Perhaps you’d prefer some good news. Here it is.

Consumer prices in the Tacoma-Bremerton-Seattle area fell 0.1 percent in July and August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.

The bureau’s trannsportation index was primarily responsible for the decline, down 1.7 percent. The price of gasoline, a part of that index, marked a 7.2 percent drop.

Among other numbers in today’s report: Grocery prices were up 7.9 percent; electricity was unchanged; furniture and “household operations” were down 2.8 percent and are down 3 percent from a year ago; and the cost of clothes fell 2.2 percent for two months and are down 0.7 percent for the past 12.

Grocery prices edged up 0.1 percent for the two months, and are up 8 percent since the end of August 2007. Restaurant food and other food purchased for consumption away from home rose 0.7 percent in July and August and were ahead 3.7 percent for the year.

Medical care was up 2.2 percent for the two months and down by 0.7 percent on the year.

The Port of Seattle is holding an open house Sept. 25 to introduce the public to its new third runway.

The open house, set for 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Boulevard Park Presbyterian Church, 1822 S. 128th St., Seattle, is designed to provide the public with answers about the new runway and its effects on the environment and near-airport neighborhoods.

The third runway, some 15 years in the planning and construction, is set to open Nov. 20.

The new runway is designed to help the airport operate more efficiently during bad weather. The airport's two existing runways are too close together to allow landings on both when visibility is poor.

The new runway will allow staggered landings on both strips during inclement weather.

The runway project, which required the displacement of dozens of homes and the reconstruction of lakes and creeks, is expected to cost about $1.2 billion when all the bills are in.

Aviation Partners Boeing, a Seattle company that designs and builds fuel-saving wingtip extensions for commercial and corporate aircraft, has won new orders from two airlines.

Hawaiian Airlines and Air New Zealand announced this week they will install Aviation Partners' blended winglets on their fleets of Boeing 767 twin jets to cut fuel costs.

Air New Zealand will add the winglets, which are vertical extensions at the ends of the 767's wings, to five of its jets.

The winglets are expected to save the Kiwi airline about 1.6 million gallons of fuel yearly.

Hawaiian Airlines in the meanwhile will add Aviation Partners' winglets to eight of its 767-300ERs. The airline will also purchase seven additional sets of winglets.

The wingtip extensions are expected to reduce fuel consumption by about 5 percent.

Neither airline disclosed the price of the wingtip extensions.

The wingtips improve fuel ecomony, increase aircraft range and reduce emissions because the winglets disrupt the drag-producing vortexes that form at the end of conventional wingtips.

Will the president soon fly Airbus?

A new competition still in the planning stages raises that possibility.

The Air Force has begun planning to replace the president's huge airborne office, known as Air Force One when he's aboard, with newer, more fuel efficient aircraft.

The search for replacements for the two specially equipped Boeing 747-200s in the presidential fleet is likely to set up yet another confrontation between Boeing and Airbus.

Boeing is likely to propose its 747-8 Intercontinental, the latest version of the venerable 747, to the Air Force. The 747-8 has new wings, new electronics and new engines. It's stretched so in the passenger version it holds about 460 travelers.

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Some investors have been asking Weyerhaeuser to separate its trees from its manufacturing for several years.

The company today gave hints that it might happen soon.

Here's what Bloomberg is reporting:

Weyerhaeuser Co., North America’s largest lumber producer, may meet U.S. financial requirements to become a real estate investment trust, or REIT, as soon as next year.

“The REIT structure has a number of complex rules and we don’t meet them for 2008,” Chief Financial Officer Patricia Bedient said today at a forestry conference in New York. “However, given the changes in our company, we believe there is a high likelihood that we may be able to meet the so-called asset and income tests required for REIT by 2009.”

Weyerhaeuser, under pressure from some shareholders to boost the value of its investments in timberland, said May 30 that conversion into a real estate trust wouldn’t make financial sense until 2010 at the earliest.

No decision has been made to become a REIT, even though the company is moving now to “preserve the option” for 2009, Bedient said.

As a REIT, profit from Weyerhaeuser’s timberlands would be taxed at 15 percent, instead of a rate of 35 percent for corporations. Under legislation included in this year’s U.S. Farm Bill, the company is currently paying the 15 percent rate, Bedient said, adding those legal provisions expire in May 2009.

TOP Food & Drug stores have taken groceries to the Internet.

The Bellingham-based chain, with stores in Lake Tapps, Puyallup and Tacoma, launched a pilot TOP Connection program, which provides a seven-day guarantee on prices. This means is a member buys a product at a competitor and TOP advertises a lower price within seven days, the price difference plus one percent is credited to the customer.

These credits add up monthly, and can be used at a TOP store.

The program is available at stores in Tacoma, Olympia, Lacey and Aberdeen.

People can register for the free program at www.top-foods.com, by calling (877) TOP-3850 or by visiting a TOP store.

In addition to the price guarantee, the membership provides: