Roller skaters, rejoice.

There’s a new rink coming to town.

I’ve just spoken with Debbie Berg, who tells me that she, her husband, Dave, and daughter, Dacia Pendleton, will soon open their Wheelz Skate Arena at 2101 So. Mildred, there on the borderlands of Tacoma, Fircrest and University Place.

Already it seems that word has gone forth concerning the new project, as Berg has been receiving calls from school groups inquiring about renting the space for parties.

When it opens on Feb. 20, Berg says, the facility will offer public skating, private parties and skating lessons. Along with a large rink, the space will comprise party rooms, a snack bar, video game area, parents’ mezzanine and pro shop.

If you follow roller skating, you may already be familiar with Dave, who has five times been named National Figure Skating Champion as sanctioned by USA Roller Sports of Lincoln, Neb. Both he and Debbie will offer lessons at Wheelz.

The Bergs will lease the space, formerly occupied by arenas offering paintball and laser tag. They are continuing the remodeling, and expect to make an investments of approximately $50,000.

And they will be hiring staff. The phone hasn’t yet been installed, but anyone interested in employment or securing a skate-date may call Debbie at 253-365-0332.

U.S. Rep. John Murtha, the head of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, was in Alabama Thursday talking about the possibility of dividing the politically radioactive Air Force tanker deal between Boeing and its Euro-U.S. rival Northrop Grumman/EADS.

Murtha toured the site of a proposed Northrop Grumman/EADS aircraft plant at Mobile's Brookley Field and talked to local civic leaders.

He hinted that the only way out of the years-long stalemate over the multi-billion dollar tanker deal may be to split the order between the rival companies.

The two companies have gone head-to-head twice now in competition with Boeing winning the first award and Northrop/Grumman winning the second.

Both awards were annulled after Boeing was found to be cheating in the first competition and the Air Force was found to be miscounting in the second.

Now the Obama administration faces the same politically unpalatable task of picking a winner again.

Pick Northrop Grumman/EADS, which planes to use Airbus' A330 passenger plane as the basis for the 179 tankers and you please constituents in the South where the plane will be completed. Pick Boeing, and you please constituents in the Northwest and Kansas where much of the plane will be built. The Boeing plane would be based on the Boeing 767 jet.

Then there's the issue, of course, of picking a European-designed and built Airbus during a horrendous recession where even Boeing is laying off 10,000 workers.

Murtha's solution may offer political appeal, but he Pentagon and Defense Secretary Robert Gates don't like the idea of a two-plane deal. It will cost the Air Force millions more to maintain two different aircraft than just a single one.

Count U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, (D-Bremerton) among those who dislike the split. It's all or nothing in Dicks' book.

Three regional banks released their quarterly and 2008 earnings reports today: Rainier Pacific, Columbia and Frontier.

I’ll be listening to conference calls from Frontier and Columbia, and I’ll report what I hear, but here’s the basics of today’s releases.

Columbia:
Net income of $1.8 million for the quarter, compared to $7.3 million for the same quarter in 2007. The results a loan loss provision of $13.3 million plus an additional impairment of $1 million due to the continuing decline of investments in Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

Net income for the year was $6 million, compared to $32.4 million in 2007.

Nonperforming assets were $109.6 million at the end of the year, compared to $78.2 million at the end of September and $14.6 million at then end of 2007

Frontier:
Net loss of $89.5 for the quarter compared to income of $18 million the year before. Contributing to the loss were a $77.1 million noncash impairment charge to goodwill and a $44.4 million provision for loan losses.

For the year - a net loss of $89.7 million, compared to a net income of $73.9 million for 2007.

Nonperforming assets at the end of the year were $446 million, or 10.87 percent of total assets. This compares to $208.9 million, or 4.9 percent of total assets at the end of September.

Most non-performing loans were residential, 42 percent, and land development, 41 percent.

Rainier Pacific:
Net loss of $2 million for the quarter compared to net income of $910,000 for the same quarter in 2007. For the year, Rainier Pacific saw a loss of $2.5 million compared to net income of $3.9 million in 2007.

The quarterly loss was due in most part to a pre-tax impairment of $2.8 million related to holdings of securities and a higher loan loss provision.

Like the other banks, Rainier Pacific explained the weak numbers much in terms of the slowdown in the residential housing market.

I’ll be updating this report later this afternoon. Right now, on the market: Columbia stock is down 31 cents to $9.45, Rainier Pacific is down 5 cents to $1.53 and Frontier has slipped more than 21 percent, down 60 cents to $2.20.

The Internal Revenue Service Taxpayer Assistance Center in Tacoma is expanding its service for taxpayers eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The center will increase its outreach by opening for three upcoming Saturdays – Jan. 31, Feb. 7 and 21. The extra hours are being added, according to an IRS release, to help potentially eligible taxpayers who may not be able to seek assistance during the work week.

EITC is a credit that can result in a refund of more than $4,800 for some taxpayers. Taxpayers with an income of less than $41,646 may be eligible, depending on their filing status.

Last year, over 3.2 million individuals filed tax returns in Washington, and of those, over 364,000 were eligible for the EITC – receiving a total of over $654 million, according to the IRS.

For a list of opening hours at centers in the state, visit www.irs.gov/localcontacts or, in Tacoma, call 253-428-3518. For information about the nearest free tax assistance center, call 800-906-9887.

Alaska Air Group today released results for its fourth quarter and full year that are either distressing or encouraging, depending on how you view them.

Alaska Air Group, parent company of SeaTac's Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, either showed a $16.4 million profit for the quarter or a $75.4 million loss.

The difference is what accountants call "special items," expense and income items that occurred during the quarter because of special, infrequent occurrences such as radical shifts in oil prices, corporate restructuring and the unscheduled retirement of uneconomic jets.

The company, in its corporate earnings release, led with the $75.2 million loss, but quickly followed with news of the $16.4 million profit.

Wall Street apparently took the positive view. Alaska Air Group shares rose 95 cents or 3.57 percent Thursday to close at $27.56.

Alaska Air's chairman, Bill Ayer, emphasized the profit:

"In a year of unprecedented volatility that included soaring fuel prices and an economic meltdown, we were pleased to eke out a small profit for 2008, excluding special items, and be one of only a few major airlines to do so," he said in a prepared statement.

Chief gremlin in this good news-bad news scenario were oil prices that rocketed upward to $147 a barrel in midsummer and then quickly fell to the mid-$30-a-barrel by December.

Airlines trying to guard against predicted oil prices of as high as $200 a barrel bought options or hedges to protect themselves from that contingency only to see oil prices free fall below their hedge values.

Even airlines such as Southwest and Alaska, which had played the oil price game successfully for years accruing benefits to their bottom lines, got caught in the quirky and unusual behavior.

At Alaska, the oil price fluctuations brought these after-tax charges in the fourth quarter: mark-to-market fuel hedge adjustments of $50.3 million and realized losses because of the early termination of fuel hedges for 2009 and 2010 of $31.3 million.

Passenger demand and pricing also went unpredictable in 2008. The year began with steady demand that allowed airlines including Alaska to steadily raise prices step-by-step through mid-year. Then the banking and economic crisis sent business travel down the drain in the later months of the year and frightened leisure travelers into canceling trips.

This whipsaw effect sent prices tumbling again.

At Alaska, mainline passenger traffic declined in the fourth quarter by 4.4 percent, but the company moved quickly and cut capacity more quickly by 7.1 percent.

The result was fuller planes in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared with the same quarter in 2007. The percentage of seats filled increased by 2.3 percentage points to 77 percent in the fourth quarter.

Stock market and investment declines and instability made major changes in the airline holding company's debt-to-capital ratio, which increased to 81 percent at year's end compared with 70 percent at the end of 2007.

Alaska attributed much of that change to an increase in the company's unfunded pension liability which increased some $300 million because of a decline in the value of the pension plan's assets.

Ayer told analysts that in today's difficult times, the airline holding company's guiding principle will be old fashioned common sense.

"If I had to sum up the principles that we've been adhering to and that will guide our future decisions, they would sound a lot like something your parents or grandparents probably taught you: Don't buy things you can't afford, don't borrow money you can't pay back, don't agree to things you don't understand, and finally, if it doesn't seem right, it probably isn't," Ayer said Thursday.

I've been listening to the conference call today between Starbucks and analysts, and one thing CEO Howard Schultz mentioned struck a chord.

He said he'd been spending time at Town Hall meetings with customers. He talked about "the meaning we have in peoples' lives across America."

OK, it's your turn. Is Starbucks simply a place to buy coffee (or tea, a cookie, a sandwich) or is it somewhere that actually has meaning in the lives of Americans?

Does Starbucks have meaning in your life? What is that meaning?

Please comment.

You've probably already heard about employee layoffs and store closures at Starbucks. For a look at the letter CEO Howard Schultz sent out to partners today, click here.

I've just signed off from the conference call with analysts, and you could hear the frustration in Schultz's voice as he spoke of "the worst holiday shopping season since 1969" and how "I believe we are navigating this storm effectively."

About how there will be renegotiations with landlords over the rents paid at Starbucks locations, about maintaining the "value continuum" and how "we’re dealing with something we’ve never dealt with before."

Concerning which South Sound stores will close, I've received this reply from a Starbucks spokesman:

"Though we do know our Seattle-Tacoma area stores will be impacted, we do not at this time have specific details about numbers of partners or stores that will be impacted by these announcements.

"Partners affected will be personally notified of any change to their job status during the first half of February 2009. Store partners working in stores that are scheduled to close will be notified once a full assessment has been completed, which is expected to occur by fiscal year end. While this waiting period creates uncertainty for all partners, out of respect we felt it was important to be as transparent as we could with partners and announce our intentions as soon as we were able."

The layoffs at Boeing's Puget Sound-based Commercial Airplanes division won't be increasing beyond the 4,500 the company announced earlier this year, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said today in an earning conference call.

McNerney set off a rush of anxiety among Boeing workers and area business people already traumatized by numerous layoffs when he said the company would reduce its payroll by about 10,000 workers this year.

That remark came early in the earnings conference call and immediate touched off new headlines around the country.

The new figure caught the company's public relations and human resources people flat-footed.

"We don't know anything about that. It was news to us," said one Boeing public relations employee.

In a media question-and-answer period later in the call, McNerney said the 5,500 additional job cuts would come from attrition, retirements and possible job cuts in operations outside the commercial airplane division.

That doesn't mean that only 4,500 workers in the Puget Sound area will lose their Boeing jobs this year. The company has other divisions here including significant operations by the defense and shared services divisions, but the commercial airplanes operation employs the great majority of Boeing's workers in this area.

Earnings report: Strike, 747 delays push Boeing into the red

Gov. Christine Gregoire in a statement commenting on upcoming layoffs Tuesday at Tacoma's Russell Investments said the state is working hard to find new jobs for the thousands laid off around the state including those at Russell.

Here is her statement:

“My thoughts are with those employees affected by the layoffs announced at Frank Russell in Tacoma. Frank Russell has been an important corporate citizen and an invaluable member of the Tacoma community.

“It is frustrating that the world financial crisis continues to take a toll on Washington business, resulting in job losses for these skilled professionals. Our state’s Employment Security Department is working around the clock to help affected workers file for unemployment benefits, and more importantly, find new, well-paying jobs.

“I want all Washingtonians to know that I am committed to helping our state pull out of this national recession. I continue to work with state and federal leaders to pass economic recovery packages that will put people to work, and make our state stronger when this national recession ends

.”

A 58-day Machinists Union strike, delays in the 747-8 development program and a reserve for litigation losses moved Boeing into the red for the fourth quarter, the company said today.

The Chicago-based company reported losses of $56 million or 8 cents a share in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared with earnings of $1.03 billion for the fourth quarter of 2007.

For the full year, Boeing said, its earnings totaled $2.7 billion compared with $4.07 billion for 2007.

Revenues declined 27 percent to $12.7 billion due in large part to the strike and its aftermath. Boeing delivered 70 fewer airliners than projected because of the strike which shut down production.

"The progress wemade in many areas of Boeing during 2008 was outweighed by the impact of the strike and our performance on some key development programs," said Jim McNerney, Boeing's chief executive officer.

The company also took losses because of delays in the development of its 747-8, the successor to the 747-400. Many engineers that had been assigned to the 747 were diverted to work on the oft-delayed 787 Dreamliner, thus pushing out delivery of the first 747-8 into the third quarter of 2010. The 747 delay was estimated to cost the company 61 cents a share in earnings.

Boeing reported that one customer with deliveries of its 787s scheduled for late in the next decade had cancelled its orders, reducing the 787 order book backlog to 895 planes.

The company's defense side was solidly profitable with operating margins of 11 percent in the fourth quarter.

The company predicted earnings of $5.05 to $5.35 a share for 2009, below some of Wall Street's expectations. Boeing said it will deliver between 480 and 485 commercial airplanes this year, somewhat below an earlier forecast.

Almost 200 Boeing maintenance workers have already received layoff notices that they will lose their jobs in the next 60 days, the Herald in Everett reported today.

Those 190 workers are in addition to the 4,500 workers Boeing has said it will begin warning of layoffs on Feb. 20.

The workers already notified work for the company's Shared Services Division that supplies services to the company's production divisions.

The company's largest union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers has told its members it will fight the layoffs.

Some of the workers scheduled for layoffs could find work in other portions of the company. Boeing is still hiring production workers but at a slowed pace.

Boeing rival Airbus has opted out of the competition to build a new presidential aircraft for the United States.

Airbus' parent company, European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS), said late Tuesday the company won't compete for the contract for three presidential aircraft.

"After careful review, we've determined that participation in the Air Force One program will not meet our business objectives," EADS spokesman Guy Hicks told Aviation Week.

The Air Force had requested preliminary proposals from aircraft manufacturers for the new aircraft. Boeing has said it may propose either or both the new 747-8 four-engine aircraft or the composite 787 Dreamliner, a two-engine plane.

If Airbus had proposed a version of its super jumbo A380 jetliner, the proposal was almost sure to cause a stir in Congress already concerned that the U.S. is purchasing too many aircraft from foreign manufacturers.

Airbus and Boeing are already tangled in a fight over which company will furnish the Air Force with its new generation airborne tanker.

The Obama administration plans what will be a third competition for that contract in a short while.

Boeing won the first competition with a version of its 767 aircraft, but that deal was torpedoed because of Boeing's admission that it cheated in the procurement process.

Airbus and its U.S. partner, Northrop Grumman won the second, but that competition was anulled after the Government Accounting Office found irregularities in how the contest was conducted.

The Air Force wants replacements for the two Boeing 747-200-based presidential planes that entered service in 1990.

A ship carrying four container cranes -- two of them destined for the Port of Tacoma's Washington United Terminal -- pulled up anchor and left Commencement Bay early Tuesday evening.

The move out of the bay prompted some concern from Northeast Tacoma and Browns Point residents who called The News Tribune that something had gone awry with plans to install the cranes at the terminal.

Port spokeswoman Tara Mattina said the ship left the bay because it was dragging its anchor and couldn't hold its position with the huge sail-like surfaces of the cranes being pushed by the wind.

The ship moved around Browns Point and anchored in a more sheltered spot to await daybreak.

The ship will then re-enter the bay and proceed up the Blair Waterway where the unloading process will begin at the terminal.

The two smaller, blue cranes on the ship are bound for a port in Chile.

Karin Walker-Rasmas opened FoxFire Salon & Spa in her home in 1984 as a one-woman enterprise. She eventually moved around to two other locations, including the current building she bought in 2001 at 1912 65th Ave. W.

The salon, which now employs roughly 40 full-time and part-time workers, celebrates its 25th anniversary Feb. 14.

"We'd like to say, 'Thank you,' to all our customers," said Topie Castaneda, general manager.

The anniversary celebration includes an open house, double points on the salon's rewards program and complimentary skin and make-up consultations on Feb. 14. In addition, customers get 15 percent off retail prices on all Aveda products from Feb. 14-21, Castaneda said.

For move information, visit foxfiresalon.com

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded an $850,000 grant today to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to help reduce diesel emissions at the ports of Tacoma and Seattle.

The money will help retrofit 84 pieces of cargo handling equipment at the ports with diesel particulate and other types of filters, replace old trucks with new ones and install oxidation catalysts on two top loaders, according to the clean air agency.

"By cutting diesel emissions from heavy duty engines at our ports these retrofits and engine replacements will help us clear the air and protect more people from the hazards of diesel exhaust and fine particulates," said Michelle Pirzadeh, the EPA's acting regional administrator, in a news release.

The clean air agency reports that cargo handling equipment and off-highway trucks at the two ports emit almost 80 tons of diesel particulate matter per year.

The retrofit project will "greatly reduce" those emissions, the agency says, help keep the Puget Sound region within federal clean air standards and help the ports meet their own pollution reduction goals under the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy.

The ports are providing an additional $200,000 toward the project and the clean air agency is kicking in $118,000.

Tacoma's Russell Investments will cut 20 percent of its staff of 2,100 workers worldwide, the company told its workers in a brief memorandum this afternoon.

The staff reductions will occur over the next 11 months.

A Russell spokesman, Steve Claiborne, said the company hasn't yet provided details about how the reductions will happen or where.

"“That statement is all we’re announcing today,” he said.

The investment management company with its headquarters in Tacoma employs 1,100 workers downtown. If the cutbacks are applied evenly to all of Russell's worldwide operations, more than 200 workers in Russell's Tacoma headquarters will leave the company.

Those workers are relatively high paid, many making over $100,000 a year when bonuses are considered.

Fortune Magazine named Russell number 30 on its list of the "100 Best Places to Work" in 2007, but the company fell off the list last year.

The company, which has suffered setbacks in the last year that mirror the trouble in the financial community, named a new chief executive last week.

Andrew Doman came to Russell from McKinsey & Co.'s London-based financial services management operation where he was one of the founders. He takes charge Feb 2.

Doman replaces John Schlifske who assumed the chief executive's job last June after the departure of Craig Ueland. Schlifske will remain Russell president until Doman assumes that job in addition to his CEO post.

The company has suffered along with rest with the economy, collapsing its hedge fund business last year after large losses.

Employees have known since late fall that the company was reassessing its business and was considering staff reductions.

Russell was also scheduled to make a decision early this year about whether to move its headquarters to another Puget Sound city or whether to remain in Tacoma and move to another building.

With the staff reductions, finding a larger headquarters may not be a priority on Russell's "to-do" list. One local real estate broker recently noted that the company was preparing to put some of its satellite office space downtown up for lease.

The company, owned by Milwaukee's Northwestern Mutual Life, has been tight-lipped about its plans.

Russell is perhaps best known to the public for its stock market indexes, the Russell 1000, 2000 and 3000.

The company's main business is offering large pension funds and other investment vehicles advice about how to best invest their funds.

Here’s one more thing to worry about, what with this achingly distressed economy. It’s about insurance.

Or the lack thereof.

The Northwest Insurance Council is reporting that the Insurance Research Council says the number of uninsured motorists may rise “substantially” in Washington over the next few years.

A study released last week – “Uninsured Motorists, 2008 Edition” available at www.nwinsurance.org/ircuimreport.pdf – shows that unemployment is expected to trigger a record spike in the level of motorists who drive without insurance.

The 2007 rate in Washington stood at nearly 16 percent, 10th nighest in the nation. (The national average was 13.8 percent, expected to climb to 16.1 percent by 2010. New Mexico recorded the country’s highest rate in 2007, at 29 percent.)

The report claims that an increase of 1 percent in the unemployment rate corresponds to an increase of 0.75 percent in the number of uninsured motorists.

The moral is: This may be a good time to review your own uninsured motorist coverage.

As to a few ways to save money on insurance, the Northwest Council offers the following tips:
• Comparison shop. Prices for identical coverage may vary.
• Ask for higher deductibles. Increasing a deductible from $200 to $500 could reduce collision and comprehensive cost by 15 to 30 percent.
• Buy your home and auto policies from the same insurer. Some companies may offer a discount.
• Ask about discounts.

Boeing acknowledged today that it plans to proceed with test flights on its new 787 Dreamliners without replacing 100 percent of the temporary or improperly installed fasteners on the test aircraft.

Fasteners have been an issue since the time that Boeing's partners delivered the first major sections of the plane two years ago.

First, Boeing had to replace temporary fasteners that had been used to hold the plane together because the permanent fasteners were in short supply.

Then, the company found that some fasteners had been improperly installed, so those had to be replaced.

Now Boeing says that it's been unable to replace all of those fasteners that are in places that are difficult to reach. Doing so would delay the flight tests for the planes further, something the company doesn't want to do.

Boeing says the fasteners that still don't meet specifications are in areas not critical to safety or structural integrity over the short run. Those fasteners will be replaced after the test flying before the planes are turned over to the airlines that ordered them.

Boeing is predicting the 787's flight will come sometime in the first quarter of this year. Some insiders say the company is targeting late April.

Boeing plans a flight test schedule that should conclude by the end of the year.

Expect to hear more at Wednesday's fourth quarter earnings call.

Have you recently been laid off or lost your job? Are finding yourself changing careers or going back to school as a result -- perhaps looking for a more recession-resistant industry?

If so, we want to talk you for a story.

Please contact Kelly Kearsley at kelly.kearsley@thenewstribune.com or call her at 253-597-8573.

Tacoma Power cut electricity to a downtown building Monday after Tacoma Fire Department officials noted several code violations.

The building – at 1120/1122 Market Street – houses the business, Embellish Multispace Salon, and the family home of Patricia Lecy-Davis, salon owner and president of the Downtown Merchants Group.

Earlier today, Deputy Fire Marshal Phil Ferrell filed a report that cited certain hazardous conditions of the electrical equipment. The building was classified as derelict.

Listing the violations, Ferrell’s report said, “The owner of the building has altered the building in several areas without the benefit of permits. TFD has a sprinkler requirement for the building and to date the owner has not complied with their request to activate and charge the system. Smoke detectors are missing and self-closing doors where required are missing. The owner has failed to obtain final inspections for previous permitted work and the commercial area is currently being used and does not have a Certificate of Occupancy.”

Lecy-Davis said late this afternoon that she was working to correct the inadequacies.

“We have had our building shut down today,” she said. “Fire, police, public utilities, building and land use – all went through our building today.”

Following the intervention by officials, she said she and her husband, a contractor, “have a clear understanding. We have a sprinkler company coming out this evening. I now know what actually needs to be done. I had never had a clear idea of what to do.”

She said she realized she faced “a few electrical permitting issues” that she characterized as “technical.”

“We’ve been working with these folks for a long time,” said Jeff Jensen, Tacoma Fire deputy chief of prevention and preparedness. “The sprinkler system, the work without permits, the other hazards ... if they would start addressing the issues they can get the power back relatively soon.”

Jensen said the department closes between five and 10 businesses each year due to violations and procrastination such as he noted with the Lecy-Davis property.

“We do understand,” he said. “We want to keep buildings open and generating revenue. We can only work with them for so long until patience runs thin with no progress. We have to maintain their safety, their neighbors’ safety and that of the firefighters who may have to go there.”

Lecy-Davis said she hopes to reopen her salon by early next week.

For the second consecutive year, Tacoma’s two premier medical systems have earned ranking among the Top Ten centers in the U.S.

In the annual listings of integrated local and regional health networks – as compiled by the Pennsylvania-based healthcare analytics organization SDI – MultiCare Health System placed 6th and Franciscan Health System 8th in the annual list of the nation’s 100 most integrated systems.

The only other Washington network recognized in the report was Group Health Cooperative of Seattle, which place 44th.

The ratings, according to SDI, evaluate medical systems on criteria that include, among others, integrated technology, outpatient utilization, financial stability, services and access.

Tacoma-based MultiCare last year placed 8th. “For MultiCare to achieve another rise in the rankings is a real credit to those who have worked so hard to make MultiCare the provider of choice for the South Puget Sound,” said John Long, Good Samaritan Hospital president.

In 2007, MultiCare earned 56th place in the rankings; and in 2008, 8th. The increase, according to spokesman Todd Kelley, was “due in large part to the ongoing integration of electronic health records across the system and the affiliation with Good Samaritan.” Kelley also noted MultiCare’s new Gig Harbor Medical Park.

Tacoma-based Franciscan Health System marks its third year within the top 10 systems on the list. “This is another acknowledgment of the commitment to excellence that distinguishes our physicians, nurses and other employees throughout our organization,” said Joe Wilczek, Franciscan CEO. Franciscan debuted on the larger list in 2004 at 74th place.

The complete list is published in the Jan. 26 edition of the magazine Modern Healthcare.

Office vacancy rates nationwide were up in 2008, according Colliers International, thus marking a fifth consecutive quarter of increases.

In a report out today, the real estate firm says the continued slowdown “underscores a struggling national economy and ongoing contraction of the labor force, as the effects of the credit crisis remain all too palpable, and the nation’s financial implosion shows few signs of abating.”

Nationally, downtown Class A vacancy rose from 10.17 percent in September to 11.06 percent by the end of December. In the suburbs, Class A vacancy rose from 14.68 percent to 15.33 percent for the quarter.

Data show 35 of 54 downtown markets, and 51 of 56 suburban markets, recorded an increase in vacancies.

During the fourth quarter, Class A lease rates nationally fell 7.1 percent to $45.87 per square foot. For the full year, central business district rents fell 5.6 percent. Suburban Class A rents averaged $28.09 per square foot, down 1.4 percent for the quarter and 2.1 percent over the year, Colliers said.

Among the most dramatic annual increases for Class A downtown space, the vacancy rate in Greenville, S.C. rose to 23.8 percent from 12.8 percent; in Reno, Nev. to 21 percent from 17.8 percent; and in San Jose to 20.5 percent from 13 percent.

For suburban space, the more significant increases were in Charleston, S.C., up to 21.3 percent from 16 percent; Greenville, S.C., up to 25.9 percent from 12.5 percent; Las Vegas, at 22.1 percent from 13.5 percent; Phoenix, to 20.1 percent from 14.5 percent; and in San Diego, up to 17.4 percent from 13.8 percent.

In Seattle, the downtown vacancy rate for Class A space rose to 9.6 percent from 8.4 percent over the year, and the rate for suburban office space increased to 13.4 percent from 7.9 percent, Colliers said.

With Super Bowl XLIII less than a week away, this seems like a good time to take a look at some numbers – the two-city tale of the statistical tape – courtesy (mostly) of the U.S. Census Bureau.

America’s most populous cites:
Phoenix: 5th
Pittsburgh: 60th

Percentage of the population 25-and-over with a bachelor’s degree or higher:
Pittsburgh: 32 percent
Phoenix: 24 percent

Percentage that have graduated high school:
Pittsburgh: 87 percent
Phoenix: 77 percent

Average commute time to work:
Pittsburgh: 22 minutes
Phoenix: 26 minutes

Percentage of residents 5 and older who speak a language other than English at home:
Phoenix: 40 percent
Pittsburgh: 11 percent

Median household income:
Phoenix: $48,061
Pittsburgh: $32,363

Median home value:
Phoenix: $246,000
Pittsburgh: $84,500

Final score of next Sunday’s game:
Phoenix: 28
Pittsburgh: 21

A ship carrying two of the world's largest cranes arrived at the Port of Tacoma today.

The cranes are headed for the Washington United Terminal on the Blair Waterway, where they will be used to load and unload container ships. Built by Shanghai-based Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co., the cranes were fully constructed and then welded onto the ship for the journey.

Each of the orange machines is 273-feet high and able to reach across 24 containers, making them among the world's largest cranes.

The cranes will be unloaded onto rails and then rolled onto the terminal later this week. Once installed, the terminal will have six cranes, with a seventh scheduled to arrive next year. The cranes are owned by Washington United Terminal.

There are two, smaller cranes also on the ship. They are headed to Chile, according to the port.

CNNMoney.com posted a cool interactive map of the United States to show the relative pain each state is suffering due to our tough economic times.

How does Washington stack up? If you feel the hurt these days, maybe you have a low pain threshold. As a state, we don't have as much pain as some other places when it comes to foreclosures, unemployment and state budget deficit.

Take a look. Click here.

Don’t worry, but be wary.

I spoke today with the heads of both the state banking and credit union associations - about the data breach at Heartland Payment Systems – and they’ve got advice for consumers.

And it’s pretty much the same advice.

As you may have heard, Heartland has detected a breach in its security system. Criminal elements have hacked into data, and there have been reports that some accounts have been compromised.

Heartland provides processing services to merchants and service providers. The company has not released a list of the merchants whose customers may have been affected.

In the FAQ section of a new Web site established after the breach, the company says: “Heartland advises cardholders to examine their monthly statements closely and report any suspicious activity to their card issuers. Cardholders are not responsible for unauthorized fraudulent charges made by third parties.”

David Bennett of the Washington Credit Union League told me this afternoon that he has been in touch with his members, and that some “have confirmed that they have had to block and reissue cards.”

“Most credit union leaders believe that the effect during the initial days is just the ‘tip of the iceberg,’ and have already begun to notify members, block accounts, reissue cards and numbers and provide ongoing fraud monitoring,” he wrote in an earlier release.

The league is also working to get some legislation in Olympia to strengthen protections for consumers.

Jim Pishue, president and CEO of the Washington Bankers Association, said this afternoon that he was contacting all of his member banks. “We’re asking our bankers to report what they’ve done so far. I’m sure they’re monitoring the situation,” he said.

Both Bennett and Pishue offer the same advice, and it’s the same as Heartland offers. Monitor your credit card statements and debit card reports. If you have concerns, call the institution that issued the card.

Average home prices in Pierce County declined for the first time in two decades last year according to new statistics from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Average prices dropped 8.69 percent in Pierce County last year to $284,277 compared with $311,339 in 2007.

Twenty years ago, the average Pierce County home sold for $109,901.

While home price averages had appreciated less than one percent during three of the last 20 years, they had never fallen below the previous year's average, listing service figures show.

Year-to-year percentage price increases peaked in 2004 when home prices on average in Pierce County bumped up 18.09 percent from 2003.

=> Read more!

Sea-Tac Airport, bucking a nationwide trend, broke its all-time passenger traffic record in 2008 handling nearly 32.2 million passengers.

That's a little more than 900,000 more than the airport handled in 2007, its previous record year, new figures from the airport show.

That 2.88 percent increase was in contrast to declines at many airports nationwide.

In San Jose, Calif., for instance, traffic was down nearly nine percent in 2008 prompting the airport to announce layoffs of 100 workers over the next year.

In Oakland, Calif., final numbers are expected to show a 30 percent decline in passenger traffic.

While Sea-Tac's full-year numbers showed a good performance, don't count on similar increases this year.

Much of those robust passenger numbers came in the first nine months of the year before the recession pushed the economy into reverse.

In December, Sea-Tac Airport figures show, passenger traffic declined 110,374 passengers over December 2007, a 4.3 percent drop.

Some of that drop may have been due to winter weather that closed the airport at times and impeded flights at others, but some undoubtedly occurred because travelers were being more conservative about both business and pleasure travel.

Sea-Tac's figures show that Alaska and its sister airline, Horizon, remained the top two carriers at Sea-Tac with combined share of about 50 percent of domestic passengers.

It's hardly a secret that airlines are cutting fares to attract customers during the economic slowdown, but this morning I saw some airfares that smack of desperation.

How about $117.40 roundtrip from Sea-Tac to Baltimore for $117.40 on Delta/Northwest?

That's just 26.5 percent of the fuel cost driving the 5,530-mile roundtrip in a car that gets 25 mpg using $2-a-gallon gas.

That's less expensive than the bargain fares to the San Francisco Bay area (about $120 roundtrip) or Los Angeles (about $159).

The trip includes a brief stopover in Detroit or Minneapolis, but even so, you get there is a little over seven hours. Compare that with the more than 42 hours of uninterrupted driving it would take to reach Baltimore from Tacoma not including snow-related delays, stops for meals and sleeping.

For people who still have money and are willing to spend it, vacation bargains abound.

Alaska Airlines is advertising $300 roundtrip airfares to most of its Mexican resort destinations, record low prices during the prime vacation winter months, and Farecast.com reports last minute roundtrip deals as low as $237 to Orlando within the next two weeks. That's $112 less than the average last minute lows on record.

Or Boston is available for as low as $238 roundtrip from Sea-Tac. And Amsterdam roundtrip fares are as little as $516 roundtrip, $690 off the average low.

Check Farecast for offer bargain fares from Sea-Tac. Just click on "Airfare deals" at the top of the page and then "Deals from origin cities" on the right side of the new page and select Seattle.

The Port of Tacoma Commission on Thursday named Clare Petrich as president. Other officers for 2009 were also elected.

Positions among commissioners rotate annually, so Petrich’s accession did not come as a surprise. She replaces Commissioner Dick Marzano, who will serve as assistant secretary for the remainder of the year.

Petrich was first elected in 1995 and reelected in 1999, 2003 and 2007.

In addition to her commission responsibilities, according to a release issued late Thursday afternoon, Petrich is secretary for the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle and serves on the board of directors for the Tacoma-Pierce County Convention and Visitors Bureau and on the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County. She is vice president of the Puget Sound Regional Council's Economic Development District Board and is a fellow of the American Leadership Forum.

Petrich also co-founded the Commencement Bay Maritime Fest and served as chair for Tall Ships Tacoma in 2005 and 2008.

She earned her undergraduate degree from Manhattanville College in New York and holds a master's degree from the University of Virginia.

Other positions announced Thursday:
• R. Ted Bottiger, vice president
• Don Johnson, secretary
• Connie Bacon, assistant secretary

In case you haven’t heard, the World Trade Center Tacoma is seeking a new executive director.

Here’s a look at a few of the particulars, according to an update I received late yesterday.

• Reporting to the board of directors, the Executive Director will optimize and build international business relationships and resources to increase the international trade competitive edge of Tacoma and Pierce County.
• The director will manage overall operations of the WTC – including administrative, financial and community relations functions.
• As well as serving as a spokesperson for WTC, the director will serve on committees and task forces and at events related to trade – all meant to enhance the image of the organization.
• Along with that, the director will manage programs, publications, communications, trainings, and seminars, as well as staff.
• And along with managing the operations, the executive director will celebrate the South Sound; communicate the importance of trade; develop the WTC Web site and build its position as the central contact for all international trade delegations coming to Pierce County.

The salary can range from $70,000 to $100,000, and the application process closes Jan. 30.

For more information, visit www.wtcta.org.

There's good news and bad in the Port of Tacoma's new final cargo report card for 2008.

The bad: Total container numbers fell 3.3 percent from 2007 to 1,861,358 20-foot container units. That's the second down year in a row for the port's container business. That business peaked in 2006 with 2,067,185 container units.

The good: Tacoma's container decline was substantially less than the West Coast's major ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach. In Long Beach, container volume declined 11 percent. In neighboring Long Angeles, container numbers dropped 15.2 percent for the year.

The ports blamed the slowing economy for the decline.

The bad again: Breakbulk cargo fell 4.1 percent, and auto imports dropped by nearly 16,000 cars or 9.1 percent from the year before.

The good once more: Grain exports jumped by 13.6 percent to 6.785 million short tons. Total vessel calls increased 16.5 percent to 1,365 last year, the highest in recent history.

And the bad: Gypsum tonnage dropped by almost 23 percent last year. Intermodal lifts fell 15.2 percent.

The good news: Total tonnage handled through the port increased 3.6 percent in 2008 to 20,269,494, the port said.

It's a long shot, but the Foss Waterway Development Authority is rushing to get a regulatory paperwork jam cleared away so that it take the first steps toward adding a new kayak float in the waterway's south end.

The authority staff, which got its board's approval to proceed Wednesday night, has to get the underwater portion of the project done by Feb. 14 or the project could be delayed for months.

That's the day the construction window closes for this winter for such in-water projects. After that date, such projects are prohibited because of potential damage to salmon migration.

Authority deputy director Su Dowie told the board she has discovered enough money from two sources to get the project done. But she needs final approval from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency to proceed as well as an agreement from utilities that helped finance the cleanup of that end of the waterway.

The float will be held in place by elastic cords that tie is to concrete pads that rest on the bottom of the waterway.

Those pads, unlike pilings or anchors, won't penetrate the clean soil that caps the polluted material on the bottom of the waterway.

Dowie says getting the job done in such a short time is problematic, but its worth a try to get the float operational before the weather warms.

The float in question is on the west side of the waterway just south of the cable-stayed bridge. Another float for human-powered boats is already under construction on the east side of the waterway.

This from Kelly Kearsley:

Finding a job in Washington isn’t as easy as it used to be.

The state Employment Security Department reports today that the number of job vacancies decreased dramatically from spring to fall of last year. Washington employers had 50,593 open positions in the fall of 2008 compared to 74,744 open positions in the spring of the same year. That’s a 32 percent dip.

“We saw a very sharp drop in a very short time in our state,” said Greg Weeks, Employment Security’s director of labor-market information. “But the report shows that, despite a weak economy, firms are still hiring.”

Industries reporting a need for workers included health care, retail, and hotel and food services. The occupation most in the demand was registered nurses.

In Pierce County, the Multicare Health System has 200 openings. Kim Giglio, director of recruitment, said the health system is not hiring as many people as it has in the past, but there are still many openings.

“We will likely hire at least 1,000 people this year,” Giglio said Wednesday.

Pam Cone, director of The Business Connection, said that despite the weak economy, some employers are still filling jobs. The Business Connection provides companies with employee recruitment services. Cone noted that The Census Bureau plans on hiring 3,000 people in the Pierce County area by early summer. She’s seen jobs available in government as well as security firms.
Job seekers can learn more about prevalent occupations and search more than 14,000 jobs listed online at www.go2worksource.com or by visiting a local WorkSource center. There are 68 WorkSource offices across Washington including one in downtown Tacoma.

The aftereffects of last fall's 58-day Boeing Machinists Union strike are still being felt at the company and at its airline customers.

American Airlines reported this week that it will take delivery of seven fewer Boeing 737-800 aircraft this year than it had planned.

Boeing is still catching up on deliveries it missed during the two-month strike when all production was shut down.

American's new delivery schedule calls for 29 deliveries of the Renton-built planes this year compared with 36 scheduled. In 2010, the Fort Worth-base airline will receive 39 737s compared with the 40 it had hoped to receive. In 2011, Boeing will deliver the final eight aircraft postponed from prior years.

The delayed delivery schedule may be a benefit to American which lost $340 million in the fourth quarter of 2008 and whose ticket bookings are down.

The seven aircraft decrease in deliveries will mean an additional one percent decrease in the airline's traffic capacity in 2009.

It got to the point where there were too many logos – and hence, no one, actual brand identity for Tacoma’s Grand Cinema.

Today, that changed.

“We did not have a set logo. We had one door emblem, and another for business cards, and others – these were things where people were being creative over the last 12 years,” says Philip Cowan, the Grand’s executive director. “Now, we’re trying to pull everything together. If we get something that’s standard, people can look at it and say, ‘OK, that’s the Grand.’”

Here’s the new Grand.

The new identity comes thanks to a grant from Rusty George Creative, a Tacoma design studio. “They give out $25,000 grants. We were awarded one for 2008,” Cowan says. (For information about 2009 grants to nonprofits, check www.rustygeorge.com.)

The designers at Rusty George worked on the new logo and brand, and came up with the elephant and reel – which launches today at the theater with free cookies, cake and window clings. And look for a promotional scavenger hunt – with the prize being movie passes – at locations including the Mandolin Cafe, Black Water Cafe and King’s Books.

A McKinsey & Company management consultant will soon put his corporate leadership theories into practice at Tacoma's Russell Investments as its new chief executive officer.

The company today named Andrew S. Doman, 57, as the company's newest chief. His appointment comes after a six-month worldwide search both within the company and among outside executives.

Doman replaces John Schlifske, Russell's interim CEO who had served in that post since June. Doman will take his new post Feb. 2.

Schlifske will remain the company's president during a transition period of unspecified length. When that transition period ends, Doman will gain the president's title and Schlifske will return to Russell's parent company, Northwestern Mutual Life in Milwaukee.

Doman comes to Russell from McKinsey & Company where he was a founding director of the company's European Asset Management practice based in the United Kingdom.

Doman joined McKinsey in Australia in 1986, moving to London in 1990. Prior to joining McKinsey, Doman worked in medicine, health management and the Australian diplomatic service.

He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Ottawa, a medical degree from the University of Adelaide in Australia and a masters of business administration from Australian Graduate School of Management.

"In selecting Andrew as Russell's CEO, we were overwhelmingly impressed by his deep knowledge of the asset management industry and the combination of his strategic, operational and managerial experience," said Schlifske.

With Doman's appointment as permanent CEO, postponed decisions may now be made within reasonably quick order once he becomes familiar with the company and its business.

Last year was not an easy year for Russell or any company in the financial services industry. The company faces decisions regarding the relocation and expansion of its headquarters, the potential layoff of headquarters employees and the general design of its ongoing business.

The company has seen in the last year the shrinking of its hedge fund business, a change in leadership, the departure of several key executives and a reported diminishment of its profitability.

CEO Craig Ueland and Kelly Haughton, strategic director of global indexes, both left the company. And Chairman Mike Phillips retired at the end of last year after nearly 30 years with the company.

Four other executives left - including Noel Lamb, chief investment officer for North America, and Mark Amberson, head of money market funds. Their departures follow a $764 million loss in Russell's money market fund, Financial News reported.

Russell, founded in Tacoma and sold a decade ago to Milwaukee's Northwestern Mutual Life, employs about 1,100 workers in its downtown headquarters.

The company has sought proposals for a new headquarters both from developers in Tacoma and elsewhere in the Puget Sound area. The City of Tacoma has offered Russell an incentive package worth more than $140 million if it stays in Tacoma.

The company was to have made the relocation decision by the end of last year, but postponed that question into 2009.

With markets declining and a possible reduction in its headquarters workforce, Russell may decide to put off any expansion or move until economic conditions stabilize.

To a roster that includes Monet and Manet, add LeMay.

The LeMay Automobile Museum has inked a five-year deal with the respected auction house Bonhams and Butterfields. The first auction – which will include cars from the museum’s collection, although not from permanent collection – will be held Friday and Saturday, Sept. 11 and 12, at Tacoma’s Hotel Murano.

Unlike certain flashy, well known and rather pedestrian car auctions, this one looks to add some class to the market, with the event being held in conjunction with the Kirkland Concors d’Elegance and Tour d’Elegance.

On Tuesday I spoke with David Madeira, museum CEO, who explained, “One of the things we’ve wanted to do is develop a series of signature events, one of which would be a major auction. This is really a nice package for us.”

At the initial auction, he said, the cars up for sale will be owned by the museum but not part of the permanent collection. It may also include cars offered by other institutions and collectors. Some of the museum's cars have been donated for the purpose of raising funds.

With the event connected to the Kirkland concors and tour, Madeira said the Tacoma auction will likely draw people worldwide. He also said he hopes the LeMay auction will lead to an annual and larger South Sound gathering that could include an annual golf tournament.

On the subject of last weekend’s annual LeMay board meeting in Arizona, Madeira said he’ll be spending the next few months finalizing preparations for May 8, when the board is expected OK a date for groundbreaking.

This is a good time to be making construction plans, he said, because costs are down. “The laws of supply and demand are in our favor,” he said. “The board said,’Let’s go.’ We’ll finalize the contract, start the permitting process and finalize the certification process with the city. (To certify) we need 75 percent of our financing in hand, and right now we’re at 87 percent.”

Fundraising will continue to be aimed at major donors on a one-to-one basis, and the museum will begin a broader, public campaign both locally and nationwide following the announcement of the groundbreaking.

The state's unemployment rate jumped to 7.1 percent in December, up from 6.4 percent the previous month, the Employment Security Department reports today.

The state lost an estimated 22,000 jobs last month and 54,600 over the year -- a 1.8 percent decline since December 2007.

"In barely a year, we’ve gone from historically low unemployment to record numbers of people applying for unemployment benefits,” said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee, referring to the record-setting 90,331 new unemployment applications that were filed in December.

Most of the job losses were in business and professional services, followed by administrative and support services and then construction.

Sea-Tac Airport officials cautioned travelers to check with their airlines or the airport Web site for canceled, delayed or diverted flights today after dense fog took a toll on Sea-Tac arrivals Tuesday night.

Thus far this morning, flights were operating fairly normally with only three cancelled departures between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. according to FlightStats.com.

But the fog was thicker Tuesday night, affecting arrivals more severely.

Between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. at Sea-Tac Tuesday night 11 of the 35 flights arriving during that hour were more than 15 minutes late including an Alaska Airlines flight from San Jose del Cabo in Mexico winning the prize with an arrival three hours and 24 minutes behind schedule.

Three flights were diverted, two to Portland and an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Vancouver.

In the 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. hour, five flights were canceled, two were diverted and five were not were late.

The 58-day Boeing machinists strike last fall gouged a $129 million hole in Precision Castparts Corp.'s sales in the third quarter, but the company still improved its operating margins.

The Portland-based aerospace company and major Boeing supplier this week reported third quarter earnings of $374.6 million compared with earnings in the comparable third fiscal quarter of 2008 of $371.9 million.

Total sales for the company in its third quarter were $1.615 billion compared with $1.668 billion in the comparable quarter of the previous fiscal year.

The company said the effects of the strike will linger into the company's fourth fiscal quarter with particularly focus on the company's Investment Cast Products and Forged Products segments and with a lesser effect on its Fastener Products segment.

The lingering effects of the 58-day Machinists Union strike last fall will cut deliveries of new Boeing 737-800s to American Airlines by seven this year.

The airline reported that the reduction in deliveries will cut American's anticipated capacity for 2009 by an additional one percent.

The reduction is a fortunate circumstance for American which has seen its demand fall steeply with the recession.

Under the new schedule from Boeing, the Fort Worth-based airline will accept delivery of 29 737s this year, 39 in 2010 and eight in 2011.

American had been scheduled to receive all 76 737s in 2009 and 2010.

The airline is continuing its plan to replace its fuel-guzzling MD-80s with more fuel-thrifty 737s despite losing some $340 million in the fourth quarter, the airline said this week.

American Airlines will accept delivery of 29 new Boeing 737-800s this year, seven fewer than the Fort Worth-based carrier had scheduled.

For American the delivery delay, caused in part by the lingering effects of Boeing's 58-day Machinists Union strike last fall, is in some ways a fortunate circumstance.

The reduction in new planes available will help American reduce its capacity in 2009 be an additional one percent during a time when air traffic is falling steeply, the airline said this week in its earnings announcement.

The new delivery schedule calls for 29 737s in 2009, 39 in 2010 and seven in 2011. American had originally been scheduled to receive 36 737s this year and 40 next year.

American reported a $340 million loss in the fourth quarter of last year.

Word comes from a shopper here in the newsroom that there were lines at Northgate today – as there were lines at other malls in the Puget Sound region and across the country – with shoppers seeking some free cosmetics.

It’s all part of a court-ordered giveaway that begins today and continues through Jan. 26. Seems there was some price fixing years ago, so several cosmetics manufacturers are distributing free products – on a first-come first-served basis, while supplies last. Each gift is worth in the range of $25 and is available to people who may have been snookered years ago.

Locally, there were lines at Nordstrom and Macy’s stores. Nordstrom spokeswoman Julee Kraus told me this afternoon that she isn’t sure if supplies are lasting, or if all were exhausted today, and she suggests customers call the nearest store to see if there is any free body polish, eau de cologne or other such product available from the settlement.

It was similar with Macy’s, where Douglas Sisson, media relations coordinator, said, “We are distributing product through January 26 on a first-come first-served basis. When the product is gone, it is over.”

Any leftover product will be donated to charity.

Southwest Airlines has published some new bargain fares to and from Seattle. Some are as much as 50 percent off normal fares.

For instance:

Seattle to:

Spokane - $30 each way plus taxes.
Sacramento - $50 each way plus taxes.
Salt Lake City - $51 each way plus taxes.
Las Vegas - $65 each way plus taxes.
Denver - $65 each way plus taxes.
Washington, D.C. - $79 each way plus taxes.
Orlando - $90 each way plus taxes.

The sale ends Thursday. Fares are good for travel Feb. 1 through May 31.

Note taxes are extra. Expect other airlines to match the fares.

Travel is valid Feb. 3 - May 31.

I checked Southwest's Web site and found most of the fares were virtually unavailable. Are they already sold out? Or has Southwest made just a few buyable at these prices to lead people to their site?

Okay – the market didn’t do very well today. One might have expected an Obama Bounce, but there was none.

This doesn’t mean the market will continued its downward ways for the rest of the year. Either way, there’s a good book out there that outlines several criteria well fit for the number-crunchers among us.

The Stock Trader’s Almanac 2009 (Wiley, $39.95) offers a mountain of background concerning how historical forces can mold a year in the market.

For instance, according to the Almanac, 12 of the last 14 post-election years followed the direction established in January trading. Also, every downward January in the S&P since 1950 – every one – preceded a new or extended bear market, or a flat market. And gains in the S&P during the month’s first five days preceded full-year gains 86.1 percent of the time. (Well, sorry, but over the first five days this year, the S&P dropped from 931.80 to 909.73.)

The Almanac’s January Barometer says that as the S&P 500 goes this month, so goes the year - 91.4 percent of the time since 1950. So far, through today, the index has fallen from 931.80 to 805.22 (as of 1:07 p.m., down 5.28 percent on the day).

Then there’s the Almanac’s “Ninth Year of Decades” report. But for the crash in 1929 and the bear market of 1969 (both post-election years), and the cusp of World War II in 1939, all the “nine” years were up during the past 12 decades, the Almanac says.

Under the heading “Market Behavior Under New Presidents,” the Almanac reports that “Democrats fared better in post-election years than Republicans.”

And just for the record, here’s a Bloomberg graph of the first year – on the Dow – for the most recent Democrat to come into the presidency after beating a Republican. This is what it looked like for Bill Clinton in 1993, when the Dow began the year at 3307.87 and finished at 3574.09.

Now there was a year.

The slowing economy has taken a newly opened Seattle luxury hotel as a victim.

The Arctic Club Hotel, a 120-room downtown Seattle luxury hotel opened in July, said it plans to target to a larger audience by reducing rates and by eliminating some of its high-end frills.

The hotel plans to affiliate with a nationwide chain to broaden its exposure to a bigger clientele.

The hotel, is a conversion from the old Arctic Club. It features a high-end restaurant and a banquet room in the historic Northern Lights Dome Room.

One piece of good news on the financial horizon (looking backwards): The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that consumer prices in the Tacoma-Seattle-Bremerton area were down 1.5 percent in November and December.

The local Consumer Price Index is up between December 2007 and 2008, however - but only by a scant 1.7 percent.

The lower price of gasoline accounts for much of the decrease, says BLS Regional Commissioner Richard Holden.

So buy some clothes, cook dinner, turn up the electric thermostat and pour yourself a drink. You can even afford to get sick. Some numbers:

• Grocery prices were down 1.5 percent for the two-month period.
• Food away-from-home, however, cost 1.0 percent more.
• Alcoholic beverages were down 0.3 percent for two months.
• Electricity sparked a 0.7 percent decline.
• Gasoline was down 41.2 percent for the period, and was down 17 percent in December alone.
• Medical care was down 0.3 percent over the two months, and is down 0.5 percent for the entire year.
• The cost of clothing was down 5 percent for the two months, and is down 0.5 percent for the year.

A new BusinessWeek article suggests Boeing, burned by delays and difficulties with its expansive outsourcing program for the much-delayed 787-8 Dreamliner, may cut back on outsourcing for the next version of the Dreamliner.

The business magazine quotes several Boeing sources saying the company may produce and design more pieces of the slightly larger version of the Dreamliner, the 787-9, in house.

The company is also considering sourcing some components both from outside suppliers and its own factories to give it a second reliable source if the outsider doesn't deliver.

The production and design model for the 787 relied on outside partners more so than ever to design and build key pieces of the revolutionary jet.

The idea was to lessen Boeing's internal financing and design costs and to spread the risk to other aerospace companies.

At the same time, such major outsourcing had a political component. In theory, airlines in countries that shared part of the risk and reward in building the Boeing plane would be more likely to order the Dreamliner than a competitor's plane.

But the massive outsourcing was proven perhaps too ambitious. Boeing lost control of its tight schedules (the Dreamliner is two years behind), and some contractors were simply unable to do the job within the original contract parameters.

Bringing more production back to Boeing could be good news for the Puget Sound area where much of the parts-making work could be done.

The final numbers are in and Airbus, as expected, easily won the orders race with Boeing in 2008.

Airbus recorded a net total of 777 (how ironic) orders while Boeing reported a net of 662.

What's fascinating is how they reached those totals.
Airbus had 900 new orders last year but 123 order cancellations.

Boeing won 668 new orders but booked only six cancellations.

Both the orders totals and the cancellation numbers may say something about Airbus and Boeing sales philosophies.

Airbus, perhaps as a legacy of being the underdog for many years, has always taken more risks with new or financially challenged airlines. Witness Skybus and US Air, while Boeing has taken a somewhat more conservative stance. The result: more orders for Airbus, but also more cancellations.

In the end, after battling back and forth (Boeing won the order race last year), the two aerospace manufacturers over the long haul are in a near dead heat.

Airbus' backlog of orders: 3,715 planes worth $462.6 billion at book prices. Boeing's backlong: 3,714 orders worth $435 billion.

This is about as close as we can get to the best news possible about the LeMay Automobile Museum.

I’ve just received an e-mail from David Madeira, the museum CEO, who tells me that the board of directors – meeting this weekend in Scottsdale, Ariz. – has authorized a go-ahead for the building’s permitting process.

Madeira writes, “Noting that in spite of current economic difficulties that the Museum had closed its campaign completion gap from $18 million to $8 million over the past year and has attained 87 percent of its funding, the board authorized the permitting process to begin. The board also authorized the architect to finalize construction documents and secure a guaranteed contract to present at the May board meeting.”

The board also authorized the launch of a “Race To the Finish” fundraising campaign that will last through the end of the year. The campaign, Madeira said, will feature a local effort to raise $3.5 million. Following that, the museum will conduct a nationwide public campaign.

“The Museum will also begin the certification process with the City necessary to close on the Tacoma Dome site,” Madeira wrote.

“The Museum's goal is to complete these tasks and receive authorization from the City to announce a groundbreaking date when the board meets on May 8th.”

I’ll try to speak with Madeira and get further details later this weekend.

The State Department of Financial Institutions closed Vancouver-based Bank of Clark County earlier today because of inadequate capital and liquidity. The move was announced at 6 p.m.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. immediately became the bank’s receiver and has announced that assets of the bank will be sold to Oregon-based Umpqua Bank.

"The loan portfolio deteriorated to the point where they could not continue,” said Scott Jarvis, head of DFI, following the announcement. “It’s our first in a long, long time. Washington State is not immune.”

Brad Williamson, DFI director of banks, said in a release, “This unfortunate event is the result of a combination of significant deterioration in loan portfolios and the overall economic instability we are experiencing in our country today.”

All FDIC-insured accounts at Bank of Clark County will be transferred to Umpqua Bank. Insured depositors of the defunct bank can access their funds by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Clients with accounts totaling over the 250,000 FDIC insurance limit may face review by an FDIC claim agent.

As of Jan. 13, Bank of Clark County - which counts a headquarters and one branch – had total assets of $446.5 million and total deposits of $366.5 million, according to DFI records. When it was closed, the bank had approximately $39.3 million in uninsured deposits held in accounts that may exceed insurance limits.

The closure was the first in the state since 1993, when officials closed Emerald City Bank of Seattle.

Asked if the closure portends announcements of further closures in Washington, Jarvis said, “We’re not out of the woods yet, but I think most of our banks are in good shape. We are watching our banks very closely. Most are well capitalized. We don't want to leave the impression that others are troubled.”

For more information, visit www.dfi.wa.gov.

If you think that flying with 400 others on a Boeing 747 is too much mass transportation for you, Air Austral, an airline based on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, has something for you to ponder.

The airline has placed orders for two super jumbo Airbus A380s, the world's largest passenger plane. But unlike most airlines, which equip the airliner with such amendities as showers and double beds in first class, the airline plans an all-economy aircraft.

Total seats? 840.

The airline says such capacity will help reduce airfares to an attractive level for the 11-hour flight between Paris and Reunion, a French territory.

The 39 mile-by-28 mile volcanic island depends largely on tourism for its prosperity.

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna announced today that the state has reached a settlement along with other states and the federal government with drug maker Eli Lilly.

The case involved allegations that Lilly marketed its anti-psychoitc drug Zyprexa for off-label uses.

The settlement will provide $3.5 millin each for the state's Medicaid program and for the state's general fund. Another $7 million awarded to state will go to reimburse the federal government to reimburse it for funds improperly distributed to the state's Medicaid recipients.

Washington's $14 millon was part of an $800 million nationwide settlement amount.

State and federal governments alleged Lilly between September 1999 and December 2005 promoted the sale and use of Zyprexa for uses that the Food and Drug administration had not approved.

The states and the federal government alleged that the company promoted the prescription of Zyprexa by primary care physicians for the unapproved treatment of depression, anxiety, irritability, disrupted sleep, nausea and gambling addictions. The company, states claimed, also provided payments to health care professionals.

Fujiya Japanese Restaurant, last vestige of Weyerhaeuser's ambitious early '80s Tacoma Center Market development, is searching for a new owner.

The sushi restaurant at 1125 Court C is being offered at $259,000, down from the original asking price of $319,000, said Thomas Kimura, listing agent for the restaurant.

Kimura said Fujiya owner Masahiro Endo wants to retire.

Fujiya was among two dozen merchants that were part of Cornerstone Development Co.'s Tacoma Center Market project that were housed in two buildings along Court C.

The market was part of the larger Tacoma Center project that included the Sheraton Tacoma Hotel (now the Hotel Murano), the Financial Center tower, the rehabilitation of the old Sears downtown department store and the Tacoma Center YMCA.

The market project died when Cornerstone, a Weyerhaeuser subsidiary, sold the market building, but merchants leasing space neighboring space remained.

Boeing today said that its Wichita aerospace unit, which manufactures parts and modifies aircraft for Boeing's defense division, is not being sold.

The issue of the Wichita unit's possible sale was raised by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, which represents some 700 engineers working at the facility.

SPEEA sought that information after European aerospace giant EADS disclosed this week that it had been considering purchase of a large North American aerospace facility.

EADS is parent company of Boeing rival Airbus.

SPEEA and Boeing are involved in negotiations over a new contract for those engineers.

Boeing has submitted what it calls its "best and final offer" to the union, but the union is seeking more information from the company before concluding its negotiations with the company.

Reed Jones, former deputy executive director of the Port of Tacoma, has died.

Jones, who retired from the port in 1983, was 87 when he passed away Jan. 7.

Jones joined the port staff in 1952 as sales manager. When he began his job, the port had no regular steamship customers. When he retired, the port was becoming one of the nation's largest container ports.

"Reed Jone lived and breathed the shipping and transportation industry," said port commissioner Clare Petrich. "There was nobody more dedicated to the success of the Port of Tacoma than Reed. He will be deeply missed."

Memorial services for Jones are set for 1 p.m. Jan. 24 at St. Luke's Memorial Church, 3615 N. Gove St., Tacoma.

Private investors buying Bellevue-based Puget Energy expect to close the deal by Feb. 6, they announced today.

Puget Holdings LLC, a group of investors, many of them from Canada, will pay $7.4 billion for the untility which serves a million electric and 750,000 natural gas customers in Western Washington including much of Pierce County.

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission approved the takeover late last year in a 2-1 vote. The Attorney General's office had opposed the move saying the new ownership didn't offer enough benefits to consumers.

The utility will remain headquartered in Bellevue, and the existing executive corps will continue running the operation.

The PSE board will have a Tacoma connection. Herb Simon, Tacoma investor and real estate developer, will be a board member.

Pierce County led the state in the rate of foreclosures in December and in all of 2008, according to new data from RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing firm based in Irvine, Calif.

The data show that foreclosures more than doubled in the county last year. In 2007, 3,088 properties were listed with foreclosure filings. That number was 6,669 in 2008.

Nationally, more than 860,000 properties were repossessed by lenders, more than double the 2007 level, according to RealtyTrac, which compiled the figures.

In December alone, 676 properties were somewhere in the foreclosure process in Pierce County. Thurston and Clark counties were Nos. 2 and 3 in the state for highest rate of foreclosures.

Moody’s Economy.com, a research firm, predicts the number of homes lost to foreclosure nationally is likely to rise by another 18 percent this year before tapering off slightly through 2011.

Still, foreclosures keep breaking records going back 30 years, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

“Hitting bottom is a lot different than coming off the bottom,” said Christopher Thornberg, a principal with Beacon Economics in Los Angeles, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama are working on plans to use up to $100 billion of the remaining $350 billion in financial bailout money in an attempt to prevent the foreclosure crisis from getting even worse.

The four states with the highest foreclosure rates last year were Nevada, Florida, Arizona and California.

More than 1.1 million properties in those four states received a foreclosure notice, The AP reported using RealtyTrac data, almost half the national total. And more than one in five of those households were in California, which is coping with massive job losses in the housing and mortgage industries as well as a rapid decline in home prices.

You won the suit. You are entitled to some free stuff. Free department-store cosmetics.

Starting next Tuesday (Jan. 20) at Nordstrom and Macy’s, as well at as several other retail stores – Bloomingdale’s, Dillards, Gottschalks, Saks, Neiman Marcus and others – customers will be given free cosmetics from a pool of $175-million worth of eau de parfum, eau de toilette, gels, moisturizers and other such products.

Seems there was a problem several years ago with price fixing. A class action suit (Azizian, et al. v. Federated Department Stores, Inc., et al) was filed. The class won, and you are a member of that class if you purchased certain cosmetics (listed in the suit) between May 29, 1994 and July 16, 2003.

Cosmetics will be given out as long as supplies last. All you need do is show up, attest that you are entitled, and you will get, for instance, some Boucheron Coco Mademoiselle body lotion, Clarins Energizing Morning Cream, Calvin Klein Euphoria Bath and Shower Crème, Vera Wang Princess Body Polish, Lancôme Cils Design Pro Mascara, Giorgio Armani ACM Shower or something of equal importance as listed in the suit.

To see the settlement, visit www.cosmeticssettlement.com. The settlement giveaway continues as long as supplies last.

There will be no rainchecks.

Whoops. Those economic chickens have come home to roost – and they are not staying at Washington hotels.

According to the latest figures from Bellevue hospitality consultant Wolfgang Rood, hotel occupancy in the state in November was down 12.3 percent from the same month in 2007.

Bellingham-area hotels and motels suffered the greatest dip, with the occupancy rate down 27.5 percent for the month. The Tri-Cities recorded the least decrease, down only 0.9 percent.

Statewide, only 57.7 percent of rooms were taken in November, down from 65.8 percent a year before. In Pierce County, 53.1 percent of rooms were occupied, down 8.3 percent from 2007.

The average daily room rate in Tacoma and Pierce County, $78.83, marked the state’s highest rate of increase, up 6.1 percent from the previous November. The statewide average rate, $122.16, was up 0.8 percent. Bellevue and East King County hotels saw the greatest price decline, Rood said in his monthly report, down 7.1 percent to $138.12.

Last November, a film crew set up in downtown Tacoma with its subject – an unidentified car – shrouded in a tight-fitting car cover. When the crew got ready to film, its security crew shooed off anyone with a camera and yelled, "No pictures!"

Local blogger Kevin Freitas managed to get some photographs.

I don't know why the film crew worried about it. Who can afford to buy a car these days anyway? But if you have watched any NFL football playoffs, you may have seen the unveiling of the Toyota Venza. Thanks to Julie Pisto at the Museum of Glass for bringing this to our attention.

Here's a peek at the YouTube version of the television commercial. Do you recognize any of those architectural treasures in the background?

The Associated Press reports that Starbucks Corp. is asking its customers to volunteer as part of an initiative timed to coincide with President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration.

Here's the rest of the AP story:

Customers who fill out a pledge card to give five hours of time to a local “volunteer opportunity” of their choice will receive a free tall brewed coffee beginning Jan. 21 through Jan. 25. Customers can pick up pledge cards inside stores.

The initiative comes as Obama, who called during his presidential campaign for a renewed commitment to community service, is sworn in to the Oval Office on Tuesday.

Starbucks said it is partnering with HandsOn Network, a nonprofit organization that attempts to bolster volunteerism, for the program. Starbucks said it hopes to raise pledges for more than one million hours of service through the campaign, called “I’m In.”

Starbucks is not alone in commemorating next week’s inauguration with special initiatives and offers. Starbucks competitor Dunkin’ Donuts said Tuesday it will celebrate the event by selling a new “Stars & Stripes” doughnut for 89 cents from Saturday through Tuesday. The frosted doughnut is decorated with red, white and blue star-shaped sprinkles.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., meanwhile, is giving away a free doughnut of choice to every customer on Tuesday.

Among the areas we’ll be covering this year, the business team will be reporting on the state of small businesses in the South Sound.

First off, we’d like to report some of the challenges of financing. If you’re a small business owner, or if you know of a small business in the South Sound that is having trouble finding adequate financing, please let us know.

And if the business is doing well, we’d also like to know that so we can pass the information on to other business owners. What successful tips can your business offer to others?

We’d like to know what you’ve found on your own road to success. What resources are available? Where can a business find financing in troubled times? What’s the best way for a business to address short-term financing needs?

Please reply with a comment, or send an e-mail to c.r.roberts@thenewstribune.com.

Thanks. It’s going to be an interesting year.

Gas prices after dropping to as low as $1.49 a gallon here in December, could top $2 a gallon here this week.

The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas in Tacoma stood at $1.995 this morning according to TacomaGasPrices.com.

Upward momentum should raise the price over $2 a gallon today or Thursday.

Gas prices, after a two-month slide, began rising again in mid-December.

The price a month ago here was nearly 31 cents less than it is now.

Relatively inexpensive gas is still available at multiple stations in the area. Most of those low prices are at Costco stores or ARCO stations. Low price this morning was $1.81 at the Costco store near the Tacoma Mall.

Though prices have moved upward, the price still remains far below the $3.055 a gallon at this time last year or the $4.35 a gallon we saw in mid-July.

Seattle port commissioners have approved the beginning of design work on a centralized air conditioning and heating system for planes at the gate that is expected to save airlines thousands of gallons of fuel.

The system would provide heated or cooled air to which planes could hook up at the gate. Most aircraft now operate their auxiliary power units, small gas turbines in the plane's tail, to provide heating and cooling at the gate.

The new system would also eliminate that emissions from those power units to the tune of 69,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The project is expected to cost just over $33 million, the airport said. Much of that cost will be paid by a Federal Aviation Administration grant.

Design work on the system is expected to be completed by early next year with construction starting in July 2010. The system is scheduled to be operational in December 2012.

Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain wants Congress to abolish a law that limits flights from two East Coast airports, New York's LaGuardia and Washington's Reagan National, to distant destinations.

The rule limits flights from National with limited exceptions to cities 1,250 miles away or less. The maximum for LaGuardia in 1,500 miles.

The rules were enacted to control traffic at the two crowded airports and to concentrate long-haul traffic at the two cities' other airports, Dulles in Washington and JFK and Newark in New York.

SeaTac's Alaska Airlines, which has won some of the limited exceptions to the perimeter rule at National for flights from there to Sea-Tac Airport and Los Angeles, is likely to oppose its removal.

The removal of restrictions at LaGuardia could open up the market for flights from there to Sea-Tac.

The New York airport, the closest of the area's three airports to Manhattan, is particularly hard hit by too much traffic from closer cities. That airport also has relatively short runways posing potential range issues for planes taking off from there on hot days when takeoffs require more runway length.

Airbus today began construction on a new plant in Toulouse, France, where its new A350XWB aircraft will be built.

The A350XWB is Airbus' answer to Boeing's revolutionary 787.

The first A350XWB is expected to be delivered in 2013.

Under Boeing's original schedule, commercial deliveries of the 787 were to have begun last May, but the company now says the first delivery will be sometime in the first half of next year.

The first test 787 has yet to fly.

For more information on the new Airbus plant check out the A350XWB Web site.

Airbus has orders for 478 A350XWBs and Boeing has 910 orders for its 787 Dreamliner.

Here's bad news if you drink a lot of coffee each day: Consuming the caffeine in seven cups of instant coffee a day may leave you more likely to see, hear and smell things that aren't there, U.K. researchers said.

Bloomberg News reports that people who drink at least 330 milligrams of the stimulant a day were three times as likely to have hallucinations as those who consumed less than 10 milligrams a day, Durham University researchers found in a study of 219 college students published today in Personality and Individual Differences.

How much is 330 milligrams? One 16-ounce Starbucks drip coffee has 330 milligrams of caffeine, according to the Starbucks Web site.

The amount of caffeine linked to hallucinations in the study would also be equivalent to about seven 8-ounce cups of brewed black tea or about 3 1/2 8-ounce cups of brewed black coffee, according to the Mayo Clinic Web site.

The study, the first to link caffeine and hallucinations, explored the relationship between high caffeine consumption and an increased release of cortisol, a stress hormone believed to contribute to delusions, lead researcher Simon Jones said to Bloomberg News. It forms the first step toward examining nutrition as a factor in the occurrence of hallucinations, he said.

=> Read more!

Ehli Turners Auctions in Fife, a longtime auction house that went out of business in December, owes the state of Washington almost $60,000 in unpaid taxes.

The state Department of Revenue reports that it has filed two warrants against the business: $40,350 due on Sept. 30 and $19,470 due on Dec. 31.

Heidi Woodward, who co-owned Ehli Turners with her husband, Walter, said Tuesday that the unpaid taxes were not the reason the business closed.

"My company turned mainly because at a volatile time and business wasn't at its greatest, I had ... deposits of cash that are missing," she said by phone. "It's frustrating and sickening and we put our heart and our soul into this."

Woodward said that to her knowledge, the September bill had been paid. Department of Revenue spokesman Mike Gowrylow said Tuesday that a bill was paid in September, but that the two abovementioned warrants still were outstanding.

Fife police Lt. Tom Thompson said Tuesday that there is an ongoing investigation into allegations regarding missing money.

"Right now it's just an allegation," Thompson said. "We've had some employees who have come in and disputed that. We haven't had a chance to sit down and interview everyone involved."

As for the unpaid taxes, department spokesman Mike Gowrylow said Jan. 6 that the department doesn't file a warrant immediately after a business gets behind.

"If a taxpayer fails to pay all the taxes due, we call them up, contact them, send letters and try to get them caught up," he said. "If all that fails we file a warrant against them. That's basically a lien filed in the county where they're based."

The process doesn't stop even though Ehli Turners is out of business.

"We exhaust every possibility to recover unpaid taxes," he said. "For the most part these are sales taxes that are paid by the customers."

Gawrylow said it's fairly common for businesses to fall behind in remitting their taxes to the state, particularly when the economy slows down.

The Washington restaurant industry may see the disappearance of 4,000 jobs in 2009. Or thereabouts.

The Washington Restaurant Association has begun working with its national counterpart to collect data – actual numbers, rather than anecdotal reports – on the state of the industry.

The association has invited its 5,000 members to participate in the monthly poll, and the figures from November have just arrived, says Camille St. Onge, WRA director of communications.

“What we saw for November, looking at same-store sales ‘07-’08, 57 percent of the restaurants have seen their sales decline. That’s a big chunk.”

She continues, “Fifty-three percent of them are expecting to decrease staff. That’s a huge number.”

Washington supports 13,000 restaurants (not all are members of the WRA), and St. Onge says the industry is the state’s largest employer. If 53 percent are planning to cut staff, then that’s at least 6,890 jobs.

Twenty-two percent of those businesses responding said business was expected to stay the same, and 22 percent said they would add staff. Do the math, and that’s around 4,000 jobs gone, if the estimates are correct.

The Washington Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey will continue throughout the year. “We’re going to bring the information forward and compare the changes and use if as a barometer,” St. Onge says. “It’s intended to give public policymakers a snapshot of what’s going on in the industry.”

KeyBank’s nationwide call center in Tacoma will close this year. Two hundred employees will be laid off from the facility at 2420 S. State St. on the edge of Hilltop.

Tom Spilman, KeyBank South Sound District president, spoke with the affected employees in meetings earlier today. He explained that other call-center positions would be made available in Cleveland, where the bank has its headquarters, or in Buffalo, NY. Other positions may also be available in the Puget Sound area, he said.

“We anticipate all these employees will be employed through June, and perhaps through the end of the year,” Spilman said in an interview this morning.

The layoffs “will be transparent to clients” and will not affect the bank’s 146 branches in the state, he said.

Fully 170 other employees at the facility will maintain their jobs. These workers are engaged in such back-office functions as vault management and internal mail delivery.

The employees being laid off may also find opportunities in the Puget Sound region, Spilman said. “We have a ton of talented people there. We will assist them with employment with Key and elsewhere.”

The decision to close the canter – a decision made in Cleveland – reflects a changing environment in banking, Spilman said. The volume of calls to the bank has decreased since the center opened in June, 2006, and more clients have been making use of online facilities.

“The volume starts to decrease,” Spilman said. “When you look at our efficiencies and volume, I think it’s the right decision. But it is painful.”

During the meetings with workers this morning, he said, “there was emotion in the room. We take the decision seriously.”

The closure does not portend further cuts, he said. Key’s South Sound region employs 549 people, and the Seattle district 925. The bank has also made recent commitments to local branches, ordering major rehabilitation to branches in Shelton, Gig Harbor, Lakewood and Puyallup.

“We continue to invest in our branches and our network,” Spilman said.

The Esplanade, a 162-unit condominium development on the Foss Waterway, has its first residents.

Judy Mayfield, head of sales, confirmed Tuesday that eight units are occupied and that the sales closed just before Christmas.

"We have homeowners on two waterfront corners, three city view (units) occupied ... something on every side of the building," she said.

In October Mayfield said that the Esplanade had 21 pending sales, and it was unclear Tuesday afternoon whether the eight purchases were part of or in addition to those.

UPDATE: Mayfield said that as of Tuesday, the Esplanade has two pending sales and four contingent sales. The rest of the pending sales that were reported in October have been lost because of delays in closings and other factors.

Package express giant FedEx Corp. will buy an additional 15 Boeing 777 Freighters, the company said today.

But it will also postpone delivery of some of the 777s it already has on order.

The express carrier had been scheduled to accept delivery of four 777s in 2009. Now it will be receiving none. The company will instead take delivery of four 777 Freighters in 2010 and four in 2011 with three each year after then.

FedEx said it had rescheduled deliveries because of the economic slowdown.

In anticipation of an economic revival, the company also took options on 15 more 777s bringing its total potential order to 45.

Bloomberg News reports today that Macy's plans to slash its merchandise levels -- even at the risk of losing sales.

The rest of the story:

Bracing for the slowdown, Macy’s shrank its inventory by 7.5 percent in December, faster than the 4 percent drop in sales by stores open at least a year, Chief Executive Officer Terry Lundgren said in an interview in New York Monday.

“I want to chase the business for a while,” Lundgren said. “I’d rather risk losing some sales than having too much merchandise. It’s going to be a tough, tough 2009.”

Lundgren’s comments followed a prediction Monday by H. Lee Scott, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., who said U.S. holiday sales may increase slightly in 2009 if they rise at all. A loss of 2.6 million jobs in the U.S. last year and sliding home and stock values have shaken consumers so badly they may rein in spending even as the recession ends, Scott told the National Retail Federation’s annual conference in New York.

Lundgren said he expects “it will continue to be promotional for a very long time” after Macy’s cut prices as much as 75 percent in a sale on Jan. 10. The company said last week it plans to close 11 of its 859 stores.

“We feel very good about the stores we have left” and plan no additional closings, Lundgren said.

The state Department of Revenue late Monday changed its stand on how so-called "short sales" of financially distressed properties should be taxed.

The new rule will provide relief to families and individuals who are forced to sell their homes to avoid foreclosure.

Department of Revenue communications director Mike Gowrylow said the department will now only levy taxes on the actual sale price of the property not on the amount the owners owed.

Under short sales plans, families who've seen the value of their homes decline below the amount they owe on them negotiate with their bank to sell the house. The bank agrees to accept the sale price in satisfaction of their loan even if it is less than the loan balance.

The Department of Revenue was imposing the real estate excise tax not on the sales price but on the larger loan value. In most of Pierce and King counties, the excise tax rate is 1.78%.

The old interpretation of the law could mean considerable extra taxes for the seller.

If a family, for instance, owed $400,000 on a home but received only $350,000 in a short sale, the difference in taxes on the $50,000 difference in the loan value and the sale price would have been $890.

Greg Wright, president of the Washington Association of Realtors, said taxing the loan value caused many short sales to fail. Realtors met with the department Monday to argue the case for taxing the lower amount. The Realtors were prepared to ask the Legislature to change the law if the department had not changed its interpretation.

Gowrylow said the department now views the homeowner's arrangment with the bank on loan foregiveness as a separate transaction from the home sale and thus not subject to the tax.

The department spokesman said those who paid the higher tax on the loan value can apply for refunds from the department.

The form to claim that refund is available on the department's Web site at http://dor.wa.gov/Docs/forms/RealEstExcsTx/RealEstExTxRefundReq.pdf

Had problems with Dell-provided financing promotions, rebate offers, technical support or repairs? You may be eligible for a financial rebate under a settlement reached with the computer company by attorneys general in 34 states.

Under the agreement Dell admits no wrongdoing, but agrees to pay up to $1.5 million in restitution for eligible aggrieved Dell consumers if they file complaints postmarked by April 13, 2009.

Washington and Connecticut jointly led an investigation into Dell's sales practices after customers complained on an array of different issues, said Washington Assistant Attorney General Katherine Tassi.

Some of those complaints concerned Dell's offers of zero-interest financing. Other concerned warranty service on Dell computers. Some customers complained they never received promised rebates.

Dell also agreed to a new set of policies on financing and credit offers, warranties and service as part of the settlement.

The number of Washington Dell customers who may be eligible for rebates isn't yet known. Consumers who bought computers between April 1, 2005 and April 13, 2009 are potentially eligible.

Potential claimants may download a claim form at http://atg.wa.gov/unloadedFiles/Another/Safeguarding_Consumers/DellClaimforminstructions.pdf. They may also obtain a form by calling 1-800-551-4636 between 10 a.m and 3 p.m. weekdays.

Finding a Wii Fit - even two weeks after Christmas - is tough. Stores around Tacoma sell out minutes after they get shipments. Online searches yield no luck.

The Wii Fit allows you to do yoga, ski and other fitness activities using the Wii game console system.

The industry-tracking NPD Group predicts that Nintendo sold about 1 million Wii Fit devices in December, according to Gamespot.com. NPD also predicts Nintendo sold 3.2 million Wii consoles during the same month. These Nintendo products were the hottest selling gift item in 2008.

Last spring, Amazon.com introduced a new TextBuyIt service that allows customers to buy things via text message. For example: You could send a text to the company with the title of a book you wanted. The company would ship it to you.

Really Amazon is making it easier to buy things from the online seller.

Last week, I set up a text message alert on Amazon.com to let me know when the online store had Wii Fits available. Short of camping out at a Gamestop or Best Buy, there seemed no other way.

This morning at 11:41 a.m. Amazon sent me a message: "Wii Fits on sale at 12:00 p.m. PST with limited availability. Reply buyfit to order."

I replied "buyfit."

At 11:42 a.m.: "We have received your order for a Wii Fit. We will text you shortly to confirm whether or not your order was placed successfully."

At Noon: "Thanks for your order of Wii Fit for $97.91 with free Super Saver Shipping." Whoohoo. Wii Fit on its way.

Boeing rival Airbus has begun testing blended winglets on one of its A320 single-aisle aircraft.

The winglets, vertical wingtip extensions designed to save fuel and improve performance of jets, are designed and built by Seattle's Aviation Partners.

Aviation Partners blended wingtips are now standard equipment on most factory-build Boeing 737s and have been retrofitted to hundreds of 737s now in airline service.

A320 with blended wingtips

The wingtips gained popularity when fuel prices began to soar last year.

Airbus had previously tested wingtip extensions of its own design and those designed by another company but apparently concluded the fuel savings weren't worth the extra cost.

Major U.S. airlines have completed their second consecutive year of service without a fatality.

The Air Transport Association says a year without a death has happened only four times since 1958.

"That stellar record isn't something that came about by accident," said David Castelveter, ATA spokesman.

Improvements in air crew training, aircraft safety systems and mechanical reliability have all contributed to the good safety record.

A major accident at Denver International Airport during the holidays nearly erased that record.

A Continental Airlines Boeing 737 aborted a takeoff after having control issues and then slammed into a ditch causing a fire. Thirty-eight passengers were injured, but none was killed.

A statement released by the Shanghai Stock Exchange reports that China Eastern Airlines has signed an agreement with Boeing to buy 30 new 737 aircraft.

Boeing itself hasn't released confirmation of the deal.

At list prices, the deal is worth $1.94 billion though airlines routinely receive discounts on large orders.

The planes are to be delivered between 2011 and 2015.

SeaTac's Horizon Air could be flying to Portland and Spokane by as early as spring from Snohomish County's Paine Field, the Herald newspaper reports.

The county-owned airport, home of Boeing's wide-bodied assembly plant and a major aircraft overhaul operation, would see four daily roundtrips to Portland and two to Spokane.

The new flights would save residents north of Seattle the sometimes-agonizing vehicle trip from Snohomish County through downtown Seattle to Sea-Tac Airport.

But the proposal to begin commercial air service from the former Air Force base has stirred up plentiful opposition from some local politicians, cities and nearby residents who say the commercial flights and the traffic they generate will hurt their neighborhoods.

Attorneys, however, have advised Snohomish County, that federal rules prohibit their banning commercial flights from the airport. Those same consulting attorneys have advised the county that building or expanding a terminal to meet airline needs would give the county greater control over airline service at the airport.

If the county refused to expand passenger facilities, the airlines could build their own terminals.

The field now records 376 aircraft operations a day, including test and delivery flights by aircraft built there such as the Boeing 747 and 777, far larger than the Bombardier Q400 aircraft Horizon would fly.

Allegiant Airlines has also proposed starting flight service from the field to Las Vegas using MD-80 jets.

Allegiant isn't as far along in its planning process for new service as Horizon.

Boeing expects to trim its Puget Sound commercial airplane division payroll by 4,500 workers this year, but Boeing's largest unions are wondering why such cutbacks are necessary.

“These announced layoffs are puzzling,” said Ray Goforth, executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace. “With the company struggling to overcome problems from its failed outsourcing business model, these types of prophylactic layoffs seem counterproductive.”

SPEEA represents more than 20,000 engineers and technical workers.

At Boeing's largest union, the International Association of Machinists, Tom Wroblewski, the union president, said he believes Boeing has other money-saving options.

"We will push them to retain their valued employees," he said.

Boeing continues to hire production line workers adding 19 new machinists today. More than 23 percent of Boeing's union engineers worked 12 or more hours of overtime each week, their union said.

As recently as a month ago, Boeing's board increased its dividend, Goforth said.

"This dividend increase reflects our strong financial performance, record backlog and significant liquidity,” Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney said then.

“We wonder what has changed since Dec. 10,” said Goforth. “The company doesn’t have any financial reason for layoffs.”

The company's earnings through the first nine months of 2008 were down 9 percent to $2.76 billion. In the third quarter, earnings fell 38 percent.

A major part of that decline, however, was generated by a 58-day Machinists Union strike that started in September. That strike shut down commercial airplane production for more than two months.

The company said the first cutbacks will occur among non-union workers. Boeing told the Machinists Union will be "minimal" on its membership, said union spokeswoman Connie Kelliher.

Boeing said the payroll reductions will be aimed mainly at "overhead" and support staff workers, not production line mechanics.

"Overhead" staffers include clerical workers, human resources and public relations staff members just to name a few of the categories of workers affected, said Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx.

The company is tightening its belt and returning its payroll levels to the numbers it employed at the beginning of last year, about 63,500 in the Commercial Airplanes Group.

=> Read more!

The Boeing Co. and its engineering and technical workers union settled on a new 4-year contract for workers in the Puget Sound area and other locations in the West in December, but the two sides are still without a contract in Wichita.

The union and the company hope to resolve that standoff beginning Tuesday when negotiations resume after a holiday break and cooling-off period.

Much, including wages, overtime, medical co-pays and holidays, remains to be resolved.

As it did in the the Puget Sound negotiations, Boeing has proposed that the 700 engineers in Wichita represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, give up traditional pension coverage for new hires in favor of an enhanced 401-K retirement plan.

The company has also proposed increased worker cost sharing of medical expenses.

The new Puget Sound contract doesn't include those Boeing proposed changes.

The Air Force is looking for a replacements for two 18-year-old Boeing 747s that serve as presidential aircraft.

Likely candidates include modified versions of Boeing's new 747-8 and Airbus' A380 super jumbo jet.

The Air Force Materiel Command asked likely bidders to submit preliminary proposals by Jan. 29.

The Air Force expects to begin retiring the existing aircraft in 2017. It is seeking three planes to replace the two now in service.

Could the Air Force chose the European-built A380 to replace the Boeing-built and U.S.-made 747s?

There is precedent for buying foreign. A new fleet of presidential helicopters is coming from European sources, and the Air Force chose Airbus to furnish new aerial tankers to replace Boeing KC-135s.

That tanker competition is now in limbo after the Government Accounting Office found that the Air Force violated its own rules in picking Airbus.

The Airbus plane would be larger than Boeing's with two full decks for passenger and VIP accomodation.

The new 747-8 carries about 85 fewer passengers than the A380. It will feature new fuel-efficient engines, modified wings and new electronics compared with the existing models.

The presidential plane will be different from conventional 747s in that it will feature aerial refueling capabilities, advanced defense, electronics and communications capabilities.

The present planes were delivered in 1990. They are modified versions of the 747-200.

Horizon Air is offering special fares through Saturday for Eastern Washington destinations cut off by adverse weather from the west side of the state.

The SeaTac-based airline is selling seats for $119 one way for flights between Tri-Cities, Pullman, Spokane, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, Yakima and Lewiston/Clarkston and Sea-Tac Airport. The normal price for last-minute, walkup fares is $149 or more.

The new fare imitates a flood fare the airline is offering for flights between Sea-Tac and Portland. Interstate 5 has been closed between the two cities since Wednesday, and railroad tracks near Chehalis were under several inches of water.

"The region is our backyard, and these are our communities. We want to extend a helping hand to folks by offering this special fare to these affected cities," said Horizon's Dan Russo, vice president of marketing and communications.

At a Thursday afternoon rally sponsored by the Tacoma branch of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN – a rally attended by a dozen or so people, including those who spoke – the word went out to Governor Chris Gregoire and President-elect Barack Obama that the upcoming stimulus program should benefit the more troubled among us.

Following the meeting, Tacoma ACORN President Brenda Leichsenring said she was surprised that so few people attended. “I expected quite a bit more,” she said.

For those who did not attend, she said, “I would like them to know we need to stand together. People who live in these neighborhoods are in bad shape. We want the governor to now that whatever kind of stimulus packlage gets passed needs to target low- and medium-income people.”

She said job creation is critical in the coming months, and that the the funds allocated for Pierce County should go to increased unemployment benefits, more food stamps and “part of it to help families who are in foreclosure” by allocating funds to “community organizations like ACORN who would be able to have staff so we would be able to help them negotiate with their mortgage companies.”

“We are here,” she said. “We are everyday people. We are working class, working poor. We want things to be done so that we can go out there and work.”

Tacoma ACORN, she said, comprises some 70 people, with the statewide organization counting some 5,000.

Speakers Thursday included representatives from Tacoma Teamsters Local 313, the American Federation of Teachers and Safe Streets. Pierce County Councilmember Tim Farrell also spoke, as did unemployed worker Brandon Winston.

At the end, Leichsenring announced an ACORN rally in Olympia on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 19.

For more information, call 253-572-4959.

With I-5 closed for what could be several more days because of flooding and with Amtrak service suspended to the Oregon city, Horizon Air is adding extra planes to connect Sea-Tac to Portland.

The airline is offering a $119 fare for its frequent flights through Saturday.

The demand has been so brisk, said Horizon spokeswoman Jen Boyer, that the airline is adding more flights. On weekdays Horizon had been offering 25 flights between the two cities using 74-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops.

Boeing's official final tally of commercial airplane orders, released today, shows the aerospace company won a net total of 662 orders in 2008.

That's a respectable number, but down considerably from the 1,400-plus it received last year.

Best-seller was the 737 with 484 orders followed by the 787 with 93 orders. In third place was the 777 with 54 orders followed by the 767 with 28. The 747 garnered only three orders last year.

The 2008 orders bring Boeing's total commercial airplane order backlog to 3714, a number that some analysts think will fall as financially troubled carriers cancel orders.

Even so, that figure represents more than eight years of production at the present pace.

On the production side, the company fell short of its 450-plane goal, producing 375 commercial airliners in 2008.

That shortfall was courtesy of two factors: a 58-day machinists union strike that shut down production and the continuing delay in getting the first 787 Dreamliner out the door.

The first production Dreamliner was to have been delivered to launch customer ANA Airlines in May of last year. Now that first commercial 787 is due sometime in 2010.

Boeing's orders will likely lag Airbus' by more than 100. Airbus typically waits until at least the third week of January to release final order figures.

Lakewood-based Northwest Commercial Bank CEO and President Kurt Graff announced Wednesday that Quinn Zander-Conn has been named senior vice-president and chief financial officer. He replaces George McNelly,
who has retired.

Zander-Conn is a graduate of Western Washington University, where he earned a degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance. He has also attended Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington and St. Martin’s University, where he studied accounting.

Before joining Northwest Commercial Bank in 2006 as assistant to McNelly, Zander-Conn spent three years at Columbia Bank.

He is a Puyallup native and a Rogers High School graduate.

McNelly spent 30 years in the banking industry. Before joining Northwest Commercial, he was with Hometown National Bank in Longview, which he joined during the bank’s startup phase. Previously he spent 20 years at Harbor Community Bank in Raymond.

Northwest Commercial, which opened in 2002, operates its headquarters branch as well as a branch in Auburn and a loan production office in Puyallup.

With highway and train access to Portland cut by hard winter rains and flooding, Horizon Air is offering a one-way bargain fare to Portland from Sea-Tac Airport.

Horizon operates 25 flights a day between the two cities.

The flights take about 45 minutes gate-to-gate on Horizon's 74-seat Bombardier prop-jets.

The new, lower fares are available for travel through Saturday.

Update: Horizon is also adding flights to Portland. Read more here.

For every online ad offering a job, there are 1.35 unemployed workers to fill it in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area, a new study says.

The study by The Conference Board released Wednesday, reports that the number of job openings in the state dropped by 12,300 in December.

Even so, the Seattle-Tacoma area fares relatively well when compared with the nation. The Conference Board study pegs the average ratio of unemployed workers to job ads at 2.36 compared with 1.35 in the Seattle-Tacoma area.

Our metro area ranked ninth among 52 U.S. cities studied in jobs per unemployed worker. Only Washington, D.C. and Salt Lake City has more jobs than job seekers.

On the bottom end of The Conference Board list, Riverside, Calif., reported 7.44 job seekers to jobs,and Detroit reported 5.32 unemployed workers per on-line job opening.

Boeing Co.'s employment numbers in Washington have begun to slip gradually as the economy cools and development work on new jetliners slows.

New figures from the company show it employed 76,417 workers in Washington as of Dec. 31. That's 452 fewer than this year's peak on the last day of October.

The company's Commercial Airplanes division, headquartered in Seattle, showed a similar pattern. As of the year's end, that division employed 67,659 workers, down 407 from its Halloween high.

Both the Washington and Commercial Airplanes figures were up over employment figures from January last year.

Those figures showed the company employed 2,391 more Washington workers at the end of the year than in the first month of 2008. Commercial Airplanes figures were up 2,811 during that same period.

JetBlue Airlines today joined the crowd of major airlines offering post-holiday fares to travelers.

The airline is offering fares as low as $39 one-way from its West Coast hub at Long Beach, Calif. to San Jose, Calif.

From Sea-Tac, the least expense sale fare is $59 one-way to Long Beach.

The fares are available for flights from Jan. 12 through April.

Certain holiday blackout days apply.

Issaquah's Costco is partnering with NutriSystem to promote the company's weight-loss system.

The wholesale retailer will feature NutriSystem displays in all of its 384 continental U.S. stores.

Those displays will contain information about the NutriSystem prepackaged food diet.

Those who opt to sign up for the diet can enroll either by phone or on NutriSystem's Web site.

The Nutrisystem food can be ordered either by phone or on the Web. It won't be available at Costco.

Washington's Attorney General has joined 21 other attorneys general to encourage Congress to loosen bankruptcy rules in an effort to reduce home foreclosures.

Current bankruptcy laws allow judges to readjust mortgage debt on vacation homes and farms, but not on primary residences.

The attorneys general would like to see that changed.

"Current bankruptcy laws were developed when home mortgage defaults were relatively isolated," said Attorney General Rob McKenna in a news release.

"Global economic conditions now play a much larger role in forcing consumers into foreclosure. Changing bankruptcy laws can help reduce foreclosures and generate new loan terms to help both borrowers and lenders," he said.

Under the amendment urged by the Attorneys General, homeowners and investors would share the benefits and losses, according to the news release.

"Allowing the bankruptcy courts the ability to order loan modifications is a sensible and workable approach that can provide our housing market with the stability our country so desperately needs," McKenna said.

Kelly Kearsley sent this in:

Snow, cold temperatures and a sluggish economy pushed Pierce County’s median home price down by 13 percent in December, according to figures released by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service Tuesday. That was the largest year-over-year monthly decline in 2008.

The end-of-the-year snowpocolypse didn’t help the already weakened real estate market as the weather kept buyers and agents from touring homes or even making it to work.

“I wasn’t seeing too many faces during the last half of the month and a lot of it had to do with the weather and it being too dangerous to drive,” said Dick Beeson, a NWMLS director and broker/owner of Windermere/Commencement Associates in Tacoma.

At $235,000, the median price for a single-family home or condo did perk up a bit from November when it was $230,000. The median home price in December of 2008 was $269,950. (Median means half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.)

Pending sales in the county during December were down almost 14 percent and the number of homes and condos for sale decreased by 11 percent compared to the same month last year.

The latter is good news for home sellers.
“The (high) inventory levels have been one of the problems,” Beeson said. Too many houses for sale makes buyers nervous and tends to drive down prices.

Whether the county has hit the bottom of its price depreciation is anyone’s guess, though Beeson anticipates that the current low interest rates, new president and a promise of an economic stimulus from Congress will boost consumer confidence – and ultimately the real estate market.

Margo Hass Klein, an associate broker with Coldwell Banker Bain, said the buyers are out there – it’s getting the financing that’s tricky. Now Klein prepares her clients for finding financing before she starts showing them properties.

Still she is optimistic about 2009.

“I’ve already had four offers this year,” she said. “There’s still going to be a bit of a trickle down, but I’ve had nothing but good signs.”

Consumers are trying to squeeze more out of every dollar, so some Subway franchises in the Tacoma area are cutting the cost of everything on their menu.

The company announced Tuesday that participating franchises will reduce prices across the menu by an average of 8 percent to 12 percent.

“We appreciate our loyal customer base,” Seattle-Tacoma Marketing Board Chair Paul Armour said in a statement. “Our new menu-wide price reductions are designed to let our customers and all local consumers know that we care about them, and want to continue to provide healthy, delicious quick-service foods that are convenient and affordable to them.”

There are 359 Subway stores in the Seattle-Tacoma area.

The Internal Revenue Service feels your pain.

In a conference call this morning with reporters nationwide, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman outlined a series of initiatives aimed at comforting taxpayers in troubled economic times.

“Over the next couple of weeks and the next several months, Americans are going to go through their annual ritual of citizenship,” Shulman said.

He acknowledged that in 2009, thanks to 2008, “citizens are facing some extraordinary challenges.”
For all taxpayers who will contact the agency this year, he said, “I’ve instructed all personnel at the IRS to be sensitive. Our people have been instructed to work with taxpayers (and) help them work through these difficult times.”

Shulman listed five steps that may help ease the travails of the 2009 tax season:
• IRS employees have been given greater authority to suspend collections in certain hardship cases – job loss, severe illness, limited Social Security or welfare income – where taxpayers are unable to pay.
• “We’re going to be more flexible with taxpayers who have an existing installment agreement,” Shulman said. If a taxpayer has been compliant in making payments, and faces financial hardship, the agency may allow a skipped payment or a reduced monthly payment.
• The agency may review home values used to calculate “Offers in Compromise,” which reduce the amount of taxes owed. (Incidentally, the latest available figures, from 2007, show 46,000 offers received by the IRS, with 12,000 accepted for a total value of $228.9 million. All figures were lower than recorded in 2005 and 2006.)
• New options for people who might otherwise default on an Offer in Compromise.
• The agency will speed the delivery of levy releases – a levy resembles a wage garnishment – by easing requirements facing taxpayers who request an expedited release.

But don’t think these actions signal an IRS that has taken to singing lullabies. The agency remains in the business of assessing and collecting taxes.
“If someone just doesn’t pay their taxes, doesn’t file – they’re going to end up in trouble,” Shulman warned.

He also outlined two other initiatives – a new section of “What if?” scenarios at the agency Web site, www.irs.gov, and an expansion of the Free File program at the site – that could also help taxpayers in “difficult economic times.”

His message to taxpayers with questions or concerns: “Pick up the phone and talk to us.”
“We’re going to work with taxpayers who have legitimate needs,” he said.

However (and you knew there was a “however” in this story), "This isn’t a free ride,” Shulman said. “People who can pay still need to pay their taxes.”

He cautioned, “The IRS will enforce the law and people need to pay their taxes.” He expects a “vast majority” of taxpayers will be able to pay their due. For for a minority “who find themselves in difficulty and need flexibility, we’re going to give it to them,” he said.

The number to call, if you’ve got questions for the IRS, is 1-800-829-1040.

And April 15 remains the date your taxes are due.

British Columbia terminal operators are reportedly studying a new contract proposal from the Longshore union that could end the threat of a strike at Canadian ports.

That proposal was drafted over the weekend in marathon talks between the union and waterfront employers.

The dock foremen had threatened to strike last Friday, but the new proposal puts off that possibility until at least Jan. 12.

If the foremen strike, other International Longshore Workers Union members could halt work both in Vancouver and Prince Rupert, halting all but grain traffic through the two ports.

The Canadian government considers grain shipments essential and has prohibited work stoppages at those terminals.

Alaska Airlines today reported its December traffic was down 5.2 percent but its planes were nearly five percentage points fuller than last year.

That's because that while fewer passengers flew fewer miles last month than in December 2007, the airline had reduced its capacity by a greater amount, 10.9 percent.

Alaska's regional brother airline, Horizon Air, reported 21.5 percent fewer revenue passenger miles (one passenger paying to fly one mile) last month than in the same month in 2007. The airline, like Alaska, had reduced capacity by a larger amount (21.8 percent) yielding slightly fuller flights.

=> Read more!

Connie Brown, executive director of the Tacoma Pierce County Affordable Housing Consortium, writes to ask about all that money we've been hearing about.

"Maybe I’ve missed the discussion on this, but where is all the money now that’s been lost in the last year or so by individuals, businesses, banks, etc? I have a short list of theories, but I think it’s worth an analysis that we can all understand. My list: big oil companies, Haliburton/Blackwater, dictators of resource-rich countries, large investors on the sidelines."

Good question, Connie. I'll open this up to readers, to see if anyone has a view one way or the other. (Readers: Please comment if you've got the answer.)

Here's my take:

There never was any money. Let me illustrate with a puzzle. Three guys go into a bar and order a big, special drink. It’s 6 p.m. The day-shift bartender makes the drink and charges the group $30. Each guy gives him a $10 bill. The guys are at their table drinking when the night-shift bartender comes over and asks how much they paid for the drink. They tell him. He walks back behind the bar feeling bad. He knows that the drink should have cost $25, and that the earlier bartender was overcharging.

Calling the waitress over, the night bartender gives her five $1 bills and tells her to return the money to the table with the three guys. Walking to the table, she has trouble figuring how to split $5 three ways, so she ends up giving each guy a buck and she pockets $2 for herself.

How much did each guy pay? Nine bucks. What’s three times nine? Twenty-seven. Add the $2 the waitress kept, and that equals $29.

So what happened to the other dollar?

Where’s the money?

Got a gift card from KB Toys? Use it or lose it.

The Washington Attorney General’s office says this week that the company has given notification that it is liquidating its stores and will not accept gift cards or store credit after Sunday, Jan 11.

The AG says KB Toys stores and KB Toys.com operate as separate businesses, and gift cards purchased from stores cannot be spent online, according to a notice on the KBToys.com site.

KB Toys has three stores in Washington, in Centralia, North Bend and Vancouver.

Gift cards bought from KBToys.com can be replaced with an electronic gift certificate that can be used for online purchases, according to this notice http://www.kbtoys.com/help/KBgiftcardemail.html. The site doesn’t specify when those certificates expire. KBToys.com is a subsidiary of The Parent Company, which also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the office says.

Under Washington’s gift card law gift cards and gift certificates sold by retailers generally never expire or carry expensive maintenance fees. If a company files for bankruptcy, however, it’s up to the court to decide which financial obligations are honored.

Average Tacoma prices for a gallon of unleaded regular rose sharply overnight to an average of $1.868 a gallon.

That's nearly 9 cents more than the average on Sunday according to TacomaGasPrices.com.

The price increases mirror the jumps in the price of crude oil. Light sweet crude for February delivery rose to $48.81 a barrel in New York.

Analysts say anxiety over the situation in Gaza has propelled oil prices upward.

Both local gas prices and international crude prices were lower in mid-December when some stations sold gas for $1.49 a gallon and average gas prices here were $1.65.

Crude hit lows below in the mid-$30 a barrel during the same period.

The lowest gas prices in the Tacoma area were $1.59 a gallon at two Costco stores, one in Gig Harbor and the other in Tacoma near Tacoma Mall.

Weyerhaeuser's board of directors has elected Charles Williamson, 60, to become non-executive chairman after the planned retirement of Steven Rogel, 65, on April 15.

Williamson joined Weyerhaeuser's board in 2004. He's been the lead director since 2006 and is the chairman of the executive committee. He also is on the compensation and finance committees.

"I am honored to succeed Steve as chairman," Williamson said Monday in a statement released by the company. "I look forward to working closely with Dan Fulton and his team as we continue to position Weyerhaeuser for the future and enhance the value of our shareholders' investment."

Fulton was named CEO and a member of the board in April 2008.

Williamson was the executive vice president of Chevron Texaco Corporation when he retired in December 2005. He also is a director of Talisman Energy Inc. and PACCAR Inc.

Rogel was the first Weyerhaeuser chief executive hired outside the company and only the second leader without ties to the Weyerhaeuser family. He was recruited from Portland-based Willamette Industries in 1997 to replace Jack Creighton, who retired after 27 years with the company. Rogel went after his former employer in a hostile takeover in 2001 and won.

Anyone who tried to fly through Sea-Tac Airport during the snow-plagued holidays knows first hand the havoc those storms dealt to flight schedules.

Now a Portland firm, FlightStats.com, has put those delays into numbers.

The results aren't pretty. Sea-Tac Airport ranked 48th on FlightStat's list of 50 world airports for on-time arrivals.

Just 54.9 percent of Sea-Tac's flights arrived on time last month. Only Newark's Liberty Airport and Rome's airport were worse.

At the top of the list of world airports was Tokyo's Haneda with 86.39 percent of flights arriving on time.

Sea-Tac's airport's two dominant carriers, Alaska
Airlines and its sister carrier, Horizon Air, ranked near the bottom of the airline rank for on-time arrivals in December.

Alaska ranked 30th among 37 domestic carriers, and Horizon, usually among the top carriers in on-time performance, ranked 36th. Only Midwest Airlines ranked lower.

Just 58.39 percent of Alaska's flights wereon time last month. At Horizon, the on-time arrival rate was 54.01 percent, according to FlightStats.

During the worst of the winter weather, bad weather conditions and a shortage of deicing fluid shut down Portland's airport at times and cut Sea-Tac's flights by 60 percent.

Sea-Tac is a hub airport for both airlines.

SeaTac's Alaska Airlines will paint one of its Boeing 737-400 aircraft with a design conceived by a 16-year-old Sitka, Alaska artist to commemorate the state's 50th anniversary.

The new plane will join a handful of other specially-planted aircraft in the company's 114-plane fleet.

Alaska has planes painted in a salmon design, in Disney designs, in a Boeing corporate livery and in a design advertising its airline Web site, Alaskaair.com.

The new design was picked from among thousands submitted by school children in Alaska. The winner, Hannah Hamberg, is an 11th grader in Sitka as well as an artist, cheerleader and community volunteer.

She and her design were honored over the weekend in ceremonies in Anchorage with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Alaska Airlines executives.

Her final design depicts a ferry, a native Alaska canoe, a bear and a whale as well as a sled dogs.

India has signed an agreement to buy $2.1 billion worth of Boeing maritime patrol aircraft.

Those aircraft, militarized versions of the Boeing's popular 737 single-aisle passenger jet, are built on a special assembly line at Boeing's Renton plant.

The first of the eight aircraft India ordered is expected to be delivered in 2013.

The new aircraft, to be called the P-8I, is similar to the P-8A ordered by the U.S. Navy.

The aircraft features advanced radars and submarine detection electronics and a bomb bay for carrying weapons.

The Indian order resulted from a competition to replace that country's Soviet-made patrol aircraft.

The Indian military is poised to order some $60 billion in new equipment including 126 fighter jets, to modernize its military capabilities.

It’s not every day that someone gives you $10,000 to invest, but now that day has come. It’s time again for The News Tribune Business Team’s Annual Stock-Picking Contest.

The money isn’t real, but the contest is easy to enter. Simply choose three publicly traded stocks that you believe will go up in value in 2009. Add a comment below with names of three stocks and their ticker symbols. Also, add your proposed distribution.

So the entry might say: Boeing, BA, 50 percent; Starbucks, SBUX, 25 percent; Ford, F, 25 percent. If you don’t list a distribution, we’ll simply allocate the $10,000 by thirds. And you can pick one, two or three stocks.

The winner will be announced a year from now, and the prize, beyond the knowledge that you’ve become a successful prognosticator, will be lunch with the Business Team.

Thanks for playing, and Happy New Year.

Sea-Tac Airport's dominant airline, Alaska Airlines, is offering its frequent fliers a winter bargain.

The carrier is knocking 10,000 frequent flier miles off the cost of its regular 25,000-mile Super Saver round trip award between Sea-Tac and Long Beach, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Another deal applies to first class, where seats are available for 30,000 Mileage Plan miles to those same cities instead of the usual 50,000 miles.

One-way trips are also available at a reduced miles cost. One-way is available in economy for 7,500 miles to those same three cities.

Here's the fine print: the offer is available for travel between Jan. 6 and March 19.

Of course, the awards are subject to availability of seats, says the airline.

After two years of environmental delays, Weyerhaeuser Co. is loading its first log ship this week at new facilities at the Port of Olympia.

The company is expected to bring more than three dozen vessels to the port during 2009 to load logs and wood products.

The company is moving its log operations to Olympia from the Port of Tacoma. The Port of Tacoma intends to turn the log-loading facility into a new container terminal.

The new deal with Olympia is expected to generate some $1.5 million in annual revenue for the Olympia port.

The first log ship, the Lavieen Rose, is expected to depart this weekend.

The opening of the new log facility was delayed by concerns about the facility's affect on the environment, particularly on truck traffic to the port.

Some 80 to 100 trucks a day are expected to use the log yard, reports the Olympian.

The final numbers won't be released for a few weeks, but based on preliminary figures, Airbus will win the orders race with Boeing for 2008.

Airbus reports through Nov. 30 net orders, new orders minus cancellations, of 756 commercial aircraft.

That compares with 662 for Boeing through Dec. 23.

Both planemakers will likely add a few mop-up orders before the final 2008 numbers are announced, but the Airbus number appears insurmountable.

The Boeing figure, for instance, doesn't include four 737-800s ordered this week by Panama's COPA Airlines, and Airbus' tally doesn't include any December orders.

The totals for both manufacturers are a huge drop from last year. In 2007, Airbus won 1,341 net orders. Boeing tallied 1,413.

Both manufacturers enjoyed unprecedented sales in the 2005, 2006 and 2007, so a cyclical slowdown was expected even without today's present economic woes.

An order total of 600-700 would have been a banner year until recently.

Consider Boeing's net orders for the 10 years from 1994 through 2004.

1994 - 125
1995 - 441
1996 - 708
1997 - 543
1998 - 607
1999 - 355
2000 - 589
2001 - 314
2002 - 251
2003 - 244
2004 - 277