A day after announcing the demise of a merger with Washington Banking Co., parent of Whidbey Island Bank, stock in Everett-based Frontier Financial Corp., parent of Frontier Bank, today fell to a 52-week low.

Frontier stock was down 29 cents to $14.25 – that’s down 23.26 percent over the year so far.

WBC stock fared worse, also hitting a 52-week low, down $2.81 – a whopping 22.48 percent – to $9.69.

Both sides are claiming the other is to blame for the merger’s failure. In a release yesterday, WBC said it decided to end the agreement because of “Frontier’s inability to obtain regulatory approval in a timely manner” causing circumstances that “constitute a breach of Frontier’s representations and warranties.”

Frontier counters by saying it “denies that it breached the agreement and believes WBC’s repudiation of the agreement is a breach of the merger agreement.”

In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Frontier said it will charge $517,000 in related pretax expenses in the second quarter, with the total cost coming in at $1.3 million.

Frontier also informed the SEC that each company has asserted that it is entitled to a $5 million termination fee to be paid by the other side.

I did speak with John Dickson, Frontier president and CEO, late this afternoon. He said, “I’m very disappointed. My preference would have been that we mutually agree to terminate the agreement.”

He said WBC was the aggressor in the termination, and he’d prefer to simply close the book. “We don't want to make this any worse than it already is. We would just as soon shake hands and walk away.”

Dickson said the delay may have been the result of a compliance examination by regulators – and that Frontier has addressed “90 percent" of the issues raised. Given the rules, he was unable to disclose the nature of the issues, although they did not concern Frontier's capitalization or safety.

The Port of Tacoma has started to tear down buildings on the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula to make room for new shipping terminals.

Shipping line NYK announced last year that it was moving from Seattle to a new 168-acre container terminal on the Blair Waterway in Tacoma.

That terminal is scheduled to open in 2012.

As part of that project the port will also relocate the shipping terminal for TOTE, a shipping line that carries cargo to Alaska, and improve the peninsula's road and rail infrastructure.

But before all that can happen, the port needs to tear down 129 buildings and structures to clear the way for construction.

Port staff will be in front of the port commission Thursday requesting approval for the demolition program.

The first phase includes knocking down 56 structures including the former Tacoma steam plant and the old Arkema chemical site.

The first phase will cost an estimated $18.7 million.

The port initially estimated that developing the east side of the Blair Waterway for shipping would cost about $800 million.

Executive Director Tim Farrell said today that the total development cost could range between $1 billion and $1.3 billion.

The estimates are on the high-end, he added, in that the port is assuming it won't receive grant funding or assistance from other interested parties.

Demolition has already started on a former kite shop located on E. 11th Street.

"Essentially the projects we are doing this year are facilities that are no longer being used or are abandoned," said Matthew Bryant, a port project manager.

The port has spent the past year buying up the property it needs to develop the peninsula.

The port aims to salvage or recycle a good portion of the buildings and structures being torn down.

The port's demolition contracts will require contractors to divert at least 65 percent of the non-hazardous waste from landfills.

"Kaiser showed us it was possible," Bryant said.

The port completed the demolition of the former Kaiser Aluminum smelter last year.

The agency recycled more than 150 million pounds of various products from the site including steel, copper, aluminum, lead, concrete, alumina ore, oil and carbon anodes.

A few phases of the project even earned the port money as the agency benefited from selling the metals.

The first 56 structures should be demolished by the beginning of next year. The rest of the demolition will take place in 2009 and 2010, Bryant said.

The port commission meets at noon Thursday at in Room 104 of The Fabulich Center at 3600 Port of Tacoma Road.

With air-jet tubs, in-room refrigerators and flat-screen TVs – and after a $275,000 investment – the Maritime Inn on the Gig Harbor waterfront has reopened.

According to a release today from owners Joanie Mitton and Jannae Jolibois, the 15-room inn now features the features above, along with
new carpeting, “hearty wood floors” and beds offering pima cotton sheets and down duvets.

Designer Rebecca Knowlden of Becca Interiors served as general contractor to the project, the note said.

“Our goal was to create a boutique feel,” said Mitton. “Rebecca was able to bring our ideas into focus and reach that goal.”

The inn opened in 1995 and is located at 3212 Harborview Dr. in Gig Harbor.

For more information, visit www.maritimeinn.com.

The Canadian version of KFC has agreed to improve its chicken slaughter conditions and add vegan options -- aka fake meat -- to the menu, according to a story in the Globe and Mail out of Toronto.

I'm definitely in favor of better treatment of animals, but my first question is: Why would a vegan go to a restaurant known for its fried meat? With fried chicken as two of the three words of the namesake acronym? And as a vegetarian (OK, technically, a pescetarian), I can also ask this: Why not just skip the fake version of something you don't eat and go for something of the vegetable group? And what all gets put into that fake meat?

Alright, onto the story:

The fake chicken, known as unchicken, has been around for years and is available in a handful of restaurants and stores in Canada. Most of the fake meats are soy-based and fair game for vegans. Some may contain eggs, but are meat-free.

There are some Canadian unchicken manufacturers (one calls it "Chick'n"), but a selection of the mock meats is not easy to find. Many Ontarians turn to an unusual supplier: the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

KFC's efforts come courtesy of a campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which says it will press its case in the U.S. But until then, vegans and vegetarians, you'll soon find an unchicken friend in Canada.

A plan to convert a former railroad line to a pedestrian and bike trail that connects the Thea Foss Waterway with South Tacoma Way is moving toward approval with the City of Tacoma.

The property is the old Prairie Line owned by the BNSF Railway. The Prairie Line was the original rail route that carried rail traffic between Tacoma and Nisqually until BNSF's predecessor built a rail line along Puget Sound.

BNSF closed the line when Sound Transit negotiated an agreement to cross the line with its LINK light rail tracks at South 17th Street and Pacific Avenue.

The line formerly crossed Pacific Avenue just north of the Tacoma Art Museum and south of Tollefson Plaza.

Under the proposed agreement, BNSF would grant the city a strip of property along the rail line between South 15th and South 27th Street. That property cuts through the University of Washington Tacoma campus and hooks up with the BNSF line that Sound Transit will use to connect it Freighhouse Square station with stations in South Tacoma, Lakewood and ultimately in Dupont.

In return for the property, the city would close a crossing of the BNSF tracks at South 22nd and Dock streets.

That crossing is hazardous because it's on a curve on BNSF's multiple-track mainline.

BNSF would grant the city air rights over its mainline tracks at South 15th Street to expand the existing bridge to allow for the trail. The railroad as also agreed to grant air rights for another pedestrian bridge over its tracks at an unspecified location to link downtown with Dock Street.

The city, as funds permit, would pave the trail and connect it with another trail along South Tacoma Way.

Florida-based discount airline Spirit today warned of layoffs that could trim its 2,300-employee labor force by 460 workers.

Those workers could be laid off by Aug. 1 as Spirit trims operations at bases in Detroit, New York, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Spirit is the latest airline to announce operational cutbacks to counter high fuel prices.

Spirit flies mainly in the East. It has no flights to Sea-Tac Airport.

These ones might taste good. Jones Soda is rolling out beverages named after the presidential candidates, the company said in a news release this morning.

The drink will be available online.

Here's the word from the company: "This politically correct beverage gives people of all ages nationwide the opportunity to chug down change and belch up choice. The program provides a unique forum for those who are under 18 years of age to vote for their candidate of choice and encourages participants to take a stance on today’s political issues at www.campaigncola.com."

The sodas are:

Hillary Clinton’s "Capital Hillary Cola"

John McCain’s "Pure McCain Cola"

Barack Obama’s "Yes We Can Cola."

Prices: A six-pack sells for $14.99 or a 12-pack for $23.99.

=> Read more!

United Airlines will kill off its leisure-oriented Ted operation, ground 100 older aircraft and lay off 1,100 more people to cope with its expanding financial crisis.

United is the latest domestic airline to ground fuel-inefficient airlines against a backdrop of jet fuel prices that have risen more than 75 percent in the last year.

The Chicago-based carrier said it will ground all of its 94 Boeing 737s and six of its older 747 aircraft by the end of the year. United has 460 aircraft in its fleet.

United is Sea-Tac Airport's fourth most popular airline by passenger's boarded.

United's cutbacks come after failed attempts to merge with Continental and US Airways.

The airline planes to end its six-year-old Ted operation, which it created in 2002 to compete with discount carriers.

The Airbus A320s dedicated to the leisure-oriented, all-coach Ted operation will be repainted and reconfigured into mainline United aircraft equipped with both coach and first class seats.

The Ted experiment is the latest failure by legacy airline to create a low-cost carrier within its older airline. All have failed.

Delta shut down its effort at such a carrier, Song, during bankruptcy. United terminated an earlier effort, Shuttle by United. US Airways abandoned its efforts to create such a carrier, MetroJet. Continental Airlines halted its Continental Lite operation in the mid '90s when it failed to produce positive results.

United's cutbacks follow news of groundings and flight reductions at Delta and American Airlines.

Industry observers say that the domestic industry must reduce capacity and eliminate marginal routes if it is to regain profitability.

United has already announced it will halt all service to Anchorage and will eliminate flights between Los Angeles and Hong Kong as part of its rationalization. More route reductions will unfold in the coming months, the airline said.