KeyBank is about to make a push toward a larger market share of the home mortgage market – in fact, the bank intends to triple its mortgage business in the state this year.

As part of the push, Key has recruited Michael Taylor, former regional manager in the Eastern Washington, Idaho and Utah markets for Washington Mutual.

Taylor, newly based in Tacoma, will be responsible for expanding Key’s mortgage lending services in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. According to a release, he’ll oversee recruiting, sales and performance management as well as developing market strategies.

Despite turbulence in the home lending field, the bank said it sees opportunities with the maturation of subprime loans and with homeowners looking to refinance both fixed-rate and adjustable loans.

Taylor is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University and resides with his family in Maple Valley.

I’ll be speaking with him next week for an upcoming story.

China's Hainan Airlines, which begins Sea-Tac Beijing service June 9, is offering business class travelers a bargain introductory fare.

That fare, including taxes and security charges, $2,510, is about 60 percent of the normal summertime business class fare between Seattle and Beijing. And those higher-priced fares require stopovers in other cities.

Hainan's four-times-weekly service is the first non-stop service between Seattle and Beijing. The Chinese airline will get competition next March when Northwest Airlnes begins non-stop Seattle-Beijing service.

Travelers seeking Hainan's bargain rate must travel outbound between June 9 and July 31. They must begin their return trip by Oct. 31. They must book their trip by June 16. These and other conditions of the fare are available at www.hnair.com/us.

Hainan Airlines can be reached by calling 1-888-688-8813.

The ports of Tacoma and Seattle received $27 million in federal security grants as part of the Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

The money will go toward infrastructure security improvements such as chemical detectors, security gates and training exercise, the office of Washington Sen. Patty Murray said today.

The state ferry system and Port of Grays Harbor will also receive $2 million and $178,000 respectively.

The Tacoma port has received at least $19 million – not including the most recent grant – from federal sources for port security projects since 2002.

Upmarket toy retailer FAO Schwarz may be on its way to Tacoma Mall.

The New York Times is reporting today that FAO Schwarz has signed an agreement to open in some 685 Macy's locations over the next two years.

The report continues: “Up to 275 Macy's stores will have FAO Schwarz-operated toy stores in fall 2008, the companies said, in time for the key holiday shopping season.”

A spokeswoman at the Tacoma Mall Macy’s would neither confirm or deny the report, but FAO Schwarz spokeswoman Meryl VanMeter in New York told me this morning: “We cannot confirm specific locations. We know that we are definitely coming into your market by the fall. You can confidently say that.”

To me, that spells Tacoma.

The Times report continues: “This autumn, FAO Schwarz shops at a size of between 1,000 square feet and 3,500 square feet will be launched at 75 Macy's stores across the United States, the companies said.

“About 200 of the department store operator's locations will have smaller FAO Schwarz toy departments, at a size of 200 to 300 square feet. The new boutiques will carry the toy retailer's private label toys and other select brands, the companies said.”

I’ll update as calls to Macy’s are returned.

Good news and bad news for you "afishiandos".

The good news first. The first Copper River salmon of the year have arrived at Sea-Tac Airport via Alaska Airlines.

Now the bad. High winds and waves in Alaska hindered fishing Thursday, so the first fishing day yielded a relatively few fish.

That translates to a limited availability and sky-high prices.

Initial prices are enough to make ordinary mortals consider tapping their home equity line of credit or praying to win the MegaMillions jackpot.

At Tacoma's Northern Fish Co., the few Copper River king salmon were going for $50 a pound. At Johnny's Seafood Co. on downtown Tacoma's Foss Waterway, no Copper River fish were available Friday afternoon. When the fish become available, said a clerk there, the price is likely to be somewhere north of $45 a pound.

At those prices, a 20-pound king could go for $1,000.

Russ Casteel, seafood buyer for Haggen Food and Pharmacy and TOP Food & Drug stores, said conditions in Cordova, Alaska, where the Copper River fish are landed, were rough.

"We started the day with 50-knot winds and swells of 12 to 15 feet," Casteel said today. "Only 50 percent of the fleet was able to get out and fish, and half of those boats returned by noon Thursday."

The first shipment of the coveted and hyped fish touched down in Seattle about 6 a.m. today and were hustled to Alaska Airlines' cargo hangar where they were given a celebrity greeting complete with flashing cameras and official greeters.

Alaska expects to ship about 7,500 pounds of the fish from Cordova to Seattle and beyond today. The airline had expected to transport about 20,000 pounds of the fish today.

The fish on the first plane went to four seafood processors: Ocean Beauty Seafoods, Bear and Wolf Salmon C., Trident Seafoods and Copper River Seafoods.

Except in rare cases, expect to see the Copper River fish begin to reach restaurants and stores early next week after the weather calms.

Alaska will further transport some of the fish to the upscaled eateries of the East Coast on passenger flights where restaurant patrons will pay even more for the privilege of biting into the first of the oil-rich salmon of the year.

Alaska and its sister carrier, Horizon Air, transport 150 million pounds of seafood a year. Alaska has invested in conversions of six 737-400 aircraft into freighter and freighter/passenger configurations to handle the seafood and other cargo loads.