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.