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.