The housing slump continues to take casualties among timber workers in Washington as Weyerhaeuser Co. and union representatives met today in Vancouver to discuss layoffs among logging workers.

Those cutbacks could lead to the loss of 160 jobs in the woods in Aberdeen, Raymond and Pe Ell, reported the Aberdeen Daily World.

Weyerhaesuer is closing its log yard in South Aberdeen and consolidating its log export activity in Olympia and Longview.

The loss of those logging, truck driving and maintenance jobs could bring further misery in communities already hit by the weak demand for wood for housing.

In a move that harkened back to the airline fare wars of the '80s, Alaska Airlines today announced it will award its Mileage Plan frequent fliers double miles for flights between May 6 and June 30

The airline said the double miles program will celebrate InsideFlyer magazine naming it frequent flier program as "Program of the Year."

Here's how to qualify for double miles:

Mileage Plan members must first register online at alaskaair.com. Double miles are valid on Bargain, Value, Full Flex and First Class fare categories for flights on Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. The offer is not valid on tickets booked in the Hot Deals category (G/T fare classes). Customers who wish to enroll in Mileage Plan can do so instantly at alaskaair.com and earn an additional 500 bonus miles.

Surface trade between the United States' top North American trading partners, Mexico and Canada, fell at an all-time high rate in February.

That trade by truck, train or pipeline fell 30.9 percent in February according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, an arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

That year-to-year drop was the largest single month drop since the bureau began tracking such trade.

February was the fourth month in a row when trade between the U.S. and Mexico and Canada fell more than 13 percent.

The dollar volume of trade was $47.9 billion, the BTS said.

That drop came before the late April revelation of a swine flu outbreak in Mexico, a development that has strangled trade between the two countries in the last week.

It’s one of the best business events of the year, and last night a few members of Team Trib attended the 8th Annual Business Leadership Awards ceremony as hosted by the University of Washington Tacoma Milgard School of Business.

The stories of the winners are always surprising and well told – this year’s winners were James Milgard, of Milgard Windows & Doors; Bill Matthaei, of Roman Meal; David Ottey, of the Emergency Food Network; and Brian Forth, of SiteCrafting.

The food (I had the chicken, others at the table had the halibut; both were tasty) was proclaimed as good, and better still was the keynote address by William Ayer, chairman and CEO of Alaska Airlines and Alaska Air Group.

We love lists, and Ayer accommodated us with eight tips for business management and four rules to live by.

The tips:
1. Get the right people on the bus.
2. Be urgent about change. Don’t worry about perfection; get to 80 percent and go forward.
3. Improve your capability to execute. If you have a week-long planning meeting, don’t end up with 50 action items. Get one or two, and get to work.
5. What gets measured gets managed. Develop metrics to measure success.
6. Be totally and completely customer-focused. Alaska customers wanted low fares, on-time service and in-plane wi-fi. That’s what Alaska is delivering.
7. As a leader, don’t confuse being popular with doing the right thing. Do the right thing.
8. Develop win-win strategic relationships. An Alaska alliance with American Airlines now makes it easier for customers to “earn and burn miles.”

The principles:
1. Don’t buy things you can’t afford.
2. Don’t borrow money you can’t pay back.
3. Don’t do deals you don’t understand.
4. If it doesn’t seem right, it probably isn’t.

Looking at where we are, and how we got here, and who isn’t here anymore, I’d say if CEOs had begun following those principles two years ago, or a year ago, their companies - which might now be faltering - wouldn’t be facing such difficulties.

Look to October for completion of the Wellness Center at Tacoma Lutheran Home.

Built by Rushforth Construction at a cost of $1.7 million (or $2.24 million with fees and taxes), the center will comprise some 5,000 square feet and feature an exercise pool, spa pool and exercise room meant to benefit the 400 seniors who live on the Home’s grounds.

The pools will have a lift to assist those residents who night otherwise be unable to use them.

The Home celebrated the center’s groundbreaking yesterday at 1301 No. Highlands Parkway.

According to a release received today, President & CEO Paul Opgrande said, “Some might question why we are moving forward at this time when others are developing a wait-and-see attitude until the future becomes a little clearer. It certainly would have been possible for us to adopt that strategy. However, to do so would have not acknowledged our history. Tacoma Lutheran began at the end of a decade that included the Great Depression. Our founders had faith and boundless optimism that a venture such as this, not only was needed, but would be successful. Today, rooted in our own faith, we approach our mission and ministry with that same optimism, looking forward to the future, however that unfolds.”

Tacoma toy seller ChildTrek has been named winner of the The 2009 Earth Day Window Display award – given out by the toy manufacturer Plan Toys. (That's a picture of the display, as supplied by the store.) The winning window will remain intact until May 15 at the ChildTrek store at Freighthouse Square.

The motto at ChildTrek is “Natural toys, books and gifts for a green generation.”

Founded by Miebeth Bustillo-Booth, herself a mother, as an online enterprise in 2007, the store opened a brick-a-d-mortar presence in 2008. For some retailers, 2008 was not a good year to open anything. Not so for her.

“Oh my gosh, Bustillo-Booth said earlier today. “You never really know when you open a business. It went in the black in the first month. I was nervous. When you have the stock market sliding, you start wondering what’s going to happen,”

She bought her fourth-quarter stock in July and August, and she became increasingly worried as the recession arrived. “Then sales doubled in November, and grew two-thirds more in December, and the store picked up too. We started running out of things. (Suppliers) were able to meet the demand.”

Now she’s doing market research and planning to open a second store somewhere “between Renton, Gig Harbor and Lacey.”

The new store will open in 2010, she said.

For having the greenest and keenest Earth Day window, she won $500 worth of Plan Toys – which she intends to donate to two local charities. (She’s still deciding which ones.) “We want to keep it in the Tacoma community,” she said.

Her lines include products for for children 7 and under. Most are made of wood, although other materials - safe, recycled, green, non-toxic – are used. Best sellers include Uncle Goose ABC blocks, which are U.S.-made; German-made toys by Haba; and Grimm’s Spiel und Hulz.

The Boeing Co. has won top honors in a survey of readers of Equal Opportunity magazine, who named the aerospace company as their most preferred employer.

The survey among 1,000 readers of Equal Opportunity magazine picked Boeing as No. 1 followed by PepsiCo., State Farm Insurance, Target and Deloitte.

Equal Opportunity is a career guidance and recruitment publication distributed free to minority college students.

The Puyallup Main Street Association has named Michele McGill, former executive director of Tacoma's Pioneer Museum of Motorcycles, as its new executive director.

McGill will replace Dave Eatwell who begins a new job as economic development director for a group of small Oregon cities next week.

McGill, who worked with many Pierce County businesses and organizations as a marketing consultant, served as chair of the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce board in 2006.

"We are very pleased to find someone with Michele's enthusiasm, experience and ability to work with our membership," said PMSA board president Paula Jones.

The Puyallup Main Street Association works to promote downtown Puyallup businesses. It also operates Puyallup's Farmer's Market.

An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 headed from Sea-Tac Airport to Seoul, South Korea, landed successfully on one engine at Sea-Tac about 3:25 p.m. today after dumping fuel over Puget Sound.

The plane's left engine apparently developed problems shortly after takeoff from Sea-Tac at 3:02 p.m.

The aircraft, Asiana Flight 271, carried 179 passengers and crew.

Witnesses on the plane's takeoff path in Federal Way said they heard loud booms coming from the plane's engine and saw flames coming from the left engine's exhaust.

The pilot shut down the defective engine and circled near the airport dumping fuel to allow the aircraft to make a safe landing.

Aircraft loaded with thousands of gallons of fuel for an overseas flight must dump fuel before landing to reduce the plane's weight to a safe level for contact with the runway.

Large aircraft like the 777 typically have allowable takeoff weights higher than their maximum landing weights.

It seems like only five years ago (actually, it was in February, 2004) that I was writing a story about cinematographer Scott Gribble, a co-founder of Wonderdog Media, and how he was moving the firm, and his family, from Rockford, Ill. to the Tacoma area.

Today I heard from Gribble that he is celebrating his 10th anniversary in business. And beyond that, he shot the film “Keep Your Day Job Super Star,” which has been accepted as an entry in the Seattle True Independent Film Festival 2009. The film will premier June 14 at Center Cinema in Seattle.

Other than that, after five years in the South Sound, Gribble says business is doing well, even in the recession. He's also looking for funding for a Webisode set in the fictional city of Amocat.

Nearly two years after its debut in an event broadcast worldwide, Boeing's oft-delayed 787 Dreamliner finally appears nearly ready for its first flight.

That's the word from Boeing executives Wednesday who said the revolutionary composite twin jet only needs to pass a few more ground tests before taking to the air.

They wouldn't say exactly when the jetliner will leave the runway at Everett's Paine Field for its first test flight, but they did say that long-awaited event will happen before July 1.

Problems with fastener and parts shortages, supplier issues and some design problems have kept the first 787 in the assembly hall far longer than Boeing had originally projected.

The plane already has received 60 percent of the Federal Aviation Administration certifications it needs before it is approved from commercial service, said the 787's chief project engineer Mike Delaney.

That's a pace ahead of the Boeing 777, the last new airplance Boeing designed and built.

Delaney spoke at a morning technical briefing Wednesday for the aviation press at Boeing's Everett plant.

=> Read more!

Railroad and terminal operator executives at the annual Port of Tacoma breakfast this morning praised the Port of Tacoma for being "forward looking."

The executives participated in a panel discussion regarding the challenges of the current economy on the port industry.

"The Port of Tacoma is constantly looking forward," said John Kaiser, vice president and general manager of marketing and intermodal sales with the Union Pacific Railroad.

Kaiser told a packed conference room at the Hotel Murano that the Tacoma port is one of the most forward looking ports.

His comment was actually part of an answer to a question about the port's Maytown property -- a now defunct project with its fair share of critics.

The port bought the property in 2006 to use as a rail yard and staging area for trains coming into Tacoma, but opposition derailed the proposal and the property is now for sale.

Other panelists and the event's key note speaker Walter Kemmsies, chief economist for Moffatt & Nichol too complimented the Tacoma port for its long view when it comes to planning and for outperforming in a downturn.

Moffatt & Nichol provides engineering and consulting to maritime and transportation industries.

One panelist jokingly noted that "down is the new up," when it comes to cargo volume.

Tim Farrell, the port's executive director and also a panelist, agreed saying that he'd never thought he'd be happy to say that the port container volume was down 3.3 percent (last year) and more than 14 percent (year-to-date).

But, he said, its the best on the West Coast and out performs East Coast ports.

Boeing unveiled a mid-life upgrade package for its popular 737 today that includes a Dreamliner-style interior and aerodynamic and engine improvements that improve fuel efficiency by two percent.

The total package of upgrades will be available to airlines by 2011.

The interior improvements will be an extra-cost option, the aerodynamic and engine improvements will become standard on the plane beginning next year.

The biggest visible difference for airline passengers will be the new interior.

That interior will feature blue LED lighting on the plane's ceiling, larger, designed overhead baggage bins and reconfigured vents, speakers and light switches.

"Sky Interior"

The "blue sky" interior will give the single-aisle plane a more spacious feeling. The overhead bins will tilt downward for loading and unloading and then swivel up into the sidewall for storage.

Larger luggage bins

The new interior will have individual speakers at each row to improve the clarity of the public address announcements. And new lighting switches will make it more difficult to mistake the attendant call button for the light button.

The interior will feature a new sidewall with a single piece air return grill integrated into the sidewall. The present interior has separate grills for the air return.

Airlines must check behind those grills periodically to see that nothing has been placed behind them by passengers. The new grills can't be pried off.

Boeing's best customer have been lobbying for a new generation aircraft to replace the 12-year-old 737 Next Generation design. With the economy on life support, however, Boeing is unlikely to invest the billions needed to develop that plane soon.

The upgrade will improve the plane's economy and marketability until that new design rolls out.

The Port of Seattle kicked off the 2009 cruise season recently with a new cruise terminal and expectations for record ship calls.

The port expects a record 211 cruise ship calls this year, though the total volume of passengers is expected to fall below 2008's record of 886,000 passengers.

The majority of those cruise ship calls will be handled at the port's new Smith Cove Terminal north of downtown near the city's Magnolia neighborhood.

The port built a $72 million terminal building at Smith Cove to replace a temporary terminal near Safeco Field that is returning to cargo use.

The new terminal comes on line as the Alaska cruise business is eroding because of the sour economy. Tourism experts predict 100,000 fewer cruise passengers will visit Alaska this year than last.

That drop in traffic is being felt more strongly in Vancouver, B.C. than in Seattle.

Vancouver is losing cruise ship calls as cruise lines move their ships to other summertime destinations. Carnival Cruise Lines, for instance, will bring its Carnival Spirit to Seattle next year. The Spirit is homeported in Vancouver this year.

Princess Cruises next year will move the Sapphire Princess from Vancouver to Seattle to replace the Star Princess, which is moving to another itinerary.

And NCL will send its Norwegian Sun cruise ship to Europe in 2010 rather than to Alaska. The Sun had called in Vancouver. NCL will homeport two ships in Seattle, the Norwegian Star and the Norwegian Pearl, which call at the Bell Street Cruise Terminal near Pike Place Market.

Seattle surpassed Vancouver last year in cruise ship passengers handled in the Alaska cruise market. As recently as 1999, Seattle saw just six cruise ship calls and handled just 6,600 passengers.

The development of faster cruise ships and lower airfares to Seattle has bolstered the business in Seattle versus Vancouver.

The weakness in the Alaska cruise market is a bonus for Western Washington residents. Some cruise line are offering 7-day Alaska cruises from Seattle this summer for as little as $299 per person for an inside cabin.

The Better Business Bureau will wrap up tax season by helping members shred personal documents for free this Saturday in Burien.

Attendees of "Secure Your ID Day" from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Burien Chevrolet, 14400 1st Ave. S., will receive tips on identity theft prevention and proper disposal of documents containing personal information.

Information such as financial data, Social Security numbers and birth dates could by used to steal individuals' identities or money if not properly shredded as BBB suggests.

At the event, attendees can drop off documents to be secured and shredded on the spot. Organizers say they will accept up to three grocery bags of paper per person, which will be recycled after shredding.

BBB representatives will also be available to answer questions about identity theft prevention.

Passenger traffic at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport fell by more than 6 percent during 2009's first quarter, new figures from the airport reveal.

Sea-Tac, whose traffic volumes remained high last year when many airports were seeing lower volumes, has finally felt the recession's effects.

The effect is the strongest in international traffic at the airport where the number of visitors dropped off more than 12.5 percent in the first quarter. Domestic traffic reductions were less severe at 5.38 percent.

March showed a small rebound with total traffic down 4.29 percent compared with 6.1 percent for the first quarter.

Cargo felt an even stronger impact, according to airport statistics. Total cargo dropped 12.65 percent in this year's first three months compared with the first three months of 2008.

Seattle home prices dropped 15.4 percent when compared to February of last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday.

This from The Associated Press:

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed home prices in 20 major cities tumbled by 18.6 percent from February 2008. That was slightly better than January's 19 percent and the first time since January 2007 the index didn't set a record.

But the good news was mixed. All 20 cities in the report showed monthly and annual price declines, but half recorded annual records.

Prices fell by more than 10 percent in 15 cities, including Las Vegas, San Francisco and Phoenix. In fact, Phoenix home prices have lost more than half their value since peaking in July 2006.
Yet, nine of the metros - including Dallas, Denver and Boston - showed improvement in their yearly losses compared to the month before.

"We will certainly need a few more months of data before we can determine if home prices are finally turning around," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee.

Rich Patterson, a Dallas RE/MAX agent, said in the last two months he's seen a lot of first-time homebuyers interested in homes up to $250,000. He attributes the increase to low interest rates and the $8,000 tax credit.

"The buyers are still getting good deals, but they're not stealing properties," said Patterson, noting that sellers are cutting their asking price about 4 percent to snag a deal.

Last week, home sales data for March also contained some glimmers of hope for a turnaround. Existing home sales fell just 3 percent from February to March, and new home sales seemed to have hit bottom.

Tom Davis of Puyallup became a fan of Sonic Drive-ins while visiting a relative in Oklahoma.

So, Monday morning, Davis dressed up in his gold and white Elvis get-up, donned the black pompadour wig and waved to folks driving by the grand opening of the South Hill Sonic.

Tom Davis of Puyallup thought the grand opening of the South Hill Sonic Drive-in warranted something festive. So he dressed as Elvis Monday and waved to passersby on Meridian Avenue.

"I love it," he said. "I have this perfectly good Elvis outfit so I figured I'd come out and welcome Sonic to the neighborhood."

Davis said he sometimes performs as Elvis for his church.

"If you want to cure your stage fright just stand out here for five hours like this," he said.

David Orem, owner of the Sonic franchse rights in the region, said Elvis showed up on his own accord this morning and has been entertaining the crowds and having fun.

"He sang a few verses to an old Elvis song for me and then we got a few pictures. Nice guy," Orem said.

Sea-Tac Airport largest airline is giving its passengers new flexibility to change their vacation plans to Mexico without penalty because of the outbreak of swine flu south of the border.

Alaska and its sister airline, Horizon Air, are waiving the customary $100 change fee for passengers altering their reservations to Mexico.

The change fee waiver applies to Alaska and Horizon Air customers who have booked flights to Mexico between now and May 20.

The airline is offering three alternatives for passengers whose flight reservations are within that time window:

* Change fees and additional fares will be waived if the rescheduled flight is booked in the original class of service between the same two cities as originally ticketed. The rescheduled travel must begin on or before May 20.

* For new travel after May 20, Alaska won't impose change fees, but additional fares will be collected if the cost of the seats new seats is more.

* Travelers who want to keep their travel dates, but want to change their destinations won't be required to pay a change fee, but will pay any difference between their old ticket price and the new ticket price.

The airline advised travelers to call its reservations number, 1-800-252-7522, to make those changes. The rules for the ticket changes are available on the airline's Web site, www.alaskaair.com

Alaska Air spokeswoman Bobbie Egan said "a number" of passengers have called to request changes, but she didn't yet have a specific number to release.

The airline is equipping its counter and gate personnel in Mexico City with gloves and surgical masks.

And the airline is removing and replacing all blankets and pillows used on Mexico flights after each flight. Planes used on Mexican flights are cleaned after returning to the U.S.

Those planes are also disinfected with an Environmental Protection Agency-approved anti-bacterial agent nightly, Egan said.

The air in the aircraft is filtered through an anti-bacterial HEPA filter during flight, she said.

Dan Voelpel is waiting in line at Sonic in Puyallup. Here's what he said on his Facebook page:

Dan Voelpel is in a queue at the South Hill Sonic Drive-in. Waiting for stall to open. Attendant says the wait could last 90 minutes. Traffic backed up at least 6 blocks in both directions on Meridian.

Starbucks says it has shut down 10 of its cafes in Mexico City in response to the swine flu outbreak. One of its employees in the city is also now being treated for flu symptoms, The Associated Press reports.

The Seattle-based premium coffee chain said Monday it has not been confirmed whether the employee has the same strain as the swine flu now suspected in up to 103 deaths in Mexico.

Starbucks says the Mexican government told the company to close the stores. Most of them are near major population centers such as shopping malls and universities.

The company says it is communicating with its employees around the world to reinforce personal hygiene guidelines and sanitation procedures.

Bids for Boeing's and Airbus' biggest customer, International Lease Finance Corp., have come in at less than the company's book value, several sources are reporting.

ILFC, which leases aircraft to airlines, is a division of financially troubled AIG. The lease company was put on sale to help AIG pay down its considerable debts.

The three bids reportedly all bid less than $5 billion, less than the company's $7.6 billion book value.

ILFC has debts totaling $33 billion. Those debts are due for payment or renegotiation before the end of the year.

The company has 168 aircraft on order from Boeing and Airbus.

Boeing's newest submarine-hunting patrol plane, the P-8A Poseidon, took flight for the first time over the weekend.

The plane, a modified Boeing 737, made its first flight from Renton's airport where it was built.

The aircraft, accompanied by two T-33 chase planes, flew for more than three hours before landing at Seattle's Boeing Field.

The aircraft is the first of dozens of subhunting aircraft Boeing plans to build on a special assembly line at its Renton plant.

The patrol aircraft combines the wings of the 737-900ER with the body of the 737-800 aircraft. The wings are equipped with raked tips instead of the optional upright blended winglets. The raked tips and blended winglets reduce wingtip vortexes, reducing drag and increasing the plane's range.

Boeing used raked wingtips instead of blended winglets because the winglets tend to accumulate ice during flights at low altitude over the ocean. The raked wingtips don't.

The U.S. Navy will be Boeing's primary customer for the plane, but the Indian Navy has also ordered the aircraft.

The plane is equipped with detection equipment to locate submarines and an internal bomb bay to carry anti-submarine weapons.

On Tuesday, the Department of Labor & Industries will honor the memories of 81 state workers who lost their lives due to job-related injuries or illnesses 2008.

The ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. at L&I headquarters in Tumwater.

The memorial gathering will be hosted by L&I Director Judy Schurke and will feature remarks by Gov. Chris Gregoire, Don Brunell of the Association of Washington Business, Rick Bender of the Washington State Labor Council and Bill Johnson of the Washington Self-Insurers Association.

Family members of workers who died last year have been invited and the ceremony is open to the public.

L&I headquarters is located at 7273 Linderson Way S.W. in Tumwater, off Exit 101 from I5.
Visit www.lni.wa.gov for more information.

It’s rarely too early to offer good news – in this case the 2009 winners of the annual World Trade Center, Port of Tacoma and Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber Globe, Marco Polo, Community Vitality and G.F. Train Awards.

The winners:
• Globe Award, presented by KeyBank and honoring a business that has contributed to international trade: General Plastics Manufacturing Co. of Tacoma;
• Marco Polo Award, presented by Simpson and honoring a smaller business for achievements in international trade: Tahoma Imports of Tacoma;
• Community Vitality Award, presented by the Port of Tacoma to a business, agency or individual in a trade-related industry for community good works: Transportation Club of Tacoma;
• G.F. Train International Business Commemorative, presented to businesses or individuals that have contributed to international trade locally: Emerald Home Furnishings of Tacoma.

The winners will be recognized at the annual awards dinner and auction on May 21 at Hotel Murano. For more information, click here.

It’s never too late to offer good news - in this case to announce the recent winners of the Sixth Annual New Tacoma Awards as named by the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber.

This year’s winners were honored at the Pacific Grill Event Center in downtown Tacoma, at the quarterly City Center Luncheon.

The winners:
• Ghillarducci Award: Hotel Murano, for its recent renovation;
• Union Station Award: Gintz Group, for sustained momentum in revitalization;
• Popham Award: Honoring former News Tribune business columnist Art Popham, received by Benjii Bittle, deputy executive director of the Broadway Center, for his community spirit;
• Schoenfeld Award: hello, cupcake for pizzazz as a retailer.

Horizon Lines Inc., a major competitor in the Tacoma-Alaska and Tacoma-Hawaii shipping business, today reported a $10 million first-quarter loss.

The Charlotte-based shipping line said its revenues fell from $305.9 million in the first quarter of 2008 to $272.4 million in the first quarter this year.

"As anticipated, volume declines during the quarter exceeded historic seasonal softness due to the continued sharp slowdown of our Hawaii market, ongoing economic stagnation in Puerto Rico and a severe winter in Alaska," said Chuck Raymond, Horizon's chief executive.

Horizon, formerly part of containership line Sea-Land Service, operates U.S.-flagged ships between the West Coast and Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Micronesia. It also operates service between the U.S. and Puerto Rico.

Aircraft operating at Sea-Tac Airport struck birds or other wildlife about once in every 3,500 landings or takeoffs last year, new figures from the airport show.

The airport reported 105 such wildlife encounters, the vast majority of them with birds, last year, said Sea-Tac spokesman Perry Cooper. The airport has about 350,000 landings and takeoffs yearly.

The airport released those figures the same day the Federal Aviation Administration published its list of such incidents on the Internet.

Interest is bird strikes and other collisions between aircraft and animals was heightened earlier this year when a US Airways flight ditched in New York's Hudson River after hitting a flock of geese after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport. All 155 passengers and crew survived.

=> Read more!

Australia's newest airline, V Australia, has postponed the delivery of two Boeing 777-300ER long-range twin-jets.

The two aircraft were to be delivered in 2010. They now are set for delivery in 2011 and 2012.

The planes are among the 60 aircraft delivery deferrals that Boeing CEO Jim McNerney referred to Wednesday in the company's first quarter earnings call.

Those deferrals are causing Boeing to slow its 777 assembly line in Everett to five planes a month from the seven-plane-a-month pace it now enjoys.

V Australia, affiliated with low-cost Australian domestic carrier Virgin Blue, is challenging Australia's long-dominant Qantas Airways on some international routes including the route from Los Angeles to Sydney.

Like most airlines, however, V Australia is seeing the worldwide recession taking a toll on its expected traffic on those routes.

Alaska Airlines placed orders for four more 737 airliners from The Boeing Co. this week, raising the planemaker's 2008 new orders to 40.

But in the meantime, a wealthy individual canceled his order for an executive jet version of Boeing's 747. The company didn't disclose his identity.

That cancellation plus the cancellation of 32 orders for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner earlier this year, gives Boeing a net order gain for the year of just seven jetliners.

Alaska is among only a handful of airlines that have placed new orders with Boeing in 2008. The aerospace company has received orders for a total of 28 737s, 4 777s and 8 787s this year.

Alaska earlier in 2008 ordered a single 737. With this week's orders, that brings the airline's total orders for the year to five.

Alaska last year converted its fleet to all 737s. At list prices, Boeing 737-800s cost $71.5 million to $80 million each. Airlines typically pay less than list for their aircraft.

Issaquah's Costco Wholesale Corp. today became the first nationwide gasoline retailer to agree to install gas pumps at its stores in warm weather states that will automatically adjust quantities of gas delivered during hot weather.

Costco's new pumps will compensate consumers for a physical phenomenon that shorts gas customers of energy content during hot weather.

When the temperature of stored gasoline rises, it expands. Gas pumps are typically calibrated to deliver a gallon of gas at 60 degrees Farenheit. When the gas temperature is warmer, those pumps deliver the same quantity of gas, but the energy content of that gasoline is less because the fuel is less dense.

Costco has agreed to install temperature sensing pumps in its stations over the next five years that will automatically compensate for that reduced energy of "hot fuel" by delivering slightly more gas for the same price as at lower temperatures.

Costco's agreement came in settlement of a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan. That suit named as defendants major gasoline retailers and oil companies.

Those oil companies and retailers have strenuously resisted settling the suit.

“This is fantastic news for consumers,” said Judy Dugan, research director of the nonprofit, consumer Watchdog organization.

“Costco is taking the lead in offering drivers gasoline that has the same amount of energy in every gallon, living up to its reputation as a consumer-friendly place to shop.”

Those temperature-sensing pumps won't be installed in Washington under the settlement agreement.

New car sales fell 43.4 percent in Washington during March, while used car sales also dropped though not nearly as steeply.

Cross-Sell, a company that tracks auto sales nationwide, said used car sales through dealers dropped 16.2 percent last month while private party used car sales fell only 3.2 percent

All car sales figures compare March 2009 sales to March 2008 sales.

The less-expensive end of the business suffered less severely with compact and mid-sized cars and small sport-utility vehicles being the best sellers in this state, Cross-Sell figures showed.

Look for a crowd in downtown Tacoma starting tomorrow as the TV show "America's Got Talent" comes to town with its audition circus.

The initial event will be held at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center (with the finals next week at the Pantages), and center head David Bobo says he doesn't quite know what to expect.

"It could be 1,500, it could be 15,000," he told me earlier today.

One thing business-related: Never one to forego an opportunity, Bobo says the vacated former UPS Store space near the Commerce Street entrance will be open selling concessions to the hordes expected to be waiting outside.

This also sounds like an opportunity for some other entrepreneurs in town. Maybe a chance to boost the Brown & Haley Roca brand? Perhaps sell some Johnny's seasonings? How about a Nalley's Chili cart?

Compared to a gain of $1.4 million in the first quarter of 2008, Tacoma-based Rainier Pacific Financial Group has announced a first-quarter loss this year of $4.6 million.
Where some banks have reported losses due to investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, or reversals on loans made on construction projects, Rainier Pacific particularly notes an impairment charge of $8.5 million related to investments in “pooled trust preferred collateralized debt obligations” issued by a group of U.S. banks and insurance companies.
Because the value of these investments continue to drop, bank regulators have increased their scrutiny of Rainier Pacific, said company President and CEO Jon Hall on Thursday.
“It doesn’t mean the bank is in dire straits,” he said. “We take regulatory matters very seriously. The regulators are looking at us more closely than they were a year ago, and it’s predominately because of the quality of these securities. The operation of the bank remains stable. Our credit quality remains stable.”
Hall noted the difficulty in assigning a value to the “CDO” investments. “Regulators expect you to get appraisals. It is difficult if it’s depressed. It’s like falling knives.”
The value of the investments has fallen to 26 cents on-the-dollar and are currently appraised at $28.2 million. This is an increase from the end of the fourth quarter in 2008, when the value came in at 14 cents per $1.00, or $14.9 million.
Rainier Pacific has also altered its accounting standards in recognizing new guidance from the Financial Accounting Standards Board, Hall said. That guidance resulted in an increase to the company’s capital level.
• The company reported that total loan originations during the first quarter totaled $53.3 million, compared to $57.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2008.
• At the end of March, Rainier Pacific’s loan portfolio comprised 40.1 percent commercial real estate loans; 23.4 percent multifamily real estate loans; 10.8 percent land development and constructions loans; and the remainder divided among smaller real estate loans, commercial business, home equity and consumer loans.
• The company charged off $7.2 million in loans for the quarter, compared to $914,000 charged off in the fourth quarter. The first quarter figure includes $6.6 million in loans charged off from loans to three residential builders.
• Total non-performing loans fell during the quarter to $25.4 million, or 2.96 percent of total assets, compared to $31.4 million, or 3.7 percent of total assets, at the end of 2008.
• Core deposits for the quarter increased to $268.7 million, compared to $256.7 million on Dec. 31 2008.
By regulatory standards, with a risk-based capital ratio of 7.45 percent, Rainier Pacific is categorized as “under capitalized.” The threshold for a “well capitalized” ratio is 10 percent, and for “adequately capitalized,” 8 percent.
Being under capitalized, the bank has seen that greater regulatory scrutiny – which has led to a search for increased capital and a requirement that Rainier Pacific give prior notice of any changes in leadership and that it not pay certain types of compensation without approval.
Although pleased with the “continued stabilization in the credit quality of Rainier Pacific’s loan portfolio,” Hall said he continues to see a challenge in the investments made in the CDO securities.
Still, he said, his bank, “continues to operate well and profitably at the core.”
He remains hopeful.
“As the banking industry improves, so too will these securities,” he said.

US Airways, the airline that brought its customers $2 on-board sodas, $1 coffee and blankets and pillows charges, has announced yet another inventive revenue-producing fee.

The Tempe, Ariz.,-based carrier today announced it will charge its passengers $5 to accept payment for checked bags at its counters. That's in addition to the $15 each-way charges for the first checked bag and $25 for the second.

Passengers can avoid the extra, extra charge by paying the bag fees online before arriving at the airport. The airline hopes to generate an additional $500 million this year from fees beyond the ticket charges.

The company dropped its soda and coffee charges March 1 because the fees put it at a competitive disadvantage to its rivals.

US Airways' latest fee is also part of an industry-wide attempt to cut costs by charging travelers who use costly services. Most airlines already charge extra for buying tickets by phone or at the airport counters.

In Europe, Ireland's Ryanair, Europe's largest discount airline, is eliminating check-in counters entirely, requiring its customers to check-in from home on their computers or at automated kiosks at the airport.

SeaTac's Alaska Airlines will join the flock of airlines imposing a fee for the first checked bag, the airline announced today.

That announcement came as Alaska revealed a $19.2 million loss for the first quarter. That loss, however, was an improvement over the first quarter of 2008 when the airline lost $37.3 million

The new baggage fee at $15 matches the fee charged by most major airlines with the notable exception of rival Southwest for the first checked bag.

The airline included a guarantee, however, in return for that new fee: passengers will receive 2,500 Alaska miles or $25 off their next Alaska flight if their bags don't appear at the baggage claim within 25 minutes of their plane parking at the gate.

"We're adapting to a marketplace in which customers increasingly want the lowest fare possible, with the option to pay extra for other services," said Alaska Chairman Bill Ayer. "We want to continue matching the lowest fare in the market without being at a revenue disadvantage to our competitors."

Exempt from the bag fees will be MVP and MVP Gold Mileage Plan members, unaccompanied minors, military personnel on active duty and passengers traveling to and from Mexico City or Guadalajara, Mexico. Travelers within the state of Alaska will pay nothing for the first three checked bags.

The new first bag fee will be effective for tickets bought beginning May 1 for flights beginning July 7 or later.

The airline meanwhile decreased fees for the third checked bag from $100 to $50 and kept the second checked bag fee at $25.

The bag charges came against a backdrop of first quarter losses.

Even so, those losses were an improvement over last year's first quarter. That reduction in loss came in part courtesy of lower fuel costs this year and the airline's efforts to refine its schedule.

The global recession has taken a bite of Alaska's traffic, which was down 7.7 percent in the first quarter. But the airline cut capacity more, 9.3 percent, resulting in its aircraft operating closer to capacity, 75.7 percent, up 1.3 percentage points over the same time last year.

Meanwhile at sister regional carrier Horizon Air, first quarter traffic dropped 20.4 percent on a capacity decrease of 16.5 percent. The airline's revenue per available passenger mile decreased by .7 percent while expenses increased 5.8 percent.

New Russell Investments Chief Executive Officer Andrew Doman has given boosters from Tacoma and Seattle until the end of May to make their best and final offers to win Russell's headquarters.

Doman told Russell employees at a company "town hall meeting" today that he expects to make the decision where to locate Russell's headquarters by the end of this year's third quarter, said Russell spokeswoman Jennifer Tice.

The two cities are fighting for the jobs and the prestige that comes with being the headquarters of a financial advisory business with a worldwide reach.

Russell until last week employed about 1,100 workers in Tacoma. It laid off an unspecified number because of deteriorating business conditions.

Russell was founded in Tacoma and now has its headquarters here. The company last year sought proposals from cities and developers for its new headquarters.

The company had promised to make the decision by the end of 2008, but delayed the decision when internal turmoil linked with the collapse of worldwide markets hit the company.

Tacoma has offered $148 million in incentives if the company remains here. Seattle has several buildings available at reasonable prices because of the loss of such major tenants as Washington Mutual.

The nation's largest thrift, WAMU, collapsed under the weight of sub-prime loans last fall and was bought up by JPMorgan Chase. The New York-based bank is laying off thousands of workers in WAMU's Seattle headquarters and has put its headquarters building on the market.

Sitecrafting -- a Tacoma-based Web design and web application development company -- announced plans Wednesday to open a second office in Spokane this summer.

Brian Forth, the company's president, is a graduate of Gonzaga University and said he sees opportunities for business growth in Eastern Washington.

“I’ve thought for several years that Spokane was really the type of community where our company could participate and thrive,” says Forth. “We’re excited to bring our web technology expertise and service ethic to town."

Sitecrafting plans on sending two of its 22 employees to the Spokane office, including General Manager Mike Ash, a seven year SiteCrafting veteran.

The office will open with a team of five and expects to grow to as many as 10 employees in the first year.

Forth was recognized this year as the University of Washington Tacoma Milgard School of Business Small Business Leader of the Year.

TrueBlue, Inc. recorded a net loss of $5.3 million -- or 12 cents per stock share -- for the first quarter, according to earnings numbers released by the company today.

That compares to the profit of $8.8 million that the company reported for the first quarter of 2008.

The Tacoma-based staffing company's first quarter revenue was $224 million, down 31 percent from the same time period last year.

"Our bottom line results were better than expected due to aggressive and well executed cost management throughout the organization," TrueBlue CEO Steve Cooper said in a news release.

"Our first priority is to provide exceptional customer service at each of our brands. At the same time, we are scaling costs to match current demand for our services," he said.

The company closed 40 branches in the first quarter, leaving them with 810 branches in operation.

The developer creating an up-scale urban village on the site of the former Asarco copper smelter this week took a long-simmering dispute with a labor union and an activist group to federal court.

Point Ruston LLC filed a suit Tuesday naming the Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters and the Jobs with Justice Education Fund as defendants.

The suit accuses them of threatening activities, interfering with contractual relations and business activities, trespassing, property damage and making defamatory and false statements.

Point Ruston is redeveloping the former Asarco copper smelter site near Point Defiance Park into a mixed use residential, retail and business development. Ultimate costs of the development could exceed $1 billion.

Representatives of both the Carpenters and Jobs with Justice said they have not yet been served with the suit and they were not yet fully prepared to respond to the accusations.

"We're mostly a volunteer organization," said Jobs with Justice organizer Jake Carton. "We'd like to have an elected leader of our organization respond when we have more details."

Carton said he was concerned about The News Tribune's objectivity in reporting the story because Point Ruston advertises its development in the paper.

=> Read more!

A dozen people spoke their minds at a Tacoma City Council public hearing Tuesday night. The subject: whether the council should facilitate a $3.5 million loan from federal Housing and Urban Development funds that would benefit the LeMay Automobile Museum.

Of the 12 speakers, only one spoke against the measure – and he supported the museum itself, but not its proposed location.

Among the comments:

• A representative form Associated General Contractors of Washington said, “We’re in support of the LeMay Museum and the HUD loan.” His reasoning: Construction will create private sector jobs.
• Likewise, a representative from the county Building & Construction Trades Council said “This is a signature project. We urge you vociferously – and that’s from a roofer.”
• LeMay board member Carl Anderson said the museum will be “the best thing that has happened to Tacoma in 100 years.”
• The lone if moderate dissent came from a man who asked where visitors to the Tacoma Dome, located near the proposed museum, would be able to park during events. He asked how much the project would cost, and noted that the museum would be trapped between a freeway, railroad tracks and the Dome. He suggested that the facility be relocated at the site of the former railroad shops, a few blocks away.

=> Read more!

If you commute northward on Interstate 5 may have noticed a new landmark of sorts going up just north of the Puyallup River bridge in recent days.

The tall, white cylindical structure is a cryogenic air separator, or "cold box" in industrial gas industry jargon.

The device at Praxair's Fife plant is used to separate oxygen, nitrogen and argon from the ordinary air we breath by cooling that air it super low temperatures.

Here's the explanation from Praxair about how the separator works:

The process begins with the intake of huge volumes of air from the atmosphere. The air is compressed and purified before entering the cryogenic equipment package. The air is cooled to about -300°F (-185°C) and then, relying on different boiling points, separated into its elemental components in the form of liquid oxygen, argon and nitrogen.

The new tower at 215 feet is as tall as downtown Tacoma's Washington Building or the Key Bank Tower, but it's only 14 feet in diameter.

The new separator is expected to go into operation sometime this summer after the construction work is completed and tests are done on the equipment, said Nigel Muir, a Praxair spokesman.

In the meanwhile, the construction project is providing about 20 temporary jobs at the plant. The plant permantly employs about 25 workers.

Praxair's Fife plant supplies industrial gases to industries in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho and British Columbia.

Those gases are used in oil refining, pulp and paper making, medicine and frozen food production among other industries.

The new separator, built overseas and brought by ship to Tacoma, will increase the plant's energy efficiency and output, said Muir.

Federal Way's Weyerhaeuser Co. will freeze temporarily its company match of employee 401K retirement savings contributions beginning May 1.

The timber and housing giant announced the change in a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Weyerhaeuser has been battered by the weak housing market. It has shuttered more than a dozen mills in the Northwest, Canada and the Southeast and laid off hundreds of workers as demand for lumber remains stagnant.

The company has already laid off a large percentage of its Federal Way headquarters staff in a move to bring expenditures in line with income.

A weakened travel market, tighter financing and leaner defense spending priorities took a bite from Boeing Co.'s first quarter bottom line today.

The Chicago-based company early this morning reported net profits of $610 million, just half the $1.21 billion Boeing made in the first quarter of 2008.

Those earnings amounted to 86 cents a share, 10 cents less than the 96-cents-a-share average analyst estimate reported by Zacks Investment Research.

"The expanded global economic downturn is presenting unprecedented challenges in our commercial airplane markets," said Boeing Chairman Jim McNerney in a statement released early today.

"We believe we are better positioned than most companies to withstand the ongoing pressures of this economy, and we are not hesitating to take necessary actions to preserve our financial strength and maintain our ability to invest and grow in the long term," he said.

Here's what's negatively affecting Boeing's results:

* A planned reduction in the production rates of its highly profitable 777 twin jet from seven a month to five a month beginning next year. The plane is built in Everett.

* A freeze on a previously planned increase in production rates for the 767 and 747 commercial aircraft programs.

* A reduction in the price escalations that Boeing programs into its earnings for commercial airplanes. Lower demand for aircraft is reducing the prices the company can ask for new orders. Those new orders in the first quarter fell dramatically from last year. The company reported 28 gross orders in the first quarter, but lost previous orders for 32 aircraft, mostly 787s.

* More modest declines in defense earnings from operations, which were down 18 percent in the quarter.

On the positive side, McNerney noted that Boeing still has a commercial airplane order backlog of $266 billion, more than seven times its commercial airplane division's projected 2009 revenues.

The lower results brought changes in Boeing's projections for full-year income. The company now forecasts revenues at between $68 and $69 billion, unchanged from prior forecasts.

But the company said full year earnings are likely to decline to a range between $4.70 and $5.00 a share. That compares with prior projected earnings of $5.05 to $5.35 a share.

One sign that the first flight of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is finally approaching:

Boeing this week began the first of a three-stage ground testing program to check the aircraft's systems in preparation for its first flight.

During that phase, the first test aircraft will be hooked up to a computer and "flown" in a dry run of the first flight.

The pre-flight testing will include two more phases of what Boeing calls 'gauntlet testing" to try out the aircraft's readiness to leave the ground.

Boeing has promised to put the first airplane into the air by the end of June. The plane's first flight is almost two years behind schedule because of problems with incomplete work by suppliers and because of parts shortages and technical issues.

The company also has scheduled a day-long briefing for aviation writers next week to discuss the flight testing process, another sure sign that the first flight may actually occur on the new schedule.

You’ve only got a few hours left to get a free scoop of ice cream during Ben & Jerry’s Annual Free Cone Day (and what a nice day for some ice cream).

Look for your freebie at Ben & Jerry’s at 1410 Lake Tapps Parkway E. in Auburn; 2800 Southcenter Mall in Tukwila; and at 4635 Point Fosdick Dr. at Uptown Gig Harbor. And look for a few new flavors: Chocolate Macadamia, Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road and Orange & Cream.

Should you miss out on the 31st Annual Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day today, then mark your calendar for April 29 (that’s a week from tomorrow) when Baskin-Robbins presents its annual “31 Cent Scoop Night,” when a scoop of ice cream costs but three dines and a penny - that’s 31 cents more than Ben & Jerry’s, but then you get to pick from 31 flavors. You’d think they might have had it on the 31st, but what with April containing only 30 days, I understand.

What I’d also humbly suggest is that the company, when promoting its product in the Tacoma area, make note of the fact that Baskin-Robbins had its very beginnings here in town, way back when.

I mean, it’s interesting that Randy Quaid, Leeza Gibbons, Rosie O’Donnell and President Barack Obama each once worked as B-R scoopers; and that Diddy got his start in show business by performing in a B-R commercial at age 2; and that the company has launched more than 1,000 flavors over the past 64 years – but how about mentioning the company’s South Sound roots in the publicity packet?

Or maybe they could concoct a flavor to honor those beginnings: I say we start with Mount Tacoma Truffle, Point Defiance Date, Commencement Bay Clam Sherbet and Washington State History Museum Mummy Gummi.

Any other ideas?

Will the Weyerhaeuser Co. we know today resemble the company that operates in the post-recession economy?

The company's CEO, Dan Fulton, addressed that question in remarks to reporters recently. But we didn't have room in the paper to publish all of his answers

We think his views deserve airing, so here are the questions and answers that ended up on the cutting room floor after we edited our Tuesday Fulton interview.

Does Weyerhaeuser have any particular strengths that will allow it to capitalize on the recovery when it comes?

Our company has historically enjoyed higher margins than average and that is a function of both our location and our land position. We are in some markets where land is highly constrained, and that ends up getting folded into the value of the homes.

Some companies in the wood products business have gotten out of the land and timber business or shed their production facilities to become pure landholders and tree growers. Weyerhaeuser remains in both. Will the company sell off it production facilities?

The manufacturing activities today will remain as long as they perform. There are some investors who want a pure play, but I think most investors would be happy if we do well with our timberlands and we bring along other businesses that generate a lot of cash and earnings. And we have the room to do that. There’s a lot of operating leverage in our system when the market recovers because of our scale.

Amtrak has hired a consultant to study the feasibility of restoring passenger train service from Salt Lake City to Seattle via eastern Oregon, Portland and Tacoma.

Amtrak operated a daily train on that route called the Pioneer until 1997 when it was discontinued because the service was losing money.

Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo inserted an amendment into an Amtrak funding bill requiring that study.

Amtrak has hired J.L. Patterson & Associates to do the study, which is due for completion by October.

Boeing Co. has completed fabrication of the first set of new wings for its latest generation of the 747 jumbo jet.

The new wings are designed to improve the fuel economy, range and aerodynamic efficiency of Boeing's new 747-8 aircraft.

The 747-8 is the third generation of the venerable jumbo jet. The new jet is designed to carry more passengers and cargo more comfortably and efficiently that the last generation of the 747, the 747-400.

The 135-foot-3-inch wings were built in the company's Everett plant. The 747-8 is still months away from its first flight.

The sad saga of the ambitious plan to build a new hotel on downtown Tacoma's Thea Foss Waterway moved to a new chapter this week.

Both the Thea Foss Waterway Authority and the hotel site owners this week are talking with prospective investors about taking over the oft-delayed project.

"There are several parties interested in moving it forward," said Don Meyer, the authority's executive director.

Meyer met with one group of investors Monday to discuss the sale of property.

The authority sold the property on the west side of the waterway between the Esplanade condominium project and the Foss Landing residential project last year to a group led by Seattle hotelier Bob Thurston.

Thurston's group obtained all of the permits needed to start construction, said Meyer, but Thurston's bank declined to proceed in such an uncertain business environment.

Under a development agreement Thurston's group signed with the authority, the development group is obligated to build a hotel on the site. That development agreement will bind any new owner to those same conditions unless the agreement is renegotiated.

The authority still wants a hotel on the site, said Meyer.

The hotel, first conceived half-a-dozen years ago, has met repeated roadblocks to its construction.

The first prospective hotel developer walked away from the project, and the second developer, Thurston, has spent years repeatedly redesigning the project in an attempt to make it appealing for banks to finance its construction.

First Thurston envisioned a pure hotel project much like his Inn at the Market at Seattle's Pike Place Market. Then he redrew his plans to create a hybrid condominium-hotel project with high-end residences atop the boutique hotel.

When the condo market collapsed, he again restructured his plan to reduce the number and price of the condo units in the building.

In the meantime, the housing market soured, and the banking crisis tightened the spigot on financing.

Now, at the end of his string, Thurston, is looking for at developer to pick up from where he's leaving off and to carry the project to fruition.

Both Thurston and the waterway authority have been actively seeking new owners for the project.

Meyer said a new owner would be smart to continue Thurston's work because starting from scratch again with all of the permitting required on such a waterfront project would take years to duplicate, Meyer said.

Meyer contends that studies support the need for another hotel downtown. The 100 or so rooms planned for the waterfront property wouldn't inject too much new supply into the marketplace, he contended.

A study for the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center last year concluded the assembly facility was losing convention opportunities because there are too few hotel rooms within walking distance for the convention center. The Foss project would be about two blocks from the center.

The pending decision by Russell Investments whether to keep its headquarters in Tacoma or to move it to Seattle, could play a big role in whether the hotel project moves forward.

Without Russell and the well-to-do clients it brings to Tacoma, the market for a waterfront boutique hotel could be considerably diminished.

Russell, which last week laid off 400 workers worldwide because of reversals in its investment advisory business, had been scheduled to make a decision before the end of last year on the headquarters question. Now it says that decision will come some time this year.

Advocates for both Tacoma and Seattle's downtown's have reportedly met with Russell recently to press their cases for locating in their cities.

The state's Employment Security Department is advising workers to be sure they know the difference between an "employee" and an "independent contractor."

The latter are viewed as self employed and are not eligible for unemployment benefits.

An independent contractor is not under the supervision of and control of an employer, has a contract specifying the start and end dates of the service, brings more than his personal labor to the job, works for more than one payer at a time, has a business and other licenses and is responsible for filing state and federal reports and taxes.

Knowing the difference when they are hired can save a lot of time and frustration if the workers end up applying for unemployment benefits.

After watching fares fall steeply with the drop off of passenger traffic, domestic airlines over the weekend attempted to raise fares on thousands of flights.

The airlines, however, aren't implementing broad scale increases, but rather are increasing fares highly selectively, raising some fares between certain city pairs, for instance, only during the busiest hours.

Rick Seaney, chief executive of FareCompare.com, said it appears that United Airlines began posting the first trickle of fare incrases on industry computers on Thursday night. Continental Airlines matched some of those fares later that night.

Other airlines joined in of Friday and during the weekend.

Many of those fare increases are sticking, said Seaney.

Fares typically are rolled back if a significant proportion of airlines don't match them quickly.

Ethiopian Airlines is looking for new financing for an order of 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners after its banks withdrew financial support.

African media sources said ING Group NV withdrew its financing, and DVB Bank AG upped its interest requirements and fees.

The airline said it is looking for new financing sources.

Boeing has lost a score of 787 orders after airlines looked at their income situations and decided to abandon ambitious expansion and fleet modernization plans.

SeaTac's Horizon Air has already inspected more than half its fleet for a fatigue crack in the landing gear of a Canadian-built turboprop airliner.

Horizon, the nation's largest operator of Bombardier Q400 twin turboprop airliners, began inspecting the planes' landing gear before the Federal Aviation Administration issued a directive to all Q400 operators to do so.

The FAA is due to issue that directive Tuesday.

Horizon began its own inspections after Canadian authorities ordered the inspection of Q400s in Canadian fleets last month.

If the fatigue cracks in the aft hinge for the landing gear stabilizer brace grew, the gear could collapse on landing.

After five years doing business in downtown Tacoma, The Seven Muses gift shop is closing.

Owned by Tom and Leslie Michael, the store has sold all manner of art, kitsch and glitz, some made by local artists and some – the found-object sprinklers, for example – by Tom himself.

Located at 1127 Broadway, the store will close by the end of May. Until then, all but a few consignment items will be sold beginning at 50 percent off the marked price.

Both of the Michaels are teachers, Leslie at Pierce College and Tom online. They will continue teaching and plan to continue selling art items at upscale craft fairs, Tom told me earlier today.

“Downtown Tacoma is just not a retail destination,” he said. “Even the hope of turning a profit in the next three years is unrealistic.”

Costco Wholesale retained its rank as Washington's largest company on Fortune magazine's annual ranking of America's 1,000 largest corporation.

But four companies dropped off the list, some the casualties of the economy and others the target of acquisitions.

In the 2009 list, Washington had 16 companies headquartered here on Fortune's list. This year, the number dropped to 12.

Missing this year were Washington Mutual, 97th on last year's list, Safeco, 388th on the 2008 ranking, Plum Creek Timber, 982 on the list last year and Potlatch Corp., 990 in 2008.

Washington Mutual, the victim of the subprime loan collapse was bought at a fire-sale price by J.P. Morgan Chase. Liberty Mutual Insurance purchased Safeco. The two wood products companies, Potlatch and Plum Creek, saw their sales fall below the cutoff as the building industry declined.

Costco climbed from 29th to 24th on the list. Microsoft jumed from 44th to 35th and Amazon.com leaped from 171st on the ranking to 130th. Weyerhaeuser Co. fell from 147th to 236th. And Starbucks climbed from 277th to 261st.

Exxon Mobil Corp. changed places with Wal-Mart Stores on this year's list, ranking in the top spot in the country.

Boeing Co., which moved its headquarters to Chicago in 2001, but which has major operations here, fell from 27th place to 34th place on the magazine's list.

An historic, but dilapidated downtown Tacoma landmark is back on the market, the victim of the sickened economy.

Luzon Building in 2004

The Luzon Building, one of two remaining West Coast buildings designed by famed Chicago architects Daniel Burnham & John Root, is being offered for sale for $400,000.

Tacoma developer the Gintz Group is the latest in a string of owners who've tried unsuccessfully to revive the 1890-vintage former bank building at South 13th Street and Pacific Avenue.

Gintz came close to putting together a combination of historic tax credits, a city low-interest loan and a favorable construction bid, but couldn't secure bank financing for the remainder of the project.

Banks required that about two-thirds of the building be pre-leased, but the Gintz Group couldn't attract another tenant other than its own headquarters, said Ron Gintz.

"The market out there is brutal," said Gintz. "We still think the building is ideally located in the heart of downtown, but no one is renting new space."

"It's a kind of chicken and egg deal," he said. "We can't get financing without tenants, but tenants don't want to commit unless they know we have the financing to do the project."

The developer had planned to tie the masonry building to a new reinforced concrete utility core to be built on the building's south side. That structural reinforcement would enable the rehabilitated building to meet modern earthquake codes.

Gintz said that declining construction activity in the last year has had a positive influence on the cost of building materials and construction. The bids to rebuild the structure were below what they would have been last year.

Gintz said a developer with deeper pockets could do well with building.

"It pencils out. There's money to be made," he said.

Gintz said the developer owes money to several businesses that helped them bring the project to its present stage of readiness, and it needs to sell the structure to pay those bills. The developer had planned to pay those bills with the proceeds of the construction loans.

"If anyone wants to step up and lease a few floors," he said, "We'll be happy to proceed ourselves."

The building, whose site slopes from Commerce Street to Pacific Avenue, wuuld be ideal for a bank," Gintz said.

"They could have their retail banking on the Pacific Avenue ground floor, and their commercial banking operation on the second floor ground floor on Commerce."

The developer had planned to rename the building after its architects, but they'd be willing to rename it after a major tenant," Gintz said.

Burnham and Root were pioneering designers of some of Chicago's first high rises. After Root's death, Burnham designed such monumental structures as Washington, D.C.'s Union Station and several buildings at the Chicago World's Fair.

The Luzon building has twice served as a bank and has been the site of a Chinese restaurant and several retail businesses. Its most notable feature nowadays is the tree growing out of an upper story window on the 13th Street side of the building. The building has been vacant for at least a decade.

A new program at Westfield Southcenter mall could replace credit cards as the shopper's new best friend.

Only the fabfinds program launched today promises to earn deals - not debt - for the economically-burdened.

The program notifies shoppers of sales going on throughout the mall via a weekly brochure available in the center and lists of the sales on the mall's Web site.

“We want to help our shoppers navigate through this economy,” said Kimberly Blue, marketing director at Westfield Southcenter, in a press release. “Fabfinds is a great way for all of our customers to get the most value out of every shopping trip.”

Avid deal searchers might be less intimidated by Southcenter's expanse of more than 240 storefronts, since the new program can help them plan a route to the best savings before hitting the stores.

A few of this week's deals? Journey Kidz has 50 percent off and Express has rolled out its clearance bins. Shop accordingly.

Do you like the LeMay Museum? Don’t like the LeMay Museum? Like the idea that museum officials are asking the City of Tacoma to facilitate a loan, so that construction on the museum can begin this year?

Do you think Tacoma deserves and should support a major new museum?

Well, now’s your chance to have your voice heard.

The Tacoma City Council will host a public hearing beginning at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, at the council chambers on the first floor of City Hall, 747 Market St.

After digesting public opinion, the council will vote next week on whether to approve the Deptarment of Housing and Urban Development Section 108 loan.

Expect a crowd.

Puyallup's Mama Stortini’s Restaurant and Bar is opening a northern branch at Kent Station.

The Italian restaurant is scheduled to open May 20 in the former Zephyr Restaurant site in the downtown Kent shopping area.

The Kent location will be the second Mama Stortini’s and third restaurant for Specialty Restaurant Group.

The Mama Stortini's name originated with former Pierce County Executive Joe Stortini who opened the original Mama Stortini's, now closed, in University Place after he left politics.

Veteran restaurateur Roger Stilson purchased Mama Stortini's in Puyallup in 2006.

Stortini, no longer associated with Mama Stortini's, is proprieter of Joeseppi's in Tacoma.

Prior to launching The Specialty Restaurant Group, Stilson’s career included a twenty-year plus stint at Restaurants Unlimited as VP operations for Palomino Restaurant.

With Airbus' A400M military transport aircraft program wallowing in cost overruns and delays, even the French military is talking with Boeing about buying its C-17 airlifter.

French defense procurement officials acknowledged they've talked with Boeing about its four-engine airlifter to fill the hole left in the French airlift capability by the A400M's late delivery schedule.

The Airbus aircraft is now nearly four years behind schedule.

The French are not the only ones talking with Boeing. The British have said they're considering buying more C-17s to augment their airlift capabilities, and the South Africans are also reportedly considering the Long Beach, Calif.-built airlifter.

The prospects for foreign sales are good for Boeing which is nearing the end of its production run for the aircraft. The Obama administration has recommended the Air Force buy no more of the transports.

China Southern Airlines Co., China's largest airline, says it will postpone deliveries both Boeing and Airbus aircraft this year to save money.

The airline said it will push back deliveries of 13 Boeing 787s and five Airbus A380s this year.

The airline is also negotiating to delay the delivery of four Boeing 777 Freighters.

Boeing has already announced it will cut back the 777 production rate next year at its Everett factory from seven a month to five.

Meanwhile Airbus maintains it will deliver 18 of the superjumbo A380s this year despite feedback from customers that the 550-passenger jet is unneeded on some routes because of the decline in business travel.

Already Australia's Qantas Airways has delayed delivery of four of the A380s. Airbus' largest A380 customer, Emirates Airways, has pulled an A380 off its New York route because the plane was flying significantly below capacity.

The Boeing Co. sent layoff notices today to 300 more workers, 120 of them in the Puget Sound region.

The layoffs are part of a company plan to trim its worldwide workforce by 10,000 employees this year. Some 4,500 of those layoffs will come from the Commercial Airplane Group headquartered in Renton.

The layoffs will be effective in 60 days. The latest employee reductions will bring the company's total employment reductions to 800 for 2009. The company is also leaving 1,000 unfilled positions vacant.

The layoff notices don't necessarily mean that those workers will be jobless. Some may transfer to other jobs within the company and others may be spared when their colleagues retire.

The company contends it will produce 480 commercial airliners this year despite the workforce cutbacks, a feat that the company's largest union, the International Association of Machinists, doubts is doable with reduced workforce.

Two employees at Simpson Tacoma Kraft Company were taken to the hospital after a pump casing blew apart at about 9 a.m. with several workers nearby.

The official cause of the small explosion at 801 Portland Ave. is still being investigated, company spokespersons said in an e-mail this afternoon.

The injured employees have been released from the hospital since the accident this morning and are now in good condition, the statement said.

Pierce County has the third highest rate of foreclosures in the state compared to other counties in March – an improvement after coming in first as the county with the most foreclosures during all of 2008.

According to information released Wednesday by RealtyTrac, one in every 320 housing units was in some phase of foreclosure in March.

The California-based company tracks foreclosure-related filings including notices of default, notices of trustee sales and REO properties, which have been foreclosed on and are now owned by a bank. A housing unit can be a house, an apartment or a mobile home.

The number of Pierce County homes facing foreclosure this March was 92 percent more than in the same month last year and 42 percent more than in February 2009.

Clark County had the highest foreclosure rate in the state for March at one in 122 homes, though Pierce County led with the most in the Puget Sound area.

Filings for the first quarter of 2009 were also released, showing Pierce County’s foreclosure numbers to be worse than the nationwide rate of one in 159.

The county had the second most foreclosures in the state for the first quarter, at one in 138 housing units, though the number shows 18 percent fewer foreclosures than in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Nationally, the number of American households threatened with losing their homes in the first quarter or 2009 grew 24 percent over last year.

Boeing's 2009 order book moved from the negative to the positive this week with a Mideast airline's order for eight 787 Dreamliners.

Boeing reported today that Bahrain's Gulf Air exercised options for eight 787s this week. The airline had ordered 16 of the high-tech twin jets in January last year with 8 options. It exercised those purchase options this week.

The addition of the Dreamliner orders, the first this year, moves the Boeing order book into the black for the first time in months.

The company saw orders for 32 Dreamliners canceled earlier this year. Boeing has received orders for 24 of its popular 737s in 2009 and orders for 4 777s this year. The Gulf Air order raises the total 787s ordered to 786.

Tacoma-area gas prices have stabilized in recent weeks, a hopeful harbinger of relatively low summertime fuel prices.

Average prices for a gallon of unleaded regular in Tacoma Thursday were $2.283 a gallon compared with $2.298 a gallon Wednesday and $2.274 a week ago, according to TacomaGasPrices.com.

At this time last year, fuel prices were climbing almost daily. By April 16 last year, the average price of a gallon of unleaded in the Tacoma area was $3.542 a gallon.

Gas prices continued rising until mid July when retail prices in Pierce County hit a high of $4.35 a gallon.

The winded economy is keeping fuel demand down this year.

The federal Energy Information Administration is predicting average summertime gas prices nationwide of $2.23 a gallon. Gas prices are almost always higher in Washington because of higher gas taxes and supply issues.

Bargain hunters can still find gas in Tacoma for $2.15 a gallon at three stations, the Safeway at South 56th Street and Park Avenue and at two ARCO stations, one at Gravelly Lake Drive and Pacific Highway South and the other at Center Street and Union Avenue.

General Growth Properties, the nation's second largest mall operator, says its bankruptcy filing today won't affect mall operations including those at seven malls in Washington.

Chicago-based General Growth filed for bankruptcy reorganization after it was unsuccessful in in finding refinancing for $27 billion in debt it acquired from expansion in recent years.

General Growth operates seven Washington malls: Westlake Center in downtown Seattle, Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, Bellis Fair in Bellingham, NorthTown Mall and Spokane Valley Mall in Spokane, Three Rivers Mall in Kelso and South Shore Mall in Aberdeen.

In addition to General Growth's bankruptcy filings, many of the 200 malls it owns also filed for court protection from creditors.

Not among those General Growth Malls seeking individual bankruptcy were Alderwood, Spokane Valley and Westlake malls in Washington.

The Puyallup Main Street Association is looking for a new executive director after its present director, Dave Eatwell, accepted an economic development position in Oregon.

Eatwell, who served as the downtown Puyallup organization's chief executive for two years, will become economic development director of a consortium of five smaller Oregon cities.

Eatwell has worked in economic development in several Oregon and Washington cities. He will begin his new job May 4, the association said.

"Dave has been a driving force in assisting Main Street achieve many of it's goals over the past two years. He has obtained major funding to initiate projects such as our façade improvement program, now underway bringing a new face to several downtown business locations. Dave has been proactive in assisting with our parking issues and offered innovative ideas to gain resolution," said Main Street board President Paula Jones,

Eatwell will promote economic development in the Oregon cities of Troutdale, Fairview, Wood Village, Corbett and Cascade Locks.

Information on the director's job is available at the Main Street Web site, www.puyallupmainstreet.com/employment

The Northwest Multiple Listings Service breaks down Pierce County into more than 100 neighborhoods and then groups those into 17 areas including Central Tacoma, North Tacoma, Gig Harbor, Lakewood and Sumner.

Here's a look at the median price of homes and condos sold in March by area and the percentage change when compared to the median home price in March 2008.

Areas that had less than 10 homes sold -- Roy/McKenna/Harts Lake and Anderson Island -- are not included in the chart.

One MLS area -- Graham and East Pierce county -- did show a year-over-year price appreciation. But keep in mind that the figure is derived from a relatively small amount of sales, 16 total for the month compared to 38 sales in the same month the previous year.

Occupancy at hotels statewide was down in February compared to the same month a year ago, and the average price of a room slipped in most regions, reports Bellevue hospitality consultant Wolfgang Rood.

The occupancy rate in Tacoma and Pierce County, with 65.9 percent of rooms taken, was off by 7.3 percent from February 2008, Rood said in his monthly report. Statewide, the 56.3 percent occupancy rate was down 12.6 percent.

The Tri-Cities - Central Washington region saw the greatest decline, down 18.8 percent on the year. The Tacoma-area decline the state’s smallest.

The average cost of a room was down 6.9 percent statewide in February, to $111.34, Rood said, while the average rate in the Tacoma area – $80.90 – was up 1.6 percent. Southwest Washington and the Tri-Cities - Central Washington regions also saw gains, both up by more than 4 percent. Bellevue and the Eastside saw the greatest decline, down 11.7 percent.

Layoffs begin today at downtown Tacoma's biggest employer, Russell Investments.

About 400 of the investment advisory firm's 2,000 workers worldwide will receive notice today that their jobs are ending, said Russell spokeswoman Jennifer Tice.

Clearing out at Russell headquarters today.

Tice declined to say how many of Russell's Tacoma headquarters staff of 1,100 will be affected.

"We're not breaking it down by location or by function," she said.

Russell, like many firms in the banking and investment business, has been hit hard by the decline in the world economy. The staffing reductions are designed to reshape the company into a leaner and more focused organization.

"A workforce reduction was necessary and the majority of this effort occurred today, primarily impacting non-client facing roles. We remain committed to serving the needs of our clients and we do not expect any impact on our investment capability," the company said in a statement.

While the Russell spokeswoman wouldn't say what areas of the company are being affected most, she did say that none of the senior analysts and few portfolio managers will be leaving the privately held company.

Some employees may be leaving the company by the end of the week, while others may stay on longer to smooth the transition, Tice said.

Because employment laws differ worldwide, she said, some layoffs may require more time in other countries, she said.

Most of the workers who will be leaving, however, are expected to be gone by April's end.

Russell is providing workers with a transition and severance package that includes help in finding new work, said Tice. She declined to discuss the amount of severance pay or insurance, if any, that will be available to laid off workers.

Russell in the last year has seen the departure of a legion of senior managers including CEO Craig Ueland and longtime chairman Mike Phillips. Other notable defections included Noel Lamb, Russell's chief investment officer for North America, Mark Amberson, head of money market funds, Philip Coates, a money market portfolio manager and Helen Stewart, head of credit research.

Others departing the firm in the last year were Frederic Jolly, Russell Investments' CEO for Europe, Africa and the Middle East and Jon Bailie, chief of the alternatives investments operation.

Some left because of reversals in Russell's business while others departed to take advantage of a bonus program that was due to change at the end of 2008.

The firm's hedge fund programs shut down after discouraging results, and the company's parent, Milwaukee's Northwestern Mutual, reportedly had to infuse $764 million into Russell's money market fund to backstop sour investments in bankrupt Lehman Brothers.

Northwestern Mutual bought Russell from its founding family for $950 million in 1998.

Russell is not alone in the asset management business in trimming its workforce and expenses. According to Financial News Online, rivals such as Legg Mason, Putnam Investments and BlackRock have made similar expense-cutting moves.

Meanwhile, the company has delayed any decision about where to locate a new headquarters building.

Tacoma and Seattle have been battling for that honor for months with Tacoma offering some $148 million in incentives to remain in the community and the Downtown Seattle Association mounting a campaign recently to attract Russell there.

Michelle Berg of Good Karma Boutique in Fircrest writes to say that she and other business owners will host an auction and party on Saturday evening, April 18, to help another business owner, Geraldine Budrovich, with recent medical expenses.

“As a small business owner myself I can only imagine what a burden it must be weighing on her,” Berg says.

The event – slated for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 614-618 Regents Blvd. in Fircrest – will feature food and beverages catered by Poppy Seed Cafe. Auction items will include the work of local artists as well as meals from several upscale Tacoma restaurants. Also, look for light makeovers and scalp massages from local professionals.

In business for nearly 30 years, and for more than 12 at her current location, Budrovich owns the lamp shop Jerika’s at 614 Regents Blvd. From my own experience, it’s maybe the best place in the area to get just the right bulb, the right shade and the right lamp. The store was last featured in The News Tribune in November, 2007.

Thinking about a summer job? How about something with people on vacation happily splashing their way through an afternoon? Or families and kids just having fun in the sun? And then there’s the sizzle of the hot dogs.

Wild Waves Theme Park in Federal Way is looking to fill up to 1,000 seasonal positions, and will host a job fair on Saturday, April 18 from noon to 4:00 p.m. at the park.

Interviews will be held at the job fair.

A press release today offers that “individuals over 16 years of age, retirees, or individuals simply looking for a second job are all encouraged to apply online only at www.wildwaves.com no later than Friday, April 17 in order to pre-register for an interview.”

The park will be hiring for a variety of jobs including ride operations, food service, retail, aquatics, admissions, park services, security, games, maintenance, group sales, rentals, parking and human resources.

The park, which offers over 60 rides, slides and other attractions, is scheduled to partially open on May 16 -17, and fully open on weekends from May 23-June 14, and open daily beginning on June 15.

For more information, interested applicants may contact the Wild Waves Theme Park human resources office at 253-661-8027.

The Boeing Co. continued to hire new hourly workers even as it was considering mass layoffs early this year, the company's largest union claims.

The International Association of Machinists Local Lodge 751 said that of the 26 hourly workers the company put on the payroll since the Jan. 9 announcement of major layoffs at the company, 23 have already received notices that their new jobs are disappearing.

The union claims that many of those new hires gave up better-paying positions to join Boeing in hopes of advancing through the ranks to better jobs.

Some even moved across the country to join Boeing. They worked only a few days before receiving warning notices that their jobs were ending in 60 days, the union said.

Boeing spokesman Tim Healy said the company regrets having to lay off people it just hired, but the quickly-changing economy surprised Boeing with its rapid decline.

"The hiring process is one that can take many weeks," Healy said. "There was an awful lot of uncertainty in the economy late last year. Between the time we decided to hire these people and the time they reported for work, the situation had changed dramatically."

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Scott Carson announced Jan. 9 that the company would be laying off some 4,500 workers in the commercial airplanes division in 2009.

Carson cited the deteriorating market for air travel and the stressed financial markets as reason for the payroll reductions.

The union says its members began hearing rumors of possible layoffs last fall and implored the company to stop hiring. Boeing kept hiring, the union said.

"Every one of them (the new hires) would have selected a different path had they suspected their employment would be so short-lived," a union spokeswoman said.

Boeing's Healy said the layoff order is governed by the contract that both the Machnists and Boeing signed last fall. That contract calls for the workers with the lowest seniority to be laid off first.

The terminated workers won't receive any severance pay unless they had been employed a year.

They will receive six months of paid medical care and job search help from the company even if their tenure is short, he said.

The workers who have received 60-day layoff warning notices are also eligible to apply for other jobs within the company.

Alaska Airlines' experiment with a satellite airborne Internet system on one of its airliners hase has been well received by its customers, the airline says.

Some 96 percent of users who tried the airborne Internet system aboard an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-700 since the start of the test in late February say they will use the system again, the airline said.

Other findings:

*More than 78 percent said they were either "extremely likely" or "very likely" to recommend the system to others.

*Some 75 percent rated the system "excellent" or "very good."

*About 75 percent used "smart phones" to access the Internet aboard the flights while the remainder used their own laptops or notebook computers.

The airline, satisfied that there's a demand for the service, now will be testing various price models to determine what level works best for the airline and its customers.

The first six weeks of service was free.

The airline plans to begin installing the satellite-based system on other planes in its fleet later this year.

That system is provided by Row44, the same southern California company that is furnishing a similar system to Southwest Airlines.

Alaska chose the satellite system because it can provide uninterrupted service throughout its route system that stretches from Adak in Alaska to Hawaii in the Pacific. The airline flies to Boston, New York, Washington, D.C. and Florida on the East Coast.

Other airlines are using a ground-based communication system for their Internet offerings. Such a system would leave Alaska's jets overflying the Pacific or in remote regions of Alaska without service.

Reports from the Middle East say Middle Eastern investors are interested in buying Textron Inc.'s civil aircraft assets and selling its defense businesses to The Boeing Co.

That defense sale would include Textron's Bell Helicopter division. Bell and Boeing jointly produce the V-22 Osprey, a plane that takes off like a helicopter and cruises like a conventional aircraft.

Boeing makes the aircraft's fuselage in Pennsylvania. Bell makes the plane's wings, its engine enclosures and tail section in Texas where the aircraft is assembled.

The Pentagon has plans to buy 458 of the aircraft for $54 billion.

The first of the V-22s have been deployed to Iraq where the plane is reportedly proving its worth transporting troops and responding to emergencies.

The Osprey has stubby wings at the end of which are large nacelles that enclose the aircraft engines.

For takeoff and landing the nacelles are rotated upward so that the large blades operate like a helicopter. Once the aircraft is in the air, the nacelles are rotated to a horizontal position, and the blades pull the aircraft forward.

Australia's Qantas, smacked by declining business and a fare war between the U.S. and Australia, is delaying delivery of new aircraft from both Boeing and Europe's Airbus.

The flagship airline announced it will defer deliveries of four super jumbo Airbus A380s and 12 single-aisle Boeing 737-800s.

The 737s, built in Rentonm, will be delayed an average of 14 months.

Qantas also announced it is talking with Boeing about delays on the delivery of some of the 787 Dreamliners it has on order.

The Dreamliner is already about two years behind its original delivery schedule, so a delay isn't necessarily a bad thing for Boeing.

The airline said it expects profits to drop to less than half its 2008 levels this year. It is reducing capital expenditures by $584 million this year and laying off 500 managers. The airline plans to reduce its capacity by 5 percent.

Washington's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate jumped to 9.2 percent in March, up from 8.3 percent the previous month, according to figures released by the state's Employment Security Department today.

The state lost an estimated 20,000 jobs last month. There was no significant growth in any major industry or sector, according the ESD's news release.

An estimated 344,000 people were unemployed and looking for work.

Pierce County recorded an unemployment rate of 10.6 percent, up from 9.2 percent in February. The county figures are not seasonally adjusted.

More than 42,800 people in the Tacoma-area were unemployed and hunting for a job last month, the state reports.

Amazon.com released a statement Monday afternoon seeking to explain why thousands of books — including many gay- and lesbian-themed titles — were removed from its sales rankings over the weekend, The Seattle Times reported.

“This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection,” Drew Herdener, the Seattle company’s communications director, told the paper.

“It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles — in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing books from Amazon’s main product search.”

Amazon previously blamed a “glitch,” which seemed to intensify anger among some gay and lesbian activists who suspected homophobic censorship.

Books without sales rankings are still listed on Amazon.com but deleted from its best-seller lists, reducing the chances that they’ll come to the attention of someone browsing the Web site for popular titles.

Those of us who haven't finished our 2008 taxes have a friend in the United States Postal Service.

If you're pushing the deadline, the Post Office plans to have three Puget Sound area mail drop-offs standing by until midnight to receive your last minute tax filings.

Taxes returns deposited in those three boxes by midnight Wednesday will receive the critical April 15 postmark that signifies that you've sent your tax forms in on time.

One of those three locations is in Tacoma at Tacoma's main post office at 4001 South Pine St. The other two are at Seattle's Riverton Station and in Everett.

The Post Office reminds customers to weigh their submitals to the IRS to ensure you have the correct postage. The IRS won't pay post due, and returns rejected for lack of sufficient postage might as well have not been mailed at all unless the sender manages to get them back in the mail with the proper stamps by Wednesday midnight.

SeaTac's Alaska Airlines and its sister airline, Horizon Air, are putting a new twist on fare sales for the next two weeks.

The airlines, beginning at midnight tonight, will announce what they call a "deep daily discount" fare of up to 30 percent off to a featured city of the day.

The discount fares will be available to destinations throughout Alaska, the lower 48 states, Canada and Mexico for two weeks beginning Tuesday through April 27. Hawaii will be excluded from the sale.

"We're offering daily discounts to and from a different city each day for two weeks," said Steve Jarvis, the airline's vice president of sales, marketing and customer experience.

The seats must be purchased seven days in advance of travel. The tickets will be valid through June 19.

Boeing Co. stock was down more than 5 percent today to $37.15 a share after a well-known aerospace analyst downgraded the stock to "underperform."

Cowen & Co. analyst Cai von Rumohr predicted that the airline industry's down cycle could be deeper than typical cycles in the past because of the combination of falling demand and credit issues.

Boeing itself last week announced it plans to cut production of the its large twin-jet, the 777, from seven to five per month at its Everett factory beginning in 2010.

That production cut will reduce both sales and profits in 2010.

The company also revealed that the worldwide financial crisis and the dropping demand for aircraft has softened prices for new planes, another factor that's expected to take a bite out of Boeing profits.

The company said no airline thus far has canceled an order of its 737, 747, 767 or 777 aircraft, but several airlines have deferred deliveries.

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner order book has seen a few defections as the economy spins lower and Boeing continues to be nearly two years behind schedule in delivering the planes.

Fife-based Rushforth Construction has been sold to Adolfson & Peterson Construction, a family-owned firm based in Minneapolis. The transaction was formally announced this morning in a release.

Speaking last week, majority shareholder and Rushforth board chairman Randy Rushforth said the deal would benefit his employees as it joins two like-minded companies.

Rushforth Construction had been owned by Randy Rushforth and company colleagues from the Nakamura family, sons of Kaz Nakamura, who joined the firm as it began to grow. Company President Kim Nakamura and brother Brad will remain at Rushforth Construction, as will Randy Rushforth – who has contracted to stay for at least three years.

The name of the Fife company will likewise remain intact.

=> Read more!

The City of Tacoma will throw business owners a lifeline next week in the form of free expert advice on surviving the lackluster economy.

At “Reboot your Business: Finding Opportunities in the Present Economy,” a free workshop, speaker Tina Janni will provide insights on how business owners can navigate through economically turbulent times and position their businesses for future success.

Janni will advise that business owners get back to basics to best tackle the changing economic climate in a session sponsored by the City's Community and Economic Development Department. Janni will provide specific examples to help businesses focus their priorities on mission, marketing, the strength of the operation and financial strategies.

Tacoma business owners can choose between two free sessions:
• April 16 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
• April 17 from 8 to 10 a.m.

The workshops will take place at Bates Technical College in the Clyde Hupp Board Room, 3rd floor, 1101 S. Yakima Ave.

Janni, a tenured faculty business consultant with Bates Technical College’s Business & Management Training Center, has served as a facilitator and trainer on various business topics such as organizational analysis, strategic leadership and brand alignment for large and small organizations in the private, for-profit and non-profit sectors.

For more information or to reserve your spot, contact Christine Clifford at (253) 573-2435 or at cclifford@cityoftacoma.org.

The Port of Tacoma is celebrating Earth Day, April 22, with a free guided bus tour of its restored wildlife habitat and environmental projects.

"Discover how the Port of Tacoma is protecting Commencement Bay, home to marine birds, fish, mammals and other wildlife, as well as one of North America’s largest container ports," the port said in a news release.

The tour will begin at 9:30 a.m. and return to the port headquarters about noon.

Reservations are required. Children age 6 and older are welcome. Photo identification is required for passengers 17 and older, the port said.

The tour will involve minor hiking. Comfortable, durable shoes and weather-appropriate clothing are recommended.

Reservations are available by calling 253-383-9463 or e-mailing bustours@portoftacoma.com

An iconic Northwest merchant, sporting goods retailer Joe's Sports and Outdoor, is liquidating the contents of its 31 Pacific Northwest stores beginning Friday.

Joe's, which sought bankruptcy last month, is selling off its merchandise and closing its stores after it was unable to find a buyer.

Boston's Gordon Brothers Group will conducted the liquidation sales.

The company claimed it will offer substantial discounts from Joe's regular prices during the "everything goes" sales.

The fate of the Wilsonville, Ore. sporting goods store's 1,600 employees isn't yet clear, but presumably they will be losing their jobs as the liquidation winds down.

The chain has 12 Puget Sound area stores including stores in Lakewood, Puyallup, Federal Way, Kent and Renton in the South Sound.

At the Joe's store in Puyallup, duty manager Randy Rust said some 40 people work at the store.

Rust said he was given a quick briefing Thursday morning about the liquidation. He didn't know many details.

"I presume it will last until all the goods are gone," he said. "That could take two days or two months."

Meanwhile at the company headquarters a corporate spokeswoman said she was banned from discussing the liquidation.

"There is nothing I can tell you," said the spokeswoman Shannon Burley.

The company's fate was determined Thursday morning in a Delware bankruptcy court.

Joe's was celebrating the 57th anniversary of its founding by former serviceman Edward Orkney when it entered bankruptcy.

Orkney bought 2,000 World War II sleeping bags from the Army and sold them out of his station wagon in Portland to start his business.

The company subsequently moved to a tent and then to an older building in Portland.

Until recently known as GI Joe's, the retail chain was sold in 2007 to a San Francisco investment firm.

Kenmore Air is scheduling three-times-daily seaplane service between Seattle's Lake Union and the Olympic Peninsula during this spring's six-week closure of the Hood Canal Bridge, the airline said today.

The new service will connect both Port Ludlow and Port Hadlock with Seattle. Van service will be available to and from Port Townsend from both Olympic Peninsula destinations for $5 each way.

The flights are scheduled to take between 20 and 35 minutes each way depending on the routing. Fares on the route will be $79 each way, the airline said.

"The impetus for this new service really came from the communities themselves," said Kenmore Air vice president of flight operations Tim Brooks. "We were approached by folks who were very concerned about the potential impacts of the bridge closure on their lives and businesses."

The Washington Department of Transportation will be replacing sections of the eastern part of the bridge during the closure.

The bridge is now being scheduled for closure from May 1 through June 15. The DOT is providing a free passenger ferry between both sides of the bridge, but vehicles will have to drive around or take the Port Townsend-Keystone ferry.

Boeing will reduce its production of its twin-jet 777 from seven a month to five monthly beginning in the first quarter next year.

The company also announced today it is postponing its planned modest increase in production rates for its 747-8 and 767 aircraft. All three wide-bodied aircraft are built at Boeing's Everett plant.

The production changes will reduce Boeing's projected earnings by about 38 cents a share during next year's first quarter, the company said.

Boeing blamed the production decrease on global economic conditions. The company also said that pricing of aircraft is also being affected by reduced demand.

"These are extremely difficult economic times for our customers," said Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Scott Carson. "It's necessary to adjust our production plans to align supply with these tough market conditions. We are in close contact with our customers as we continue to monitor this dynamic business environment."

No customers have yet canceled their orders for the 777, 787 or 767, though several have sought deferred delivery dates for the plans.

Puget Sound ports will receive $26.9 million in federal funding for port security efforts, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray's office announced today.

The money will go toward infrastructure security improvements such as chemical detectors, cameras, security gates and training and exercises, according to a news release from Murray's office.

The funding for these grants was part of $30.3 million in funds headed toward Washington ports. The money was included in the Fiscal Year 2009 Port Security Grant program.

"With millions of containers passing through our region each year, and with thousands of good paying jobs tied to our ports, these grants are critical to ensuring that our state's ports employ the right technology and training methods to prevent possible attacks," Murray said.

Alaska Airlines and low-cost carrier Allegiant Air are cutting fares and adding flights in a war for Bellingham and Vancouver, B.Cl passengers.

Alaska announced today it will begin flying three times weekly, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, between Bellingham and Las Vegas.

The Alaska flights counter Allegiant's three-times daily flights to the gambling capital from Bellingham.

Alaska fares start at $59 each way. Allegiant says it may match those fares.

Alaska has been offering flights to Vegas four times a day from Bellingham but through Sea-Tac Airport. The new flights are non-stop.

Allegiant has been developing Bellingham as a minor stronghold in northwestern Washington, steadily increasing its flights over the past several years.

Allegiant's business model calls for it to link major vacation destinations such as Las Vegas and Florida with smaller airports, oftentimes only on a few days a week.

The airline has been successful in that business strategy.

In addition to its new low fares, Alaska will bring with it advantage of its frequent flier program, newer aircraft and larger network. The airline will offer double miles as an introductory lure for fliers on the route.

Yakima County stands tall in a report out today from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which has issued its annual review of employment and wages in the nation’s 334 largest counties.

Yakima County scored the highest over-the-year increase in employment, gaining 3.2 percent. (Elkhart County, Ind., scored the highest loss of jobs, down 10.8 percent.)

Employment dropped in 207 counties between September 2007 and September 2008, the report says. Employment rose in 109, while the remainder were unchanged.

The average weekly wage in the largest counties was $841 during the period, with the highest in New York County, NY, at $1,552. Workers in Rutherford County, Tenn., gained the most, up $124.

In Pierce County, 21,100 covered employers – those offering unemployment insurance – employed 278,400 workers during the third quarter of 2008, a drop of 0.1 percent form the year before. The average weekly wage in Pierce County was $774, an increase of 2.7 percent.

In Thurston County, 7,100 employers employed 102,000 workers, who earned an average $786, BLS said.

In King County, 78,500 establishments employed 1,198,700 workers who earned an average $1,162. King County workers in the “information” field earned a weekly $3,364.

In the state’s six largest counties, 225,500 establishments employed just over three million workers who earned an average $903.

CB Richard Ellis reports that the first quarter 2009 office vacancy rate in the Tacoma-Fife area stands at 9.6 percent, the lowest in the Puget Sound area. Downtown Seattle saw a total vacancy rate of 12.7 percent, with the area north of Seattle coming in at 18.5 percent.

Tacoma and Fife, CBRE said, have 102,187 square feet of office space under construction. The current direct asking rate for Class A space in the Tacoma area is $21.42, per-square-foot per-year, well below the area’s average rate of $30.98.

For industrial space, CBRE reports that the Tacoma-Fife area had a vacancy rate of 9.3 percent in the first quarter, above the market average of 6.3 percent. The direct asking rate for space was 34 cents per-square-foot per-month, again the lowest in the region and below the average of 53 cents.

Tacoma's Click! cable TV says it's adding 17 new high definition channels and four regular channels to its
lineup today.

Here's are the additional channels:

Bravo HD
Animal Planet HD
ABC Family HD
E! HD
CNBC HD
Cartoon Network HD
Azteca America
History Channel HD
Disney Channel HD
Business TV
Planet Green HD
Disney XD HD
KOMO2: This TV
Science Channel HD
KCPQ2: Fox First Forecast
Travel Channel HD
Lifetime HD
Lifetime Movie Channel HD
Sci Fi HD
The Movie Channel HD
WGN America HD

New channel listings are available at the Click! store in the Tacoma Public Utilities main lobby at South Union and South 35th and at www.clickcabletv.com.

Two Seattle companies have teamed up to make it easier to buy games for your Xbox.

Amazon.com said today that customers can now but select Microsoft Xbox Live games and other products in its new Xbox store.

Until now, gamers could only buy games directly from Xbox 360 console or xbox.com. Amazon.com is the first retailer to offer customers digital access to codes for downloading Xbox LIVE Arcade games, according to a news release from the company.

Customers can choose from fan-favorite titles including "Braid," "Castle Crashers" and over 100 other games.

"PC gamers have enjoyed the convenience of digital downloads on Amazon.com for some time. Now Amazon.com and Microsoft are bringing that same level of convenience to platform gamers by expanding the reach of the Xbox LIVE digital platform to millions of Amazon customers," said Greg Hart, vice president of Video Games and Software for Amazon.com.

On-time arrivals in March improved by nearly two percentage points in March at Sea-Tac Airport over the airport's 2008 average, a new survey shows.

The report from Portland's FlightStats.com shows Sea-Tac ranked 24th among North America's busiest 40 commercial airports in on-time arrivals in March.

The airport's on-time arrival rate in March was 78.46 percent compared with 76.54 percent in all of 2008.

On-time arrival percentages were improved at most U.S. and Canadian airports this year because of lighter passenger volumes and fewer flights in the air traffic control system.

Oakland anchored the top of the list with an 87.28 percent on-time arrival percentage.

The next four were:

Detroit (DTW) - 85.13%
Salt Lake City (SLC) - 84.98%
Cleveland (CLE) - 84.63%
Cincinnati (CVG) - 84.58%%

At the bottom of the list was Newark's Liberty Airport with a 58.95 percent on-time rate in March.

Even the Easter Bunny is feeling the effects of the recession.

The National Retail Federation is reporting that Easter 2009 will see fewer Peeps, jellybeans and chocolate eggs in fewer Easter baskets, and that consumers will be spending less for Easter celebrations, clothing and gifts.

According to the NRF 2009 Easter Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, the average American consumer will spend $116.59 on Easter candy, gifts, food, decorations and clothing – down from an average of $135.03 in 2008.

The federation anticipates that total Easter spending this year, by American adults 18 and over, will reach $12.73 billion.

The largest single expenditure, the federation says, will be in meal preparation, with the average person spending $37.67 on food, down from $41.09 in 2008. Gifts will be down to $17.30 from $21.42; flowers will reach $7.55, down from $9.11; and candy will decrease to $16.55 from $18.12 last year.

For that new Easter bonnet or holiday outfit, Americans will spend an average of $19.44, down from $23.82.

As to the demographics of Easter spending, the West falls behind the rest of the country in most categories.

Only 74.5 percent people in the West plan to celebrate the holiday, the survey reported, while 83.7 percent of Midwesterners will be hunting for hidden eggs, gathering for a family ham or otherwise marking the day.

Only 35.1 percent of people in the West will be tying the holiday to the purchase of clothing, against 43.1 percent of Southerners. A mere 56 percent of Westerners will be buying Easter gifts, against 60.7 percent of people in the Northeast.

When it comes to candy, however, we in the West come second behind only those in the Northeast. We’ll be spending an average of $18.25, while they spend $22.67.

Still, more Americans will celebrate Easter this year than last, 79.9 percent against 79 percent, the NRF says.

If it seemed there were fewer air travel hassles to plague on your vacation and business trips last year, you were not hallucinating.

A new study from two college professors who track airline quality says there were fewer delays, fewer bumped passengers, less mishandled luggage and fewer consumer complaints about air travel in 2008 than in 2007.

Credit the slowdown in air travel for the improvements. With fewer travelers in the airports and fewer planes in the air, airlines last year were less harried in their efforts to get travelers and their luggage to their destinations at the time promised.

The two professors, Brent Bowen of St. Louis University and Dean E. Headly of Wichita State University, said industry performance was better last year in all major areas they measure.

On-time performance improved from 73 percent ontime in 2007 to 76 percent in 2008. Involuntary denied boardings dropped from 1.14 per 10,000 passengers to 1.10. Mishandled baggage rates fell from 7.01 per 1,000 passengers to 5.19 per thousand. And consumer complaints dropped from 1.42 per 100,000 passengers to 1.15.

Of the 17 domestic airlines the two surveyed, US Airways improved the most. United improved the least.

Here's their ranking of those 16 airlines along with their scores: (Lower numbers are better.)

1. Hawaiian -- .69
2. AirTran -- .84
3. JetBlue -- .90
4. Northwest -- 1.04
5. Alaska -- 1.16
6. Southwest -- 1.23
7. Frontier -- 1.31
8. Continental -- 1.39
9. American -- 1.71
10. US Airways -- 1.77
11. United -- 1.83
12. Delta -- 2.09
13. Skywest -- 2.13
14. Mesa -- 2.29
15. Comair -- 3.03
16. American Eagle -- 3.12
17. Atlantic Southest -- 3.43

SeaTac-base Alaska Airlines improved its scores across the board.

On-time arrivals were 78.3 percent in 2008 compared with 72.4 percent the year before.

Complaints were .45 per 100,000 customers compared with .76 in 2207.

Mishandled baggage rates declined from 6.39 per 1,000 passengers in 2007 to 4.47 per 1,000 last year.

Involuntary denied boadings dropped to .63 per 10,000 passengers from .73 in 2007.

Overall, those better scores raised Alaska from seventh place among domestic carriers in 2007 to fifth in 2008.

The Boeing Co., and its chief rival in the airliner business, Europe's Airbus, are neck-and-neck after the first quarter in the new orders race.

Boeing reports 23 orders for new aircraft, and Airbus reports 22. Airbus reports that its orders are for more money. The European planemaker says it grabbed 54 percent of the orders measured by value compared with Boeing's 46 percent.

On a net orders basis, both companies are much lower. Net orders is the number of new orders minus cancellations.

Airbus says it had 8 net orders in the first three months of the year. Boeing reported -4.

There’s a full agenda this week at the monthly two-day meeting of the State Gambling Commission - slated for Thursday and Friday, April 9 and 10, at the Red Lion Hotel, 2300 Evergreen Park Dr. in Olympia.

Thursday’s public agenda begins at 1:30 p.m. with a report on tribal contributions and an update on legislative actions - including bills that speak to penalties for underage gamblers; the consolidation of the Gambling Commission with the Department of Licensing; an increase to raffle ticket prices; and allowing cities and towns to conduct raffles.

Among rules up for action, look for a proposal to increase the number of games played in a single hand of cards and a proposal to allow remote access to surveillance images.

On Friday, beginning at 9 a.m., commissioners will decide whether to allow an increase – to $500 in one version, $300 in another – in wagering limits in Texas Hold’em poker games.

The commission will also consider, among other items: a petition that asks for the use of “electronic poker tables” that would eliminate the need for a center dealer in poker games; a proposed rule change to allow minors to sell raffle tickets; and a measure concerning offering tips to poker supervisors.

The public is welcome to attend, and time will be allowed for comment during both meetings.

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

Looking to save $130 a year? The May issue of Consumer Reports, on sale today, may have just the answer.

Toilet paper.

“Store brands like Costco’s Kirkland Signature and Walmart’s White Cloud cost roughly half as much as brand-name toilet paper, and scored very good or better for softness and disintegration in Consumer Reports’ tests,” says a release from the magazine.

“Quilted Northern Ultra Plush ($0.29 per 100 sheets) topped the list for its strength and softness. But at just 12 to 15 cents per 100 sheets, Kirkland Signature and White Cloud offer the most performance for the price.”

Either of the two “Best Buy” rolls could save a family of three roughly $130 per year, the release said.

For a look at the article – which goes on to discuss such matters as flushability and tissue strength – check your local newsstand or visit www.consumerreports.org.

Feel free to comment on your personal favorite.

A class action suit brought by a Seattle lawyer on behalf of a Tacoma couple and thousands of other British Airways customers who lost their luggage two years ago passed a critical test today.

A New York U.S. district judge denied the airlines' motion for dismissal of the suit and ruled it could move forward in the court system.

The airline had argued it was not responsible for damages beyond the $1,500 per passenger limit set in an international convention. But the plaintiffs claimed that the airline was potentially liable for more than that amount because it acted recklessly in handling baggage between September 5, 2005 and Sept. 5, 2007.

Reports claimed that the airline's backlog of misconnected luggage in March 2007 amounted to some 20,000 pieces. The suit contends that the airline's loss rate was 23 bags per 1,000 passengers , some 60 percent greater than the industry average.

Here’s a good look at Charles (Carlo) Ponzi, famous for giving his name to the scheme made most recently famous by Bernie “The Bent Billionaire” Madoff.

The image comes from Gerry Sullivan, a University Place chiropractor, who sends it along with a caption explaining that the man on the left is Thomas Mulrey, “my mother's uncle on her father's side. He was a member of the Boston Police Department from 1906 to 1944” and retired as a captain.

“Ponzi was in court in Massachusetts and in Florida,” Sullivan says. “My hunch is that this picture, having been taken in February, was taken at a train station and that Ponzi was either heading for Florida or returning to Massachusetts.”

That's Ponzi in the middle, and for those of you who know Sullivan - you'll be able to see the striking resemblance to Mulrey.

Sullivan came across the image after reading Dennis Lehane's "The Given Day," a fictional account of the Boston Patrolman's strike of 1919.

“I decided to inquire further into my great uncle's career,” Sullivan says. “One avenue suggested to me by Margaret Sullivan (no relation), the archivist for the BPD, was to request a search of old photographs at the Boston Public Library.”

The library holds the photo archives of the now-defunct Boston Herald Traveler, and provided Sullivan with three pictures of his great uncle.

That includes the image above.

“I am surprised that the Ponzi connection did not survive as a family legend. I'll just have to see that it does,“ Sullivan writes.

In the late '60 and '70s, the secret of scoring a cheap ride to Europe were Icelandic's flight from New York through Reykjavik.

With the proliferation of non-stop flights from other U.S. cities to Europe, and the deregulation of air fares, that route took a back seat to other discount routings.

Now, bargain fares are back with new service from Seattle to Europe via Icelandair's Reykjavik hub.

Consider these summertime roundtrip fares via the Icelandic city:
London -- $730
Stockholm -- $798
Copenhagen -- $798
Oslo -- $748

These fares are exclusive of taxes and security fees.

Here's an example of how these fares compare:

Seattle to London roundtrip via Iceland including fees and taxes: $874.

Seattle to London roundtrip nonstop via British Airways $1,197 including taxes.

The Icelandair fares must be purchased by April 14 for travel between July 23 and Aug. 30. Icelandair will fly to and from Iceland on Tuesday, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Wondering about your credit - especially in these troubled times? Wondering about fitting yourself into a mortgage - and finding one that fits your particular needs?

Mark Swanson – a branch manager at Rainier Pacific Bank – will lead a pair of financial workshops at the South Hill Pierce County Library, 15420 Meridian Ave. E.

The first, “Understanding Your Credit,” will be held Monday, April 20 at 7 p.m. The second, “Which Mortgage is Right for You?” comes on Monday, April 27, also at 7 p.m.

According to a release today, Swanson has been involved in the mortgage and finance business since 1994. He has worked as a mortgage underwriter and finance company branch manager, in addition to buying and selling mortgage loans to various Wall Street companies.

The Friends of the South Hill Library are sponsoring the workshops. Admission is free.

Also, the Pierce County Library System announces that it is purchasing additional books about personal finance, how to prevent foreclosures and other economic issues.

The library has compiled Web sites offering local help and information. Click here for a look at several online resources, including information about employment assistance, skill training and making your way through the recession.

Known for dig-for-it deals, T.J. Maxx at 3216 S. 23rd St. in Tacoma just got an organizational makeover that should help customers better navigate the discount displays.

Updated checkout systems and dressing rooms, new light fixtures and clear signage throughout the store means customers can find the same clothing, beauty and home decor items with more ease, still at up to 60 percent off department store prices, according to the press release.

"We are thrilled to offer a fresh, new shopping experience thanks to suggestions from our customers," T.J. Maxx spokeswoman Sonya Cosentini said in the release.

The store's beauty counter has doubled the number of salon and hair and skin care products it offers as well.

T.J. Maxx's makeover comes a week after Gottschalks, a discount department store, shutters its 58 locations nationwide and announces liquidation sales now through July.

Alaska Airlines' on-time performance in March was the worst among the nation's major carriers as the Mt. Redoubt volcano in Alaska took its toll on the airline's flights.

New figures from Portland's Flightstats.com show Alaska's on-time record was 70.5 percent in March. A flight is counted as being on time if it arrives within 15 minutes of its schedule.

Alaska has been forced to cancel or delay hundreds of flights to Alaska last month and this because of ash spewed by the Mt. Redoubt volcano.

The airborne ash or ash on runways can contaminate and damage airline jet engines.

While Alaska's was nearly at the bottom in on-time performance among all of the nation's carriers in March, Horizon Air, its regional airline sister, was near the top, second on the list.

Horizon's flights were reported to by 85.68 percent on time in March, second only to Hawaiian Airlines with its 90.55 percent on-time record. Horizon doesn't fly to Alaska.

On-time percentages for other carriers with flights from Sea-Tac Airport:

Virgin America -- 83.48%
Northwest -- 83.07%
Southwest -- 83.02%
Frontier -- 81.08%
United -- 80.26%
US Airways -- 78.92%
JetBlue Airways -- 78.66%
Sun Country Airlines -- 77.30%
American Airlines -- 76.17%
Midwest Airlines -- 73.87%
Continental Airlines -- 73.71%
Delta Airlines -- 73.13%
AirTran Airways -- 73.13%

These figures are systemwide percentages, not just at Sea-Tac.

SeaTac's Alaska Airlines reported an 8.1 percent drop in passenger traffic in March compared with the same month a year ago.

But the airline's flights were fuller last month because the airline reduced its seats available by a greater percentage, 9 percent, during the month.

That translates to a percentage of seats filled of 81.6 percent on Alaska flights in March 2009 compared with 80.8 percent in March 2008.

At Alaska's regional sister carrier, Horizon Air, traffic dropped more steeply, 20.7 percent, during March. Available seats fell 15.9 percent during the month.

The percentage of seats filled with paying passengers at Horizon dropped to 69.5 percent last month compared with 73.8 percent a year earlier.

Alaska and Horizon weren't alone in seeing their business decline in March as the economy contracted and businesses slashed travel budgets.

US Airways reported March traffic was down 9 percent, and American Airlines said its traffic dropped by 10.9 percent.

American's traffic fell faster than its capacity.
American reported 5.6 percent less capacity in March than than the same month in 2008.

Aviation blogger Jon Ostrower says today he's learned that Boeing is shuffling the delivery order for its new 787 Dreamliners.

The major result of that change is that 787 launch customer All Nippon Airways will be taking delivery of 11 of the first dozen production Dreamliners off the assembly line, Ostrower says he's learned.

The Japanese carrier has moved up on the delivery list because some Chinese carriers dropped back to later positions.

Chinese airlines had complained that they were unhappy with taking delivery of early Dreamliners because they're likely to be less efficient than later planes coming off the assembly line because the early examples will be over Boeing's target weight for the plane.

Another incentive for taking early deliveries has also disappeared for the Chinese carriers. They had hoped to take delivery of the high-tech planes before the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

With the delivery of the first production aircraft now set for the first quarter of next year, the plane is nearly two years behind schedule.

A new player is entering the competition to win the nod from Tacoma's Russell Investments for its new headquarters.

The Downtown Seattle Association acknowledged this week that it plans to make a sales presentation to Russell executives to bolster Seattle's chances of winning the corporate headquarters for the worldwide investment advisory firm.

Russell has been studying where to relocate its headquarters for more than a year now. Tacoma has mounted a civic campaign to win the company's favor. That sales effort includes more than $40 million in tax and development incentives to stay in Tacoma where the company was founded.

Russell, which originally had planned to announce a decision by the end of 2008, has indefinitely postponed the decision.

The company is due to announce staff reductions soon to cope with the diminished business that the worldwide recession has brought.

Russell is downtown Tacoma's largest private employer with more than 1,200 workers here.

Several Seattle developers and realtors have been pursuing Russell for months, but the association has stood on the sidelines until now.

With the purchase of Washington Mutual by JP Morgan Chase, downtown Seattle is due to lose hundreds of high-paying financial industry jobs and a major tenant in two Seattle skyscrapers.

A Russell move to Seattle could help plug that gap.

Though Russell says it is still mulling over where to locate, the company clearly has other priorities such as reorganizing its business under a new chief executive and coping with the world economic meltdown before it thinks of fancy new quarters.

Two downtown Tacoma sites remain in play for the company. One includes an expansion near its present A Street headquarters and the other involves new construction on the former site of downtown bus terminal on Pacific Avenue.

Ten Washington stores including locations in Federal Way and Gig Harbor are among 300 stores Ritz Camera Centers Inc. will close nationwide, the company announced today.

Ritz, parent company of Kits Cameras, Wolf Cameras and Proex, is closing the stores as part of a bankruptcy reorganization.

The camera chain filed for bankruptcy in February.

Closeout sales will begin Saturday at all of the stores being shuttered, the company said.

Retail inventory at the stores worth some $50 million will be liquidated. No closing dates have been set for the stores targeted.

Stores set for closing in Washington include locations in Bellevue Square, Bellis Fair Mall in Bellingham, Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, Pavilions Centre in Federal Way, Westlake Center in Seattle, downtown Woodinville, Everett Retail Center, Olympic Village in Gig Harbor, Kirkland Parkplace and Mill Creek Town Center.

Locally, Kits locations in the Tacoma Mall, in Lacey, Olympia and in the Willows Shopping Center in Puyallup will remain open.

Some 400 Ritz locations will remain open for business after the closings.

The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions announced this afternoon that is has agreed to a settlement with Wachovia.

The agreement includes a penalty payment of nearly $500,000 and the buy-back of auction rate securities from Washington investors who found themselves unable to sell the their securities, according to a DFI release.

For details, the consent order is available here or at the DFI Web site, www.dfi.wa.gov.

“We are pleased to see the problem for Washington investors resolved,” DFI’s Securities Director Michael Stevenson said today. “Investors will be able to sell their Wachovia auction rate securities back to Wachovia.”

The Washington settlement is part of a multi-state agreement in which Wachovia agrees to pay a $50 million dollar penalty split among the states and buy back more than $8.5 billion in auction rate securities nationwide.

Investors who purchased Wachovia auction rate securities products prior to Feb. 13, 2008 may be eligible for a buy back and should visit www.nasaa.org/ars/ for more information.

Auction rate securities are preferred shares or debt instruments such as corporate or municipal bonds. They have a long-term maturity and are sold at weekly or monthly auctions, and until recently were sold by many brokerage firms as cash equivalent investments, according to the DFI release.

In February 2008, however, the auction rate security market collapsed, bringing auctions to a halt. Wachovia customers were unable to liquidate their investments, contrary to alleged representations made about the product.

Wachovia allegedly misrepresented auction rate securities to customers as “safe” and “liquid” investments and failed to reasonably supervise their salespersons in the sale of the securities, DFI said.

Stevenson signed a consent order for Washington March 24 with Wachovia, which is registered as a securities broker-dealer in the State of Washington. The order requires Wachovia to complete the repurchase of auction rate securities from Washington customers by June 30, 2009. Wachovia also agrees to pay $491,556.71 to Washington, which constitutes the State of Washington’s proportionate share of the $50 million penalty.

In signing the consent order, Wachovia neither admits nor denies the allegations, DFI said.

The settlement stems from an investigation initiated by a multi-state task force of state regulators formed by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) that included participation by the Securities Division of the Department of Financial Institutions.

This report is just in from Olympian business writer Rolf Boone:

Venture Financial Group Inc., which owns Venture Bank, has notified the Securities and Exchange Commission that it is unable to file its annual report on time.

The annual report, also known as a 10-K filing, is a year-end statement of a public companyís financial performance. Typically, a company's annual report is filed during the first quarter of the new year. The first quarter ended March 31. Venture Financial notified the SEC late Wednesday.

In its notice to the SEC, the company said the filing will be late because it continues to discuss with accountants and federal banking regulators the appropriate valuation of its trust preferred securities portfolio, including the extent of other-than-temporary impairment of this portfolio.

This is a reference to losses the company reported in the third quarter of last year.

Venture Bank, like many community banks, invested in mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, but after the government took over those operations, Venture's investment fell as a result.

For the third quarter of last year, the company reported a $40 million loss or $26.1 million after taxes, according to the filing. The company expects to report a full-year net loss of $21.8 million for 2008, compared to a profit of $11.7 million for 2007, the filing shows.

The third-quarter loss also caught the attention of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which has instructed the bank to raise money, sell or find a merger partner by April 14. Venture Financial Chairman Ken Parsons said this week that the bank will continue to operate on and after that date.

The Boeing Co. reported today it delivered 121 airliners in the first quarter of 2009, six more than in last year's first quarter.

That increase in deliveries came despite a weakened economy in which airlines are suffering from major sales declines and falling fares.

Boeing's deliveries were led by the popular 737 twin jet with 91 deliveries. Last year Boeing delivered 87 of the airliners in the first quarter from its Renton plant.

Second most popular of Boeing' commercial offerings was the 777 with 23 deliveries compared with 21 in the same period last year.

Deliveries of the 747 and the 767 at 4 and 3 were the same number the company delivered in the first quarter of 2008.

One of downtown Tacoma's earliest skyscrapers, the 17-story Washington Buildings is seeking inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Beaux Arts style building at 1019 Pacific Avenue was built in 1925. The building for many years housed the exclusive Tacoma Club on its top floors and contained the offices of many of Tacoma's more prominent law firms and businesses.

To be included on the National Register, the building must first be recommended by the Tacoma Landmarks Commission and by the State Office of Historic Preservation.

The local landmarks board will consider the building's application at its April 8 meeting.

You couldn't tell it by the spitting snow and gray skies this week, but Spring must be on the way because the first of the seasonal farmers markets are opening this weekend in the South Sound.

Markets in Tacoma's Proctor business district and in Gig Harbor are making their 2009 debut Saturday, and other markets are set to start their seasons within a few weeks.

The year-round Olympia Farmers Market is also seeing more activity from both customers and vendors.

The Proctor Farmers Market is opening at North 27th and Proctor streets at 9 a.m. Saturday, three weeks earlier than usual, said market manager Jessica Troy.

"We had our nursery stock and flower vendors telling us they'd like to get an earlier start on the season, and we've obliged," she said.

That market will include several new features this year. Among those is a demonstration booth which will feature monthly cooking demonstrations at 11 a.m. and other tutorials on other weeks. This week the demonstration will feature tips on getting your garden planted.

The Proctor market will also feature a kid's booth this year, Troy said. And for the first time, food vendors will be able to accept food stamps in payment.

"The community is really coming together around locally sourced food," said Troy. "That's particularly important in this economy."

Meanwhile in Gig Harbor the market at the Kimball Drive Park and Ride will feature local baked goods, plants, and produce beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.

Despite a difficult climate for raising money for special programs, the Gig Harbor market has found new funding sources for programs such as its end-of-the-season chowder cook-off and free introductory guitar lessons.

"If a little kid wants to learn how to strum, he can learn some basics. It will be a free music lesson for anyone," Dale Schultz, the market's executive director, told the Peninsula Gateway.

Other South Sound markets and their opening dates:

Puyallup -- Saturdays and Sundays starting May 2
Federal Way -- Saturdays beginning May 9
Tacoma Downtown -- Thursdays starting May 21
Tacoma Sixth Avenue -- Tuesdays beginning June 2
Gig Harbor Downtown -- Wednesdays starting June 3
Lacey -- Second Saturdays of each month starting July 11
Vashon Island -- Saturdays year round, Wednesdays starting July 15

For more complete information on market hours and operations click here.

The Associated Press reports today that Costco has decided to close two stores – one in Kirkland, another in Tempe, Ariz. – that sell home furnishings.

The stores close in July after leases expire.

The report says Costco has made gains during the economic downturn "as shoppers have headed to its stores mostly for deals on bulk food items and gasoline," but sales of nonfood items have dropped as consumers cut discretionary spending.

“The current economic slowdown and resulting weakness in the home furnishings business in particular have led us to conclude that the single-format Costco Home concept does not fit into our long-term expansion plans,” Chief Executive Jim Sinegal said in a statement today.

The company said it doesn't expect layoffs related to the closings, and still plans to offer home furnishings at remaining wholesale clubs.

Costco stock closed up $1.72 to $48.07 in trading today, but is down 8.4 percent so far this year.

Turns out that not even coffee is safe from budget cuts at the Port of Tacoma.

In an effort to trim expenses to offset the port's declining revenue, the port is reducing its coffee/tea selection for staff -- and asking them to pay for some of the fancier options.

First, you must know: The port's coffee selection rivals 7-11. There's flavored creamers, teas and a big Starbucks machine that brews individual cups of joe in different sizes.

Staff have been able to voluntarily pay $2 each month -- deducted from their paycheck -- to help foot the coffee bill.

The port isn't raising the monthly coffee charge. Instead its reducing the options, reports Tara Mattina, the port's spokeswoman.

Starting Friday the coffee available in the port's break rooms will be your regular, office-variety coffee pots of caf and decaf.

Fresh-brewed cups out of the Starbucks machine will cost extra: 50 cents for a small and 75 cents for a large.

If there is any bright side to the grimness of the recession, it's the bargains available for folks who can still scrape together a few bucks.

Nowhere is that principle more true than in the airline industry where airlines are rolling out ever-lower fares to coax people to travel.

"Just when you though airfares had hit rock bottom, the major U.S. airlines have slashed fares even deeper," said Tom Parsons of Bestfares.com. said today.

Here are some roundtrip examples gleaned from Bestfares and Farecast.com:

Sea-Tac to:

Miami $219
Washington, D.C. $160
Orlando $190
Los Angeles $139
Denver $139
London $499
San Jose del Cabo $293
Rome $586
Baltimore $152

Just how low are those fares? The roundtrip fare to Orlando, for instance, is $158 less than the average last minute low price. The prices to Baltimore, Washington and Miami are record lows. The fare to London is a little more than half of the average last minute low to the British capital.

In the case of the East Coast cities, those airfares price the cost of air travel at a little more than three cents a mile, a figure that buses, cars or trains can't touch.

These super low fares, of course, aren't available on every flight. Look for the lowest fares for Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday departures. Overnight flights also are likely cheaper than daytime flights at more civilized hours.

Metro City Homes, a condominium development near South 23 Street and Yakima Avenue, is set for a June foreclosure auction.

The condo complex, developed by Mercer Island's Dwelling Company, has 13 units remaining unsold and 17 lots undeveloped.

The three-level homes have seen their prices drastically reduced in recent months. Prices range from about $250,000 to $350,000. A call to the marketing number listed on the development's Web page failed to connect with the development's sales department.

Another call to the developer was unsuccessful in reaching anyone who would talk about the project.

The foreclosure notice lists the value of the still unsold properties as $5,551,643.

The sale is set for 10 a.m. on June 26 at the Pierce County Courthouse.

Total office vacancies in Pierce County inched upward during the year's first quarter to 10.62 percent from 10.54 percent according to real estate firm Colliers International.

Vacancies were less in Seattle, but the increase in unrented space was more, said the real estate firm.

Seattle's office vacancy rate now is 8.93 percent, up a full percentage point from the last quarter of 2008.

Vacancy rates on the east side of Lake Washington were somewhat below those in Seattle's central business district, the survey said.

Eastside vacancy rates hit 8.57 in the first quarter despite the opening of some 2.1 million square feet of new office space in the last year.

In Pierce County, Puyallup reported the highest rate of vacant office space, 32 percent, largely because of an unoccupied former microchip plant on South Hill.

The plant's new owners, Benaroya Companies, is aggressively seeking new tenants. The company is reportedly preparing a major upgrade of the computer chip campus to attract new office tenants.

The campus is reportedly on the short list for new office space for kidney dialysis provider DaVita Inc.

Yesterday was a big day at the Tacoma law firm Gordon Thomas Honeywell Malanca Peterson & Daheim, which issued a new logo (that’s it above) and formally adapted the less cumbersome name, Gordon Thomas Honeywell, by which it was already more commonly known and by which it will also be known from now on.

Beyond which, firm patriarch Joe Gordon turned 100 years old and was feted by a party at the Hotel Murano.

Beyond which moreso, the firm itself has turned 115 years old.

Happy Birthday to all.

Over the next year, the typical American family will have an extra $800 to spend.

Really. This isn’t an April Fool’s Joke - at least I don’t think so. The news comes today from the White House.

This goes back to February, when the president signed the Making Work Pay tax credit law. “This is one of the fastest and broadest tax cuts in American history,” said the First Flak in a release. “In Washington (which refers to our Washington, the one where it rains a lot) that means 2.5 million working families will collectively get $1.3 billion in hand to help them weather the current economic storm.”

By today, according to the Internal Revenue Service, employers must have instituted a lowered withholdings deduction for their employees.

This year and next, the tax credit will provides a refundable tax credit of 6.2 percent of earned income up to $400 for working individuals and $800 for married taxpayers. “Families should see at least a $65 dollar per month increase in their take-home pay,” the release said. .

The credit will phase out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income in excess of $150,000 for married couples filing jointly and $75,000 for other workers, and thus is fully phased out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income in excess of $190,000 for married workers and $95,000 for other workers.

For a look at the new set of IRS withholding tables, visit www.irs.gov or click here.

In an effort to help its customers weather the challenging economy, the Port of Seattle is considering reducing its fees and allowing customers to defer some payments.

Port of Seattle staff proposed the customer relief package to the commission Tuesday. The relief package is focused on terminal operators whose revenues depend on the number of containers they handle.

Cargo at the Seattle port was down 37 percent in February as consumer spending continued to drop. The declining business can endanger jobs, according to a port news release.

The plan -- subject to commission approval -- would go into effect in June through June 2010, although adjustments may be made as economic conditions change.

Port of Tacoma Executive Director Tim Farrell said last week that he was also considering a combination of reducing customers' fees and lease payments to take the edge of the cargo downturn for the port's tenants.

Tacoma container volume dipped 17 percent in February compared to the same month in 2008.