Gas prices in Tacoma keep falling, with Friday's price 5 cents less than Thursday.

AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report puts the average price of regular gas at $2.55, more than $1 less than last month.

The cheapest gallon is $2.24 at a Safeway at 224th Street and Meridian in Graham, according to Tacoma Gas Buddy. Within Tacoma city limits, the cheapest is $2.29 at the ARCO station at 1440 Puyallup Ave.

The average for Washington is $2.67, and the national average is $2.50.

Oil settled at $67.81 a barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Associated Press reports October saw a record 32 percent drop in oil prices.

In case anyone has driven by and wondered what's going on at the stripped-down apartment building on 19th and Stevens Streets, here's the situation.

Dobler Management Co. is spending almost $2 million to renovate Boardwalk Apartments at 1825 S Stevens St., across the street from Fred Meyer and a Shell station. The management company is renovating the 1979 building, not just to update the property, but also to improve the neighborhood, Dobler's Senior Vice President David Dearth said.

"The neighborhood can either be bad or good, it's kinda what you make of it," Dearth said. "We want a product that attracts high quality tenants."

=> Read more!

Attention James Gilmore of Tacoma, Kelly Heine of Lakewood, Jason Huery of Gig Harbor, Neil Lapham of Puyallup, Steven Lyons of Bonney Lake, Jimmy Overly of Roy, John Russom of University Place, Gregory Fields of Ashford and around 5,594 more of you.

The Internal Revenue has some checks – with your name written thereupon – just waiting.

In Washington, some 6,000 taxpayers have not received their stimulus checks, or, in some cases, refund checks, because the postal service returned them due to address errors.

The checks in Washington total $6.2 million. The stimulus checks average $581, and the refund checks come in at $937.

If you'd like to see if your name appears on the list, we've added it to our database. Click here.

If you'd like your money, or more information, contact the IRS at www.irs.gov or call 800-829-1954.

http://wwwb.thenewstribune.com/databases/irs_refunds/

Two minutes to show time, CEO David Haggerty handed out single-stemmed roses to the women huddled around the TV in his North Tacoma living room.

"I appreciate all the support and everything," Haggerty told his mother, Hazel; wife, Jeanette; daugther, Melissa; sister, Dawn; and friend, Wendy.

The young Tacoma company, which makes a novel bed sheet set with warm fleece on one side and cool cotton on the other, hit the big time at 2 p.m. this afternoon with a six-minute sales segment on the nation's most popular shop-from-home TV station.

I told you the Split the Sheets story in an Oct. 19 column.

David Haggerty invented a bed sheet with warm fleece on one side and cool cotton on the other after he and his wife, Jeanette, argued over how warm – or cool – to keep their bed. (TNT Photo by Peter Haley)

So, how did sales go?

=> Read more!

The Seattle-based developer Tarragon announced today that it has signed 10 leases for its Sunrise Village Shopping Center – which opened earlier this month at 156th Street and Meridian Avenue.

The new tenants include: AT&T Wireless; Games Workshop; Hand & Stone Massage Spa; Sleep Country USA; Soleil Nail Spa; Urban Tanning Spa; The Ram Restaurant & Brewery; Pizzeria Fondi; Qdoba Mexican Grill; and Big Foot Java, which will open what if calls a “flagship cafe” featuring an indoor-outdoor fireplace.

The newly signed tenants join anchors L.A. Fitness and Target. Already signed as tenants were Famous Footwear, Staples, Bright Now! Dental and Valley Bank.

“Of the 22 buildings in Phase 1 of the project, 17 have been completed or are nearing completion,” said Kristen Jensen, senior development manager of the project. She said she expects construction to be complete by early next month.

Seventy-two percent of the space has been leased.

A friend from Vashon called this week to lament the absence of Mother’s Circus Animal Cookies from his grocer’s shelf. He regularly gave them out as a treat to his high school students. And now there are no more.

I missed the Associated Press story three weeks ago, but here’s what it said:

“An Oakland (Calif.) cookie company has closed its doors for good.
"After operating in Oakland for 92 years, Mother's Cookies shut down when its parent company filed for bankruptcy protection Monday.
"Plant officials told workers Friday that operations would cease and cookies would no longer be made at the plant.
“In filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, company officials cited rising prices for raw materials and fuel.
“The closure comes after Mother's had shifted its baking and distribution operations to plants in Ohio and Canada in 2006.”

After speaking with my friend, I went searching, thinking maybe there might be some of the pink and white, frosted, sprinkled delicacies left on Tacoma shelves.

There were none that I could find.

I know this isn’t as big of a disaster as the Great Twinkie Famine of 2000, and it probably affects more people than the quiet disappearance several years ago of one of my own personal favorite canned comfort foods, Franco-American Macaroni & Cheese, but still, I suspect there are people out there wondering what’s going on with all those empty shelves.

And if you’re really in need, at least one online auction site has Mother’s Circus Cookies for sale as we speak.

The average price of a gallon of gas in Tacoma dropped five cents from yesterday.

You think that's good: The price – $2.63 – is $1 less than you would have paid at the pump a month ago and 48 cents below what you would have paid a year ago, according to AAA. Tacoma is tied for the lowest in the state with Bremerton and Olympia. The state average is $2.75.

The cheapest place in Tacoma according to Tacoma Gas Buddy is $2.38 at the Valero station at 1730 S. 72nd St.

Now that's reason to celebrate.

So what's going on? Oil prices are dropping as consumers use less fuel. The price of barrel of oil has fallen by about 57 percent since peaking near $150 a barrel in mid-July.

Today the price is about $66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, according to The Associated Press. The price is going up today as stock markets around the world rebound.

A few notes on today’s market:

Up 889.35. That’s quite a day for the Dow, even in these volatile days of triple-digit swings.

One note on today’s activity – I’ve heard from Steve Claiborne at Russell Investments, and he tells me that as far as the Russell 3000 goes, this was the third-most volatile day on record for the broad-market index.

The most volatile came on October 19, 1987 - when the index slipped 18.03 percent. The next came on October 13, just two weeks ago – when the index gained 11.47 percent. And then comes today, with the 3000 up 10.24 percent.

Among the Top 10 most active trading days in the history of the 3000 – five have hit in the last 30 days.

Eight have come during the month of October.

Happily for those of us who prefer calm, November starts on Saturday.

Boeing union machinists will vote Saturday whether to ratify a new 4-year contract with Boeing Co.

Tentative agreement on that deal was reached Monday night in Washington, D.C. where company and union negotiators had met for five days with federal mediators.

In a nutshell, that new contract would give machinists a total of 15 percent in raises over four years, would keep member medical insurance costs at 2005 levels, would give machinists a total in $8,000 in one-time payments and would raise pensions to $83 per month per year of service by the end of the contract.

If more than 50 percent approve the new deal, workers could be back on the job as early as Monday. Workers have been on the picket lines since Sept. 6.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said the Saturday vote will allow workers to pick up their $150 weekly strike checks and vote at the same time and place.

UMembers typically have 14 days to return to work after a contract is ratified, we will publish the specifics in the Strike Settlement Agreement.

Voting will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Green River Community College (12401 SE 320th St, Auburn), Distric 751 Seattle Union Hall (9135 15th Place S., Seattle) and the Evergreen Fairgrounds (14405 179th Ave SE, Monroe).

The union is reminding members to continue their picket assignments until a new contract is ratified.

Pacific Lutheran University and MultiCare received awards this month for sustainable buildings.

Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance gave the two organizations the "Betterbricks award" for "their support, use and design of sustainable, high performance commercial buildings," a news release stated. The awards were presented Oct. 17 in Seattle.

Sheri J. Tonn, vice president for Finance and Operations atPacific Lutheran University, was recognized for three buildings on campus – the Morken Center for Learning and Technology, the Martin J. Neeb Center and the University Center.

"Sheri is a real advocate for change at PLU," the judges said in a profile of the winners. "Her efforts in promoting efficiency and sustainability in education highlight her career as a prominent decision maker in promoting high performance buildings."

MultiCare Engineering Manager Ray Tiedemann was awarded for Tacoma General and Mary Bridge Hospitals. Tiedemann lead improvements to the buildings that resulted in an Energy Star rating of 85 out of 100. Tiedemann also has served as president of the Washington Society of Healthcare Engineering and participates in the City of Tacoma Environmental Services Commission.

CB Richard Ellis is out with its third-quarter review of industrial and office space in the Puget Sound area. In a tight economy, it’s gratifying to note that not much has changed lately.

In Tacoma and Fife, the firm notes a total vacancy rate of 9.8 percent for industrial space. (With 27,003,261 sq. ft. of rentable space, 2,639,615 stood vacant during the quarter.) For space under construction, the firm counts 900,000 square feet. The monthly asking rate for industrial space was 36 cents per square foot.

By comparison, the asking rate in Seattle, with a 2.4 percent vacancy rate; was 65 cents; in Kent, with a 5.4 percent vacancy rate, 43 cents; in the Bellevue area, with a vacancy rate of 8.5 percent, 98 cents.

“The Tacoma/Fife market saw another steady quarter,” the firm said. “Signs of confidence in the market are evident with delivery of over 1.8 million sq. ft. and planned construction of 10 million sq. ft.”

The Tacoma area submarket had the highest vacancy rate and the lowest asking rate among the regions listed. Among all markets, 5.5 percent of industrial space was vacant and the asking rate was 54 cents, CB Richard Ellis reported.

Office space results “remained steady” in “a time of uncertainty,” the firm reported this week. The vacancy rate for Class A office space was 10 percent in the Tacoma central business district; 35.3 percent in Fife; and 14.6 percent in Puyallup. The total asking rate per square foot in the South Sound was $23.62.

Overall in the region, there was an 11.7 percent vacancy rate for office space, with a total asking rate of $30.70.

Vacancy rates locally were highest in Fife, at 35.3 percent; Kent, at 26.4 percent; and Federal Way, at 23.6 percent.

By the time most of us attend the grand opening of a new shopping center or development, the decisions have all been made for us.

A mix of tenants is already in place that we may like or may find boring or uninviting.

Tacoma developer Mike Cohen wants to turn that tenant selection process on its head.

He's asking Tacomans what kinds of activities, what merchants or services they'd like to see in his new 97-acre Point Ruston near Point Defiance Park.

Cohen is already building a mid-rise condo building on the tract, the former site of the Asarco copper smelter, and expensive view homes on the hill above the former industrial site, but much of the remainder of the site remains a blank tablet. He has signed a deal for a Silver Cloud hotel in the community center, he has no other public retail commitments.

In more prosperous times, many of those development and leasing decisions would have already been made, but given the slowdown in financing and retail activity, Cohen has the luxury of time.

If you want to let him know, go to the Point Ruston Web site here and take the survey. Prizes for participants include Ruston Way restaurant diners, Point Defiance Zoo memberships, a Silver Cloud overnight and even a personal tour from Cohen.

A 15 percent wage increase over four years, annual bonuses totaling $8,000, no new medical plan costs, an enhanced pension plan, new wage rates for entry level workers and specific job protections for workers receiving parts at Boeing plants are all part of the tentative deal reached late Monday between Boeing and its Machinists Union.

The union today released those broad details of the accord as it prepares to ask members to vote on the new deal.

If a majority ratify the agreement, which enjoys the unanimous endorsement of the union negotiating committee, a nearly eight-week old strike will be over.

Here is the union's synopsis of those contract changes:

=> Read more!

American Airlines announced this week it will soon end minimum mileage awards for most of its frequent fliers.

Those were the awards that credited you with 500 miles even if your flight was only 185 miles.

Under the new American scheme, if you fly 223 miles, you'll get a 223-mile award.

The policy change is get another revenue enhancer for airlines who've spent much of the last year eliminating perks and imposing charges for formerly free services such as baggage checking, pillows, telephone reservation service and sodas.

Only members of American's most elite frequent flier level will retain the minimum mileage awards.

American passengers who live in smaller cities will probably find the change most annoying. They already pay richly per mile for their flights and now won't get much reward for taking them.

The Boeing Co. and its largest union, the Interational Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, have reached a tentative contract settlement that could spell the end of a nearly 8-week-old strike by next week.

That agreement, reached after five days of talks in Washington, D.C. with federal mediators, will be voted on by union members in three to five days, the union said.

The union claimed the deal solves the union's key issue of job security while giving union members better wages and improved benefits.

The new contract would be for four years

The union had told it was upset at the amount of work that outside contractors were doing for the company. The new pact, the union said, would limit the amount of work outside vendors can perform in the workplace.

Full details of the 4-year accord will be withheld until they can be compiled and distributed to IAM members in all Boeing locations, the union said.

The tentative agreement has the unanimous endorsement of the IAM negotiating committee, said the union.

Some 27,000 machinists have been out on strike since Sept. 6. Eighty percent of union members had voted to reject Boeing previous best offer.

Bucking a trend statewide in August, hotel occupancy rates in Pierce County rose 2.1 percent from August, 2007. In August, 80.8 percent of rooms were occupied.

Statewide, the occupancy rate fell 0.3 percent, according to a monthly report prepared by Bellevue hospitality consultant Wolfgang Rood. Across the state, 86 percent of available rooms were occupied.

The Tacoma-area increase rated as the state’s highest, with downtown Seattle, SeaTac and Spokane showing more modest gains. Five other regions in Washington saw declines in the number of rooms occupied.

The average daily room rate in Pierce County, $90.86, was up 6 percent from the year before. This was the state’s second-largest increase. Statewide, the average rate was up 1.4 percent to $140.51. Bellevue and Spokane both saw decreases, while other regions saw increases ranging from 1.6 percent in downtown Seattle to 6.2 percent in Bellingham.

Downtown Seattle marked the state’s highest daily rate in August, at $179.72. The lowest, in Everett, came in at $74.07, according to Rood.

A story in today's edition of Pensions & Investments details the departures of 10 senior executives at Tacoma's Russell Investments.

Those departures were motivated in part by a compensation scheme tied to the value of phantom equity shares in the company. In order to take advantage of the May 2008 prices on those shares, executives would have to leave by the end of this year.

If they wait, their incentive plan will be tied to later phantom share prices which likely have declined with the drop in the stock market and the credit crunch this fall.

The investment publication says it's unsure whether the exodus bodes well for Russell.

"It's not clear whether the departures will leave the firm in the lurch or make room for a stronger, more energetic, younger regime. Sources said the mass moves signal a new era for the storied firm, which was founded in 1936," said Pension & Investments.

Here's the link to the story.

The sour economy took another victim this week.

Kent's Bret Chevrolet has laid off its 63 employees and closed its doors for good.

A spokeswoman for the dealer said business conditions doomed the dealership. The new cars in stock have been returned to General Motors, she said.

The dealership showroom is filled with cardboard boxes,and chains block access to the service department.

Some 700 new car dealers nationwide have closed this year, and some analysts think the number could reach 1,000 before Jan. 1 rolls around.

Hit by rising gas prices and lots filled with big SUVs and pickups and a credit crunch that's made it difficult for buyers with less-than-perfect credit to buy a new car, dealers are collapsing nationwide.

Nationwide, car sales dropped 23 percent in September, and the slide continued unabated this month. Even Toyota saw a 29 percent decline in September.

GMAC, among the largest auto lenders in the company, said recently it would not finance car loans to buyers with credit scores of less than 700.

According to credit rating agencies, that's 42 percent of potential auto buyers.

Horizon Lines, whose containerships connect the Port of Tacoma with Alaska, told Wall Street analysts recently that the Alaska trade remains the strongest among its routes.

"Alaska was definetly the strongest of our free trade lanes during the third quarter," said John Keenan, president of Horizon Lines.

"The economy in Alaska continues to be buoyed by high oil prices and the recent boost in oil production taxes," he told analysts in an earnings call.

"This has resulted in a record budget surplus (for Alaska government) on the order of $2.6 billion this year."

Horizon provides containership service on domestic routes to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico from the U.S. mainland.

From Tacoma, Horizon ships depart twice weekly to Anchorage.

Keenan said southbound traffic from the 49th state also remains strong for the time of year.

A $3,200 special dividend paid to each Alaska resident this year from oil revenues plus another anticipated dividend from the Exxon Valdez oil spill settlement is expected to keep the demand for consumer goods in Alaska brisk.

Tacoma is the axis for shipping to Alaska with two major shipping lines, Horizon and TOTE, departing from the port to Alaska.

Horizon reported revenues up 3.1 percent in the third quarter, but warned that volumes will be down in the Hawaii trade whose tourist business has been adversely affected by the economy. Puerto Rico likewise has economic difficulties which have softened demand there.

Deborah Bevier, former chairman of Key Bank of Washington when it was based in Tacoma, has been named chairman of the Coinstar board of directors.

Bellevue-based Coinstar's main business is public coin-counting machines in supermarkets and discount stores.

Bevier, who served as Key Bank chairman until 1996, served on numerous Tacoma boards and committees including the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County where she was chairwoman.

Bevier succeeds Keith Grinstein at Coinstar. Grinstein died in September.

Bevier is principal of DL Bevier Consulting LLC and served as chief executive officer of Laird Norton Financial Group, a wealth management firm.

She now also serves on the boards of F5 Networks and Fisher Communications. She has been a board member at Coinstar since 2002.

The 7-week-old Machinist Union strike at Boeing may force workers off their jobs at Vought Aircraft Industries' Charleston, S.C. aircraft plant.

The Boeing supplier announced today that it has already produced enough composite fuselage sections for the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner to supply Boeing through 19 planes.

Boeing is assembling the first five 787s at its Everett plant now. That production halted, however, when the machinists struck Sept. 6.

Vought is one of a handful of major suppliers for the 787 building a large section of the plane's fuselage.

Vought has already laid off outside contractor employees in Charleston and redeployed some of its own workforce to work on equipping fuselages already fabricated with wiring and other equipment.

If the strike isn't settled soon, the company may consider more drastic measures.

"Over the next 30 days, a variety of additional actions related to the 787 program activities are being considered," Vought said, "including the possible temporary shutdown of the entire plant."

Boeing and the union are meeting this week in Washington, D.C. with a federal mediator in an effort to find a solution to their disagreement.

The news about gas prices is so good that I'm almost tempted to go out and buy a Suburban.

At one station, the 76 at 10712 Bridgeport Way, gas is selling for $2.49 a gallon. Eight more stations in Pierce County are selling petrol for less than $2.60.

At midweek I wrote a story about a Safeway at South 56th Street and Park Avenue selling gas for the then-amazing price of $2.72 a gallon. That's soooo old news now.

The memory of $4.30 gas is too fresh in my mind to consider buying a gas hog, but consider what a relief this price drop must mean to owners of big SUVs.

At the summer's highest average price in Pierce County, $4.36 a gallon, it would have cost a Suburban owner with a 39-gallon tank $170.04 for a fillup. At $2.49, that same fillup would cost "only" $97.11, a savings of $72.93.

If you drove your suburban in town and got the EPA rated 14 mpg, that you'd be able to go 546 miles before the next tank full.

The traditional fall vacation slowdown coupled with falling fuel prices and a slackening business travel demand is creating new air travel bargains from Sea-Tac Airport.

Consider some of these recent roundtrip bargain fares from Farecast.com:

* San Francisco $145
* Los Angeles $165, down $83 from the average low price
* Denver, $179, down $55 from the average low price
* Las Vegas, $209, down $56
* San Diego, $209, down $67
* Phoenix, $231, down $51
* Orlando, $231, down $169
* Boston, 298, down $197
* Paris, $652, down $560
* Rome, $754, down $519

Bargain rates are available to some Mexican beach destinations and Hawaii depending on the timing of your visit.

The pilots of an AirTran Airways Boeing 737 that crossed a runway in front of a Northwest Airlines Airbus on takeoff at Sea-Tac Airport last summer say impaired visibility caused them to blunder onto the active runway.

The Airbus A330 widebody bound for London missed a catastrophic collision by some 400 feet. The Northwest flight had left the ground about midway down the runway and passed over the AirTran plane at an altitude of about 425 feet, a new report from the National Transportation Safety Board says.

According to that report, the Sea-Tac tower had told the AirTran plane twice to stop short of the runway where the Northwest flight was taking off, but the AirTran aircraft kept going across Sea-Tac's longest runway despite those orders.

In interviews after the July 2 late night incident, the two pilots of the AirTran flight said they could not see the "hold short" markings or lights on the taxiway, the safety board said.

"The first officer stated that the brightness of the green taxiway centerline lights and a developing haze obscured his view of the taxiway markings, lighting and signage," the report said.

The two AirTran pilots said they didn't see the Northwest plane barreling down the runway at more than 150 mph toward them.

Tacoma airline safety expert said the potential of catastrophy in such incidents is "just awful."

One almost foolproof solution to such runway incursions would be installing traffic lights on the taxiways. The lights would remain red unless a controller specifically trigger them green to allow the planes to cross.

Such a system would eliminate the possibility of miscommunications during the busy post-flight minutes when verbal commands from the tower can be overlooked or ignored.

While such systems have been proposed for years, the FAA has yet to mandate them.

"The FAA in many ways is a great organization, but when it comes to change, they sometimes move like a glacier," he said.

The AirTran flight from Baltimore had landed on the westernmost of Sea-Tac's two parallel runways about the same time the Northwest flight began its takeoff roll on the eastern runway. The AirTran flight exited its runway near the north end of the airport near the cargo ramp.

The Northwest flight taking off to the north, became airborne about even with the airport's central terminal.

The airport said that at the time of the incident, about 10:30 p.m., the taxiway was equipped with lights at the "hold short" line and in-pavement and elevated runway guard lights. Those lights were operating at their lowest brightness.

Expect to furnish not only your name but also your birth date and gender when you buy airline tickets soon.

A new rule imposed by the federal Transportation Security Administration calls for passengers to provide that information to airlines which will forward it to the TSA.

That additional information will help reduce the number of people who needlessly are put through additional searches or who are denied access to air travel because their names are the same as those on federal watch or "no fly" lists.

Among those that were the victim of so-called "false positives" was Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts who was barred from a 2004 flight because his name was the same as an alias of a man on the list.

SeaTac's Horizon Air's plans to use only a single aircraft type in its fleet have been delayed due to issues in the credit and aircraft markets.

That's the word from executives at the airline in a third quarter earnings call today.

Horizon plans to retire both its 37-seat Q200 turboprops and its 70-seat CRJ-700 jets and replace them with Q-400 turboprops that seat 76 passengers.

But the airline is finding that its 20 CRJs aren't selling well because of paralysis in the credit markets and tough times in the travel business.

The airline said its believes it has found a new home for two of the jets, but interest in the other 18 so far hasn't been keen.

Horizon said it may ask Bombardier, the Canadian manufacturer of the Q400 to delay scheduled deliveries of new aircraft to Horizon until the airline can dispose of more of the jets.

Horizon is moving toward a single fleet type to simplify maintenance, scheduling and training and because the Q400 aircraft is more fuel efficient than the CRJ or the Q200.

We've just heard from Employment Security that Fife-based Morning Sun will close in late December, laying off 162 employees.

The director of human resources has confirmed the report, and she'll be sending out a letter from the CEO. I'll update this report when I hear more.

Alaska Air Group earnings fell in the third quarter as a slowing economy and wildly fluctuating fuel prices exacted their toll on the company's bottom line.

Alaska Air Group is the parent company of SeaTac-based Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air.

The airline holding company's net income excluding special charges such as the value of the company's fuel hedge portfolio and costs for early retirement of fuel-guzzling older jets, was $39.9 million or $1.10 a share, the company annnounced today.

That compares with $78.8 million or $1.93 per share in the same quarter last year.

On an unadjusted basis, the company reported losses of $86.5 million or $2.40 a share compared with net income of $81.8 million or $2.01 a share.

Alaska Chairman Bill Ayers said the company was pleased nonetheless to post an adjusted profit during a difficult period in the airline business.

=> Read more!

Historic Tacoma today announced its first ever "Watch List" of nine historic buildings or areas that bear close scrutiny as they approach critical times in their lives.

Some of the buildings are in danger of demolition or are deteriorating because of age or because of development that could destroy their historic features. Others are on the sale block or in the process of being restored, the historic preservation organization said.

"Through our Watch List, we want to increase awareness of sites that are vulnerable -- these are the buildings and streetscapes that tell Tacoma's story," said the group.

"We are literally watching these sites with concern and interest; each one contributes to Tacoma's rich and unique built environment," said Sharon Winters the group's president.

The list includes:

* Brewery District. This district of rugged red brick and concrete buildings on the south end of downtown Tacoma contains several pivotal buildings. Those building include the Pacific Brewing and Malting Co. Building (currently for sale), the Heidelburg Brewery (facing demolition to become a hotel site), Meadowsweet Dairy (for lease or sale), the City Shops & Stables and the Nisqually Power substation.

* Elks Lodge. This grand structure rising above Old City Hall has been secured against the weather and is for sale by its Portland owners.

=> Read more!

Horizon Air will end air service to Pendleton, Ore., Dec. 1 following the award of a federal air service subsidy to a rival airline.

The airline had served Pendleton for 26 years.

Portland's SeaPort Airlines won a federal Essential Air Service contract to serve Pendleton with three-times-daily flights on a 9-passenger Cessna turbo-props.

Horizon notified the U.S. Department of Transportation earlier this year it could not afford to serve the Pendleton-Portland route any longer because of increased fuel costs and because it was transitioning to larger aircraft.

The airline then made new proposals for subsidized service at an increased price. It had received a $748,440 annual subsidy from the federal government.

Horizon currently serves Portland and Pasco through Oct. 28. Starting Oct. 28 it will serve Seattle from Pendleton with 76-passenger Q400 turboprops. That service will end in December.

=> Read more!

Aeromexico, which 15 months ago began serving Mexico City non-stop from Sea-Tac Airport, has begun twice weekly non-stop service to Cabo San Lucas.\

The service, on Thursdays and Sundays, will leave Sea-Tac at 9:30 a.m. and arrive in Cabo at 2:45 p.m.

Aeromexico will use Boeing 737-700s on the new route.

Alaska Airlines also services Cabo non-stop from Seattle on a 4-hour and 8 minute non-stop flight.

The first three and a half weeks of the Machinists Union strike along with supplier delivery problems have taken a $551 million toll on Boeing's commercial airplane third quarter earnings.

Boeing's third quarter earnings, announced early this morning, show operating margins in the Seattle-based Commercial Airplanes Group dropped from 11.4 percent in last year's third quarter to 5.7 percent in the same quarter this year.

The strike by 27,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers began Sept. 6 and is still ongoing more than three weeks after the end of the third quarter.

Overall, Boeing reported a seven percent decline in revenues to $15.3 billion and a 38 percent decline in net income from $1,114 billion in 2007's third quarter to $695 million in this year's third quarter.

Earnings per share were down 33 percent to 96 cents a share, just below Wall Street's consensus prediction.

The percentage drop in earnings per share was less than the percentage drop in net earnings was less because there are fewer Boeing shares outstanding this year because of buybacks.

Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney nonetheless said the company is doing well despite the labor and delivery issues.

"While the suspension of commercial airplane deliveries had a major impact on the quarter, we effectively executed the remainder of our business and kept our focus on the strong balance sheet we have built over the years," he said.

=> Read more!

Shares in Bellevue-based Paccar Inc., the nation's third largest truck maker, fell 10.51 percent today after the company announced earnings below Wall Street's expectations.

The company's stock closed at $26.82 a share, down $3.15 from Monday's close. That's a 10.51 percent decrease.

Paccar announced earnings of $299.0 million, or $0.82 per diluted share, for the third quarter. That compares to $302.3 million, or $0.81 per diluted share, earned in the third quarter of 2007.

Revenues bumped up to $3.68 billion from $3.45 billion a year-ago.

Wall Street had expected earnings of of 87 cents per share on revenues of $3.85 billion.

The company predicted slower times ahead until the economy revives.

"Commercial vehicles generate steady aftermarket revenues and many of them also contribute financial services income, which partially offset reduced truck build rates worldwide. In these turbulent times, PACCAR is experiencing lower truck demand in Europe, Mexico and Australia, and continued softness in the U.S. and Canada, which will reduce financial results in the fourth quarter of 2008 and into 2009," said PACCAR Chief Executive Mark Piggot.

How big a toll a 45-day Machinists Union strike has taken in Boeing earnings will be revealed Wednesday when the aerospace company releases its third-quarter earnings.

Wall Street analysts have been reducing their earnings predictions as the strike by 27,000 union members rolls into its seventh week.

Third quarter commercial aircraft deliveries were down 23 percent to 84 planes in the quarter than ended Sept. 30 after machinists struck the company Sept. 6. That strike shut down production lines throughout Puget Sound.

Wall Street analysts on average are predicting earnings at Boeing of 99 cents a share and revenue of $14.66 billion.

The strike has also delayed the first flight of Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner, an ultra-efficient plane is already 15 months behind schedule when the strike started.

The company and the union begin a new round of settlement talks Thursday in Washington, D.C.

Passenger traffic at Sea-Tac Airport advanced again in September in the face of business downturns and airline flight reductions nationwide.

New figures from the Port of Seattle, which owns Sea-Tac, show 36,304 more passengers used the airport in September this year than in the same month last year. That amounts to a 1.37 percent increase.

For 2008's first nine months, the figures are better. The port's figures show a gain of 1,270,946 passengers through September over the same stretch in 2007. That's a 5.36 percent increase.

SeaTac's Alaska Airlines kept its position as busiest airline at the airport in 2008 with a 33.88 percent market share and 8,460,611 passengers through Sept. 30. That's 1.32 percent more than last year.

United Airlines, which has pared back its flight schedule nationwide, was the biggest traffic loser at the airport with 210,131 fewer passengers at Sea-Tac than last year. That's a decrease of 10.19 percent.

New airlines at the airport have stolen market share from established carriers. Virgin America, for instance, carried 249,073 since it started service to Sea-Tac this spring. The airline flies from Sea-Tac to San Francisco and Los Angeles, two of United's primary destinations from Seattle.

What, you ask, should you drink with your Thanksgiving dinner?

Starbucks has an answer. The coffee company has a new Thanksgiving blend created in partnership with chef Tom Douglas.

The blend arrives in stores on Nov. 4. Here's how the company describes it: "A flavorful combination of full-bodied beans from Sumatra, with hints of fine herbs, and beans from Guatemala, which add subtle spice, notes of cocoa and a pleasant sparkle."

The partnership described: The relationship between Starbucks and Chef Tom Douglas spans across three decades with Starbucks as the exclusive coffee in all of Douglas’ restaurants, but Starbucks Thanksgiving Blend marks their first coffee blend collaboration. To create the perfect addition to the Thanksgiving table, the coffee quality and blending team of Starbucks collaborated with Chef Douglas and his team of culinary experts to explore a variety of coffees from around the world.

Thanksgiving Blend will be available hot, or even iced, in 12 oz, 16 oz, and 20 oz sizes. It will also be sold in 1 lb. bags for $10.95 at Starbucks locations throughout the U.S. that sell whole bean coffee, according to the company.

Washington's September unemployment rate, 5.8 percent, remains below the national average of 6.1 percent, but rose nearly 30 percent over the rate in September 2007.

Those figures from the Washington State Employment Security Department were announced today.

"Those figures indicate that Washington State is still doing somewhat better than the national economy," said Greg Weeks, the department's director of labor market and economic analysis.

While the unemployment rate is up over last year, it remains significantly below historic highs. During a recession in the '80s, unemployment rate in Washington State surpassed 12 percent, and after the 2001 terrorist attacks it approached 8 percent statewide and 9 percent in Pierce County in June 2003.

Those same figures show unemployment in the state declining by .2 of a percent from August when the unemployment rate was 6.0 percent.

=> Read more!

As a new Tacoma Mall Nordstrom opens, so does the old one close. And that new one seems to be getting all the attention – what with its high-end designer clothes, new bistro eatery and expanded cosmetics counters.

The old one, however, still exists. For a while. Sadly so.

Since Oct. 10, liquidators have been conducting a fixtures sale. There were still a few items left earlier today.

For instance: Mannequins were on sale for $125 each.

A door marked "Employees Only" was labeled for $45. Showcases were variously $299, $325, and $349 – depending on the size. Other cases, large and small, were going for more or less.

Need an office chair? A few were left at $10, and a few at $25. Directors' chairs were off at $45. A table from the upstairs cafe was $50.

Or maybe you'd like to bring home an entire dressing room – to remember all those moments behind the louvers.

If you're interested in seeing what's left, you'll need to enter through an outside door. The inside-the-mall door is closed. And there's a 10 percent buyer's premium on all sales, all of which are final.

Even if you don't buy anything, it's interesting to take a tour of some of the back rooms and rack rooms, behind doors (now for sale) once closed to the public. You can almost hear the crickets chirping, and it feels a little creepy, but back among the storage nooks some employees have left messages to posterity.

Some are clever, some poignant. Onein red on a whiteboard, is succinct: "Goodbye, people."

Gov. Chris Gregoire will keynote the Washington State International Trade Update Luncheon on Thursday at Hotel Murano.

The fourth annual event will focus on the state's trade performance, and the growth the state has seen in the past few years. The World Trade Center Tacoma will present a panel of export companies in the state after the event.

The luncheon is $40 for students and WTCTA members, $50 for non-members and $400 for the corporate table.

For information is available at http://www.wtcta.org.

Just a week after strike settlement talks collapsed, The Boeing Co. and the Machinists Union have scheduled another round of talks.

Arthur R. Rosenfeld, Director of the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, notified negotiators for the two sides that he wants them to re-convene negotiations under the auspices of the mediation service in Washington, D.C. Thursday.

Rosenfeld called the 45-day-long strike by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers against Boeing “a priority matter for this agency,”

The company and the unions last met with federal mediators in weekend talks that were recessed on Oct. 13.

Those talks are scheduled to begin Thursday.

Here's what the union, Boeing's largest with 27,000 members on strike since Sept. 6, told its members:

After 45 days on the line, your solidarity brought Boeing back to the bargaining table. Since talks adjourned last Monday, we have kept the lines of communication open and have agreed to pursue additional talks through the federal mediator. At the direction of the federal mediator, new talks will be held in Washington DC beginning Thursday, October 23rd.

We hope this meeting marks a major step forward to resolve this strike. The Union will continue to do everything possible to bargain a contract that addresses the concerns our members have identified.

It is important as we move forward that we continue to stay strong on the picket lines. That's how we're going to secure a contract that will settle this strike.

Boeing posted a single paragraph of comment:

"We've remained in frequent contact with the federal mediator, and we look forward to resuming discussions with the IAM. We want to resolve this strike quickly, but we need to make sure we have an agreement that preserves our flexibility to manage our business and compete in an uncertain and challenging economy."

All airliner production as Boeing's Puget Sound plants has halted because of the strike.

The Franciscan Health System is recruiting nurses for St. Anthony Hospital with an event at the St. Anthony Medical Office Building.

The Nurse Recruiting Fair will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Nov 5 at 4700 Point Fosdick Drive NW in Gig Harbor. Managers and human resource representatives will be available to answer questions.

"This is a great opportunity for nurses who want to join a growing organization," nurse recruiter Erin Davis said.

The 80-bed, 240,000-square-foot hospital is set to open early next year. The $162 million project will serve residence of Gig Harbor, the Key Peninsula, South Kitsap County and North Mason County.

Those who attend the event can enter a drawing for a $100 gift certificate for Anthony's Restaurant and a guided tour of the new facility.

Call the rest of the family. (You know their numbers.) Then put down your cell phone for just a second. Read on.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project – an ongoing study of the effect of electrons and how we spend our common existence – is out with its latest installment. This time the subject is cell phones, families and the Internet.

As it turns out, cell phones and the world online have worked to bring us together in new ways.

=> Read more!

Tacoma's TrueBlue Inc. says it intends to close 17 more of its branch offices during the fourth quarter because of economy's contraction.

The news of the closings came as the company announced third-quarter earnings this week below Wall Street expectations.

The company, which provides temporary workers to busiensses, said its profit amounted to 38 cents a share. Wall Street had predicted a 40 cent per share announcement.

Net income was $16.3 million compared with $22.7 million in the third quarter last year.

Revenues fell to $387.9 million.

Executives predicted fourth quarter earnings would also fall below analysts' estimates. The company is also considered closing more branches beyond the 17 it announced.

"As a result of the weak economy, demand for our services declined across most of the markets we serve, and we responded by accelerating plans to close branches and implementing other cost controls," said Steve Cooper, TrueBlue's chief executive.

"We will continue to aggressively manage costs during these challenging times," he said.

The U.S. Department of Labor is out today with employment and wage figures for the country’s 334 largest counties.

Pierce County is doing, relatively, not so bad.

Of the largest U.S. counties, 146 saw over-the-year employment growth above the national average of 0.4 percent in March, compared to a year before; 178 saw changes below the average.

Among the 10 largest counties, King County ranked 3rd for employment growth, up 31,000 jobs.

Pierce county reported 273,900 people employed during the first quarter, an increase of 0.7 percent. This placed the county 107th nationwide.

The average weekly wage in Pierce County, $804, marked an increase of 4.8 percent over the first quarter of 2007 and placed the county 35th for percentage wage growth nationwide among the largest 334 counties.

To compare within the state, wages in Spokane County were $701, or 103rd nationwide for the percentage of increase; in Thurston County, $769, and 73rd place; in Snohomish County, $895, and 35th.

Nationally, wages were up 2.4 percent over the year; 183 counties saw higher weekly wages and 137 saw lower wages.

The average weekly wage in the U.S. was $905, the department said. New York County, NY saw the largest wage, at $2,805. The lowest, in Cameron County, Tex., was $523.

Lee County, Fla., saw the nation’s largest employment decline, down 8.1 percent. The largest gain, between March, 2007 and March, 2008, occurred in Harris County, Tex.

Bankrupt retailer Linens 'n Things said it plans to close all of its 317 remaining stores nationwide.

That total includes 11 in Washington. In the South Sound that includes stores in Olympia and at Sea-Tac Village in Federal Way.

The New Jersey-based company had already closed 218 stores this year. The closure notice came after the retailer was unable to find a buyer for the remaining stores.

A closing sales with items marked down as much as 30 percent began today.

The union that represents Boeing's engineers and technical workers spoke positively today about this week's talks with the company calling them "meaningful" and "substantive" in a statement to the press.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which represents some 20,600 Boeing workers in the Northwest, said this week's discussion were the "first to engage in real discussion."

But union spokesman Bill Dugovich cautioned the media and members not to overreact to the positive news.

"We didn't agree to anything that was really substantive," he said.

Some media are reporting that this week's discussions greatly reduced the possibility of a strike when the contract expires Dec. 1, he said.

"That's just not true," he said.

The union and the company have been negotiating informally for about eight months, but this week's unmediated discussion is the first where Boeing appeared to seriously bring its case to the table, the union said.

“There was more substantive talk about issues during this two-hour meeting than we’ve had with Boeing since committees started meeting eight months ago,” said Ray Goforth, SPEEA executive director. “We are hopeful this means the company is ready to start solving problems. Collective bargaining does not have to be a titanic struggle.”

Until now, the SPEEA had not spoken with any optimism that its talks with the company would end any more successfully than did Boeing's talks with its largest union, the Machinists.

Some 27,000 machinists have been on strike against Boeing since Sept. 6. About 80 percent of Machinists Union members voted to reject Boeing's contract offer.

While this week's latest session was more productive, the union said, it was nonetheless "heated and confrontational."

Boeing human resources Vice President Doug Kite acknowledged in a message to managers that the meetings have not been easy.

"At times the talks have been difficult -- as is the case in most contract negotiations -- but we also believe that we have made substantive progress," he wrote. "That said, a lot of work remains to be done."

The union said that while the meeting was helpful, the company restated its support for several proposals that the union says are unacceptable including a defined contribution pension plan for new hires, the shifting of medical costs to workers from the company and the continued company refusal to declare Martin Luther King Day a paid holiday.

So-called "main table" negotiations with Boeing start at Oct. 28, at the Doubletree Hotel in SeaTac.

After looking for a buyer for about a year, Bob Mead decided he has to close Art Concepts on Broadway.

Mead said he has some health issues and is over retirement age, so it is his time to get out. The lease for 924 Broadway is up in November, and he is not going to renew unless a buyer comes forward before then.

"Believe me, I would love to stay on," he said.

Mead opened Art Concepts in 1982 in University Place, and moved to its current location in 1994. The doors will close in the end of November, and until then everything is on sale.

A couple came forward looking to buy a few months ago, but withdrew. Mead thinks that with the economy in trouble right now, no one is looking to buy.

"I am not going to hang around waiting for the economy," he said.

The closure of Art Concepts is a loss for Tacoma's artistic community and culture, he said. Whether it is visual, music or theatre, a community benefits from the arts.

"It's a benefit to the culture scene ... it's a shame to see any of these entities go out," he said.

Any interested buyers can call Mead at (253)272-2202. The store is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday to Sunday.

Airbus says it's putting a freeze on further increases in its production rates while the global airline industry sorts out its finances.

The Boeing rival will maintain production of its A320 narrow-body jets at 36 a month, and not lift production to 40 a month by 2010 as it had earlier announced, Airbus spokeswoman Anne Galabert told the Associated Press.

Airbus will reduce a projected production increase in its wide-bodied A330 jets to 10 a month by 2010 rather than the 11 it had planned.

The changes come in response to the global financial crisis, which is raising uncertainties for the air transport market, Galabert said.

Airbus may review the decisions on production next year, depending on market conditions, she said.

Workers at Boeing's former Wichita plant now owned by Spriit Aerosystems may soon be laid off because of the five-week-old Machinists Union strike at Boeing.

The company told workers, who've seen their schedules trimmed to three days a week, that they soon may be laid off entirely while the strike continues.

Spirit makes major substructures for Boeing airliners such as 737 fuselages, 787 nose sections and 777 underbodies.

The strike has shut down all production at Boeing's two aircraft assembly plants in the Puget Sound area at Renton and Everett.

Layoffs at Spirit would mean a $5 million weekly hit to the Wichita economy, reports Molly McMillin of the Wichita Eagle.

The Machinists Union strike hasn't deterred airlines from stepping up to order new airliners from Boeing.

Ireland's Ryanair today ordered 10 new 737-800s from Boeing. At list prices that order is worth $745 million.

Ryanair's order was the second this week for Boeing. American Airlines Wednesday entered orders 42 787 Dreamliners and took purchase rights on 58 others.

Ryanair is Europe's largest discount airline. The airline has ordered 17 737s this year to augment its all-Boeing fleet. The airline operates 166 737-800s.

Ryanair will accept three of the new Renton-built airliners in October 2010 and seven the next month.

Boeing machinists have been on strike against the company since Sept. 6. The strike has halted all airliner production at the company.

Russell Investments, the global financial investment company, has spent more than a year searching for a new headquarters location where it can consolidate its Tacoma-area workforce.

It had anticipated announcing its decision by the end of the year. Until now.

In a statement issued this morning by Jennifer Tice, director of public relations, the company said:

"Russell Investments announced today that it is extending its timeline for making a final headquarters location decision.

"Recent economic events have had a significant impact on the Puget Sound real estate market. As a result, Russell believes it is in the best interest of the company and its stakeholders to continue evaluating its options, particularly as new opportunities emerge. Russell is considering multiple sites in Tacoma and Seattle, and expects to make an announcement in 2009."

Russell employs more than 1,100 people in four locations in downtown Tacoma.

A Puyallup contractor has been charged for stealing more than $13,000 in sales tax she collected from her customers.

Charges of first degree theft and filing false or fraudulent tax returns were filed Monday in King County Superior Court against Coleen A. Escamilla, 49, of Auburn.

Escamilla, who also is known as Colleen Gonzalez, is former owner of C’s Construction Labor Security and Cleaning.

According to charging papers, Escamilla reported only about $1,004 of $14,015 in sales tax collected on construction projects in 2005. Her alleged thefts were discovered during an audit conducted by the Department of Revenue.

Tacoma-based Milgard Manufacturing Inc., is closing its window-making plant in Marysville, putting 80 people out of work.

In a statement issued Tuesday, Milgard cited the stalled out housing market and “challenging economic times” for its decision.

Layoffs will begin Oct. 24

Milgard intends to maintain a small sales and service operation in Marysville, according to a Milgard press release.

Milgard employs about 900 people in Tacoma, the company headquarters.

Milgard began in Tacoma but was sold to the Taylor, Mich.-based Masco Corp. in 2001

A big order for 787 Dreamliners that Boeing had been anticipating for years finally came through today.

American Airlines announced it intends to order up to 100 of the fuel-efficient jetliners. American will sign up now for 42 of the twin-engine jets to be delivered beginning in 2012. The remainder of the 100 will be purchase rights to be exercised later.

At list prices, the order could be worth as much as $20 billion.

American wants the second and slightly larger version of the Dreamliner, the 787-9.

The new planes will replace aging Boeing 767s in American's fleet. The Dreamliners are up to 20 percent more fuel efficient than the aircraft they will replace.

Only Northwest and Continental among major American airlines have ordered the 787. Financial problems have kept other major U.S. carriers such American from ordering until now.

American announced it had made a $45 million profit in the third quarter in spite of fuel prices that rose during most of the quarter.

The Dreamliner is already nearly a year and ahlf behind schedule because of problems with major parts from suppliers. A strike by the Machinists Union is also adding weeks to the delay.

Boeing until now has received 78 orders for Dreamliner this year. The aircraft maker has sold 937 of the planes if the American initial order is counted.

That's the most any aircraft maker has ever sold for a jet prior to its first flight.

“The 787 will help reduce our fuel and maintenance costs, lessen our environmental impact, and support our goal of providing industry-leading products and services over the long haul. Fortunately, our agreement with Boeing, our long-time partner, allows for significant flexibility to manage our fleet replacement and growth plans in the way that best meets all of our stakeholders’ interests,” said American CEO Gerald Arpey.

When it comes to providing financial services to investment advisers, nobody tops Tacoma's Russell Investments.

Survey results published online today by Investment News show Russell gets a 98 percent approval rating.

Read more here.

Good news for those of us who like to drink fancy coffee beverages but don't like the nutritional information.

Starbucks Corp. plans to add more lower-calorie versions of its ready-to-drink bottled Frappuccinos to store shelves next year through its joint venture with PepsiCo Inc, The Associated Press reports.

The gourmet coffee chain did not want to provide any specifics about the new drinks but said in a statement, “We’re looking forward to expanding our portfolio of high-quality, ready-to-drink products with exciting new offerings in the coming year.”

Starbucks already sells a Mocha Lite ready-to-drink Frappuccino with 85 calories and 2.5 grams of fat in one 8-ounce serving. Regular Frappuccinos have about the same fat content but double the calories per serving.

Here's more from the story:

The new light drinks were discussed at a meeting of Pepsico’s bottlers in New York earlier this month, according to industry trade journal Beverage Digest.

PepsiCo spokeswoman Nicole Bradley on Wednesday confirmed the Beverage Digest report, but declined to give specifics.

Beverage Digest Editor John Sicher said the new drinks could be “a decent-sized opportunity” for both Pepsi and Starbucks.

“There seems to be a realization that there’s more they can do with this and I think they’re right,” he said. “I think this will be initially a small product, but it’s an important add-on to that line of beverages.”

Starbucks and PepsiCo first created a partnership to create and distribute coffee-related products in 1994. The two companies also distribute Tazo bottled teas through an agreement with food maker Unilever NV.

Foreign airlines that imposed major fuel surcharges as oil prices headed toward $150 a barrel this summer, have now begun rescinding those fees.

Oil prices have slipped below $80 a barrel as the world economy has crashed.

At least three airlines with flights from Sea-Tac Airport, Lufthansa, British Airways and Air France, have announced reductions in fuel surcharges beginning with tickets purchased later this month.

Those reductions are a fraction of the amount originally levied depending on the length of the flight and the airline involved.

Check with the airlines to see the effect on your ticket prices.

With the failure of new talks between striking machinists and The Boeing Co., analysts and even Boeing executives are saying that the oft-delayed first flight of the new 787 Dreamliner is unlikely to happen this year.

The Dreamliner schedule is already 15 months behind because of production delays at Boeing suppliers. Now the first flight is still officially scheduled for November or December this year.

The first Dreamliner had originally been set to fly in September of 2007.

Randy Tinseth, Boeing's vice president of marketing, said in Paris this week that a lengthy strike would push the Dreamliner inaugural flight into 2009.

"Tehre is no question that a prolonged strike will move the first flight into next year," he said. " Beut we don't know how long it will last."

UBS Investment Research analyst Dadi Strauss predicted this week that the flight will be delayed into 2009.

Boeing, he said, is "highly unlikely to meet its revised test schedule."

Union machinists will lose some 900 jobs when Daimler Trucks North America shuts down its Swan Island Freightliner trucks plant in Portland in June 2010.

The shutdown along with the lose of 1,200 white collar jobs was announced in Germany Tuesday by Daimler AG, the truckmaker's parent company.

The production work will be transferred to Daimler plants in the Carolinas and to a new plant in Saltillo, Mexico.

Production workers at the Portland plant were represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the same union now striking against Boeing in the Puget Sound area, Portland and Utah.

Assembly workers in Oregon make about $30 an hour versus wages in Mexico of $2.50 to $4 an hour.

The production cutbacks announced Tuesday include the shutdown of another Daimler plant in St. Thomas, Ontario.

That plant produced Sterling trucks, a brand that Daimler said it will discontinue.

The news of the shutdowns come as the truck production industry is suffering from huge reduction in demand.

Industry sources predict sales of 130,740 large Class 8 trucks in the United States this year. That's down from 284,008 in 2006.

Some critics have suggested that the machinists' rejection of Boeing's "best and final offer" in early September and the subsequent strike could prompt the aerospace giant to move production to a lower cost state or country when production of the 737 ends at Boeing's Renton plant.

A successor to the 737 is expected to begin production in eight to 12 years.

A group of conservation and wildlife agencies and non-profit groups are meeting to find a way to turn an acreage near Maytown in Thurston County into a nature preserve.

The 745 acres of land now belong to the Port of Tacoma which once had intentions of turning the tract into a massive rail yard and industrial development.

The port has put the land up for sale after being thwarted in its effort to industrialize the land by local residents who wanted it preserved as indigenous prairie.

Members of the group include the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Washington Department of Ecology, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, The Nature Conservancy, the Audobon Society, Capitol Land Trust and Friend of Rocky Prairie.

Jeff Koenings, Washington Fish and Wildlife director, said the group is exploring ways to acquire the land for conservation purposes.

"Many stakeholders are interested in preserving these prairie lands, some of the few left in Western Washington," he said. "Determining the feasibility and methods for acquiring these lands is the primary goal of this group."

The port paid $21 million for the land several years ago and has invested millions more in planning activities. The port has hired a consultant to advise it on marketing the land.

Sharron Coontz, spokeswoman for Friends of Rocky Prairie, said the port could potentially use the conservation of the prairie lands as an environmental offset to its industrial development of other land the port owns.

Seems like ancient history now, but Washington’s taxable retail sales numbers for the second quarter of 2008 have been released by the State Department of Revenue.

Not surprisingly, they were down.

Taxable sales fell to $29.1 billion during the quarter, a 2.4 percent decline over the same quarter last year.

Retail trade, a subset of of retail sales that more accurately reflects consumer spending, was down 3.5 percent to $12.4 billion.

The biggest declines among retailers were in big-ticket items. Sales of recreational vehicles, boats and motorcycles dropped 21.7 percent. New and used car sales were down 13.2 percent.

Among the state’s five most populous counties, Pierce ranked worst in taxable sales with a 5.5 percent drop.

Retail sales in Tacoma fell 7.2 percent as compared to 3.3 percent in Seattle and 5.5 percent in Bellevue.

Sales in Spokane were pretty much flat, and in Vancouver they went up 1 percent.

Boeing is looking at the possibility of slowing its airliner production schedule if world economic conditions cut back the demand or the financing available for new aircraft, a Boeing vice president said in Paris.

Randy Tinseth, Boeing sales vice president speaking to reporters in France today, said the company could throttle back its production lines if the economy erased the need for some new jetliners.

Two of the biggest aircraft leasing companies have called on Airbus and Boeing to both reduce their production in light of the world financial crisis.

Boeing had projected it would build about 480 jetliners this year at its Puget Sound factories, but a strike by the Machinists Union has shut down production since Sept. 6.

The company had expected to produce about 510 jets next year.

Airbus likewise has said it will increase the production pace on its assembly lines in 2009.

So far, cancellations and delivery postponements at both manufacturers have been minimal. Together the two manufacturers have a backlog of about 7,500 planes.

The two are scheduled to produce between 900 and 1,000 planes in total this year.

The Port of Seattle will launch its United Way Giving Campaign Wednesday with a one-time event on Sea-
Tac Airport's new third runway.

Port employees will be be able to run or walk on the 8,500-foot-long, 150-foot-wide strip of concrete at midday on either a 5-kilometer or 10-kilometer route.

They won't be dodging airliners. The new runway isn't scheduled to open until Nov. 20.

Five kilometers is two lengths of the runway. Ten K is four.

The runway cost the Port of Seattle, the airport's owner, about $1.1 billion. It will help the airport handle more traffic when the weather makes using the two existing runways at the same time impossible because they're too close to each other.

Airport authorities are hoping, of course, that no confused pilots mistake the new runway for the two open strips. Three times while the runway was being built airliners either landed on or made approaches to a taxiway adjacent to the new runway.

A large X painted on each end of the new runway designates it as inactive.

Amazon Inc.'s shares were hit on Tuesday by a sense that consumers are reigning in their spending.

Shares fell the most on the Nasdaq-100 Index after RBC Capital Markets cut its share-price and earnings estimates on “deteriorating consumer sentiment,” Bloomberg News reported.

“The change in consumer behavior does not seem targeted at one segment/vehicle, but is rather a broad-based decreased willingness to spend,” RBC analysts led by Stephen Ju wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday.

The New York-based analysts cut Amazon’s share-price estimate by 20 percent to $80 and lowered their sales forecasts by 5 percent to $19 billion for 2008 and 12 percent to $21.8 billion for 2009.

Amazon fell 9.9 percent to $55.86. The shares have lost 35 percent so far this year, compared with a 40 percent drop in the index.

Todd Bucholz, the keynote speaker at the annual Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber breakfast talked to the crowd about how to survive a tough economy, this morning,Oct. 14.
Dean J. Koepfler /The News Tribune

The Hollywood Video store in Gig Harbor’s Harbor Hill area is now officially recognizable as a “Mark’s Video.”

The “Hollywood Video” and “Game Crazy” signs on the store have been removed and new signs put up in their place saying “Mark’s Video” and “GameTag.”

The Harbor Hill store is one of 20 that Mark Wattles, the founder of Hollywood Entertainment, kept after Movie Gallery bought the company in 2005 for $1.2 billion.

Movie Gallery sued Wattles to get him to take the names off the 20 stores. Wattles was under a federal court injunction to do so after he missed an Aug. 31 deadline to change the signs.

Jessica Ryan, the Gig Harbor store’s assistant manager, said Monday that things have changed for the better with the name change.

Prices are lower, she said (five movies for five days: $5) and late charges have been reduced (50 cents to $1 a day instead of the previous $3.99 a day for new releases.)

Game Tag stocks a larger variety of games, Ryan said, and prices have dropped by 50 percent for five-day rentals.

Got an idea for a dream car?

If you’re a high school senior, here’s a chance to share your creative vision and maybe pick up some scholarship money at the same time.

For the second year, the Washington State Auto Dealers Association is offering $10,000 in scholarships to seniors with automotive vision.

The 2009 “Car of My Future” scholarship program asks applicants to describe and name their perfect vehicle, explain how it would support the career of their choice, lifestyle or hobby, and describe an advertising campaign for the vehicle.

Applicants have the option of sharing their vision through artwork or creative writing.
Up to four scholarships totaling $10,000 will be awarded.
The application deadline is March 6, 2009.

The Washington Auto Dealers Association serves 333 franchised new-car and truck dealers in 77 communities across the state.

More information is available at www.wsada.org/scholarship.

New talks between Boeing and its largest union ended this afternoon with no agreement and no commitment to return to the bargaining table.

Boeing said the company couldn't agree to union proposals that would have compromised its ability to respond to changes in the economic environment.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers had been pressing Boeing for job security guarantees as part of a new contract.

Some 27,000 union members walked off the job Sept. 6 after 80 percent rejected a Boeing contract offer.

Boeing issued a statement regarding its stance:

"In light of the current business environment and global market challenges we face, we had hoped we could find a way to move forward. We worked very hard to find solutions, and we are extremely disappointed that the talks broke off," said Doug Kight, Boeing vice president of human resources. "We want to resolve this strike so employees can return to work, but we cannot sacrifice our ability to continuously improve productivity and our long-term competitiveness for an agreement. Given current economic conditions, it is now more important than ever that we retain the ability to respond to a dynamic, uncertain environment."

The Machinists Union wasn't immediately available for comment.

The two sides had negotiated Sunday and until late afternoon today before breaking off their talks.

Oatmeal, Starbucks' newest addition to its breakfast repertoire, has become a surprising success.

According to an article from Advertising Age, the old-fashioned morning standby has become the Seattle-based chain's biggest food launch success of all time.

The new item, just six weeks or so on the menu, has replaced reduced-calorie coffee cake as the chain's best selling food item.

That success comes in spite of warm September weather nationwide.

New figures show that the breakfast cereal is particularly popular with younger customers and women. Women are six percent more likely than men to order the cholesterol-reducing concoction.

The new product is particularly attractive to Starbucks, which has been suffering from lagging sales this year, because it enjoys a higher profit margin than its pastries.

With the economy looking so dark, where do you find a job or the resources to carry you and your familty through the crisis?

Here's one suggestion.

Go to the Job and Resource Fair at Sea-Tac Airport to learn about opportunities for full-time, part-time and seasonal jobs with airport employers and get assistance with finding housing, health care, child care, educational programs, transportation and more.

When: October 16, 11:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Where: Sea-Tac Airport, Main Terminal at the south end of the Baggage Claim Level in the Gina Marie Lindsey International Arrivals Hall (map)
Park in the Airport Garage: Bring your parking ticket with you to the Job and Resource Fair and it will be validated

Want more information? Call the Job Fair Hotline at (206) 835-7504.

Learn more about airport jobs at www.airportjobs.org.

Gas prices are falling so fast that they're hard to track.

Who would have guessed in early July when statewide average regular unleaded prices hit $4.352 a gallon, that we would ever see gas prices again that began with the number two.

Now this morning comes word from Tacomagasprices.com that one Tacoma station, the Chevron at South 11th Street and Sprague Avenue, has broken the $3 barrier.

The Web site reports gas is for sale there at $2.99 a gallon.

That's a huge drop in just a few days.

In mid-week last week, regular gas prices had fallen to a then-stunning $3.29 a gallon at several Tacoma-area service stations.

By Saturday, some of those same stations were posting unleaded regular for $3.05 a gallon, a 24 cent drop.

Then came the $2.99 price.

That's more than 40 cents less per gallon than the state average of $3.404 a gallon reported today by AAA Washington.

That figure is down nearly 41 cents a gallon from the statewide average a month ago.

It almost matches the $2.966 a gallon we were paying statewide a year ago.

Tacoma gas prices are about 7 cents below the state average at $3.33 a gallon, AAA reports.

The national average today is $3.206. The nation's lowest prices statewide are in Oklahoma where the average price is $2.747. Alaska is the only state where average gas prices are still over $4. The average in that oil-producing state is now $4.088 a gallon.

After seeing airfares rise throughout the summer and spring, declining fuel prices and falling demand are again making their presence felt.

Sea-Tac's dominant carrier, Alaska Air Group, parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, has announced a fall sale for flights between Oct. 24 and Dec. 17.

The flights must be purchased by Oct. 23.

Some example fares:

Seattle - San Francisco $62 each way
Seattle - Los Angeles $79 each way
Seattle - Wenatchee $54 each way
Seattle - Minneapolis $130 each way

Other airlines are posting similar sales fares.

New Alaska rival Virgin America, for instance, is advertising a $62 one-way fare to San Francisco. That amounts to $145 roundtrip including taxes.

Virgin this morning was slightly higher than Alaska to LAX, $189.50 including taxes. Alaska's fare with taxes was $179.50.

These are the lowest fares available. Certain flights and certain days will have higher fares.

The president of the Machinists union says negotiators are having a “tough time” trying to end a strike at the Boeing Co.

Even so, union President Tom Buffenbarger told The Associated Press by telephone today that the negotiations are cause for optimism.

Buffenbarger said the negotiations resumed Sunday, the 36th day of the walkout.

The union president said he’s getting regular briefings from the table and adds, “they’re still having a tough time.”

The two sides have imposed a media blackout on the meetings.

The strike, which has shut down Boeing assembly work in the Puget Sound area, is now in its 38th day.

Boeing and union executives met briefly last week to set up the framework for the new meetings. The two sides initially projected talks would resume after the weekend.

The meeting are being held with a federal mediator.

Some 80 percent of union members rejected the company's previous "best and final offer" in early September.

Union members say they are particularly concerned with health care "takeaways" and job security issues.

Bill Boyer, a former Alaska Airlines baggage handler and Lakewood espresso bar owner, is expanding his Hawaii-based airline.

Boyer's Mokulele Airlines, which he bought in 2005 with the proceeds of the sale of his business marketing a portable video player to airlines, is reportedly considering adding larger jets to its inter-island fleet. Boyer's Dig-E-Player was first marketed to his former employer, Alaska.

Industry sources say Mokulele wants to lease 70-seat E-170 twinjets from Republic Airways Holdings to operate in the islands under the Mokulele name.

Boyer's airline now operates single-engine, nine-passenger Cessna Grand Caravans among the less-traveled islands.

With the demise of Aloha Airlines earlier this year and the financial troubles of inter-island carrier Go!, Boyer's airline could find an opening in a market that traditionally has been a tough one for competing carriers. Both Aloha and Hawaiian airlines recently emerged from bankruptcy, and Aloha entered it again leading to its liquidation.

Airbus, propelled by the popularity of its A-330 twin jet, is beating Boeing in airliner orders through the third quarter.

Airbus orders through Sept. 30 total, somewhat ironically, 737. Boeing orders for the year to that date total 623.

Airbus' most popular plane, the A-320, has won 471 orders for the year. Boeing's most popular model, the 737, has earned one fewer order, 470.

Boeing's second most popular model, the 787, garnered 78 orders this year through September while Airbus' comparable airliner, the A-350XWB won 138 orders, the same as its A-330.

Boeing's 767 has gained 20 orders this year. Airbus' comparable aircraft, the A300/310, recorded a loss of five.

The two plane makers' largest planes, the 747 and the A-380 each won three orders. Airbus' A-340 lost eight orders this year so far.

Kelly Haughton, strategic director of global indexes at Tacoma-based Russell Investments, has announced his retirement to fellow employees. The retirement will be effective next Friday, Oct. 14.

The company has not issued a press release concerning Haughton’s departure, but a post this morning on the index-related Web site IndexUniverse announced the departure.

Haughton, who has been with Russell since 1982, is chiefly responsible for the company’s entry in to the arena of stock indexes. He led the development of the Russell 1000, 2000 and 3000 indexes.

According to his company biography, Haughton spent 12 years heading Russell’s client client services program for U.S. institutional investors. He has overseen the provision of asset allocations, the setting of investment objectives and the delivery of investment performance reviews.

Haughton has also been active in community affairs, serving on the board of directors of the Economic Development Board and Junior Achievement.

No successor has been named. IndexUniverse speculates that the position will be filled by current Russell employees sharing responsibilities.

Russell Investments, according to IndexUniverse, provides 63 percent of the benchmarks used by institutional investors “covering 55.6 percent of all U.S. institutional assets, or approximately $4.4 trillion in assets.”

Weyerhaeuser Co. said today it will sell its Trus Joist Commercial division to Greenwich, Conn.-based Atlas Holdings.

The proposed transaction will include four manufacturing plants across the United States located in Chino, Calif.; Hillsboro, Ore.; Delaware, Ohio and Stayton, Ore. and 13 sales and engineering offices. About 428 employees concentrated in the Northwest, Southwest and East serve the business, the company said in a statement.

Financial terms weren’t given and the deal is expected to close by year’s end.

“Our goal is to ensure that the Commercial Business is optimized for long-term growth,” said Carlos Guilherme, iLevel vice president of sales. “After a thorough review of the alternatives, we believe the decision to explore the sale of this business and its assets to Atlas Holdings is in the best interests of our shareholders, employees and customers. At the same time, that outcome would allow Weyerhaeuser to narrow its focus on core strategies in the residential structural frame market.”

Joist makes prefabricated wooden construction products.

Wednesday we wrote about a projected $220 million "loss" that Alaska Air Group expects to report on its fuel hedging portfolio in the third quarter.

The airline called to say we didn't get the complicated details of the hedging arrangement quite right.

Alaska says the drop in oil prices from above $140 a barrel in mid-summer when the company's fuel hedging contracts were last valued to now when crude oil futures are selling for about $87 a barrel have diminished the amount of money the airline expects to save by hedging by $220 milion, thus the term "loss."

Brandon Pedersen, the airline holding company's vice president of finance, draws an analogy to buying a gallon of gas.

If gas is selling for $3.50 a gallon at the pump, and you've got a coupon in your hand that allows you to buy gas for $3 a gallon, that coupon is worth 50 cents a gallon. If the coupon was good for 100 gallons, then it would have a total value of $50.

If gas dropped to $3.40 a gallon, the coupon would be worth 40 cents a gallon or $40 for 100 gallons, he said.

On much larger and more complicated scale, that same example applies to Alaska Air Group. The airline holding company has hedged its fuel expenses by buy options to procure fuel at a fixed price sometime in the future. As the price of oil diminishes, as it has this summer, the worth of those options drops too.

That's where the $220 million balance sheet loss comes in, he said. Because crude oil prices have dropped, its options are worth less. If the spot oil price drop below the option price, the company will save nothing in buying fuel

The company's options are still worth something overall because some of its options are for prices less than the spot price, but because oil prices have dropped, they are worth $220 million less than they were at the end of the second quarter in June.

Because the company bought options giving it the right to buy fuel at a particular cost, it's not obligated to buy oil at that price, he said. The airline holding company is only out the cost of the option.

Good news in this ocean of bad tidings: Sea-Tac Airport expects its newest runway will cost about $115 million less than its budgeted cost.

Sea-Tac spokesman Perry Cooper says the 8,500-foot third runway is now expected to cost $1.013 billion. That's down from a budgeted figure of $1.128 billion.

The new runway is now scheduled to open Nov. 20 to commercial traffic.

When fully operational, the runway will speed up operations at the airport during low visibility conditions because a staggered stream of traffic can use two runways for operations.

The two present runways are too close to be used at the same time during inclement weather.

Though the final costs are under the present budget, critics of the runway point out that the cost more than doubled during the 15 years between conception and completion.

After more than a month without discussion, the Machinists Union and The Boeing Co. have agreed to reopen talks aimed at ending the union's 34-day-old strike.

In a message to its 27,000 striking members, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Local 751 said local president Tom Wroblewski and chief negotiator Mark Blondin met with Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Scott Carson Wednesday to outline their issues.

Both sides then agreed to return to the bargain table.

"We have kept lines of communications open and have agreed to pursue additional talks through the federal mediator," said Boeing human resources vice president Doug Kight.

"We hope this meeting marks a major step forward," the union said in a statement. "The union will continue to do everything possible to bargain a contract that addresses the concerns our members have identified."

The strike has taken its toll on both sides. Boeing stock Wednesday hit a 52-week low of $47.18 in intraday trading. That's less than half of the stock's 52-week high of $102.40.

Analysts have estimated that the company may have foregone up to $1.3 billion in profit for now because of lost production. If the strike is settled, the company will make up that lost production, but it will take months or years to do so.

Meanwhile, the union has encountered criticism from the public for turning down what some considered a generous contract during a period when the economy is struggling and workers in other industries and government are being laid off.

Boeing President Jim McNerney Monday criticized the strike and said Boeing can't give more or it will become uncompetitive in the world-wide aerospace marketplace.

The union contended Boeing is making record profits and can well afford to enhance its last offer which was rejected by 80 percent of voting union members.

Two key issues have emerged during the strike's duration:
so-called "take aways" in the Boeing medical and retirement plan and job security.

The takeaway issue, which Boeing contends is overblown, appears easy and inexpensive to solve.

The job security issue will be a tougher nut to crack. The union wants some concrete assurance that Boeing won't continue outsourcing work without at least some guarantee that internal forces can bid on that work.

Boeing's outsourcing policy is driven by two factors: marketing and cost and capital containment.

Boeing uses subcontracts to place work in other countries where it wants to sell airplanes.

And it lays off work to foreign contractors to share the capital costs of creating and building a new plane and to lower production costs.

The union points to the new 787 as an example of outsourcing gone wrong. That plane is approaching two years behind schedule in large part because outside contractors haven't performed as required.

As previously announced, Russell Investments said today in a release that company chairman Mike Phillips will retire. After nearly 30 years with Russell, Phillips will leave his post in December.

Phillips will continue serving as chairman of Russell 20-20, a non-profit association of 20 large retirement plan sponsors and 20 major money managers who gather to explore worldwide economic and investment environments in emerging markets, according to the company’s release.

He also plans to continue working with Russell by establishing an investment advisory firm in Geneva, Switzerland, which will offer clients Russell investment products.

“I feel fortunate to have had the chance to play a variety of roles in helping Russell become the global financial leader it is today,” Phillips said. “I have planned this transition since I became chairman in 2003, and I will leave feeling both proud of what we have accomplished and confident that Russell stands strong and is poised for continued success.”

“Mike has been a driving force behind Russell's dramatic growth and success over the past three decades, and he truly embodies what it means to be part of the Russell team,” said John Schlifske, Russell's President and CEO. “Mike's legacy will be long-felt among Russell's associates and clients, and we are excited that he intends to continue to be involved with the company in a meaningful way going forward.”

Before being elevated to chairman, Phillips served as Russell’s president and CEO from 1993 to 2003.

Did you ever wonder how the Port of Tacoma operates, where it spends your tax dollars or what's in the future for one of Pierce County's biggest job generators?

Here's your chance for a briefing on just those kinds of questions.

Beginning Thursday, the port will host the first of four evening workshops designed to educate the public about the port, its history, scope of operations, future development plans and its upcoming 2009 budget process.

"As the business of our Port continues to grow, we are finding it increasingly important to reach out to our community and listen to the questions people may have about our Port," said Port of Tacoma Commission President Dick Marzano. "It is important that our citizens understand the deep historic roots of the maritime industry in our community, what role this activity plays today and how it will grow and affect them in the future."

Here are the times and locations of these public port workshops:

Tacoma
Thursday, Oct. 9, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
The Fabulich Center, Room 104
3600 Port of Tacoma Road

Puyallup
Thursday, Oct. 16, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
City of Puyallup - City Council Chambers
333 South Meridian

Gig Harbor
Thursday, Oct. 23, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Gig Harbor City Hall
3510 Grandview Street

Lakewood
Wednesday, Oct. 29, 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Gary and Carol Milgard Family HOPE Center
10402 Kline Street SW

Alaska Air Group says it will record a $220 million paper third quarter loss because the price of oil has gone down.

What?

You thought airlines were suffering because the price of fuel had gone up didn't you? Well, it works the other way too if you're like Alaska and bet that the price of crude would remain high.

Alaska hedged its fuel supply, that is it bought the right to buy fuel in the future at certain fixed costs hoping that those costs would be less than the price they'd then have to pay on the open market.

The strategy had worked for the airline before as oil prices rose through the roof until earlier this summer, but then the price of oil took a nose dive. It traded at about $147 a barrel at its peak this summer. Now it's somewhere in the upper 80s.

The problem is that Alaska bought some hedges at prices over the current price.

Half of its fuel supply for the first quarter of next year is hedged at $108 a barrel. Twenty-four percent of its first quarter 2010 fuel supply is hedged at $114 a barrel. And 12 percent of its third quarter 2010 fuel supply is hedged at $120 a barrel.

Accounting rules require that the airline report the value of its whole portfolio of hedges quarterly even though they won't be exercised for years to come. That's where the paper loss is originating. Alaska argues that the price of the hedge matters only on the execution date.

"Management believe it is useful to compare results between periods on an 'economic basis,'" the airline said in a report to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Economic fuel expense is defined as the raw or 'into-plane' fuel cost less the cash we receive from hedge counterparties for hedges that settle during the period, offset by the premium expense that we recognize, the airline holding company said.

"Economic fuel expense moe closely approximates the net cash outflow associated with purchasing fuel for our operation," said Alaska.

Without various one-time charges and adjustments including the fuel hedge paper loss, the airline said it expects to report a profit during the third quarter.

I have been reluctant to agree with most pundits and all of the Business TV Chicken-Littles who have been saying for several months that the American economy is in a recession. I still don’t believe it was – but I’m ready to say it is.

This late-blooming insight comes after hearing from a pair of Ph.D.s whom I believe actually know what they’re doing: Ernie Ankrim, chief investment strategist at Russell Investments, and Ken Mayland, principal at ClearView Economics LLC. I met Mayland a while back after he spoke to investors in Tacoma, and I always enjoy a chance to speak with both economists.

This week, Ankrim wrote, “Things will probably get worse before they get better. ... I believe we'll be in a recession in the fourth quarter of 2008 and through the second quarter of 2009. I didn't think things would be so bad a year ago, but the scale of our financial mess was larger than most analysts, myself included, imagined. That being said, I don't expect a recession as bad as those in 2001-02 or 1973-77.”

I spoke with Mayland this morning. For some time now he has played the contrarian, going against the Recessionistas and taking the view that the numbers just didn’t reach the threshold.

Well, today he joined the pack. “I think we’ve slipped into a recession,” he said. “We’re going down the slippery slope. We came so close to avoiding one, but I think the handwriting’s on the wall now.”

He said he expects it to last through “late spring or the beginning of summer.”

Alas.

More of you are buying your groceries and gas at Costco to save money.

The company said today that it is dealing with higher food and fuel prices, which are squeezing profitability as it draws consumers hunting bargains, Bloomberg News reports.

Costco and discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are bellwethers for how retailers will fare in the economic slowdown.

Here are the numbers: Costco said fourth-quarter profit rose 6.8 percent.

Net income for the quarter through August increased to $397.8 million, or 90 cents a share, from $372.4 million, or 83 cents, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement.

=> Read more!

Tacoma Goodwill received a $1.6 million grant to expand job training and placement services for hundreds people with disabilities.

The money comes from the Projects With Industry grant through U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Funds will help train 500 disabled job seekers and place 275 people in jobs during five years, Tacoma Goodwill CEO Terry A. Hayes said in a statement.

"This is a great day for those who want to go to work and and another major step forward in our long history of helping people with disabilities," Hayes said. "This grant expands and enhances our services to provide specific training, placement and career advancement opportunities in trades where employers will need workers."

Goodwill is one of 66 organizations that received funding from about 200 that applied.

"Competition for the grant is rigorous and agencies who receive and award have demonstrated their ability to achieve exceptional results," said Lynnae Ruttledge, director of the state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

The grant will expand Goodwill's Retail and Customer Service Program, Office Essentials Program and Custodial/Janitorial Skills Training Program. Services are provided in Goodwill's Work Opportunity Centers in Tacoma, Longview and Yakima.

Major Pacific Northwest stocks followed the Dow Industrials downward today, swept downstream in the bout of selling by investors whose confidence in the economy was shaken.

Here are the numbers:

Dow, -508.39 to 9,447.11, down 5.11 percent
Nasdaq, -108.08 to 1,754.88, down 5.80 percent
S&P, -60.66 to 996.23, down 5.74 percent

Northwest companies:

Columbia Banking System, -.13 to 17.49, down .74 percent
TrueBlue Inc., -.49 to 12.81, down 3.68 percent
Boeing, -2.01 to 49.28, down 3.92 percent
Paccar, -1.38 to 31.90, down 4.15 percent
Costco, -2.67 to 57.80, down 4.42 percent
Expeditors, -2.09 to 29.16, down 6.69 percent
Microsoft, -1.68 to 23.23, down 6.74 percent
Weyerhaeuser, -4.45 to 50.37, down 8.12 percent
Nordstrom, -2.25 to 21.89, down 9.32 percent
Amazon, -2.67 to 57.80, down 10.29 percent
Alaska Air Group, - 2.14 to 16.05, down 11.76 percent

This Associated Press story makes me laugh but it seems like a good idea:

Here’s the scenario: It’s Friday night, and what began as an innocent happy-hour margarita morphed into a few pitchers. After all, those tacos were salty.

Bidding friends adieu, you jump in a cab, head home and decide a quick e-mail check is in order. And there it is: a message from your ex. Or your boss. Or that friend you’re secretly mad at.

If you’re the kind of person who types tipsy and regrets it in the morning, Google’s “Mail Goggles,” a new test-phase feature in the free Gmail service, might save you some angst.

The Goggles can kick in late at night on weekends.

The feature requires you to solve a few easy math problems in short order before hitting “send.” If your logical thinking skills are intact, Google is betting you’re sober enough to work out the repercussions of sending that screed you just drafted.

And if you can’t multiply two times five, you’ll probably thank Google in the morning.

To activate Goggles, Gmail users should click the “Settings” link at the top of a Gmail page, then go to the “Labs” section.

There’s no shame in admitting that sometimes you need a little extra help. Gmail engineer Jon Perlow designed Goggles with his own weaknesses in mind.

The strike-related production halt at Boeing's Puget Sound area aircraft plants is beginning to take its toll on airline schedule planning around the world.

The construction of new airliners has been stopped for more than a month because of the strike of some 27,000 Boeing union machinists.

Close to home, Alaska Airlines' vice president Brandon Pederson told airline analysts at a Colorado conference that the Boeing work stoppage will have "a significant impact on our business."

The SeaTac-based airline has 21 Boeing 737-800s on order.Ten of those are scheduled to be delivered by April.

Alaska in August retired the last of its fuel-guzzling MD-80s in favor of the Boeings.

Meanwhile in Texas, American Airlines' said that the timing of its plan to retire its 300 MD-80s and replace them with Boeings is being rethought because of the strike.

American is scheduled to receive 36 737-800s in 2009 and 40 in 2010.

In Europe, low cost airline Ryanair blamed the strike on the delayed startup of new flights from Edinburgh, Scotland and elsewhere.

In Australia, new international carrier V Australia has told passengers booked on its new flights from Australia to Los Angeles beginning Dec. 15 that those flights' startup will be delayed until at least Feb. 28.

The airline has three Boeing 777-300ER aircraft nearing completion at Boeing's Everett plant.

The airline is making other arrangements for passengers booked on the V Australia flights between Dec. 15 and Feb. 28.

No new talks are scheduled in the Boeing-union dispute. Boeing CEO Jim McNerney warned workers Monday that further concessions to the union could endanger the company's competitive position.

A Northwest Airlines Airbus A-330 jetliner will make a series of landings and takeoffs on Sea-Tac Airport's new third runway Wednesday to test instrument landing systems.

The test will be the first using a wide-bodied aircraft.

The Port of Seattle and the Federal Aviation Administration last month tested the new strip with a single-aisle Alaska Airlines 737-800 aircraft.

The 8,500-foot runway is some 14 years in the making. Final costs are expected to total nearly $1.2 billion.

The runway was built on a landfilled embankment west of the existing two runways. The construction project required that the port, the airport's owner, buy up hundreds of homes and businesses, rehabilitate creeks and wildlife habitat and construct massive holding ponds for airport runoff.

The third runway is expected to open to commercial traffic Nov. 20. It's construction was strenuously opposed by neighboring cities who contended the traffic would bring more noise and air pollution to their neighborhoods.

The port says the new runway will give the airport more capacity in inclement weather because it is far enough from the airport's eastern-most runway to allow staggered landings on both strips during bad weather.

The two existing north-south runways are too close together to allow simultaneous landings in all but the clearest weather.

Executives at Minneapolis' Sun Country Airlines says it plans to continue operating normally today in spite of its late Monday bankruptcy reorganization filing.

The airline's once daily flight from Sea-Tac to the Twin Cities was reported to be scheduled to leave at the usual time this evening. The airline also operates flights from Sea-Tac to Laughlin, Nev. Those flights will operate normally, too.

The airline was forced to resort to bankruptcy after a federal investigation into other businesses controlled by former Sun Country CEO Thomas Petters cut off short-term credit to the airline.

The airline normally would have borrowed money from Petters' other companies during the fall when passenger loads are relatively low to bridge the gap until wintertime resort flights begin.

The company has deferred 50 percent of its employees' salaries while the financial crisis looms.

It has pledged to make good on those salaries once business picks up in the winter.

Sun Country has a small but loyal following who like its service and its fleet of modern Boeing 737 jets.

Sun Country is the latest airline to file for bankruptcy this year. Some, like Frontier Airlines, are reorganizing and continue to operate.

Others, such as ATA, Aloha, Skybus and XL, have halted operations and liquidated assets.

The weather down around Ruston Way and Old Town was as dreary as the stock market today, and what with the market doing its gymnastics yet again, I thought I’d call a few people who know what they’re doing, money-wise, to get some perspective.

“There’s just no room for panic,” said Jim Suits, principal at Summit Capital Advisors in Old Town.

He said he’s talked to his clients about their investment strategies. “We talk abut when times are good and when times are not good. We’re waiting for a definite sign that the market is going to give us a rebound, even if it’s short. There’s just a lot of money on the sidelines waiting for something good to happen. My fear is that people are going to wait until we’re way into the recovery.”

He’s watching for three particular signs.

“I’m looking for us to hit a point of extreme fear. I’m looking for when stocks become a hated investment, because of the drops. And I’m looking for when they become really cheap.”

And he believes the market will regain its senses. “The bear market we had in 2000, all the stumbles we’ve had in between, every time its gone down, it’s come back,” he said.

Gini Bruce is chief investment strategist at Financial Insights, located along Ruston Way.

“A lot of what we’re hearing: ‘Is my bank safe?’ We’re getting a lot of that,” she said.

For clients who are investing in cash, she said, “We’re putting it in FDIC insured deposits. We shop many banks for CDs. We’re able to buy from an inventory. We buy from multiple banks. We’re not putting a lot with anybody.”

As for investing in stocks, she said, “Any equity purchases that we were dollar-cost averaging, we’ve ceased that until we feel that there’s a good bottom, when some of this volatility lessens. We have panic right now.”

Her advice? “I think right now, be calm. See that (you’re) covered for cash. Hang on. To me, that’s the main thing. Get yourself positioned where you won’t have to sell out. Make sure your allocation is well diversified.”

One bit of good news in all of this economic turmoil: gas prices locally are falling nearly as swiftly as the Dow.

Tacoma gas prices crossed another downside barrier today. Regular unleaded at the ARCO station at Puyallup and Portland avenues dropped to $3.29 a gallon.

Gasoline prices followed that same trend statewide, in the Tacoma area and in the nation, according to AAA.

Average Tacoma prices were $3.539 on Monday. Statewide, those prices averaged nearly a nickel higher at $3.584, according to AAA.

A month ago in Tacoma, gas was selling for $3.852 on average for a gallon.

Sunday, the average price was $3.60 a gallon statewide.

Washington, D.C.'s Human Rights Campaign Foundation has awarded Alaska Airlines a perfect score for its treatment of its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered employees.

Alaska, based in SeaTac, was among 259 U.S. companies to receive a perfect score on the foundation's 2009 Corporate Equality Index.

The airline said it was pleased by its showing.

"Diversity and inclusion are important aspects of our core values, and critical to our remaining successful in an increasingly competitive business environment," said Kelley Dobbs, the airline's vice-president of human resources.

Minneapolis-based Sun Country Airlines told employees today it could be forced to lay off workers or shut down the airline as early as Dec. 1 unless it can find new cash to fund its operations.

Sun Country, whose hub is Minneapolis, flies twice-daily from Sea-Tac to the Twin Cities among several major routes.

The airline's operations tend to diminish in the fall when summertime vacation traffic declines and before its wintertime flights to tropical destinations begin feeding it more passengers.

The airline had planned to get a short-term loan from its owner, Tom Petters, to bridge the expense gap, but Petters resigned as CEO because of an unconnected investigation by federal investigators of other of his business dealings.

The airline last week had told employees it would begin withholding 50 percent of their salaries to help sustain it operations. It promised to repay those deferred payments this winter when business picks up.

Sun Country has new competition in the Seattle-Minneapolis market this fall. Alaska Airlines will begin flying to the Twin Cities twice daily on Oct. 26.

Southwest Airlines is also entering the Minneapolis-St.Paul market for the first time next spring. Southwest will initially just serve Chicago's Midway Airport from Minneapolis, but could expand that service to other cities.

Boeing Chief Executive Officer Jim McNerney told Boeing workers today that the company must keep its costs competitive to prevent rivals from stealing its business.

``As I look ahead, I see tremendous pressure coming from old competitors and new ones,'' McNerney told employees today in a memo. ``If our collective Boeing team - - with both non-union and union-represented employees -- cannot reliably supply our customers, other competitors will do so.''

McNerney's words came as a strike of 27,000 Boeing union machinists entered its second month.

``The ongoing turmoil in the financial markets provides a timely reminder of why it would be gravely unwise for Boeing to agree to terms in any contract that would fundamentally restrict our ability to manage our business,'' McNerney wrote. ``Markets and business conditions can change quickly and dramatically. And we need to be able to react just as fast.''

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted 80 percent against Boeing's "best and final offer" for a new 3-year contract Sept. 3.

After a last-minute effort to reach a better deal, the union struck the company Sept. 6.

The union today said it only wants to share in Boeing's prosperity and to have some guarantee that the company will not outsource more jobs.

Analysts are predicting that the strike could continue for several months. Neither Boeing nor the union has made any move toward concessions, and talks have not yet resumed.

An aerospace industry on-line newsletter, ATW On-Line, reports today that Japan Airlines has ordered nine new 767-300ER wide-bodied jets and four 777 long-range aircraft.

Those aircraft will help fill the capacity gap that Japan is feeling because of the delay in the delivery of Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

The Dreamliner production schedule is now 15 months to two years behind with delays growing every day that the Machinists Union remains on strike. That strike is a month old today.

The total of Boeing orders for the year so far is 623 aircraft.

New drinks from Starbucks don't usually warrant two blog posts. But in this case I wanted to write a clarification. We here at The News Tribune tried the new Starbucks caramel sea salt premium hot chocolate last week. Someone bought it for us and drove it over here, making it 10 to 15 minutes old by the time we got it. We gave it good marks but noted that it wasn't outstanding.

The next day a media relations person from Starbucks called to question our assessment. "We've been drinking them like crazy over here," she said. Well, of course you have. You get paid to love and promote the newest Starbucks product.

But ...

This past weekend, I tried a fresh one, getting my first taste about 15 seconds after the barista put the lid on. It was a much different experience. The drink comes caramel-topped whip cream and sea salt sprinkles. Others around here also tried one fresh from the store. We'd like to upgrade our assessment to delicious.

Pierce County remains among the least expensive areas for office rentals in the Puget Sound region, according to quarterly numbers released today by CB Richard Ellis.

The average rate for fully serviced Class A office space in Tacoma and Fife was $22.09 per square foot for the third quarter. Downtown Seattle topped the list at $36.50 per square foot, and the average for the region was $30.89.

CB Richard Ellis marked the vacancy rate for space at 10.96 percent, near the regional average of 11.7 percent. Downtown Seattle marked a vacancy rate of 9.2 percent, while the region enclosing Snohomish County showed 19.9 percent.

For industrial space, Tacoma and Fife showed a vacancy rate of 9.8 percent, well above the 5.5 percent regional average. Again the area marked the lowest average asking rate, at 36 cents per square foot, below the regional average of 54 cents.
Tacoma and Fife have 900,000 square feet of industrial space under construction, nearly half of the total being built in the region at 2.1 million square feet.

Historically, the region has seen a small increase in the office vacancy rate, at 11.7 percent up from 10.9 percent in the second quarter and 10.5 percent in the third quarter of last year. The average cost, at $30.70, is up from $30.16 in the second quarter and $28.39 a year ago.

The regional industrial vacancy rate, 5.5 percent is down from 5.8 percent in the second quarter and 6.7 percent a year ago, CB Richard Ellis said.

Gov. Chris Gregoire will address the 4rd annual Washington State International Trade Update Luncheon on October 23. The gathering, from 11:00 a.m. until 1:30 p.m., will be held at Tacoma’s Hotel Murano.

Gregoire will speak on the latest trade performance and the importance of international trade to the state economy, according to a release from the World Trade Center Tacoma, the event sponsor. A panel discussion on exports will follow.

Union Bank of California is hosting the event, supported by Washington Realtors, the Port of Tacoma, Pierce County and City of Tacoma.

The luncheon is geared toward community and business leaders and international officials as well as the general public.

The cost to attend the luncheon is $40 for students and WTCTA members, $50 for non-WTCTA members and walk-in guests and $400 for corporate table. For more information, visit www.wtcta.org.

The new Nordstrom at the Tacoma Mall is open. Crowds of shoppers packed the parking lots and the mall entrance in anticipation of the updated department store.

It was worth it. Shoppers declared the new store “beautiful” and way overdue for the South Sound.

"We think it's awesome," said Nancy Lentgis of Olympia. "It's been a long time coming for this area."

Lentgis said the store feels more contemporary and has more choices for shoppers. She was shopping with friend Teri Girard for shoes for an upcoming wedding.

Indeed, the store is bright with new light fixtures and merchandise displays. The makeup counters are lower and more spread out, giving shoppers a better view of the merchandise.

All of the women’s clothing is collected on the second floor with men’s and kids’ still on the first.

So many people showed up for the opening that I had to park across the street. The store was packed with hundreds of shoppers taking in the new design. I checked out the most important departments first: shoes and cosmetics.

The shoe department includes lots of new designers that weren’t at the other store.

I admired, twice, a pair of burgundy patent leather Paul Green shoes that sell for $275. Rows of boots lined the entrance. The hosiery department is collected on the opposite side of the store, with a large tights selection. (I bought two pairs.)

The cosmetics department was overflowing with customers and employees, who were eager to give demonstrations of the products.

I got a quick primer on the pressed powered at the Nars counter. (I bought eye shadow in black and white.) I think much of the excitement for the new store came from the employees, who were thrilled to have a shiny new place to work each day.

The new store is 138,000 square feet. The original Nordstrom at Tacoma Mall opened in 1966 just down the mall and is now closed for business. It will be home to new stores and restaurants when the mall renovates that wing of the shopping center.

With other airlines reporting traffic declines last month, SeaTac's Alaska Airlines managed to eke out a .2 percent increase in traffic in September.

The airline reported today that its September traffic was 1.430 billion revenue passenger miles, an increase from 1.427 billion rpms last year. A revenue passenger mile is one mile flown by a paying passenger.

That traffic increase comes in spite of capacity cut by five percent in September.

Other major airlines have reported traffic declines for September: American, -9.1 percent; Continental, -10.9%, Southwest, -8 percent; AirTran, -2 percent and Northwest, .5 percent.

The percentage of seats filled by paying passengers, the so-called "load factor," increased to 75.8 percent last month compare with 71.8 percent in the same month last year.

At Alaska's Horizon Air sister airline, traffic decreased by 15.7 percent on a 17.2 percent capacity decrease.

Horizon has retired all of its Q200 37-seat aircraft and plans to retire all of its CRJ-700 jets to standardize on its Q400 high-efficiency turboprop. The Q400 has 76 seats.

The domestic economic slowdown took a small toll on Boeing this week with Southwest Airlines' announcement that it would take delivery of only 10 of the 14 737s it had ordered from Boeing next year.

The Dallas-based discount carrier, Boeing's biggest 737 customer, is slowing its growth as demand slackens for airline service.

The airline said it won't cancel the order for four additional 737s. It is deferring their delivery until 2016.

The delivery delay follows two consecutive months of lower passenger traffic for Southwest, the first since 2004.

Horizon Air has announced it wants to start service from Snohomish County's Paine Field sometime before next summer.

The SeaTac-based regional airline said Thursday it is considering initial service to Spokane and Portland.

The airline would use 76-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops for the new service.

The airline's announcement came after the Everett City Council voted last month 6-0 in favor of scheduled operations at the field.

While the city is encouraging new service, Snohomish County, which owns the airport, is doing the opposite.

The county has told airline operators that while it can't stop them from flying from the airport, it doesn't intend to expand or modernize its old terminal at county expense to support the service.

Allegiant Airlines earlier this year announced that it too wants to begin service from Paine. Allegiant would fly MD-80 jets to vacation destinations such as Las Vegas.

Neighborhood opposition is strong against airline service at the former Air Force base that is home to the world's largest aircraft factory, Boeing's Everett assembly plant, and to major aircraft overhaul facilities.

Having airline service to Paine would save Everett residents what can be a nearly two-hour auto trip to Sea-Tac Airport during rush hour traffic.

Alaska Airlines is bragging today about a September on-time arrival performance that's the best in a decade.

By the airlines' own unofficial calculations, 87.8 percent of its flights arrived within 15 minutes of their schedule last month.

That's up dramatically from the 73.3 percent on-time record it achieved in Sept. 2007.

But although Alaska's performance is stellar for the airline, it didn't advance it much relative to other U.S. carriers.

The same factors that helped Alaska improve its on-time performance last month, relatively good weather, a reduction in the number of flights in the air and no major air traffic control snarls, also boosted other airlines' performance.

According to FlightStats.com records, Alaska was 12th among 38 U.S. airlines last month. Flightstats, which uses slightly different measures than Alaska to count up on-time arrivals, said Alaska had an 86.96 percent on-time rating last month.

At the top of their list was perennial on-time king Hawaiian Airlines with 94.10 percent of its flights on-time. Frontier Airlines was second with a 92.75 percent on-time performance.

Horizon Air, Alaska's regional sister airline, was fourth with 91.20 percent of its flights on time. That's just .01 percent behind the third place carrier, Mesaba Aviation.

Among major carriers, American Airlines was the least punctual last month with a 79 percent on-time record.

These figures, compiled by the airline and by FlightStats, aren't the official Department of Transportation figures reported earlier this week, which lag the unofficial figures by a month.

The demise of Aloha Airlines and ATA has created a new market for Boeing in Hawaii.

Hawaiian Airlines Thursday introduced into service the first of four additional Boeing 717 jets it is leasing from Boeing Capital Corp.

The four jets will augment the airline's interisland fleet of 11 717s.

Since the bankruptcy liquidation of its biggest rival, Aloha Airlines, Hawaiian has been struggling to meet the demand for between-islands transport. Indianapolis-based ATA, which provided service to some of the outer islands from the mainland, also went bankrupt earlier this year.

The airline has even used one of its 274-seat, twin-aisle, long-range Boeing 767s for 18-minute flights between the islands.

The airline ordinarily uses those aircraft for long-distance trips to the mainland, to Australia and the Phillipines.

The photos of the "new" plane don't show its registration number, but it would be a good bet that the planes being added to Hawaiian's fleet once were part of Midwest Airlines' fleet. Midwest is retrenching and returning some of its 717s to Boeing.

The 717 is the last commercial plane Boeing produced in the former McDonnell Douglas plant in Long Beach, Calif.

Before Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas in 1997, the plane was called the MD-95.

New figures are out for Boeing's third quarter aircraft production, and the toll the Machinists Union strike is taking are clearly evident.

The company said it produced 84 airliners in the July through September quarter. Among those were 67 737s, 4 747s, 2 767s and 11 777s.

The 737 production figures clearly show the strike's effect. At Boeing's previous production rates, about 31 planes a month at its Renton plant, the third quarter production should have been about 93 planes instead of the 67 built.

Under non-strike conditions, the production of 767s would have been 3 instead of 2, 777 production would have been 19 instead of 11, and 747 production would have been five instead of four.

The strike by 27,000 International Assosication of Machinists and Aerospace Workers began Sept. 6.

No new talks are scheduled between the company and the union.

Nearly 80 percent of flights at Sea-Tac Airport arrived within 15 minutes of their schedule in August, new statistics from the federal Department of Transportation show.

That 78.5 percent on-time arrival percentage was above the national average of 77.8 percent on-time arrivals.

The major airport with the best performance statistics was Salt Lake City with an 88.2 percent on-time arrival record.

New York's airports finished at the bottom on the DOT list. JFK was last with a 58.6 percent on-time record, followed by Newark with a 65.1 percent on-time performance. LaGuardia was third from the bottom at 65.6 percent on-time arrivals.

At Sea-Tac, commuter carrier Skywest led the group with a 91 percent on-time record. American was at the bottom with a 68 percent on-time performance.

The airport's dominant carrier, Alaska, had an 80.4 percent on-time record at Sea-Tac, above the 78.6 overall figure.

Amidst national reports of sagging airline traffic, Sea-Tac Airport managed to report yet another month of higher traffic in August.

The airport said its traffic was 3.345 million passengers in August, up from 3.252 million in August of 2007. That's a 2.83 percent increase.

For the year, Sea-Tac's passenger numbers are up 5.85 percent to 22.28 million through August.

Leading the increases for both August and the year to date are international passenger arrivals, up nearly eight percent for the month and 15 percent for the year.

Sea-Tac this year has added new flights to Germany and China among others.

The Boeing Co. has won three new orders for its C-17 military transport aircraft, the company announced this week.

Those orders come from a consortium of 10 European NATO countries that will share the planes for heavy equipment and troop transport.

The new orders will help Boeing keep its Long Beach, Calif., plant going while it waits for more orders from the U.S. Air Force.

Boeing has cobbled together several smaller orders recently including one from the Mideast nation of Qatar to avoid shutting down its assembly line.

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Travelers who've had to cope with Northwest Airlines' dominance in the Seattle-Minneapolis market have another reason to hope for lower fares today.

Southwest Airlines, after years of shunning Northwest's fortress hub in the Twin Cities, has announced it will begin serving the airport next spring.

The route isn't non-stop for Seattle travelers. The Texas-based low-cost carrier will begin its Twin Cities service in March with flights to Chicago's Midway Airport.

That should provide a one-stop connection for Northwesterners flying to the Twin Cities and perhaps put competitive pressure on prices.

Alaska Airlines this fall is also beginning service to Minneapolis, in its case non-stop. That new service also should provide new competition and for Northwest, which is busy now merging with Delta.

In other developments today, Southwest announced its September passenger traffic was down 5.9 percent over the same month last year.

The airline has reduced its capacity by 4.4 percent, but traffic fell even further.

Russell Investments is out with numbers for September. Whoops. It’s nearly 2002 all over again.

The Tacoma-based company notes that the broad-market Russell 3000 Index showed a 9.4 percent decline for the month - which is “the deepest monthly loss since September of 2002 when the index showed a 10.5 percent drop.”

Within the index, Russell said in a release today, 2,300 stocks marked a negative return for the month. The total capitalization for stocks in the index “dropped from about $14 trillion at the beginning of September to about $12.6 trillion at months’ end.”

“It was a rough month for investors, but the indexes show some segments of the market fared much worse than others,” said Chris Tessin, Russell portfolio manager. “If you’re only looking at the Dow, you wouldn’t see that small caps outperformed large caps and value outperformed growth at every level of the market.”

The Russell Microcap Value Index was down 4.5 percent, the company said, and the Russell 2000 Value Index fell 4.7 percent. The large cap 1000 Growth Index was down 11.6 percent.

Within the Russell 3000, consumer staples were down 1.2 percent while energy stocks fell 21.3 percent.

=> Read more!

If you need to run to the mall for a last-minute gift or a new pair of tights, stay away from Nordstrom at the Tacoma Mall on Thursday.

The retailer is closing its 42-year-old store tonight at 5 p.m. for the last time. An hour later, employees will push racks of clothes through the mall to the new store on the west end of the shopping center.

On Thursday, employees will put all the items away and make the story pretty for the grand opening on Friday.

The big event is Friday starting at 8 a.m. with a makeup party in the parking lot. The new store opens to shoppers at 10 a.m. Then you can shop your heart out.

Puget Sound Energy reported today that residential electric customers could see a 3 percent rate cut as early as Nov. 1 if the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission approves a request filed by PSE to resume the Bonneville Power Administration residential exchange credit on customer bills and grants PSE’s pending general rate electric increase request.

"We’re pleased to be able to bring our customers this rate relief in time for winter and throughout next year," said Kimberly Harris, executive vice president and chief resource officer for PSE. "All families in the Northwest deserve a fair share of the benefits from our region’s federal hydropower system. We will do all we can to make sure these benefits continue to flow to our customers in the years ahead."

If approved by the UTC, the 970,000 households and small farms that receive electric service from PSE should see a usage-based credit from BPA averaging $10.56, the utility said in a press release.

The credit’s bill reduction would average 11.4 percent — more than offsetting the separate 8.2 percent general electric-rate increase PSE is seeking.

In mid-2007, BPA suspended payment of the nearly 30-year-old residential exchange credit to customers of PSE and the Northwest’s other shareholder-owned utilities. The suspension followed a ruling by a federal court, which said BPA’s process for determining consumers’ power benefits did not conform with the Northwest Power Act.

BPA recently announced a new procedure for calculating the exchange benefits, as well as the amount of restored credit payments utility customers will receive for fiscal year 2009.

As if we didn’t have enough to be scared of already – war, meltdowns, elections, take your pick – here comes Halloween.

And not a moment too soon for retailers.

The National Retail Federation is out with is predictions for the devilish day. The news is good.

According to the group’s Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, more consumers will be celebrating the holiday this year (64.5 percent vs. 58.7 percent last year).

This year, the average American plans to spend $66.54 on the holiday, up from $64.82 one year ago. Total Halloween spending for 2008 in the U.S. is estimated to reach $5.77 billion, the federation said in a release.

“Halloween sales may be a bright spot for retailers this fall,” said Tracy Mullin, NRF president and CEO. “Consumers – who have been anxious and uncertain for the past several months – may be looking at Halloween as an opportunity to forget the stresses of daily life and just have a little fun.”

=> Read more!

Word spread today about Starbucks new fancy hot chocolate drinks, what the company is calling a "signiture" drink, that debuted on Tuesday.

We just had to try it. Six of us here at The News Tribune tried the new Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate, which the company describes as "Made with a rich mélange of four exceptional cocoas."

Our verdict: Yum but difficult to distinguish from other hot chocolates. The drink was rich but not too chocolatey. One sipper compared it to the failed Chantico drinking chocolate of a few years ago, saying it was a better blend of sweetness.

This drink and all the other new menu items are part of the company's plan to spur sales at its stores and give consumers reason to drop by more often.

The details: The short salted caramel with whip is 320 calories (140 from fat) and 160 mg of sodium.

It cost $2.85 for the 8-oz. short size from the 6th & Pine Starbucks Wednesday morning.