The words that come to mind are “ambitious” and “accountable.”

You could well add “strong.”

The Tacoma Regional Convention & Visitor Bureau has a new logo and a new strategic business plan.
Mike Gommi, the bureau’s board chairman, and Tammy Blount, selected in January as executive director, will present the plan at a meeting Thursday morning at the Landmark Convention Center.
“We mean business,” Blount said Wednesday afternoon – after two weeks spent planning for the event and six months developing the plan.

“We stopped counting at 287 people, counting the number of people we talked to,” she said.
More than 150 people – including officials from various Pierce County cities and towns, and workers and managers involved in the tourism business – are expected at tomorrow’s gathering.

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When Lloyd Waterhouse founded his engine rebuilding company in downtown Tacoma in 1929, the combustible engine looked a lot simpler than its modern counterparts.

His company, Waterhouse Motors, now owned by Ed and Larry Davis, will auction off its inventory Thursday beginning at 10 a.m. and close its doors for good.

Ed Davis, reached at the office Wednesday afternoon, said the complexity of modern engines with a growing number of expensive parts made the remanufacturing business less and less profitable.

"Times are changing," Davis said. "The remanufacturing business is dying, and I didn't want to ride it all the way to the end.

At its peak, the company, at 2502 Commerce St., employed 22 people in engine and cylinder head remanufacturing, cast iron welding, crankshaft grinding and antique engine part sales, according to its Web site.

In its last days, with business declining, Waterhouse Motors employed 10, Davis said.He plans to look for a tenant to lease the commercial property.

Waterhouse, the company founder, sold his business in 1959 to Don Kress, who sold it to the Davises in 1978.

Abolins Inc. has been open in Tacoma for 40 years, becoming a landmark in the business community. But come Monday, the company may have to close its doors for good.

The audio-visual retailer and repair shop is hoping that a local company might buy its assets and keep the store on South 12th Street in business. If not, it will have to close and lay off its employees.

Operations Manager Michael Hall said the store just can't keep up with massive retailers, and the slouching economy has hurt sales. The business used to specialize in repairs of video equipment and other electronics, but cheaper production costs have meant people buy new instead of taking their cameras in to be fixed.

"It is becoming a throwaway world," Hall said.

President David Senner bought the company and moved it to its current location in 1988. Last year he told The News Tribune that the company employed 12 people and saw $7 million in sales annually.

But Hall said because the store is so small, it cannot buy in bulk to keep up with big chains like Best Buy and Costco. Also, the store handles state contracts, but the government has been cutting back, meaning a large drop in business.

"I am pretty sure we're going to close up shop, and I don't want that to happen," Hall said.

We Americans stand divided. Democrat vs. Republican. Red vs. Blue. McCain vs. Obama. Target vs. Wal-Mart.

BIGResearch, a consumer intelligence company, surveyed shoppers at several popular retail stores to find out who they would vote for, if the presidential election were held today.

The results? Wal-Mart, Kohl's and JC Penney shoppers prefer Republican John McCain. Macy's and Target shoppers prefer Democrat Barack Obama.

“Looking at such detail as how specific retailer shoppers are planning to vote in November provides valuable insights into the mood of shoppers/voters,” said Gary Drenik, President of BIGresearch. “By understanding the political preferences of these voter groups, it’s indicative of socio-economic impact on political preferences and indecisions. Perhaps McCain should consider a bus tour through Walmart parking lots and Obama could use Target.”

Here's how the results broke down:

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Boeing and its largest union, the Machinists, sit down at the negotiating table Thursday for marathon negotiations leading to a "best and final offer" to be considered by union members Sept. 3.

The portents aren't good. The union wants to make up for what it considers ground lost in the last two contracts because of the ill health of the aerospace industry. And Boeing wants to tie increases in compensation to company performance and unshackle itself from its defined benefit pension plan for new employees.

"We haven't made as much progress as we had hoped," said Machinist Union District Local 751 President Tom Wroblewski. "Boeing needs to get serious with their offers and quit talking about takeaways," he said today.

The two sides have been meeting for months now trading proposals, but the negotiations at a SeaTac hotel are when things finally get down to hard negotiations.

Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said the company is pleased with its new negotiations approach of starting substantive talks earlier and letting Boeing employees know more clearly what the company is seeking.

The fact that the statements surrounding the hotel talks seems louder this year, he said, is indicative of Boeing's efforts to roll out its major proposals to the union and Boeing workers before negotiators retreat behind closed doors.

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A friend of mine told me about a company called Stupid Prices that operates like an outlet store for big retailers including Costco. The name was a lot to live up to. How much of a discount would count as "stupid?"

I drove out to the store in Spanaway on Tuesday to investigate.

Check this out: A pair of Polo Jeans Co. capri pants that originally sold at Costco for $41.29 were $12.39.

A green Jones New York long sleeve T-shirt originally $23.09 was $6.93.

The company is based in Woodinville and has 13 stores including one in Federal Way on 314th and one in Spanaway at 176th and Pacific Avenue.

In the stores, most of the items have green tags, which means the price you pay is 50 percent below its original price. Sales tax is included.

Clothes are 70 percent off the original price.

The stores has lots of one-of-a-kind items such as a Kirkland set of stainless steel cookware that sold for $278.99 now selling for $139.49. The box was taped, and I didn't check to make sure all the pieces were in the box.

I found two Martha Stewart table cloths – one a 70 round and one a 52 x 70 – for $7.99, marked down from $15.99.

Some of the items have stickers that say "used." Some boxes had been opened and resealed. Some items weren't in the original packaging.

Stupid Prices sells televisions, lawnmowers, shoes, food, housewares, toys and lots more. You get seven days to exchange an item including clothes. The company offers a 30-day , 90 or one year warranty on select electronics, according to the store's return policy. All furniture sales are final.

More "Stupid Prices:"

A box of Annie's Honey Bunnies cereal for 69 cents. Sure it was past its "best by" date by two months but how bad can old cereal be?

A Dove rose and hearts truffle gift set – the kind you find in stores at Valentine's Day – for 99 cents. The original price: $2.84.

Alaska Airlines will bid goodbye to the last of its MD-80 aircraft this weekend.

The twin-engine, 140-passenger aircraft once dominated Alaska's fleet. But the airline in recent months has accelerated the planes' retirement and replacement with Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

The McDonnell Douglas, Long beach-built rear-engined planes served in Alaska's fleet for 23 years. The planes, however, are too fuel inefficient in the era of $3.50-a-gallon jet fuel.

The last two Alaska MD-80 flights will be from California to Seattle.

Flight 331 will depart San Jose at 7:50 p.m. Sunday, and Flight 363 will leave Sacramento at 8:20 p.m., the airline said.

Some passengers preferred the MD-80 to the 737 because of its 3-2 seating arrangement that meant there was only one middle seat for every row. The 737 has 3-3 seating with a middle seat on both sides of aisle.

Tired of unsheathing your laptop every time you pass through airport security?

Beginning this week, there's an alternative, the "checkpoint friendly" laptop bag.

As Transportation Security Administration administrator Kip Hawley told us last month when he was here at Sea-Tac, the TSA will allow travelers to keep their laptops in their bags. The catch? The laptops must be in so-called "checkpoint friendly" bags.

The idea of the "checkpoint friendly" bag is that it allows TSA screeners to see the laptop clearly on the security x-ray without the interference of belts, buckles or other equipment.

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United Airlines will eliminate free snacks for coach passengers on its domestic flights beginning Sept. 2.

The Chicago-based airline is also ending complimentary meals for business class passengers on domestic flights with the exception of certain transcontinental flights from Los Angeles and San Francisco to New York.

And the airline also will end free meals in economy on flights to Europe from its Washington, D.C. hub.

All of those actions are spurred by the need for the carrier to shave costs in the face of burgeoning fuel bills.

"These changes are difficult, but necessary, and we do not make them lightly," the airline said in a memo to employees.

To compensate for the lack of free food, the airline plans to augment its offerings of buy-on-board snacks and meals.

United so far hasn't followed the example of rival carrier US Airways in charging for soda, juice and bottled water.