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.

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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.