Does SeaTac's Alaska Airlines smell blood in the water as one of its newest rivals struggles to keep operating within the law in an increasingly difficult business environment?

Alaska today renewed its request to the federal Department of Transportation to examine the ownership structure of San Francisco's Virgin America.

The Alaska request came on the heels of a Wall Street Journal article saying that two American investor groups have exercised their option to cash in their 77 percent interest in the airline.

If those two firms get their money back from Britain's Virgin Group, the majority of the airline's ownership could pass into foreign hands. U.S. law prohibits foreign interests from owning more than 25 percent of a U.S. airline.

If the report is true and Virgin can't find other domestic investors, then the airline could be prohibited from flying in the U.S.

That would be good news for Alaska which has been battling a fare war with Virgin America on the West Coast. That fare war has forced fares as low as $49 each way between Sea-Tac and the Bay area and $59 to Los Angeles.

Virgin has been losing money on its new service, but expects to move into the black in 2010.

Meanwhile, David Cush, the airline's CEO, said that 76 percent of the airline remains in U.S. hands. The airline is in full compliance with U.S. law, he said.

Cush said the story that the U.S. investors have sold out is inaccurate.

The world's largest cruise line, Carnival Cruises, will begin calling on Seattle's new Smith Cove Cruise Terminal next year.

The 2,124-passenger Carnival Spirit will call on Smith Cove beginning on May 11, 2010. The Spirit is the first major cruise ship to call in Seattle regularly during midweek. The ship will leave Seattle on Tuesdays for a 7-day Alaska voyage through the end of August.

Carnival joins Norwegian Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Princess Cruises as a Port of Seattle customer.

Those other cruise lines have called on Seattle on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, leaving the port's expensive terminals unused during the middle of the week.

Cruise lines like to begin and end cruises on the weekends because it allows vacationers to maximize their time away while minimizing their days off work.

The Smith Cove Terminal opens this spring at Pier 91 on the waterfront between Seattle's Queen Anne and Magnolia residential areas. It replaces a temporary cruise terminal near Safeco Field that served cruise passengers for several years before the port converted it back to cargo use.

The Smith Cove Terminal can accommodate two large cruise ships simultaneously. The Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal near Pike Place Market downtown can berth an additional large cruise liner.

Washington's Guaranteed Education Tuition program, despite disappointing results in its investment program, is in no danger of failing to live up to its obligation to investors.

That's the word today from a spokewoman for the state-operated college tuition fund.

Susan Martensen, marketing and communications director for the fund, said an Associated Press story that appeared in The News Tribune's business section Wednesday might have given readers the wrong impression about the fund.

While the story was correct in saying that the Washington fund's assets are less than all potential liabilities, those who've paid into the fund, she said, shouldn't be concerned for two reasons:

* The fund won't likely be called upon pay out tuition for its thousands of participants all at once. Many of those enrolled now are youngsters who won't enter college for a dozen years or more.

* State law requires the state to fund the program from its own coffers if demands on the fund ever exceed its assets.

Here are more specifics on the fund and its health from Susan:

=> Read more!

Businesses, commercial document destruction companies and the state Attorney General's office are partnering to help people dispose of their outdated documents safely.

At what the sponsors have dubbed "shredathons," you can have your papers shredded to protect them from identity thieves who rummage through trash cans to find papers with names, account numbers and vital information that will allow them to assume you identity and loot your bank account.

"Sticky fingers like personal papers," said Attorney General Rob McKenna. "Don't throw you life in the trash. Shred instead."

"Shredathons are scheduled throughout the state. To find a list of upcoming shredfests, go to http://www.atg.wa.gov/shredathon.aspx.

The topic, learning how to dodge foreclosure, is a compelling one. And the price, free, is right for a Saturday seminar at Evergreen College's Tacoma campus.

That seminar, which brings together mortgage counselors and loan modification experts together with homeowners worried about staying in their homes, is being sponsored by the City of Tacoma's Safe and Clean Team and a coalition of Tacoma private and non-profit groups.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. for the 10 a.m. workshop at the college campus at 1210 Sixth Avenue.

The organizers advise homeowners to bring their loan documents, photo identification, Social Security numbers, the last two year's W-2 forms and tax returns and their last two pay stubs.

For more information or to register call 1-800-368-1455.