operating revenues per seat/mile: Up 3 percent.
Operating costs per seat minus fuel: Down 3.4 percent.

But the SeaTac-based airline holding company, parent of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, today announced a first quarter net loss of $35.9 million.

The boogey man in this whole picture: Steeply rising fuel costs.

Even with the second-best fuel hedging in the domestic airline industry, Alaska Airlines' fuel costs rose from an average of $1.87 a gallon in the first quarter of 2007 to $2.72 a gallon in the first quarter of 2008. That represented $76.1 million in extra cost for the airline. The story was similar at Alaska's regional partner, Horizon Air.

"Although Alaska Air Group is in a good position relative to the rest of the industry, high fuel prices are eroding our profits and revenues are not increasing fast enough to offset them," said Bill Ayer, the airlines' chairman and chief executive officer.

To counter the rising fuel costs, the airline group announced changes designed to cut fuel consumption, boost revenues and trim expenses.

It will:

*Sell off its fleet of Horizon Air Bombardier 70-seat CRJ jets within the next two years and replace them with more fuel efficient Bombardier Q400 turboprops. The airline is already scheduled to replace its smaller Q200 turboprops with Q400s. The resulting fleet, which may be smaller than the present 65-plane fleet, will consist of a single aircraft type, the Q400, reducing maintenance and training costs.

CRJ700

Q400

=> Read more!

I got a strange e-mail from Click! last night called "16 16 16 16 16 16 16"

The cable company wants us all to tune into "Click (channel) 1" today at 8:16 a.m. to see a special surprise. The company promises to transform one of its channels for 16 hours.

The e-mail asks: "Why are we doing this? Will it change cable television in the South Sound like never before?"

Yes, why are they doing this? Spokeswoman Diane Lachel wouldn't say so I will speculate. Is it a new channel? Is it the number of hours you should watch TV per day? Is what percent your cable bill will go up? Or maybe down? Is it the number of doughnuts each customer will get with their bill?

What do you think?

Coming to a televised Mariners' game or a local TV news broadcast near you – the latest set of commercials from Columbia Bank.

Designed by Seattle agency hadleygreencreates (which began the relationship with Columbia back when it was the only hometown bank left around here, and called itself Puget Sound Bank), the commercials were premiered (to applause) at the bank's annual meeting Wednesday.

Take a look at: http://www.columbiabank.com/Page.aspx?hid=749

Amazon.com Inc. fell 4.8 percent in trading before the open of the Nasdaq Stock Market after forecasting profit margins narrower than its projection in January.

The online bookseller declined $3.86 to $77.14 as of 8:35 a.m. New York time. The retailer climbed 14 percent this month before today, Bloomberg News reports.

Operating income in 2008 may be as much as $940 million, less than the $985 million it predicted earlier this year, the Seattle-based retailer said yesterday in a statement. Full-year revenue may climb faster than Amazon.com originally forecast.

"Amazon continues to turn in better-than-expected revenue growth, but still management is showing little inclination to improve margins," Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York, said yesterday. He recommends investors buy the shares and doesn't own any.

Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos has added less- profitable groceries, jewelry and exercise equipment and promoted low-cost shipping to lure cash-strapped customers and boost revenue, raising concerns about its short-term earnings goals.

Boeing says it's seriously talking with eight or ten airline customers about buying the passenger version of Boeing's new 747-8.

The updated version of the venerable jumbo jet has accumulated 110 orders, a respectable number a year before the plane's first flight, but most of those orders are for the freighter version of the plane.

Only Lufthansa among major airlines has ordered the passenger version called the 747 Intercontinental.

Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney said he expects the plane will generate orders for passenger versions of the plane before the year is out.

"The guys are working this hard," said McNerney.

The 747 has received only one order this year, from an unidentified customer who wants to use the jet for personal transportation.

McNerney's comments came during a quarterly earnings call.

Other news nuggets from that call:

* Boeing is still undecided whether it will update its 777 to compete with the largest version of Airbus' planned A350, the A350-10. The Boeing chairman said the company still has several years to see how Airbus does with the A350 and how the airline industry reacts before making such a decision.

* A major economic downturn for U.S. domestic airlines will likely have only a minimal effect on Boeing's order book, McNerney said. Most of the company's airliner backlog is due to foreign airline orders financed through the U.S. Export-Import Bank, he said. Order cancellations and deferrals could amount to six or seven percent of Boeing's orders, but with a five-year-backlog, those reversals will have little effect on the company's production.

* Despite three delays and parts shortages with its new 787 program, Boeing won't repudiate its new production and design scheme that outsources responsibility to major partner companies around the world, the Boeing CEO said. On the next major aircraft program the company "might draw some lines in different places," McNerney said. "There might be more of an adjustment to our strategy rather than a change," he said.

Few can escape the long tentacles of the nation's withering housing market – not Pierce County, not the Simpson Timber Company, and not even the Port of Tacoma.

At the port's annual breakfast this morning, Executive Director Tim Farrell noted that the housing market drives much the port's container volume.

(Think Home Depot and Target importing their products from Asia via the port).

Thus the housing downturn is hurting the port's business as well. So far this year container volume is down by 6 percent and imports are down by 10 percent.

Meanwhile, the declining value of the dollar is significantly boosting the export cargo headed out of Tacoma.

"Every container right now is leaving full," Farrell told a packed room at the Hotel Murano in downtown Tacoma.

"Customers have export cargo ready to go – they just can't find containers to put it in," Farrell said.

Earlier this year many anticipated the nation's economy to pick up by the end of this year.

Farrell is less optimistic now.

"I wouldn't expect a significant improvement in the economy until mid-2009," he said.

In addition to Farrell's port update, the port also used the annual gathering to recognize the work of some its partners.

The port honored:

- The Tacoma Urban League for work with its youth conservation corps

- The City of Tacoma, Schnizter Steel and the Cascade Land Conservancy for preserving open space in Northeast Tacoma

- IKEA for its investment in Frederickson

- And the Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Marine View Ventures, the tribe's economic development company, and SSA Marine for its coordination with the port on plans to build a container terminal on the Blair Waterway.

Nordstrom Inc. President Blake W. Nordstrom took a 36 percent cut in total compensation in 2007, a year in which the luxury retailer’s financial results showed that even wealthy shoppers were feeling the effects of economic uncertainty, The Associated Press reports.

Nordstrom, 47, received compensation for the year valued at $2.3 million dollars, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing earlier this month, compared with $3.6 million in 2006.

The executive’s salary was cut a slim 2 percent to $698,056.

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The Better Business Bureau of Western Washington is out with its quarterly list of the 20 Most-Complained-About businesses.

See if the list corresponds to your own. (And it's good to see, from where I sit, that newspaper bloggers who write about Top 20 Lists are not listed herein.)

Here goes:

1. Cellular phone service and supplies
2. Computer software and services
3. Internet shopping services
4. Internet services
5. Auto dealers - new cars
6. Collection agencies
7. Travel agencies and bureaus
8. Banks
9. Auto dealers - used cars
10. Furniture - retail
11. Plumbing contractors
12. Searchers of records
13. Auto repair and service
14. Apartments
15. (tie) Wholesalers and distributors
15. (tie) Health clubs
17. Roofing contractors
18. (tie) Television - cable, CATV and satellite
18. (tie) Real estate management
20. Telephone communications

A spate of bad news about its 787 Dreamliner and its proposal for a new Air Force tanker haven't even scratched Boeing Co.'s stellar earnings the company said this morning.B

Earnings per share grew by 43 percent for the first quarter over the same period last year. Operating margins were up 2.8 percentage points to 11.3 percent and cash flow increased by 166 percent to $1.933 billion.

That performance easily surpassed analysts' estimates. That consensus estimate among Wall Street analysts that follow Boeing was for earnings of $1.35 a share.

Boeing stock closed today at $82.09 a share, up $3.53 over Tuesday's close. That price is the first time Boeing stock has crossed the $80 barrier since March 7 before the latest 787 delay news.

And the company continues to promise that results will get even better in the next few months and years. Earnings per share for this year will be in a range from $5.70 to $5.85 a share, and next year's results will show a 20 percent boost to between $6.80 and $7.00 a share.

Attribute all of this to the company's efforts to contain costs and a bulging order book. Boeing's backlog now totals $346 billion, more than five times its current annual sales.

The company's efficiencies were evident in comparing revenue growth versus earnings. While revenues in the first quarter of 2008 grew by a modest four percent, earnings per share grew by a disportionate 43 percent.

Some of that extra earnings growth was due to company stock buybacks. The number of shares outstanding has declined, so the earnings per share are somewhat greater.

But that phenomenon was only small factor in the disportionate earnings growth. Net income rose 38 percent in the first quarter to $1.211 billion.

"We're off to a good start in what we expect to be annother strong year of financial performance for Boeing,
said the company's chairman, Jim McNerney. "We are methodically working through our challenges, including the start up of the 787, and our people remain focused on satisfying our customes and leveraging growth and productivity into better bottom-lkine and top-line performance for our company."

The performance increase was particularly notable in the company's Puget Sound-based commercial airplanes operations where operating margins rose from 9.3 percent last year to 12 percent this year.

This comes in spite of major issues with the 787 Dreamliner which have three times postponed the plane's first flight and its first commercial delivery.

The Dreamliner is now scheduled to fly for the first time in the late fall or early winter this year and the first delivery will be in the third quarter of next year.

Originally the plane was to fly in late August last year and the delivery of the first plane to launch customer ANA was to be next month.

Customers continue to order the game-changing, fuel efficient airplane despite delivery delays. Boeing booked orders for 75 of the planes during the first quarter bringing the order total to 892 planes.

Boeing is also in the midst of a protest of the Air Force's award for a new airborne tanker to a consortium of Northrop Grumman and Airbus. Boeing had proposed a tanker based on the Everett-built 767.

The Port of Tacoma, Puyallup Tribe of Indians and SSA Marine have said they will cooperate on development of the east Blair Waterway for shipping terminals.

And after two months of sometimes tense negotiation, they know what that cooperation will look like.

The port commission approved four key agreements Tuesday and officials from the port, tribe and SSA signed them immediately after the lunch-time meeting.

"Let's get this started, let's get this done and let's keep that trust level real high," said port commissioner Connie Bacon.

The Port of Tacoma announced last summer its plans to build a new, $300 million shipping terminal for NYK Line on the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula.

The Puyallup tribe and SSA Containers - a subsidiary of SSA Marine – have partnered to build another container terminal on the same waterway.

Under the agreements, the port, tribe and SSA will transfer and lease property, cooperate on needed roads and rail projects and widen the waterway.

The details include:

n The port's plan to sell the Puyallup Tribe three pieces of property. The tribe will buy two pieces for a total of $7.8 million to square up its own container terminal.

The tribe will buy a third property - Ole and Charlie's Marina - from the port for $4 million.

The port purchased the marina property in 2005 for almost $8 million to preserve it as an industrial space.

Port Deputy Director John Wolfe said the previous owners were considering selling the land to a developer and the port paid a premium to keep the property from becoming homes or condos.

As part of the marina's sale to the tribe, the port restricted its use to industrial – thus the lower price, Wolfe said.

Chad Wright, CEO of Marine View Ventures, said the tribe already owns other property near the marina and plans to keep the marina in operation.

n The port will lease property to the SSA. The port has already started building a ship berth at the site of the former Weyerhaeuser chip facility.

That property is adjacent to the tribal terminal and will give the Tribe/SSA project four ship berths.

The port plans on investing $52 million in developing the property and then earning revenue off of its lease to SSA Marine.

n The port will work with SSA and the tribe to widen the waterway. The port wants the waterway to be 850 wide at all points.

SSA Marine will manage the waterway widening project and port will reimburse the company for some of the cost.

n The parties will cooperate on road and rail infrastructure, permitting and share technical and project management information.

All parties noted that the agreements were a milestone in development of the Blair Waterway and fulfilled the dream of creating a tribal terminal that many have harbored since the 1988 Puyallup Indian Land Claims Settlement.

"This has been a long time in the making," said Herman Dillon, the Puyallup tribal council chairman.

The negotiations weren't easy.

At times SSA and tribe representatives were ready to walk out, they said.

But the common goal of developing the waterway for shipping kept everyone coming back to the table.

"This is a deal that benefits everyone," he said. "There is no loser in this transaction."

Boeing rival Airbus today raised the list prices for its airliners as the dollar continued to fall against the Euro and metal prices continued their rise.

The European aircraft maker raised prices across the board on its line of aircraft by 2.74 percent and then adjusted single-aisle aircraft prices upward by $2 million and wide-bodied aircraft by $4 million per plane.

Airliners are typically sold in dollar-denominated contracts, so that each time the dollar drops relative to the Euro, Airbus receives fewer Euros for each plane sold.

"The U.S. dollar is at its lowest rate in 20 years," Airbus said in a press release explaining the price hikes. "Over the last 12 months, the Euro versus the U.S. dollar exchange rate moved from 1.35 to almost 1.60 which translates to a devaluation of more than 15 percent. Prices for metal products have gone up at least 6.5 percent."

Airbus pays many of its workers in Euros and pays many of its European suppliers in that European currency.

Boeing, on the other hand, builds its planes in the U.S. so much of its costs are incurred in dollars.

The price raises may give Boeing a further advantage in the marketplace, but list prices typically are only a starting point for negotiations between airlines and plane makers. Most airlines pay as much as a third less than list prices for aircraft they buy.

Here are some example prices for Airbus jets:

A320 single aisle jet $76.9 million
A330-300 wide body $200.8 million
A350-8 new generation wide body $208.7 million
A340-500 long range wide body $237.1 million

For most frequent fliers, an occasional upgrade to first class or a periodic free trip to Tucson or Tulsa is the reward they get for hours spent waiting at airport gates and strapped into narrow airline seats.

For one Gig Harbor uber frequent flier, the reward for nearly 100 trips last year on Alaska Airlines between Sea-Tac and the San Francisco Bay area was something more substantial.

Greg Yob, a Gig Harbor resident who commutes weekly to the Bay area to run his commercial cleaning business, returned home Monday to be greeted by Alaska Airlines officials and his wife, Gigi, and the keys to a new Pontiac Solstice convertible.

Yob, who logged more than 70,000 miles between the two cities on Alaska last year, was Alaska's most frequent flier on that route.

The airline awarded him the car as a way of marking the inauguration of new re-timed and more frequent service from Sea-Tac to both Northern and Southern California.

"Greg leaves his family each week, flies to San Francisco to work and then returns home. He's flown more flights on Alaska Airlines in 2007 than any other customer between Seattle and the Bay Area, making him our 'West-Mostest' flier," said Steve Jarvis, the airline's vice president of sales, marketing and customer service. "We couldn't think of any better way to say 'thank you' than by giving him a new set of wheels to drive to and from the airport in style - along with a well-deserved vacation."

Alaska also gave Yob first class tickets on its new flight from Seattle to Maui, which begins July 17, along with a four-night stay at the Four Season Resort Maui at Wailea.

Alaska is tooting its horn about its California service because it faces new competition, Virgin America Airlines between Seattle and San Francisco and Seattle and Los Angeles and JetBlue Airways between Seattle and Long Beach and Seattle and San Diego.

One of the South Sound's largest design and engineering firms, Tacoma's BCRA, has temporarily transformed part of its parking lot to an urban park.

BCRA volunteers laid sod and planted greenery over two stalls in the company's South 21st and C streets parking lot to celebrate Earth Day and to emphasize the importance of green spaces in urban environments.

BCRA's park

Green spaces are not readily available to as many as two of three residents in some dense city environments, the BCRA team said. Urban parks provide gathering places for local residents while reducing the heat reflected from streets and parking lots.

The spot will remain a park for the remainder of April and then will be converted to parking spaces for environmentally friendly vehicles.

If your flight's been canceled, Portland's Conducive Technologies has a new electronic resource to help you find an alternate way to your destination.

Conducive through its Flightstats.com Web site has developed a new service that instantly displays available seats headed to your destination from the same airport where you're stranded.

The new Flight Availability search can help you find seats so that you can help your airline rebook your flight when you call or contact counter personnel.

The service shows all flights from your originating airport to your destination the same day you're traveling and lists how many coach and first class seats are still available.

With airlines running close to capacity, the seat availability search often shows just how few seats are still available for booking.

We looked at availability of empty seats from Seattle to Chicago's O'Hare Airport recently and discovered just between 5 and 10 seats still bookable on most flights.

The flight availability service is free at Flightstats.com and Mobile.flightstats.com for cell phones and portable devices.

The two-part (or perhaps three-part) auction of the estate of Steve Craig (chronicled in The News Tribune last week) began Monday with the sale of some 7,000 items in 500 lots. Craig, a Tacoma art figure and antique and collectible collector, left at least 20,000 items of local, historical and somewhat oddball interest.

Alan Gorsuch of Tacoma’s Sanford & Son Antiques is conducting the auction at Craig’s home, in a warehouse along Opera Alley (or Court C) near Tacoma City Hall.

Among some of the items sold Monday: a complete chrome and stainless steel soda fountain, $250 (yes, $250); a portfolio of autographed photos of vaudeville and burlesque stars, $650; an Art Deco barber chair, $10 (yes, $10); a Coca-Cola sign as big as a commercial satellite dish, $275; pinball machine, $250; hot tub, $1,300.

“Some of the best stuff went for absolutely nothing, and some of the goofy stuff brought good prices,” Gorsuch said late Monday afternoon, after the auction ended. He said the auction went well, overall, although “it’s so hard to get a good crowd to a brick-and-mortar auction because of the Internet.”

He estimated that 85 percent of the 350 or so people who attended were dealers.

Depending on how quickly items are sold next Monday, Gorsuch said he might schedule a third auction to complete the sale of the collection.

Among the 13,000 items up for sale next week: a deed to 125 acres near Boise, Idaho, signed by Woodrow Wilson; a leather-bound 11th Edition of Encyclopedia Britannica; a Bell System phone booth; the switchboard from Tacoma’s Hotel Merck; a serious collection of ephemera and such from the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition; an electro-shock therapy machine; a 1910 badge commemorating the dedication of Stadium High School; a copper 2-kopek coin dated 1798.

Diane Cecchettini, president and CEO of MultiCare Health System, has received the 2008 CEO IT Achievement Award from Modern Healthcare Magazine and the Healthcare Information and Management System Society.

Cecchettini was only one of three CEOs nationally, and the only CEO in Washington, to receive the recognition. The award recognizes healthcare CEOs who demonstrate leadership and a commitment to using information technology to advance their organizations’ goals, MultiCare said in a release.

Among the accomplishments earned during Cecchettini’s leadership, MultiCare is now one of few health systems in the nation to have system-wide electronic health records. Called MultiCare Connect, the system allows immediate, secure access to a single, comprehensive health record each time a patient visits a MultiCare hospital or doctor.

Interested in TEUs and a vision of what the Port of Tacoma is, was and may one day be?

The Port of Tacoma has posted its 2007 annual report online at www.portoftacoma.com/topstory.cfm?sub=69&lsub=1106

The document, according to the Port, offers insight into growth plans, environmental stewardship, cargo diversity, community outreach and the Port's financial plans.

As a bonus (and if you'll complete a short survey) you'll have a chance to win a $50 gift certificate (enough for a spiffy red poplin jacket) at the Port Pavilion online store.

Container shipping line China Shipping plans to call at the Port of Seattle's reconfigured cruise terminal, the port announced today.

China Shipping currently calls at Seattle's Terminal 18, currently run by SSA Terminals.

Starting in Spring 2009, China Shipping will move to Terminal 30. That terminal now serves cruise ships.

But the Port of Seattle is spending $120 million to remodel the cruise terminal into a container facility.

The move will allow China Shipping to increase the number of containers it sends through the Seattle port.

SSA will also operate Terminal 30.

"We have been working with the Port of Seattle and our partner, China Shipping, to return Terminal 30 to container operations," said SSA CEO Jon Hemingway. "We have significantly increased container capacity and the potential for more family wage jobs for our workforce at the Port of Seattle."

China Shipping spot at Terminal 18 will be available to another customer.

In Tacoma, SSA Marine has partnered with the Puyallup Tribe of Indians to develop and operate a container terminal on the east side of the Blair Waterway in the port.

The biggest publicly traded company headquartered in Washington?

You'd be right if you said Costco, according to Fortune magazine's annual Fortune 1000 ranking of the nation's largest public companies.

The big retailer ranks 29th on Fortune's list, just two behind Boeing, formerly the state's largest company until it moved its global headquarters to Chicago seven years ago.

Costco's ranking is three better than last year's when it held down the 32nd on Fortune's list ranked by sales.

Following Costco is Microsoft at 44th and Washington Mutual at 97th.

Following WAMU is Weyerhaeuser, 147; Paccar, 169; Amazon.com, 171; Starbucks, 277; Nordstrom, 299; Safeco, 388; Expeditor's International, 458; Alaska Air Group, 599; Puget Sound Energy, 638; Expedia, 737; Plum Creek Timber, 982 and Potlach, 990.

Fortune's list was heavy with oil companies, banks and auto makers.

Wal-Mart topped the list with sales of $378 billion worldwide. Exxon Mobil was a close second followed by Chevron, General Motors and Conoco/Phillips.

Two companies with strong Tacoma connections, Northwestern Mutual, parent company of Russell Investments, and DaVita, were also among the 1,000.

Northwestern ranked 110th and DaVita 454th.

United Airlines, scrambling to find more revenue to pay burgeoning fuel bills, announced today it will increase the fee for changing a ticket to $150.

United had previously charged a $100 change fee.

The airline also announced that it will require a Saturday stay on some discount fares. That move is designed to extract bigger fares from business travelers who don't want to stay away from home over the weekend.

Saturday night stays were a common requirement for access to lower fares until a few years ago when competition forced carriers to abandon the requirement.

With all carriers suffering from financial shock because of high fuel prices, reinstating the Saturday night stay requirement could have new life.

U.S. carriers already have instituted numerous fare increases this year as well as other schemes to generate more revenue such as charging extra for a second checked bag and selling aisle and window seats for extra charges.

Both Airbus and Boeing Co. are continuing to boost airliner production to cope with a string of robust order years.

According to figures from both manufacturers, output at their production plants has risen steadily since the beginning of the year with Airbus still holding the lead over Boeing.

In January, for instance, Boeing produced 34 aircraft and Airbus 37. In February, the Boeing produced 39 planes in the Puget Sound area while Airbus produced 38 at its European factories.

In March, Boeing's total rose to 42 while Airbus jumped production to 48.

Both planemakers have enjoyed record order years during the last three years with accumulated backlogs of orders amounting to five to seven years' production depending on the plane type.

China's Xiamen Airlines placed an order for 20 Boeing 737s today worth an estimated $1.5 billion at list prices.

The planes are scheduled for delivery between April of 2014 and October 2015.

The price Xiamen will pay Boeing is likely less than the $1.5 billion list price. Few if any airlines pay full list price.

Meanwhile, Boeing announced that Aviation Capital Group, a U.S.-based aircraft leasing company has ordered 17 737.

The aircraft will be equipped with blended winglets produced by Seattle-based Aviation Partners Boeing. The winglets, vertical extensions of the 737s' wingtips, enhance performance and increase fuel efficiency.

Boeing previously had accounted for the Aviation Capital order on its orders Web site as an order placed by an unidentified buyer.

The Boeing Co. added 20 new orders to its 2008 totals last week bringing the year-to-date figure to 338.

Southwest Airlines ordered 13 737s, and unidentified customers ordered three 737s and one 747 to be used as executive transports. SAS added one 737 to its orders, and two unidentified airlines placed orders for two 737s, Boeing said.

Net orders for the popular 737 total 235 for 2008. Next in line in the Boeing repertoire is the 787 Dreamliner with 75 2008 orders.

Macy's plans to tailor local stores to its customers in a nationwide effort to improve its sales and customer satisfaction, The Wall Street Journal reports today. And the Seattle market will be among the first to get the new looks.

“What the consumer wants in the Galleria of St. Louis is different from what the consumer wants in State Street Chicago, or what the consumer wants in Portland, Ore.,” said Chief Executive Officer Terry Lundgren to The Wall Street Journal. He now wants 15 percent of the merchandise in stores to reflect local preferences.

More from the story:

The localization strategy, called “My Macy’s,” is a dramatic reversal for Macy’s and Lundgren, who set out to end the decades-long slide of department-store retailers by creating a huge national chain that had more clout with vendors and stronger marketing, with fewer expensive local TV and print ads and more national ones.

In going local, Macy’s is adopting an approach that big chains like Best Buy Co. and Ross Stores Inc. have come to view as imperative today. Retail giants like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Gap Inc. once prospered by opening identical stores around the country, but consumers are demanding more individualized selections. With almost everything now available on the Internet, retailers need to give shoppers a reason to make the trip.

Mr. Lundgren’s plan calls for customizing inventory over the next year at only about a third of the chain’s 813 Macy’s stores — including all the former Marshall Field’s and many other former May Co. stores. Locations in markets such as Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Portland and Salt Lake City will be among the first to get a makeover.

A single Macy’s store, depending on its size, stocks 1.5 million to 4 million different items, meaning hundreds of thousands of items in each store will be affected when the new inventory begins going on display as soon as this summer.

One risk for Macy’s is that store managers may misread cues about local sales patterns or make poor decisions about how to display and market merchandise, says Sherif Mityas, partner at consulting firm A.T. Kearney.

A spokesman for Macy’s declined to comment on the store’s performance, though he noted that those changes, as well as the recent addition of valet parking there, “have been well-received by customers.”

That knock at your door may be an employee of the U.S. Census Bureau conducting part of an ongoing survey of Americans' spending habits. The bureau continues to seek data via an interview survey and an in-home diary survey, according to Ralph Lee, director of the Seattle regional office.

And Lee said late Friday that the bureau recently opened a Regional Census Center in Bothell, "where we're beginning operations for the 2010 Census."

The first outreach for the every-10-year count will be a canvass of addresses, beginning in Spring, 2009. Hiring of Census staff begins in earnest come January.

For more information, call the new center at 425-318-1435.

There may be woes aplenty in the Puget Sound housing market, but office and industrial space are doing just fine.

CB Richard Ellis is out with its look at the first quarter, and “the region is more in tune with the global economy than the national economy.” As much of the nation laments the market, “there is hardly a whisper of recession anywhere in the region.”

Average rental for office space in the Puget Sound hit $30 per square foot, per year, fully serviced – a price not seen since Q1 2001 – and total vacancy declined declined 0.31 percent last quarter to 10.63 percent.

For industrial space, demand remained strong as vacancies fell from 5.44 percent to a current 5.27 percent.

In Pierce County, CBRE reports:

• 3.89 million square feet of net rentable office area with a vacancy rate of 8.01 percent; 44,000 square feet under construction, and a total asking rate for Class A at $23.10.

• “Lakewood and DuPont are no longer considered the southern-most points in the industrial market ... Lacey, Olympia, even Centralia and Chehalis, are starting to become serious players in the industrial game.”

• Among developers and developments to the south of Seattle, the firm notes Tarragon’s projects, Centralia North Corporate Park Phase II, which can accommodate over 1 million square feet, and the planned 1.2 million-square-foot Chehalis I-5 Corporate Park; as well as Teutsch Partners’ Hawks Prairie 111 Corporate Park in Lacey.

• Overall in Pierce County, 23.63 million square feet of net rentable industrial space marks a vacancy rate of 8.62 percent for the quarter.

• “The majority of the (industrial) activity has moved south into the Tacoma/Fife market from the core Kent Valley,” the company said. “The Tacoma/Fife market came in with an impressive 2.7 million square feet of current construction and another 8 million planned.” Among those projects, the report offers Northwest Building Corp.’s Port Commerce Center at some 600,000 square feet, and the Ikea and Whirlpool warehouses in Frederickson at nearly 900,000 square feet each.

The Boeing Co. has named two Pierce County aerospace suppliers among its 11 Suppliers of the Year.

The companies were selected from among more than 30,000 Boeing suppliers for their exceptional work, their quality control, responsiveness and customer relations.

The two companies are JWD Machine Inc. of Fife and Woodland Trade Co. Inc, of Tacoma. The two were honored with other award winners at a banquet in San Diego.

Woodland trade produces tooling for Boeing's production lines. The company was founded in 1987. Woodland has provided Boeing with 100 percent on-time delivery for several years.

JWD Machine Inc. produces precision machined parts for the aerospace industry. The Fife company has served Boeing for 22 of its 30 years in business. The company produces some 12,000 parts per month. It has reduced its lead time on several critical parts from 250 to 80 manufacturing days.

Now’s your chance to he heard on issues relating to the IRS.

You’ve paid your taxes. You either spent money to hire an accountant or you spent many hours filling out your forms. And you wish somebody would do something about the system. Well, here's a chance to make a difference.

The IRS is looking for new members of the national Taxpayer Advisory Panel – the mission of which is to listen to taxpayers, identify issues, make recommendations and create “the most user-friendly, customer-oriented tax administration system possible.”

This year the panel seeks members from 37 state, including Washington.

To qualify as a TAP member, applicants must be U.S. citizens and be able to commit 300 to 500 hours during the year to the panel. In addition, they must be current with their tax obligations and pass a criminal background check.

To apply, complete and submit an application online, at www.improveirs.org between now and April 30. You may also apply by calling 888-912-1227 to request a paper application form.

The Simpson Timber Company announced this week that it would be laying off workers at its Tacoma and Shelton sawmills.

The Tacoma Tideflat's sawmill will lose 46 of its 144 employees and the Shelton mill will lose 65 of its 294 employees.

The layoffs are effective April 28.

Ray Tennison, president of Simpson Investment Company, said today that the wood products industry is facing extended hard times due to nation's troubled housing sector.

Housing starts are down significantly since 2005, Tennison said.

"The housing sector is leading the whole economic downturn and we are in the eye of the storm," he said.

The company doesn't see an end to the depressed housing market anytime soon. The layoffs are for an indeterminate period, according to the company.

The layoffs do not affect workers at the Simpson Tacoma Kraft Company in Tacoma, the Simpson Timber Company Mill 5 operations in Dayton or operations in Longview.

Simpson will work to provide all affected workers with information regarding state unemployment services and benefits for which they are eligible, according to a company press release.

Amazon.com Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos didn't get a raise last year – again.

Bezos received a salary of $81,840 for 2007, much the same as the previous several years.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday, the company said its executive salaries are “designed to be significantly less than those paid by similarly situated companies,” according to The Associated Press.

His compensation also included $1.2 million for personal security beyond what is provided at business facilities and for business travel — the same amount as in 2006. He was not granted a bonus or awarded any stock or stock options.

But don't feel bad for him. Bezos holds a 23.8 percent stake in the Internet retailer.

Anderson Island residents, you wouldn't recognize your old friend, the former Pierce County ferry M/V Steilacoom.

M/V Steilacoom 2007

Point Ruston 2008

That 72-year-old vessel used to ply the waters of Puget Sound between Steilacoom and Anderson Island.

Now, courtesy of Olympia developer Mike Cohen and his partners, the ferry has its public debut Saturday as a floating showroom for Cohen's new development, Point Ruston.

Point Ruston is an urban village on the site of the former Asarco copper smelter near Point Defiance Park. The development ultimately will include single-family view homes, 1,000 condos, office space, a Silver Cloud hotel and retail space and restaurants.

Cohen and company held a preview for friends, business associates and family Thursday night at the dock by Johnny's Seafood on the Foss Waterway where the ferry/showroom will be temporarily moored.

The sterile, utilitarian Steilacoom, retired from Pierce County and Navy service, has been reborn. Now attired in a more fashionable cream, teal and copper, the ferry has been renamed Point Ruston.

The car decks has been enclosed and extended. In a room added to the stern, Cohen has created a display for Point Ruston residential units

Point Ruston model

Several 42-inch plasma TVs display video of the $1 billion development, and a huge model of the complete community dominates the center of the room. Bathrooms and a kitchen show real-life Point Ruston amenities.

"You could spend hours looking at that model," said the proud developer. "At least I can."

The Point Ruston will be part of a Tacoma Condo Tour set for Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. The tour starts at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. While all visitors are welcome, the tour is particularly aimed at showing Seattle residents the new housing possibilities in Tacoma.

The Point Ruston is moored near another of Tacoma's newest condo developments, the Esplanade, a building that will also be included on the weekend tour. That building includes some exceptionally handsome first floor spaces destined to be upscale restaurants.

I spent the morning in Federal Way listening to Weyerhaeuser CEO Steve Rogel and President Dan Fulton talk about the future of the forest products company at the annual shareholders meeting.

Mostly they talked abut the trees. Or in the words of Fulton: "Trees define us."

The company has spent much of the last four years paring its operations to get rid of mills or products that don't fit with the company's mission. Now Weyerhaeuser, the biggest company in the South Sound, is realigning its operations around a few core products including wood.

The focus will be on products that have value beyond the commodity value of a 2-by-4 – products with a technological edge, Fulton said. He didn't get into specifics but said that the company is trying to deal with the ups and downs in the forest products market – such as right now when the demand for lumber is down because of the sagging real estate market.

"We will always be tied to some cycles but what we are trying to do is achieve a competitive edge," he said.

The word from Plano, Texas this week says J.C. Penney Co. will soon launch several lines for teens, including an extension of its American Living brand by Polo Ralph Lauren Corp.

The company will launch a private-label brand "Decree" in its juniors section and "American Living" and "Whitetag" in its young-men's section.

Penney said the lines will expand its offerings to teens, one of their most important customer groups.

The company has lately faced lackluster sales. Last week, it said same-store sales, or sales in stores open at least one year, fell 12.3 percent, a larger drop than analysts expected. In March, the company cut its first quarter outlook due to weak sales. For April, J.C. Penney forecast a mid to high-single digit same-store sales decrease, as a weak environment is partly offset by an extra selling day due to an earlier Easter.

"Decree" is a private-label brand that offers basics such as jeans and T-shirts. "American Living" for young men will feature premium denim and polo and T-shirts. "Whitetag" is an "urban rock" collection.

J.C. Penney shares rose 48 cents to $38.67 in Thursday trading.

William Stewart has been appointed executive director of the Kitsap Economic Development Alliance.

Stewart is a Washington native and currently serves as senior managing director of the International Trade and Economic Development Division (ITED) of the state's Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.

“I am excited to come to Kitsap County to do economic development. The vision presented in the 20/20 Plan is an example of the excellent collaborative efforts made toward economic development in Kitsap County, and it is now my job to implement the plan. I am really looking forward to that,” Stewart said this week.

Stewart hails from Colville, where he began his economic development career representing the interests of Stevens, Ferry and Pend Oreille counties.

“I became highly sensitive to economic development when I owned my own newspapers,” he said.
A former newspaper editor and publisher, Stewart has been the executive director of three economic development organizations, was a business development specialist for Avista Corp. and twice served with the state’s economic development efforts, first as Director of Team Washington during the Gardner administration, and most recently as senior managing director. During his economic development career he also purchased, developed and sold two community newspapers and three retail enterprises.

US Airways says it will begin charging extra for window and aisle seats near the front of the plane beginning in May.

The Phoenix-based carrier said what it calls "Choice Seats" will cost an additional $5 to $30 more per seat beginning May 7.

The price of the more desireable seating will vary according to distance flown. Choice seats to Europe will cost $30 more each way. The cost to Hawaii will be $25. On domestic flights of 500 miles or less, the extra charge will be $5.

Both United and JetBlue Airways are selling seats with more legroom at a premium over regular coach seating.

Northwest, Allegiant Air and Spirit Airlines are charging more for select seats.

The trend is propelled by airlines' rising fuel costs which are forcing earnings into the red.

As airlines announce multi-million dollar quarterly losses due to the high price of fuel, they're busy raising fares to try to stem the flow of red ink.

US Airways, Delta, Continental, American and Northwest have now matched or partially matched a fare increase instituted by United Airlines Wednesday.

That fare increase ranges from $10 for shorter flights to $20 per roundtrip for longer flights.

The fare increase attempt is the 12th this year. If it sticks, it will be the eighth successful fare increase since the first of the year.

Airlines have been selective in applying those increases only to routes without extensive low-fare airline competition.

A senior Cathay Pacific pilot who buzzed Everett's Paine Field on a delivery flight of one of Cathay's new $200 million Boeing 777s has lost his appeal of his firing.

The pilot, Ian Wilkinson, took off from Everett where the 777 was made, circled the field and made low pass over the runway at high speed. Observers estimate the plane was as close as 30 feet above the tarmac.

After videos of the stunt surfaced on the Internet, Cathay fired Wilkinson for performing the stunt without the company's permission.

On the Jan. 31 maiden flight with Wilkinson and his crew were Cathay chairman Chris Pratt and Cathay's director of engineering, Christopher Gibbs.

Neither Pratt nor Gibbs criticized the maneuver when it occurred.

The pilot can further appeal his dismissal to either the company's chief executive or its chief operating officer.

Haggen Inc., the Bellingham-based retail food chain, has implemented a program to certify that seafood sold in its 33 Top Food & Drug, Haggen Food & Pharmacy and Larry's Market stores meets federal mercury content standards.

Haggen will use testing procedures developed by Micro Analytical Systems Inc. to ensure that seafood sold in its grocery stores is below the maximum level allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for mercury.

The seafood sold in Haggen's stores will carry a label that it is "Safe Harbor certified" as meeting FDA guidelines.

Haggen operates TOP Food & Drug stores in Tacoma, Puyallup and Lake Tapps in Pierce County.

Beset by huge fuel cost increases and nagging inspection issues with its mainline fleet of MD-80s, American Airlines said today it will accelerate the delivery of new Boeing 737s into its fleet.

American's CEO Gerard Arpey said accelerating the delivery of the 737s will help the airline reduce its fuel and maintenance costs over the MD-80s which average some 17 years old.

Here's what Arpey told American employees:

We are moving forward with a number of important investments in American's long-term future. As part of our ongoing fleet modernization, we are further accelerating the replacement of our MD-80 fleet with more efficient 737-800 aircraft. We now expect to take delivery of 34 new 737s next year, with 36 more to arrive in 2010.

American previously had been scheduled to take delivery of 27 737s in 2009 and 3 in 2010.

The developer of the massive Point Ruston urban village on the site of the old Asarco copper smelter has hired Tacoma communications firm JayRay to promote the project.

JayRay has helped Point Ruston managing partner Mike Cohen in the past with announcements and Web sites for the project.

Cohen is converting the site of the former copper smelter near Point Defiance Park into a mixed use development with more than 1,000 condominiums and houses, retail spaces and restaurants, a Silver Cloud hotel and office structures.

Construction of the first single-family view homes has already begun on the hill where the Asarco smokestack once stood.

Cohen will soon break ground for the first of the condominium buildings on the site.

JayRay, founded in 1970, provides advertising and public relations services to regional and national clients. Its headquarters is in Tacoma.

Airlines, desperate to save fuel and generate more revenue, have cooked up myriad plans to enhance their bottom lines: taxiing with one engine, eliminating blankets, pillows, magazines and window shades, reducing the pretzel count to five, eliminating galleys and creating new light-weight service carts.

Now, a German aircraft interior design company has crafted another revenue-enhancing idea: urinals in aircraft restrooms.

Dasell cabin interiors says it has already sold some of the urinal-equipped men's rooms to an airline that's buying Airbus A380 superjumbo jets.

Dasell Cabin Interiors claims the urinals will provide benefits for men and women alike as well as for the airlines.

For the airlines, substituting urinal-only washrooms for some now equipped with conventional stools will cut space requirements (How can aircraft restrooms be any smaller than they are now?). For each urinal-only washroom installed, the company claims, the airline will gain enough space to install four additional seats. The new restrooms will also cut the amount of water used to flush and thus the weight the plane must carry.

For male passengers, who typically account for 70 percent of coach fliers, the urinals will offer quicker trips to the washroom and shorter queues.

For female passengers, the new restrooms will mean shorter lines and more hygienic conditions, the company claims.

Thurston County has imposed an emergency six-month ban on development at the site of a proposed port cargo facility in Maytown, The Olympian reported today.

Port of Tacoma Deputy Director John Wolfe said the moratorium doesn't affect the port's plans for now.

"We don't have plans on filing a rezone request anytime soon," Wolfe said.

The Port of Tacoma owns 745 acres in Maytown.

The Tacoma and Olympia ports have partnered to study a possible rail logistics facility on the property.

The proposal has garnered much controversy in Thurston County, with residents concerned about environmental, quality of life and other effects such a facility could have on the area.

The development ban also won't affect the gravel mining permit the port holds for the site.

That permit is needed to retain the property's value, port staff have said.

To keep it, the port will need to remove a certain amount of gravel from the Maytown property by the end of this year.

Wolfe said the port doesn't have plans to mine, but the ban wouldn't prevent mining activity on the site.

For now, the port is focused on figuring out whether there's a need for the logistics center and "exhausting efforts to find alternative sites," Wolfe said.

"This gives everybody some breathing room," Thurston County Commissioner Diane Oberquell said in The Olympian.

She said the move was necessary to freeze development activity because a pending request to rezone the land was so complex that county staff members might not have been able to process it in a timely fashion, The Olympian reported.

"We were concerned that we wanted to preserve everyone's rights," Oberquell said.

A public hearing on the ban will be set within 60 days.

The ports' joint agreement expires in June, after which it could end or be extended.

The Seattle developers of a planned Foss Waterway Hotel are once again back to the drawing boards with their plan for the boutique hotel on the near-downtown waterway.

This time they're eliminating all but a handful of condominiums from the building and adding 60 more rooms to the previous 100 they had planned, according to Don Meyer, executive director of the Thea Foss Waterway Development Authority.

You'll recall that four years ago another developer started planning an all-hotel building for the site on the west side of the Foss at South 15th Street.

That developer dropped out and the Seattle owner of the Inn at the Market stepped in.

During the height of the condo boom, he redesigned the structure to include several floors of condo units over the hotel, shrinking the size of the hotel in the process. Condos then were more financiable than hotels.

By the time he had secured financing for the mixed-use building, however, the condo market had flattened, and his bank required a pre-sale of half the building's units before it would release funds for construction.

Now that the market's gone soft on condos, he's going back to a concept closer to the original design for the building hoping that the building will pencil out better financially.

The owner faces an end-of-April deadline from the Foss Waterway Authority, which had sold him the property south of the nearly complete Esplanade condos, to begin the project.

The Foss's Meyer said the City of Tacoma just this week delivered good news. It won't require that the developer seek a new shoreline permit to construct the building because its mix of uses has changed.

"That's a big, big decision," said Meyer. Requiring a new shoreline permit could have meant months more planning and waiting.

The authority meets April 25. There's no request yet from the developer for a further extension, but such a request wouldn't be a surprise considering the frantic repositioning that's been going on.

The following news falls into the "making lemons into lemonade" category.

Two recent events, the third delay in the delivery of the first production 787 Dreamliner and Boeing's loss of the Air Force aerial tanker project to Northrop Grumman and Airbus, could offer a consolation prize to the Puget Sound economy.

According an article this week at Flightglobal.com, Boeing has proposed turning its two misfortunes into more work for workers on its Everett 767 assembly line.

That's the assembly line that was scheduled to produce 767-based tankers for the Air Force.

Now Boeing is proposing to provide temporary capacity for airlines whose 787 Dreamliners will be delivered months behind schedule by replacing them with new 767-300ER aircraft produced in Everett.

Airlines around the world are demanding that Boeing provide them with substitute aircraft to replace the late-arriving Dreamliners, but the market for mid-sized, long-range aircraft now is tight. Few substitute aircraft are available on the lease market.

Airlines such a Qantas are asking Boeing to lease them new Airbus A330s, but the quantity the capacity at Airbus to produce those aircraft is already strained.

Thus the idea of ramping up production of the 767. The aircraft is an older design than the A330, but it's been a steadfast provider of long distance air service for years.

After the 767s do their temporary stints and the 787s arrrive, they could be converted to cargo aircraft, a market for which their is brisk demand.

Boeing is now producing about one 767 a month in Everett, but given a few months lead time, that pace could be increased to produce the fill-in aircraft.

The number of jobs in Pierce County dropped last month and the unemployment rate increased, the state's Employment Security Department reported today.

The county lost 500 jobs in March and gained 3,500 over the year. The figures are adjusted for seasonal changes in employment such as holiday hiring or winter weather that slows some business.

But Paul Turek, Tacoma area economist with the ESD, said even the raw figures show a weakening employment picture.

"The last time we were seeing something this low was when we were dealing with the 2001 recession," Turek said.

Tacoma's unemployment rate increased from 5.6 percent to 5.9 percent. Tacoma reported a 4.7 percent unemployment rate in March 2007. The figures are not seasonally adjusted.

Still Pierce County's rate does remain higher than the unadjusted unemployment rates in neighboring King, Thurston and Kitsap counties.

Typically, Turek said, the unemployment rate in March falls - so the uptick is a bit concerning.

"We are in a slowing local economy," Turek said.

The county job losses contributed to an overall decline in jobs in the state.

Washington posted a month-over-month drop in jobs for March, the first decline since September, the Employment Security Department reported.

The state lost 3,200 jobs from February to March, though jobs still grew by 43,400 over the year.

Washington's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate bumped up as well to 4.9 last month from 4.5 percent in February.

Evelina Tainer, Employment Security's chief economist, said that it's too soon to tell whether last month was a turning point for the state's economy.

But, she said, the figures do confirm projections of slower economic growth this year compared to 2007.

Tainer said she tends to be optimistic.

"I'm not convinced we're due for a recession in this state," she said.

The state's unemployment rate ticked up due to a growth in the labor force, meaning more people were out looking for jobs.

But jobs in most industries declined last month, including leisure and hospitality, transportation, warehousing and utilities and construction.

Those tax rebate checks might be a few weeks away but Sears has plans for yours. According to an AP story I saw at Business Week, Sears Holdings Corp. said Tuesday it plans to offer a 10 percent bonus to shoppers who convert the rebate checks into a Sears or Kmart gift card.

Customers can present their checks at a cash register at Sears and Kmart to convert it into a gift card at the full value of the check, and to receive a bonus gift card worth 10 percent of the check.

The cards can be redeemed at any Sears, Kmart or Lands' End retail stores, as well as sears.com and landsend.com, Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears said.

The promotion is scheduled to last between May 14 and July 19 with no expiration or fees on the gift cards.

SeaTac's Alaska Airlines will provide charter airline service to the Seattle Mariners for road games in 18 West Coast and Midwest cities this year, the ball club and the airline announced today.

In addition to West Coast cities, Alaska will fly the team to Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Kansas City and Minneapolis.

The airline will provide the team's players, coaches and staff with a pre-trip buffet and on-board meal service.

Starbucks and iTunes said today they will offer customers free songs through the new "Pick of the Week" program.

Pick of the Week featured artists include Carly Simon, Duffy, Counting Crows, Adele, Sia, Hilary McRae and many more.

Each Tuesday, more than 7,000 Starbucks company-operated locations in the United States will stock a new Pick of the Week download card redeemable on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com) for a complimentary song or music video hand-picked by the Starbucks Entertainment team and iTunes.

The first Pick of the Week, available starting today at participating Starbucks locations, is Counting Crows’ new song, "Washington Square."

This from the news release:

"With Pick of the Week, Starbucks will leverage its trusted curatorial voice in music and entertainment through its partnership with iTunes to provide our customers with a world-class digital discovery experience," said Ken Lombard, president Starbucks Entertainment.

In October 2007, Starbucks and iTunes offered free daily songs for a month. Customer response to "Song of the Day" resulted in more than 6 million songs downloaded.

Once Pick of the Week cards are distributed, customers will then have up to 60 days from the date they are available to redeem their complimentary digital entertainment offering on iTunes.

The Port of Tacoma and City of Tacoma are starting an 18-month trade project aimed at capitalizing on its long-standing sister city relationship with Fuzhou, China.

The pilot project aims to attract foreign direct investment from Fuzhou to the Tacoma area and develop export markets in Fuzhou for Pierce County companies.

To that end the port and city have hired trade representatives for offices in Tacoma and in Fuzhou.

"China is now Tacoma's largest trading partner by both volume and by dollar value, and Fuzhou is a key gateway to this market," said Connie Bacon, a Port of Tacoma commissioner.

Fuzhou is the capital of China's Fujian Province, which is on the country's southeastern coast, across from Taiwan.

Former Tacoma City Councilman Bill Evans pitched the project in conjunction with representatives from Fuzhou.

Bacon advocated for the port's involvement.

The city and port each contributed $100,000 for the initial pilot. The concept is to exchange trade representatives between the two cities.

The Port and City money helps fund a trade representative in Fuzhou and a project coordinator in Tacoma.

The Fuzhou Municipal People's Government is also sending a representative here to work out of the port's offices.

The port commission approved money for the project last fall. At that time, some questioned whether such a pilot project is needed.

The state's Community, Trade and Economic Development department already has offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The Port of Tacoma too has offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

A task force including representatives from the city, port and World Trade Center Tacoma commissioned a feasibility study on the Fuzhou-Tacoma project last year.

That study found that while sister-city relationships alone don't promote business, they could open doors.

It also noted that such a program would need broad, consistent community support and a way to measure the office's success.

In interviews with other trade offices in China, the authors of the report noted that long-term commitment to the trade office is needed for its success.

Several weeks of two-hour workshops explaining changes in sales tax laws start Wednesday at the Federal Way La Quinta Inn & Suites.

This is a change impacting businesses that sell and then ship merchandise. Now companies collect sales tax based on the rate from where a product is shipped, according to a release from the Department of Revenue. Starting July 1, sales tax must be collected based on the rate where the items are being sent.

The changes, according to the release, impact only in-state sales.

Go to http://destinationtax.dor.wa.gov and click on "Attend a workhop" to find out where and when the subsequent workshops are taking place. There are two in Federal Way on Wednesday, though the morning one is already full. There are additional sessions through April, May and June in Tacoma, Olympia, Tukwila, SeaTac and Silverdale.

Gas prices hit a new record here this week, a another in a string of new new highs for fuel.

According to AAA Washington, regular unleaded fuel in Tacoma averaged $3.534 a gallon in Tacoma today, up from $3.527 a month ago and from $3.093 a year ago.

Diesel was even more dear with average prices in the Tacoma area at $4.309 a gallon compared with $2.998 a year ago.

The Air Force's newest fighter, the F-22, will have to undergo more frequent inspections because of defects in aluminum forgings that Alcoa Inc. supplied, The Boeing Co. alleges in a lawsuit.

Boeing, which is a partner with Lockheed Martin in producing the stealthy fighter, alleges that Alcoa supplied it with the defective parts which it incorporated into the structure of the F-22.

Boeing produces the aft structure of the F-22 and its wings at a plant at Boeing Field in Seattle.

The more frequent inspections will be necessary to determine if the defective forgings are failing.

The Boeing Co. added 30 more jetliners, all of them 737s, to its order book last week.

Those orders bring Boeing's total for the year to 318. The 30 737 orders were entered by airlines that Boeing has not yet identified.

The 737, as normal, remains the most popular of the Boeing line of aircraft with 216 net orders for the year.

The 787 is second with 75 orders. The 777 has won 26 orders, while the 747 has won just one and the 767 none in 2008.

Saltchuk Resources, Inc., a Seattle-based private investment firm with major ties to the Tacoma area, could be the savior for bankrupt Aloha Airlines' cargo business.

Saltchuk, whose Tacoma connections include ownership of the Russell Building, of Totem Ocean Trailer Express and of Foss Maritime Co., has bid $13 million for Aloha's air cargo business.

Aloha quit flying passengers two weeks ago when it couldn't find financing to continue operating under bankruptcy reorganization.

Saltchuk has both air cargo experience through its Northern Air Cargo subsidiary in Alaska and strong connections to the Hawaiian business community.

It owns Young Brothers and Hawaiian Tug & Barge, two firms with a long history in the Hawaiian maritime business.The company also owns Hawaii Petroleum Inc., Maui Petroleum Inc. and Minit Stop convenience stores in the 50th state.

A bankruptcy court is expected to announce the winner of the auction to purchase Aloha Air Cargo on April 24. Two other potential bidders have expressed interest in the cargo operations.

David Graybill, head of the Tacoma-Pierce Chamber, introduced a new Metropolitan Development Director to chamber members at annual awards luncheon today.

Chelsea Levy grew up in Tacoma and on Vashon Island, and graduated from Charles Wright Academy. She earned a degree in sociology and anthropology at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, and later earned two master’s degrees, in urban planning and public administration, at the University of Washington.

She replaces Paul Ellis, who has moved to a development post in the Midwest.

Before applying for the chamber position, Levy worked as campaign manager for Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, and previously served on the campaign staff of Congressman Norm Dicks, D-Belfair.

“I love Tacoma,” she said.

The job, she said, “is a great opportunity. It’s a great chance to build on the existing development.”

Continued wiring inspections of MD-80 aircraft grounded just three flights today at Sea-Tac Airport as American Airlines' MD-80 gradually returns to service.

American canceled two flights to Chicago and one flight to Dallas-Fort Worth today among the 595 flights it canceled nationwide.

The airline said it expects to cancel only 200 flight Saturday. It didn't say how many, if any, would be canceled at Sea-Tac.

Those cancellation figures are down significantly from earlier this week. American canceled more than 1,000 flight Wednesday and 933 on Thursday. On Wednesday, American grounded seven Sea-Tac flights and Alaska Airlines scrubbed a similar number.

No Alaska or Midwest airlines flights were ground today. Those two airlines' MD-80s were also grounded for wiring bundle inspections, but those two carriers have relatively few of the McDonnell Douglas twin jets in their fleets.

Alaska, for instance, has just nine MD-80s. American has 300.

The Tacoma-Pierce Chamber and Absher Construction are today presenting the annual New Tacoma Awards at a luncheon at the Tacoma Club.

The awards and winners are:

• The Ghilarducci Award, recognizing successful new development, renovation or beautification. The winner: 505 Broadway, The Sirius Group.

• The Popham Award, named for former News Tribune business columnist Art Popham, recognizing the individual who has done the most to build community spirit. The winner: Lane Alfonso of GeoEngineers.

• The Schoenfeld Award, recognizing exemplary performance and pizzazz as a retailer. The winner: Grassi’s Flowers and Gifts.

• The Union Award, recognizing leading organizations, companies or individuals that have built or sustained momentum for revitalization. The winners: A tie between India Mahal Restaurant and Eric Cederstrand of Colliers International.

• This year the Chamber is also offering a Lifetime Achievement Award – also named for Popham – to Paul Ellis, who recently left Tacoma after serving as the group’s Director of Metropolitan Development.

Boeing began final assembly work this week in Everett of the first of its new 777 Freighters.

The company expects to begin flight testing of the plane later this summer.

The 777 Freighter will fly farther and carry a greater payload than any other twin-engine freighter, Boeing claims.

The company has recorded orders for 78 of the planes. Air France, the first 777 Freighter launch customer, is expected to take delivery of the first plane late this year.

Operations are gradually returning to normal for American Airlines today after 226 of its 300 MD-80 airliners cleared inspections and returned to service by this morning.

The airline still said it intends to cancel 595 flights today. That's down from 933 Thursday, more than 1,000 on Wednesday and 440 on Tuesday.

The company said it expects to have 60 percent of its MD-80 flights operating by 2 p.m. today. The service disruptions are expected to last through Saturday night as the airline clears the last of its planes through the wiring inspection process.

American's woes began Tuesday when the Federal Aviation Administration notified it that it wanted to double check how wire bundles in the wheel wells of its MD-80s had been installed.

The wiring in some cases didn't match the technical specifications that the FAA had set.

American said the wiring issues were more ones of rigid adherence to FAA rules and were not flight safety issues. The FAA said improperly installed wiring could cause fires.

Both Alaska Airlines and Midwest Airlines said they expect all of their MD-80s to be back in service today after similar wiring inspections. Alaska has just nine of the aging MD-80 jets in its fleet of 115 planes. Those nine will be replaced by fall by new Boeing 737-800s.

Denver's Frontier Airlines filed for bankruptcy reorganization late Thursday, the fourth U.S. airline to resort to bankruptcy in the last month.

Unlike the other three, ATA, Aloha and Skybus, Frontier intends to keep operating while it reorganizes its finances.

The other three ceased operations when they couldn't find financing to continue operations.

Frontier's sudden bankruptcy was triggered by a credit card company's increasing the amount of money it held back from charges made to pay for Frontier tickets.

Under bankruptcy law, the credit card company must release those funds.

Frontier serves its Denver hub from Sea-Tac Airport. The company said it will continue normal operations with its 62-plane, all Airbus fleet. The airline's frequent flier program will be unaffected by the bankruptcy filing.

Frontier was founded in 1994. It serves destinations nationwide and in Mexico from Denver, where it competes with United.

The low-cost carrier has been under increasing pressure since Southwest Airlines launched Denver service two years ago. Like airlines worldwide, its finances have been pinched by rising fuel prices.

Mitch Robinson, director of marketing and business operations at Tacoma’s Click! Network, wonders if anyone out there has information on his home. It’s at 1102 N. Fifth St., and will be a featured stop on this year’s Tacoma Historic Home Tour http://www.tacomahistory.org/TacomaHomeTour.html.

Robinson writes, “Our house was built for F. Garrett Fisher, who started Fisher’s Shoes which eventually became Stone-Fisher and then the Fisher Department store. The Fisher family had a controlling interest in the store until 1932. We have a few pictures of Garrett and one of the house, but I have really been trying to track down any relatives that might have old family pictures.”

Some of the relatives involved could be: Virginia Jeanie (Cushman) Fisher, Mrs. Wallace Mount, Allen G. Fisher, Dr. Ernest J. Fisher and Lou Fisher.

If you’ve got some information that would help make the tour of the Fisher-Robinson home more informative, please contact Robinson at boonrob@msn.com.

Hotel occupancy in the Tacoma area was down 0.2 percent in February, while the cost of rooms rose by a higher rate than in any other area of the state save one.

In February in Pierce County, 70.1 percent of rooms were occupied. Statewide, 65.3 percent of rooms were taken, for an increase of 0.3 percent over February 2007.

A room in the Tacoma area cost $84.74, which was 14.2 percent higher than the rate charged a year before. Bellingham led the state with an increase of 14.7 percent, increasing to $88.93. The statewide rate, $119.31, was up 4.3 percent.

Only in downtown Seattle did the average room cost fall, down 0.4 percent to $149.78, according to Bellevue hospitality consultant Wolfgang Rood.

Today began much the same way Tuesday and Wednesday did for hundreds of travelers at Sea-Tac Airport: more flight cancellations.

By 8 a.m. today, American Airlines had cancelled three flights, two to Chicago and one to Dallas-Fort Worth, and Alaska Airlines had cancelled a single flight to Oakland.

The problem was the same as on Tuesday and Wednesday: mandatory Federal Aviation Administration inspections of the two airlines' MD-80 aircraft.

Alaska is in a much better position than American because it has just nine MD-80s in its fleet. American has 300.

American says it will likely cancel some 900 flights systemwide today. That's on top of the 1,000 flights grounded Wednesday and 440 on Tuesday.

Alaska cancelled 25 MD-80 flights Wednesday on its system including seven at Sea-Tac. American cancelled seven at Sea-Tac too.

Because the pace of the inspection of wiring in the wheel wells of the planes is unpredictable, the airlines are waiting until a few hours before the flight to actually pull the plug.

Alaska was able to reaccommodate all of its temporarily stranded passengers Wednesday, but American did not.

It's offering passengers stuck overnight a $500 voucher for future travel plus reimbursement for meals and lodging away from home. Instructions on how to apply for that reimbursement and compensation are on American's Web site, www.aa.com.

American is also offering to reschedule without penalty any passengers who are or were scheduled to fly on an MD-80 from April 8 through April 11. Those fliers can reset their travel plans for any date through April 17.

Jobs? Try Orleans County, Louisiana. Wages? They’re up in Clayton County, Georgia.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is out with the latest nationwide data on employment and salaries. Orleans County leads the country’s 328 largest counties, with job growth up 8.6 percent in the third quarter of 2007 over the previous 12 months. (The nation’s average increase is 0.9 percent.) Clayton County leads for pay increases, up 23.9 percent. (With the country averaging a 4.3 percent increase.)

King County hit 4th place in the Top 10 among job growth, up 26,600 positions. Snohomish County marked 7th highest for percentage growth of employment, up 4.4 percent.

For wages, King County placed 7th with an $84 weekly increase – totaling an average weekly wage of $1,129. Kitsap County tied for 9th place in average weekly wage growth, up 8.3 percent.

In the overall results, the BLS shows Pierce County with a 5.4 percent increase in growth of the weekly wage – to $755 – while Washington’s average wage totaled $878 in the third quarter last year.

Now playing on the little screen, "Please Stay Frank Russell," a comedic video episode of The Tacoma Diaries. Watch it at spudgoodman.com.

A scene from the video.

This had to happen – with all the publicity over whether Russell Investments will keep its corporate headquarters in downtown Tacoma or move elsewhere when its leases expire in 2013. The establishment – government and business – has put its best package of stay-in-Tacoma incentives on the table. Now a band of average citizens does its part.

From the promo: Tacoma Diaries somewhat proudly presents...

=> Read more!

A new farmers market is scheduled to open in the Sixth Avenue area of Tacoma this summer.

Meanwhile the farmers market held on Tuesday evenings near the Tacoma Dome won't be happening this year.

Richard Hines, board president of the Tacoma Farmers Markets, said today that the Dome District market wasn't attracting enough shoppers.

"There wasn't the response from the commuters that we thought we'd have," Hines said, referring to the potential for customers from nearby bus and Sounder stations.

But he has a good feeling about the pending Sixth Avenue market, scheduled to open in July. The market will run on Tuesday afternoons.

The Tacoma Farmers Market, the group responsible for the Broadway Farmers Market Thursdays in downtown Tacoma, has joined forces with the Proctor Farmers Market.

The partnership – the Federation of Tacoma Farmers Market – aims to "build a culture of farmers markets in the city" and create new ones.

The Sixth Avenue market is its first project.

The federation is still gathering information about what kind of farmers market the neighborhood may want.

Each market has a different feel.

For example, the Broadway market caters to people working in downtown Tacoma. It has more craft vendors and prepared foods.

The Proctor market, Hines said, was developed to focus more on local produce – the idea that people go to the Saturday market prepared to shop for fruits and vegetables for the week.

"We don't know if the vendors will be the same," Hines said. "We want to reach out and give an opportunity to existing vendors, but depending on what the neighborhood wants and supports it might be a different mix altogether."

To that end, market organizers have planned a community meeting to discuss their plans for Sixth Avenue and gather input from residents.

It's scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 28 at the Epsworth LeSourd United Methodist Church at 710 S. Anderson Street.

John Loesch, Sixth Avenue Business District president, said local merchants are excited about the market.

That includes, Loesch, who, as the owner of Sixth Avenue Neighborhood Market, could see the farmers market as competition.

Instead he plans to buy produce from the vendors and sell it at his store.

"The more varied business we bring to the area, the better off we are in drawing people to the area," Loesch said.

"Even having the grocery store, I think this is one of the best things to happen for the district in a lot of different ways," he added.

John Toler, another member of the business association, said the farmers market is also trying to work with the nearby restaurants to encourage the eateries to use their produce.

The market will likely be located on Pine Street, between Sixth Avenue and N. 7th Street, said Toler, who has been coordinating the creation of the market on behalf of the business district.

The area's farmers markets are set to open soon.

The Proctor market opens April 26. The Broadway market is scheduled to open May 15.

Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, which until today provided low-cost flights from Vancouver, B.C. to Hong Kong, has became the latest victim of high fuel prices.

The Hong Kong-headquartered carrier began service from Hong Kong to London and Vancouver last year and had planned to add new service to that Chinese city from Oakland later this year.

The airline said it was halting all operations and had asked a Hong Kong court to appoint a liquidator to sell off its assets.

In addition to the high costs of fuel, analysts said high landing fees in Hong Kong contributed to the airline's demise.

Oasis Hong Kong joins, ATA, Aloha, Skybus, Champion and MaxJet in shutting down recently.

The Wall Street Journal has named four other airlines as possible candidates for collapse: Alitalia, Frontier, Sun Country and ExpressJet. The later three all operate flights from Sea-Tac Airport.

Boeing today announced another delay, this one until the third quarter of next year, for delivery of its first production 787 Dreamliner.

It also advanced the first flight of the Dreamliner from late June to next fall.

Depending on how you count them, today's delay was either the third or fourth postponement of the Dreamliner's delivery schedule since Boeing's triumphant but premature rollout of the 787 last July 8 in Everett.

The latest delay puts the delivery of the first Dreamliner to All Nippon Airways 14 months behind the originally scheduled May 2008 time schedule.

The delays are another blow to Boeing's vaunted plan to share much of the design and construction of the 787 with major partners around the world.

Some of those partners have been unable to produce their major parts of the airplane on schedule.

Boeing recently announced it had bought Vought Aircraft Industries' share of a joint venture in Charleston, S.C. that joins fuselage sections built by Vought and Italy's Alenia with wing box sections built in Japan.

Vought's new Charleston operation has been a problem child among the major partners' operations on the Dreamliner.

Because of the latest delay, Boeing now expects to build only 25 Dreamliners next year, fewer than a quarter of the number it had scheduled to build.

Boeing is expected to have to pay compensation to airlines that had counted on the new composite-bodied airliners to provide new capacity in their fleets.

Here's the text of Boeing's delay announcement:

=> Read more!

Good news for Alaska Airlines: the SeaTac-based carrier filled four percentage points more seats with paying passengers in March than it did a year ago.

The airline reported this week that on average 80.8 percent of its seats were filled with paying customers last month, up from 76.8 percent in March 2007.

Overall, the airline reported traffic increased 10.7 percent last month on 5.2 percent higher capacity than a year ago last month.

Alaska's sister carrier, Horizon Air, reported a 3.5 percent increase in traffic in March. The percentage of seats filled on the regional airline increased to 73.8 percent compared with 70.9 percent in the same month last year.

For the first quarter of 2008, the passenger load factor at Alaska (the percentage of seats filled by paying customers) was 74.4 percent compared with 71.4 percent in the first quarter of 2007.

Though the passenger traffic figures are good news, the rapidly escalating price of fuel has outstripped most airlines' ability to raise fares to keep pace.

Alaska is scheduled to announce first quarter financial results April 24.

Alaska Airlines will begin service to Maui in Hawaii in mid-July, the airline announced this week.

Introductory prices on the route, available beginning Thursday, will be $249 one-way.

The SeaTac-based airline will fly the Seattle-Maui route with its 157-passenger Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Once-daily service is scheduled to start July 17.

Alaska began flying between the mainland and Honolulu and Kauai just last fall. The airline also plans to begin twice-weekly flights to Maui from Anchorage beginning Oct. 31.

Flights from Seattle will depart daily at 8:20 a.m. and arrive in Maui at 11:35 a.m. Return flights will leave Maui at 1:05 p.m. and arrive back at Sea-Tac at 9:45 p.m.

Some airline analysts have speculated that Alaska will attempt to capture some of the Hawaii traffic abandoned by Aloha and ATA airlines when they shut down operations recently, but the airline thus far hasn't moved into their former markets.

More wiring inspections for its MD-80 aircraft fleet have brought 850 more cancellations to American Airlines today including at least six at Sea-Tac Airport.

American has canceled three morning flights today from Sea-Tac, two to Chicago and one to Dallas-Fort Worth according to Flightstats.com.

The number could increase as the day progresses if American hasn't completed the inspections on the older McDonnell Douglas twin jets.

Three arriving flights have been canceled at Sea-Tac by the Fort Worth-based airline. Two were scheduled to arrive from Chicago and one from Dallas-Fort Worth.

The airline grounded much of its MD-80 fleet Tuesday for the third time in a month when it discovered that wiring bundles had not been properly secured and inspected in the wheel wells of some aircraft.

The airline had twice before cancelled hundreds of flights when it found it had failed to perform or document Federal Aviation Administration-required checks.

Here are the arriving and departing flights cancelled so far:

Departing

Flight 1288 6:10 a.m. Chicago
Flight 1238 8:25 a.m. Chicago
Flight 1050 9:35 a.m. Dallas-Fort Worth

Arriving

Flight 1157 8:50 a.m. Dallas-Fort Worth
Flight 305 11:45 a.m. Chicago
Flight 1311 1:55 a.m. Chicago

Please check with American if you're booked on one of these flights or are meeting someone. The cancellations can change throughout the day depending on the availability of aircraft.

Starbucks has asked its customers for suggestions on how to improve its drinks, customer service and all-around business at the Seattle company. And they've responded, according to the Associated Press, by the hundreds.

Here's an excerpt from the AP story:
Create a punch-card system with a free drink after so many purchases. Give people a free cup of birthday joe or discounts for using their own mugs. Let customers forgo long lines by ordering their usual with the swipe of a card when they walk in the door.

Skeptics have panned MyStarbucksIdea.com, unveiled at the company's heavily attended annual meeting in mid-March, as an online suggestion box that's already grown stale. But the heavy traffic it's drawn and the message Starbucks is sending — that it's listening, and listening carefully — have impressed corporate marketing experts.

"Most brands do not put out a welcome mat for feedback," said Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of strategic services for the market research firm Nielsen Online. "Generally feedback is viewed as a cost of doing business rather than an opportunity. Starbucks is saying this is an opportunity."

Before it went live, Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks' chief information officer, said he was hoping a few hundred ideas would trickle in the first few days.

About 300 suggestions were posted in the first hour after the shareholders meeting, which drew a crowd of 6,000 and was closely watched by Wall Street analysts hungry for details on the company's turnaround plans.

Any ideas of your own? (You'll need a Starbucks.com account to participate at MyStarbucksIdea.com) Do you think a loyalty program giving regulars free drinks after so many purchased -- as so many espresso bars do -- would make a difference? One suggestion I saw addressed discounts for bringing your own mug, something I thought Starbucks already did.

A few quick notes on the company that has announced buying a 14 percent stake in Washington Mutual.

TPG – formerly Texas Pacific Group and founded in 1992 – manages one of the world’s largest private investment companies with more than $50 billion of assets under management.

Through TPG Capital, the firm generally makes significant investments in operating companies through acquisitions and restructurings across a broad range of industries throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Portfolio companies controlled by TPG currently have combined revenues of approximately $128 billion, operate in more than 140 countries and employ about 500,000 employees. Fully aggregated, TPG portfolio companies would create the 15th largest business of the Fortune 500.

As far as financial institutions go, TPG has taken a number of control and minority stakes in such landmark companies as Korea First Bank and Shenzhen Development Bank. TPG expanded its presence in Japan with investments in TOMY Company and NIS Group.

Some of TPG's best known investments have included Burger King, J.Crew, Del Monte, PETCO, America West Airlines, Harrah's, Debenhams, Hotwire, Beringer Wine Estates, Energy Future Holdings (formerly TXU), Seagate Technology, Texas Genco, MGM and Neiman Marcus.

Someone familiar with today’s transaction told me this afternoon that the transaction doesn’t necessarily signal a revival of fortunes for the financial institution sector. TPG’s relationship with WAMU goes back to the days of the thrift crisis, when TPG bought American Savings Bank and later sold it to Washington Mutual.

TPG is simply buying a stake in a company it knows well, from experience, with an idea of holding the stake for a “considerable period. They’re not making a broad market call here.”

There's been some talk on this blog and in Puyallup that there may be a Kohl's coming to town.

Nzingha Thompson, Kohl's spokeswoman, said she didn't have any details about a store opening in Puyallup – the company only confirms new stores once the plans are finalized.

Kohl's is constantly exploring sites for new stores, but Thompson wouldn't say whether the company was looking at property in the South Sound.

David Montevideo, South Hill Mall property manager, said there's no Kohl's planned for his mall, though JCPenney's is building a second store there.

Sunrise Village, a new shopping center on Meridian south of Puyallup, recently announced its first wave tenants and Kohl's wasn't in the bunch.

Kohl's is celebrating the grand opening of a store in Snohomish Wednesday and a Kohl's opened in Spokane Valley (A shout out to my hometown!) in March.

The nearest Kohl's for Pierce County shoppers are in Lacey or Covington.

The Associated Press reports that Boeing may announce a fourth delay in the 787 on Wednesday when it updates its status.

A Boeing spokeswoman, Yvonne Leach, says it has been assessing the production schedule.

Last month the head of a leasing company that has ordered 74 Boeing 787s, Steven Udvar-Hazy of International Lease Finance, said he expects another delay to redesign the center wing box, which connects wings to the fuselage.

Under the schedule announced in January, Boeing plans the first 787 flight in June with the first delivery early next year, about seven months behind the original goal.

=> Read more!

Investment group TPG plans to infuse Seattle-based Washington Mutual with $7 billion in new capital, according to news reports this morning.

But the investment won't ward off some serious downsizing by the Seattle bank, which has suffered from the rising delinquencies and defaults on mortgages.

The company plans to lay off 3,000 workers and close all of its remaining stand alone home loan businesses. According to the company's Web site, WaMu operates home loan centers in Tacoma and Federal Way.

More from The Associated Press story:

By JESSICA MINTZ
The Associated Press

Washington Mutual Inc., hit hard by rising delinquencies and defaults on mortgages, said Tuesday it will receive $7 billion in new capital from an investment group led by private equity firm TPG but will post a wider-than-expected loss for the first quarter.

The Seattle-based thrift said it will lose $1.1 billion during the first quarter and take a provision for loan losses of $3.5 billion — $1.5 billion more than previously expected. Wall Street had forecast a loss of $344.3 million, according to Thomson Financial survey of analysts.

Separately, the country’s largest savings and loan said it will get out of the wholesale lending business, close all remaining standalone home loan centers and lay off 3,000 workers.

=> Read more!

On the heels of Washington Mutual – whose shares rose 29.3 percent today – shares in other Western thrifts and savings and loan institutions also rose. This was not necessarily the case for commercial banks.

Of 28 Western thrifts tracked by Bloomberg, overall share prices rose 1.83 percent. The shares are down 31.58 percent over the last year.

The optimistic coattails did not extend to 207 commercial banks in the West, whose shares fell 0.09 percent on the day, and are down 30.61 percent for the past 12 months.

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants offered the results today of a study showing that 41 percent of American adults are holding off on major life decisions either because they are financially strapped or worried about the country's economy.

The decisions include home ownership, higher education, marriage, children, medical procedures and retirement – and the reults represent an 11 percent increase from a year ago, when 30 percent of U.S. adults said they were delaying decisions for the same reasons.

Of the 41 percent of the 2008 survey respondents who said they are postponing life goals, 28 percent cited a lack of savings as the principal reason, while 18 percent pointed to concerns about the state of the economy.

General anxiety over the economy is high, with 54 percent of the entire survey sample expressing a pessimistic outlook over the next year.

Carl George, chair of the AICPA’s National CPA Financial Literacy Commission, said, “It’s alarming that so many more people are choosing not to get married, buy a home or further their education because they don’t have the money. We know people are having a hard time making ends meet, which can affect life goals. It’s important that they try to save, even if it’s only a small amount each week.”

I’ve checked two sites offered by the Institute, and both look interesting. They look to offer help for people interested in financial education – savings and such.

The first, www.360financialliteracy.org, gives an overview of financial issues at all ages, and the second, www.feedthepig.org, is aimed at preparing 25-to-34 year-olds for long-term financial security.

Just a reminder – for those of you who need reminding about what happens next Tuesday, April 15.

If you need assistance with your tax preparation, the Tacoma Internal Revenue Service office will be open weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and on Saturday, April 12, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The office is located at 1201 Pacific Ave.

The trial of a former Boeing Co. inspector accused of leaking sensitive company information ended Monday in a hung jury, according to The Associated Press.

After almost a week of deliberations, jurors remained split 10-2 in favor of convicting Gerald Eastman on several counts of computer trespass, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County prosecutor's office.

Prosecutors will decide in the next two weeks whether to retry him, Donohoe told the AP.

Eastman, 46, was accused of downloading Boeing computer documents and sharing them with The Seattle Times for stories about air safety.

=> Read more!

By JESSICA MINTZ
The Associated Press

SEATTLE — Washington Mutual Inc., the country’s largest savings and loan, is close to landing a $5 billion cash infusion from private equity group TPG and other investors, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.

Wall Street cheered news that WaMu may join a growing list of battered financial institutions that have secured much-needed cash since the credit crisis began last summer. Shares jumped 32 percent, or $3.26, to $13.43 in midday trading.

The investment would give TPG, formerly Texas Pacific Group, a mix of common and preferred stock, totaling less than 25 percent of WaMu’s outstanding shares, according to the person, who asked not to be named because the deal has not been announced. TPG would also get a seat on WaMu’s board.

Other investors include existing WaMu institutional shareholders and other private equity groups, the person said.

The Wall Street Journal reported the deal in Monday editions.

Shares of the Seattle-based thrift have come under heavy fire as problems in the housing and credit markets have deepened.

WaMu’s stock shed nearly 70 percent in 2007, and the sinking value of WaMu’s mortgage portfolio and soaring loan-loss provisions — the amount it socks away to cover bad loans — led to a $1.87 billion fourth-quarter loss.

If the deal goes through, WaMu will be one of the first retail banks to accept billions in outside funding, with hopes of distancing itself from the subprime crisis.

So far, it has been mostly investment banks holding huge positions in bad mortgages that are roaming hat in hand.

Merrill Lynch & Co. announced in January it would take $6.6 billion from three foreign investment funds. Morgan Stanley sold a portion of itself to China Investment Corp., an investment arm of the Chinese government, for $5 billion in December. And in November, Citigroup Inc. took $7.5 billion from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in exchange for up to 4.9 percent of its equity.

Banks are also issuing new shares to boost capital. Last week, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. raised $4 billion in a stock offering and Swiss bank UBS AG announced plans to seek $15.1 billion.

Executives have said fallout from the mortgage crisis would continue to slam the company’s finances through 2008, and said up to $8 billion more will be needed this year to cover future loan losses.

As of Friday, WaMu’s stock had fallen another 25 percent in 2008. Cuts to its credit ratings erased a brief moment of investor optimism sparked by a positive comments from Chief Executive Kerry Killinger at a Wall Street conference in January.

At the time, Killinger said WaMu had enough cash and access to loans to get through the fiscal year.
Late last year, the thrift dismantled its subprime mortgage operation, closed more than half of its home loan centers and sales offices, shut down call centers and eliminated more than 3,000 jobs. It also shuttered WaMu Capital Corp. and stopped selling mortgage-backed securities.

The company slashed its dividend and raised $2.9 billion in a December stock offering. At the time, analysts said they did not believe that was enough to carry the thrift through the fiscal year.

Killinger’s $14.4 million in compensation last year, despite the huge losses and dividend cuts, has angered some shareholders.

=> Read more!

Alas there will be no giant donut (as speculated by a slightly hopeful reporter) this week folks.

The Associated Press has revealed Starbucks' big surprise scheduled for tomorrow. It's free coffee.

Here's the scoop:

Starbucks Corp. is hosting a nationwide coffee-tasting to celebrate the launch of its new “everyday” brew.

Customers who line up at most of the coffee retailer’s U.S. stores Tuesday morning will get a free 8 oz. cup of Pike Place Roast from 9 to 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time (12 to 12:30 p.m. Eastern).

Chairman and Chief Executive Howard Schultz says Pike Place Roast has a bold flavor, smooth finish and “subtle, rich flavors of cocoa and toasted nuts.”

It will be freshly roasted, hand-scooped, freshly ground and brewed in small batches that sit for no longer than 30 minutes.

Starbucks will sell it — both regular and decaf — alongside rotating coffees of the week.

Want to see the details of what your government and civic leaders proposed this week to keep Russell Investments from moving out of Tacoma?

Tacoma's business and government leaders presented Russell Investments executives with binders like this one that detail the incentives and commitments to keep Russell's headquarters in Tacoma and remake downtown as a magnet for other international financial services companies.

Coming Sunday, go to thenewstribune.com/business to download all or part of the 158-page portfolio provided to Russell executives. In Sunday's column, I will also outline the proposal and the most recent revelations that could provide clues about what may influence Russell executives' decision.

Russell, which started in Tacoma 72 years ago, plans to decide by the end of the year whether to build a new corporate headquarters in Tacoma or somewhere else by 2013.

U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks (D-Belfair) led a seven-member delegation into Russell's headquarters Monday to outline the incentive package.

What does it include? A lot, including...

=> Read more!

People registered with Starbucks' Web site received e-mails this morning notifying them of a big celebration planned for next week.

"We can't tell you exactly what's going to happen," the e-mail reads. "That'll ruin the surprise."

The e-mail instructs people to show up at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Pike Place Market Starbucks and to "be ready for something big."

What's the big thing? Free coffee? Free treats? Something bigger – is Howard Schultz is rebuying the Sonics?

My speculation: Free donuts. Or, maybe, one giant donut for all of Seattle to share.

The PI reported in February that Seattle-based Top Pot donuts will be available in Starbucks stores across the nation, also starting April 8.

Just a coincidence?

At least two developments have been added to a short list of projects proposed to house an expanded presence of Russell Investments in Tacoma.

Both projects, previously named, would place Russell’s campus downtown.

The first, proposed by the Haub family, puts Russell near the U.S. Post Office, Columbia Bank headquarters and the former Greyhound bus station in an area around A Street.

According to Haub family representative and Tacoma attorney, John Barline, the project could comprise up to 1.7 million square feet. Barline confirmed today that he has been contacted by Russell development consultants asking for a meeting within the next three weeks.

Nate Dreon, president of Ilahie Holdings – which owns Russell’s current headquarters on A Street – said Friday that Ilahie continues to have conversations with the Russell consultants.

“I know we’re talking to them a lot. We’ve had meetings and conversations pretty consistently,” he said.

He said he has another meeting scheduled within the next two weeks concerning Ilahie’s proposal for a project that could comprise 1.2 million square feet built in several phases.

Neither Barline or Dreon would say if they knew of other developments that had made the latest list.
“I know we’re all just working very hard to keep them in town,” Dreon said.

Concerning the presentation to Russell, Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma said Friday afternoon, “I feel good that we’ve essentially put the very best approach forward. I can sleep well at night – that we’ve done everything we can do.

“We laid out all of the benefits. I think we made a strong case that there were far more benefits in staying in Tacoma. There were benefits in both direct and indirect costs."

Fred Meyer Stores and QFC will sell some generic drugs for $4 per prescription, the company announced today.

The $4 generic prescriptions will be available at all QFC pharmacies in Washington and Oregon, and at all Fred Meyer pharmacies in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

The price will apply to more than 300 generic drugs prescribed for 30-day supplies for commonly prescribed dosages. Lists of the participating pharmacies and eligible generic drugs are available online or by calling 1-877-4RX-LIST (1-877-479-5478).

Other retailers including Wal-Mart and Target offer low-cost generic prescriptions.

The Fred Meyer and QFC programs include generic alternatives for some of the most commonly prescribed drugs used to treat conditions such as diabetes, asthma, depression, heart disease, thyroid and other health problems.

Separately, Fred Meyer and QFC will offer generic versions of the family planning drugs Ortho Cyclen(R) and Ortho Tri Cyclen(R) (28-day supply) and the generic version of the fertility drug Clomid(R) for $9.

Spending time on a computer after school just got better in Lakewood – thanks to Intel.

The kids who consider the Lakewood Computer Clubhouse their second home will have $40,000 in new equipment and software to help them celebrate the center's sixth anniversary next month.

A celebration of the new equipment, and the anniversary, has been scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. on May 22 at the clubhouse, 8800 121st St. S.W., the site of the old Lake City School.

=> Read more!

Tacoma-based Columbia Banking System announced Thursday that first quarter earnings will increase by approximately $1.9 million after-tax, or 10 cents per share, as a result of Visa, Inc.'s recent initial public offering.

The increase comes after Visa funded a litigation escrow account in March with $3 billion from the IPO proceeds. Based on Columbia's Visa USA membership percentage, the expected after-tax benefit is approximately $600,000, which will be recognized as a partial recapture of fourth quarter 2007 expenses incurred to establish a Visa litigation reserve liability.

Also, Columbia has received 118,637 shares of Class B Visa common stock, of which 45,866 shares were redeemed for a gain of approximately $1.3 million after-tax.

Columbia will not recognize any gain on its remaining 72,771 shares of unredeemed stock until such time they are redeemed for cash.

Additional information regarding the effect of the Visa IPO is available from Columbia’s Form 8-K, filed April 2.

Incidentally, Bloomberg is carrying a report that Recognia Inc. (www.recognia.com – “Leaders in chart pattern recognition”) is saying Columbia (ticker: COLB, www.columbiabank.com) stock is showing a "bottom triangle” and a “Diamond bottom,” both of which are considered “bullish signals.”

Given the diamond and triangle, says Recognia, COLB should be sailing toward $26.30-$27.10. The stock closed yesterday at $23.51, down 26 cents.

And this time it's going to cost $1.25 million.

It’s been a difficult week for Puget Sound Energy’s relationship with the state.

First, on Monday, Public Counsel Chief Simon ffitch, who represents the public interest for the state Attorney General, said a proposed PSE rate increase is “excessive.” He asked that people contact regulators to voice their opinions.

Then today, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission announced a fine against PSE for $1.25 million – levied because of “fraudulent natural gas pipeline inspection records spanning a four-year period.”

The fine is the largest penalty ever imposed by the state on a natural-gas distribution company.

The commission issued the penalty “for record-keeping violations committed by the utility’s Kirkland- based subcontractor, Pilchuck Contractors, Inc. Although Pilchuck performed the inspections and prepared and maintained PSE’s safety records, PSE is legally responsible for its pipeline-inspection program and for required record-keeping,” the commission said in a release.

“Accurate record-keeping is a critical component of pipeline safety and vital to the commission’s ability to perform safety inspections,” said Mark Sidran, commission chairman. “Falsifying safety records is a particularly serious violation, warranting a serious penalty.”

Puget acknowledges the seriousness of the matter.

Sue McLain, senior vice president of operations at the utility, said this afternoon that both PSE and Pilchuck “took corrective actions to improve our record-keeping practices and procedures.”

The staff investigation into the matter, she said, “looked at a lot of records, of which 90 percent were accurate. Ten percent were not, and there was this falsification. We take that very seriously, and we take full responsibility.”

McLain wants to assure people that the previous error, two years old, has been mediated – and that daily inspections of the system continue “to ensure it is safe and reliable.”

I got a call this morning from Lois Warlick-Jarvie, senior vice president of administration for Birds Eye Foods in Rochester, N.Y. It seems that consumers in the Northwest have been calling the company about the pickle story we ran inside the Business section in today's paper.

Warlick-Jarvie and her company want consumers to know that the "Nalley" brand is not owned by Bay Valley Foods, the company that decided to stop buying cucumbers from Washington growers.

"The pickle business only was sold a number of years ago to Bay Valley, and a licensing agreement was entered into at that time, enabling the new owners to use the Nalley name for marketing pickles," she said.

The other Nalley, which makes Nalley chili, Bernsteins dressings and a number of other dips, dressings and meals in Tacoma, is owned by Birds Eye Foods, and has no involvement with the pickle business that is referenced in the article.

Birds Eye has no control over product sourcing as it relates to the pickle business owned by Bay Valley, she said.

IKEA will no longer offer plastic bags to customers as of Oct. 1.

The retailer started pushing customers toward reusable bags last spring and began charging 5 cents for the disposable plastic versions as part of a plan to reduce the amount of plastic bags the stores used.

Customers can buy a reusable IKEA bag for 59 cents.

The result? More than 92 percent of IKEA's customers said no more plastic bags, the company said Wednesday.

When the bag-the-plastic-bag program began, IKEA set a goal of reducing its U.S. stores’ plastic bag consumption by 50 percent; from 70 million to 35 million plastic bags in the first year.

From a company news release: “IKEA believes home is the most important place in the world. The success of this program truly demonstrates that our customers care deeply about our global home and that we can all work together to be sustainable and environmentally responsible,” said Pernille Spiers-Lopez, president, IKEA North America.
“IKEA applauds its customers for being bold and courageous. Together, we have proven we can shift our behavior and make a notable environmental difference!”

The building under construction on the west side of the Tacoma Mall now has big letters telling shoppers it will be the home of a bigger, better Nordstrom.

Nordstrom spokeswoman Kendall Bingham told me Wednesday night that the company is still working on the plan for the new store that will open Oct. 3 but that Tory Burch was one of the designers that would now be available in Tacoma.

Tory Burch sells shoes and accessories as well as women's clothes. These ballet flats sell for $195.

As for the building now, it's still a shell that wouldn't be recognizable as a Nordstrom, she said. But it is right on schedule.

Anyone have any designers or products they see at other Nordstrom stores that they want here?

If the $2.5 million sale of Tacoma’s Tower Lanes – 6323 6th Ave. – goes through, the new owner will remodel and maintain a bowling center. That’s the word from two sources familiar with the deal.

Like many cities, Tacoma has seen the demise of many of its local bowling businesses. Bob Hanson, owner of the Tower pro shop and former manager of the lanes, notes that bowling centers were built on the outskirts of towns, and then the towns grew, property values rose, and it became more economical to roll with apartments, strip malls or housing developments.

Hanson said today he has heard of the Tower sale. “It’s a bowling center and it’s going to stay a bowling center if the sale goes through,” he said.

Hanson, incidentally, rolled an 826 series last week, including a perfect 300 game.

Jeanne Naccarato (whose latest 300 came last October) said today that she too is familiar with the proposed sale at Tower Lanes. Neither she or Hanson would name the potential buyer, although Naccarato said, “He’s a bowler. He wants to keep it for bowling.”

It seems like any type of financing comes with stricter standards these days.

The Wall Street Journal reports that it's spreading to car loans.

Here's an excerpt from a story in today's Journal:

Many lenders are making fewer loans and instituting stricter standards on loans they do approve, often requiring higher credit scores, making smaller loans and demanding bigger down payments. GMAC Financial Services tightened lending standards three times last year, and firms like AmeriCredit Corp. and Sovereign Bancorp Inc. have recently raised the minimum credit score required for borrowers to avoid an automatic rejection of their car-loan application.

Where you live can make a difference. Some lenders are applying especially tough standards for borrowers in states hard-hit by the housing crisis, such as California and Nevada.
While “subprime” borrowers with poor credit will bear the brunt of the shifting lending standards, even “prime” borrowers with good credit may be affected by some changes. And some consumers may not be able to get a car loan at all.

This year through March 20, about 90 percent of auto-loan applications from prime borrowers were approved, down from 92.5 percent for the same period last year, according to CNW Research, which tracks consumer spending. Among subprime applications, 57 percent have been approved this year, down from 68 percent early last year. Loan applications for all types of borrowers are also being sent to a greater number of financial institutions before being approved, according to CNW.

I'm working on a story for tomorrow's business section featuring Water Concepts, the $2 million gallery-of-gallons, the upscale festival-of-fixtures, the brand new world-of-wet at the old Busch's at 3505 South Tacoma Way.

Owned by Rosen Plumbing Supply of Tacoma, the store offers pretty much everything and anything you'd ever want in the way of water-related fixtures - from tubs and sinks to spigots and spas. Here's a look at an infinity tub (who knew?) and a selection of shower heads. (And the fun part is, most of the stuff is hooked up, so you can go there and take a shower. Or a bath. Or a few hours to look around.)

South Sound bloggers are abuzz this week about the possible demise of Commencement Bay Coffee Co., the one-off coffee shop and former roasterie at 2354 Jefferson Ave.in Tacoma.

Seems the owner, Keith Prichard, has been ordered by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to pay a civil penalty of $8,730 – which is down from an original penalty of $13,878 – assessed because Prichard continued to roast coffee without proper attention to mitigation. He had been told to use an “after-burner” that incinerates particulates that could, and did, rise into the air.

“I’ve had a problem with them for over three years,” Prichard said Tuesday. (“Them” is the PSCAA.) “I feel I’ve been unfairly fined for the whole affair. They say I need to send a check, or we’ll go to court. I’m at the point, if they pursue that, I’ll have to close.”

He contends he has the support of three members of the Tacoma City Council.

Jim Nolan, director of compliance at PSCAA, said Tuesday that Prichard installed the Commencement Bay roaster without a permit and without an air pollution control device.

After an initial confrontation, the agency changed its regulations to allow roasters the unmitigated roasting of 10 pounds or less per batch. Prichard was roasting 30.

The agency offered Prichard three options: 1. Control the pollution; 2. Get a smaller roaster; 3. Contract with another roaster who complies with the law. Prichard now buys his roasted coffee from Martin Henry Coffee Rosters of Puyallup.

“He continued to run until we caught him in January, 2007,” Nolan said. “He had made no progress, and continued to roast. Our view was that he was trying to ignore the issue. The penalty was for operating past the due date.”

“I was waiting for them to come and talk to me,” said Prichard, in his defense.

“Then he had the right to appeal, which he never did,” said Nolan. “We’ve been trying to work with him. His time for appeal went out. We sent him a form letter, an order of civil penalty. We’re always willing to talk to him about a settlement. If he’d like to engage with us, we’re willing to talk about a settlement. If he does nothing, eventually we’ll file a lawsuit.”

“I’ll talk to them,” said Prichard. “I want them to leave me alone.”

The Ports of Tacoma and Seattle decided today to cooperate even more.

The ports held a rare – some have said first, though that hasn't been verified – joint commission meeting to explore areas the two ports can work together including marketing, environmental issues and security.

They ended the meeting with plans to meet again and to form a few task forces including one on focused on determining regional rail infrastructure needs.

The commissioners discussed the need to jointly promote the strengths of the ports and the benefits they provide the community.

Port executive directors Tay Yoshitani and Tim Farrell, of Seattle and Tacoma respectively, proposed a few key next steps as well including:

- Jointly advocating for security parity – meaning ensuring that cargo coming into the U.S. via Canada and Mexico is subject to the same security standards as cargo entering the country via the ports.

- And implementing a collaborative air emissions reduction strategy (which the ports have been working on for more than a year).

Everyone was very nice to each other.

There was no talk of Tacoma stealing Seattle's business or of Seattle port officials wanting to merge the two organizations.

John Creighton, president of the Seattle port commission, called the meeting a "wonderful, critical first step."

The port commissions plan to meet again in the fall.

If you haven't shopped for eggs lately, get ready for some sticker-shock: A dozen eggs costs more than $2, up about 45 percent in just eight months.

A quick tour around Tacoma today showed that both Top Foods and Fred Meyer were charging $2.59 for a dozen grade AA large eggs.

And the lofty price tag is likely to stick for the foreseeable future, according to those that track the industry.

What's up? Supplies are tight, demand remains strong, and wholesale prices are stubbornly high, according to Marketwatch.

"Normally, we see a decline in prices after the Easter holiday," said economist David Harvey of the U.S. Agriculture Department. "But with the number of birds in the laying flock continuing to be down, we may not see much of a drop."

This past weekend, Trader Joe's in University Place posted a sign about the price increases. The price of a dozen was $2.49.

It read: "While it's true our egg prices have increased, the increase in the cost of eggs has been market-wide and we think if you shop and compare, you'll find that ours are still an everyday value."

=> Read more!

According to The Associated Press, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has denied Costco Wholesale Corp.'s request that it reconsider a decision upholding Washington state's rules on beer and wine distribution.

Costco hoped to beat the laws in hopes of using its massive buying power to drive down prices. The court said Tuesday it would not hold a rehearing of the case.

Puget Sound Energy said today it is offering new energy efficiency programs to help customers conserve electricity and natural gas and save on their energy bills.

The details:

PSE energy advisors can examine customers' homes and perform diagnostic testing to determine areas of energy loss and provide recommendations for increased energy efficiency.

In-home electricity monitors will be available to view energy consumption in real time, helping customers track kilowatt hours used and dollars spent on their energy use throughout the day. This is a pilot program.

Select customers will receive home energy reports describing energy use averages and how they compare to homes of similar age and size in their neighborhoods.

These programs could displace 53.3 average megawatts of generation and 5.3 million therms of natural gas over the next two years, according to the company.

"Our plan for meeting growing energy demands begins with aggressive energy efficiency programs," said Cal Shirley, vice president of Energy Efficiency Services for PSE. "Conservation is the right thing to do for the environment and costs less than building new power plants or buying energy on today's wholesale market, helping to preserve our robust region and save our customers money."

Tax time is ticking, and some cities are dawdling until the last minute.

TurboTax recently released a list of the top tax procrastinating cities, determined by the number of tax returns electronically filed last year between April 14 and April 17.

Seattle was among the top.

Here's the results as reported by The Associated Press:

California and Texas each had three cities on the list, while eight of the top ten cities are west of the Mississippi River.

Chicago took the top spot for the first time in the seven years the list of late filers has been compiled, while New York hustled in at second.

Houston, which has topped the list more than any other city, came in third, while Austin — one of the fastest growing cities in America — moved up on the list to fourth place.

San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Las Vegas, San Antonio, and Los Angeles also made the cut, while San Jose, Calif. and Phoenix dropped off the list this year.