Tacoma's BLRB Architects has won a spot on a new list of the 200 fastest-growing architecture, engineering and environmental consulting firms in the country.

That list is published by management consulting and research firm ZweigWhite.

The company's Hot Firm List is based on gross revenus for 2005 and 2008.

Bellevue on-line travel agency Expedia.com will help travelers select the best available airline seats with the help of a new partnership with SeatGuru.

SeatGuru, a service of TripAdvisor, offers reviews of airline seats from travelers who've actually sat in them.

The new service will integrate SeatGuru's seat ratings with the seat maps offered on Expedia to select airline seats in advance.

The reviews will help travelers find seats that offer extra legroom or a quiet spot on the plan and help them avoid seats without windows are with restricted reclining capabilities.

In one of the best weeks in a disappointed sales year, Boeing won orders for 23 new jets last week, the company reported.

Those new orders, five 777s from Ethiopian Airlines, seven 777s from Turkish Airlines and 11 737s from unidentified customers, raises Boeing's new total for the year to 40 net orders.

The company has booked orders for 129 new airliners, but has lost 89 prior orders to cancellations. Most of those cancellations, 73, were for 787 Dreamliners, a plane already two years late with its first delivery.

New figures from the federal government's Bureau of Transportation Statistics show that Washington ranks eighth among the states in surface trade with Canada.

Those statistics show that $1.052 billion in goods crossed the border by truck or train from Washington in May.

Topping the list of states exporting to Canada was Michigan with $2.769 billion in trade with Canada in May.

Much of the Michigan trade was auto parts for Canadian assembly plants.

Second was Illinois, followed by California, New York, Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania. All are more populous than Washington.

Boeing Co. has completed its acquisition of a Charleston, S.C., plant that makes large fuselage sections for its oft-delayed 787 Dreamliner.

The company said the nearly $1 billion acquisition from Vought Aircraft Industries was completed Thursday.

Boeing bought the plant after Vought encountered technical and financial problems carrying out its contract to provide major sections of the composite-bodied aircraft.

Boeing had sent dozens of its own engineers millions of its own dollars to Vought when the company was unable to finish its projects on time.

The acquisition will give Boeing a more direct hand in getting the new plant producing efficiently.

Horizon Lines Inc., which provides American-flag containership service from Tacoma to Anchorage, reported this week that both its revenues and its profits declined from this time last year.

Horizon reported a loss of $31.1 million including one-time items on revenues of $278.5 million.

That compares with a $5.8 million profit in the second quarter of 2008 on revenues of $331 million.

Horizon, like most shipping lines, has seen its business decline because of the recession. The company said its container volume was down 9.8 percent.

The company's results were skewed in part by several special items including a $20 million charge regared a class action legal settlement regarding its service to Puerto Rico and an allowance of $10.5 million because of a tax valuation change.

Without those charges, the shipping line would have recorded a net profit of $4.1 million for its second quarter ending June 21.

Boeing's 787 technical problems could be more severe than the company has admitted.

Engineers working on the fix for a weak joint between the composite airliner's wings and its body told the Seattle Times this week that the joint failed in testing much earlier than the company's computer models had predicted.

The problems with that joint are what is delaying the first flight of the Dreamliner, Boeing's nickmane for the revolutionary twin-engine airliner.

Under severe stress the composite wing reinforcements began to delaminate, break apart where the layers of composite fabric are joined together, the Times said.

Boeing says it is designing a remedy for the structural problem, but it doesn't yet know how long it will take to retrofit the test aircraft.

Some outside experts are predicting the plane won't take its first flight until December or January.

In other 787 news, the company designing braking software for the plane is in a dispute with Boeing over who should pay to rewrite that software.

Crane Co. contends that Boeing changed the aircraft design, necessitating the software rewrite. Boeing says the software changes should be done on Crane's nickel.

Boeing's newest war plane, a modified version of its popular 737 airliner, made its formal debut in Renton today.

The plane, a militarized version of the 737-800 airliner that equips many airline fleets, is designed for maritime patrol and surveillance.

The plane, the P-8A Poseidon, can even deploy weaponry from its retrofitted bomb bay to destroy enemy submarines at sea.

The plane, built on a special assembly line at Renton, will replace another aircraft that began its life as an airliner but which was converted to a patrol aircraft for the Navy.

That aircraft, the P-3C Orion, is the former Lockheed Electra, a four-engine aircraft equipped with Allison turbo-prop engines. The Electra had a relatively brief career in the airline business in the late '50s and '60s, but was quickly replaced by faster jets.

The P-3C, however, enjoyed a career of more than 40 years as the Navy's front line patrol aircraft.

The P-8A will have greater payload, quicker deployment to patrol areas and higher technology detection equipment.

The Navy plans to buy 117 P-8As. Other nations including India and Australia are expected to buy the P-8A for their marine patrol needs.

Dubai-based Emirates became the world's largest operator of Boeing's twin-jet 777 airliner with the delivery of its 78th 777 in ceremonies at Boeing's Everett plant.

Emirates operates the full range of 777 models including the -200, -300, the -200LR (longer range) and the 777 Freighter.

The airline has an additional 28 777s on order valued at more than $7 billion at list prices, said Boeing.

Emirates accepted its first 777 in 1996. The airline's business plan calls for making Dubai a worldwide hub for flights between Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.

If Southwest Airlines is successful in its bid for Denver's bankrupt Frontier Airlines, the takeover could open up an additional market for Boeing.

Southwest announced today it will enter a bid in bankruptcy court next month to assume control over the Colorado-based low-cost carrier.

Southwest's biggest rival is expected to be Republic Airlines of Indianapolis.

A successful Southwest bid would substantially bolster Southwest's presence in Denver. The Dallas-based Southwest shunned Denver for years because of the presence of United Airlines' big hub operation there and the high costs of operating at Denver's relatively new airport.

But in recent years, Southwest has established an ever-larger presence at Denver in competition with United and Frontier, which also hubs its flights in Denver.

If Southwest wins the bidding, the company said it will continue operating Frontier as a stand-alone subsidiary until Southwest can gradually integrate its operation into Southwest's.

That's where the good news comes for Boeing. Southwest is an all-Boeing operation with only Boeing 737s in its fleet. Frontier is an all-Airbus airline with A320-series aircraft.

Southwest said it plans to phase out those Airbuses and replace them with Boeings if it succeeds in its takeover bid.

Consider it one of the few benefits of the recession.

Average domestic air fares from Sea-Tac Airport fell by more than 10 percent in the first quarter of this year.

The federal government's Bureau of Transportation Statistics released those figures this week, ranking Sea-tac 47th among the nation's top 100 airports in average fares in the first quarter of the year.

Passengers originating at Sea-Tac paid an average of $309.33 for their tickets during January, February and March this year, the BTS figures show.

That's down from $345.36 for the first quarter of 2008.

That figure put Sea-Tac below the national average air fare of $314.94.

Smaller airports with limited service and big hub airports dominated by a single carrier were at the top of BTS' list for average air fares.

Huntsville, Ala., was in first place with an average fare of $505.35. Second was Cincinnati, Ohio, a Delta Air Lines hub, with $445.82. Third was Grand Rapids, Mich. with fares averaging $417.78. In fourth and fifth were Savannah, Ga., and Des Moines, Iowa.

Lowest fares were at airports dominated by Southwest Airlines or other low fare carriers.

At the bottom of the list was Long Beach, Calif. with average fares of $207.01. Long Beach is dominated by low-fare carrier JetBlue Airways.

Next lowest was Oakland, Calif., an airport with a big Southwest presence, followed by Burbank, Calif., again an airport where Southwest is the largest carrier. In 97th place was Dallas Love Field, Southwest's home airfield and Las Vegas, a leisure market with a large Southwest dominance.

Nippon Yusen K.K., a shipping line the Port of Tacoma was counting on to occupy a new 168-acre terminal on the Blair-Hylebos Peninsula, said this week it will likely post its first loss in 23 years.

The company, known as NYK Line, says diminished demand for imports and exports is likely to push its results into the red by $53 million.

NYK, driven by such economic realities, is now reportedly looking for other, less costly terminal options when it moves its Pacific Northwsst base from Seattle to Tacoma in 2012.

The port is putting its plans to build a huge new terminal for NYK on the back burner for now as the line explores other alternatives.

NYK is not alone in seeing financial reversals brought on by the worldwide recession. Japan's third largest shipping line, K-Line, this week forecast a 31 billion yen loss for the year.

K-Line calls at the Port of Tacoma's Husky Terminal.

In an announcement that is both good news and bad for Boeing Co., Ethiopian Airlines today announced $4.2 billion worth of new aircraft orders from Boeing and its rival Airbus.

The order for 12 Airbus A350-900s is the first time Ethiopian, now all-Boeing, had ordered airliners from the European planemaker. Those aircraft will be delivered beginning n 2017.

But Ethiopian did also order five Boeing 777-200LR airliners, the first of which is to arrive in 2010.

The African carrier also left intact its order for Boeing 787 Dreamliners though Boeing's delivery date is some two years behind schedule for the composite aircraft.

The 787 has been hit with production and design delays the latest of which, a problem with the plane's wing-body connection, was announced last month.

Ethiopian had hoped to be flying the 787 soon to expand its network.

The 777-200LRs, the world's longest range passenger jets, are expected to be deployed in new routes from Ethiopia to China and the United States.

The Boeing Co. and and its partner, Calgary's SkyHook International say they've reached a configuration milestone in the design of their SkyHook Heavy Lift Vehicle.

That aircraft, which combines a blimp-like envelope filled with lighter-than-air gas with helicopter-like rotors, is designed to provide heavy-lift capabilities particularly in remote locations.

The two companies say they've now reached the point where their layout and performance specifications on the new craft have been frozen.

The aircraft is scheduled to fly in 2014.

The heavy lift vehicle will be able to lift objects as heavy as 80,000 pounds and move them as far as 200 miles.

The two companies expect significant markets in the oil and gas industries, in construction and logging.

The craft will handle loads twice as heavy as the world's largest helicopter, the Russian Mi-26.

The seemingly ever-changing Sea-Tac Airport traffic routing has changed yet again.

A new exit from the airport's garage now involves a hard right turn after leaving the toll plaza to enter the airport freeway.

For airport patrons from Tacoma, this new exit scheme does have one advantage, it allows access to South 170th Street.

That allows airport users from the south to exit onto 170th and then turn south on International Boulevard to gain access to I-5 via South 188th Street or South 200th Street.

The prior routing made it difficult to exit the airport without first heading north on the airport freeway and then proceeding east toward Southcenter and then south again on I-5.

The new traffic scheme was implemented to allow contractors to erect a new pedestrian bridge from the new Sound Transit airport light rail station now under construction to the airport garage. That rail station is due to open in December. Sound Transit light rail vehicles now stop in Tukwila, 1.7 miles short of the airport. Buses shuttle passengers from there to the terminal.

Home prices in the Puget Sound area continue to decline, according to a national home price tracking index.

The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index released Tuesday said prices were down 16.6 percent in May from year-earlier prices and down 0.3 percent from April.

Meanwhile much of the rest of the country showed signs of stabilization. Home prices in May increased for the first time since the summer of 2006, according to the index. Prices rose from April in 13 of the cities that make up the index.

The 20-city home price index rose 0.5 percent from April to a reading of 139.8, but was still 17.1 percent below the reading of 168.6 in May a year ago. It was the fourth consecutive month the index indicated prices have turned the corner and are heading back toward positive territory, according to The Associated Press.

In the Puget Sound area, prices fell for 12 of the last 13 months. In April, the index showed a slight uptick. This area tends to lag the rest of the country. We entered the recession after most other states and likely will exit it after them as well.

More from AP: The news follows upbeat reports showing sales of newly built and existing homes rose in June for the third straight month. And new home construction, while still weak, is the best it’s been since the fall.

The 20-city index has lost more than 32 percent since its peak reading of 206.52 three years ago. That means home prices are back to mid-2003 levels.

The Case-Shiller index measures home price increases and decreases relative to prices in January 2000. The base reading is 100; so a reading of 150 would mean that home prices increased 50 percent since the beginning of the index.

Here's more from my q-and-a with Tully's CEO Carl Pennington, which ran in this morning's paper.

Starbucks has taken a few of their stores and rebranded them so they're named after the neighborhood, instead of the chain. What do you make of that?

I think it's a great idea. I'm really impressed with what they've done on that. It's good neighborhood marketing, and I think it's excellent.

Is this something that Tulley's would ever think of doing?

We like to think now, we try to do that now. When Tom started the company in '92, I think he was looking at some of that. If you go out and look at our stores, we've got different – we've got in-town city stores and the outside metropolitan stores, so I think we've done a lot of that. Tully’s has always been committed to the neighborhoods we share with our customers. In Tacoma, each store is different and meant to reflect the individuality of the neighborhood.

Without having to remove the logo.

Is Starbucks removing their logo? I'm not certain on that. ... We did some of that when I was at Albertsons. When we opened a store we'd use the street name but we never ever took our name off of it.

Seattle fashion retailer Nordstrom, which has sought a Manhattan location for years without success, is finally getting a toehold in the Big Apple.

But Nordstrom isn't opening with a full-line store, but rather a discount Nordstrom Rack in Union Square.

The new store is due to open next spring at the square between 14th and 17th streets.

The store will have plenty of discount company.
Filene's Basement, DSW and Forever 21 are already located around the square.

The discount location is expected to do far better than the typical Nordstrom Rack location because of the density of the population and lack of competition from other Nordstrom Racks in the vicinity.

It must be all this warm weather enticing people to take rides in their air conditioned cars, but the price of gas is creeping upward in Tacoma again.

The average price of a gallon of unleaded regular today was $2.685 in Tacoma according to Tacomagasprices.com.

That's 1.7 cents a gallon higher than Sunday and 4.7 cents higher than a week ago.

Prices are still a relative bargain compared with the summer of 2008. A year ago, gas was selling for $4.124 here on average, down from a summer's high of nearly $4.35 a gallon.

That slide, beginning in mid-July continued through mid-December when gas prices were below $2 a gallon.

Before Boeing runs out and builds a second assembly line for the 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina, it might consider consulting two "Best for Busines" lists.

One, just issued by CNBC, lists Washington 16th among the states as the best place to do business. That same survey ranks South Carolina as 37th.

Boeing recently bought the Charleston, S.C. plant of its major 787 supplier Vought. And rumors have been flying in recent weeks that the company will build a second assembly line for its 787 there too.

The oft-cited reason is that South Carolina is a right-to-work state with unions less powerful than in the Northwest. Boeing says it's weary of its production being interrupted by strikes as it was last fall for 58 days by a Machninists Union strike.

But cheaper and more compliant labor may be only part of the story. While South Carolina earns high marks in the CNBC study for low-cost labor and an available non-union workforce, the state ranks 48th in quality of life, 47th on the strength of its economy, 41st in transportation and 39th in education.

Washington ranks 11th in quality of life, sixth in technology and innovation, fifth in access to capital and 18th in the strength of its economy.

A survey issued by Forbes magazine last summer ranked Washington third overall among the states as a good place to do business.

Washington followed Virginia (first in the CNBC survey) and Utah of Forbes list.

The Totem Ocean Trailer Express terminal at the Port of Tacoma will be the first to allow ships to plug into "shore power," the port announced today.

The port received $1.5 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce diesel and greenhouse gas emissions by retrofitting ships and adding electrical plug-ins at TOTE.

The Federal-Way based shipping company that serves Alaska has already spent nearly $900,000 to retrofit two of their ships to accommodate the shore power connections. TOTE also has committed to contributing another $283,000 to complete the project.

The ability to plug into the terminal allows the ships to turn off their engines, which reduces emissions. TOTE ships, which call twice a week in Tacoma, are expected to plug into the completed system by fall 2010.

“This investment is money well spent through this public/private process,” TOTE President and COO Bill Deaver said. “We live and work in and around Puget Sound, and it is in everyone’s best interests to protect the environment and the air we breathe. It’s the right thing to do.”

The money is provided under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act
(ARRA) of 2009 National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program.

This project supports the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy, adopted in early 2008 by the Port and its regional partners, the ports of Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., to meet clean air goals for ships, cargo-handling equipment, rail, trucks and harbor craft.

More than half of the ships that call frequently at the Port already meet the 2010 clean-air goal for ships by using cleaner-burning distillate fuel at berth.

If you're a homeowner in foreclosure or facing the prospect, this workshop's for you.

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Tacoma campus of Evergreen College, representatives from the major lenders and mortgage credit counselors will be on hand to answer questions about the foreclosure process.

The workshop is sponsored by the City of Tacoma, among others.

"Sometimes it can be a challenge to reach a lender. Sometimes people don't want to face the reality until the last minute," said Rick Teasley, Housing Division Manager of the city's Community and Economic Development department. "We hope it'll help people to realize they're not in this boat alone."

This is the second such workshop the city has held, and the first one drew 200 people. Teasley said Friday that he expects that many, if not more, so get there early. Here's what you need to know:

When: 9 a.m. registration, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. workshop

Where: Evergreen College, Tacoma campus, 1210 6th Ave.

What to bring: Photo ID; Social Security number; last two years of W-2s and the most recent tax return; last two pay stubs or proof of income; last two months of bank statements; complete information about the mortgage and other account balances and monthly payments, such as student loans, car loans and credit card balances.

Information: 253-798-8787

If you can't make it to this one, Teasley said another is planned for later this year, possibly in November.

Here's a chance for a free inside tour of the Port of Tacoma.

The Port of Tacoma is hosting a no-cost bus tour starting and ending at the Highway 512 park-and-ride lot July 31. The tour begins at 9:30 a.m. and returns to the lot at about noon.

Reservations are required. Children must be at least six to participate. Riders 17 and older must have photo identification.

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

A new cell phone waiting lot at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport opens at 9 a.m. Monday with twice the number of waiting spots.

The old lot closed six weeks ago to allow a new cargo operation to open adjacent to that old lot. In the meantime, the airport prepared the new lot for its debut.

The new lot is located on Air Cargo Road just north of the airport terminals.

The cell phone lot is available for persons waiting for friends and relatives to arrive. Those waiting can park free for up to 30 minutes and then proceed to the arrivals area at the airport when their passengers contact them by cell phone saying they're ready to be picked up.

The cell phone lot was set up to reduce congestion on the airport drives from motorists circling through the airport looking for their passengers. The lot also helped reduce the number of persons who illegally attempted to wait on the airport freeway shoulders.

Here are the directions to the new lot:

From the Southbound Airport Expressway:
Take the Air Cargo Rd./Cell Phone Lot exit, turn right onto 170th, turn right onto Air Cargo Road and follow that road until you see the Cell Phone Waiting Lot on your left.

From Southbound International Blvd:
Turn right onto 170th, turn right onto Air Cargo Road and follow that road until you see the Cell Phone Waiting Lot on your left.

From the Cell Phone Lot to Baggage Claim (Arrivals Drive):
Take a right out of the Cell Phone Lot and make left on Air Cargo Road (sign reads to terminal). Follow signs to Arrivals.

Using the threat of canceling its order for 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliners as leverage, Qatar Airways is talking with Boeing of moving its aircraft up the delivery schedule.

Flight International reports that Qatar CEO Akbar Al Baker is meeting with Boeing executives to persuade them to advance the delivery schedule for its Dreamliners.

That delivery schedule is now nearly two years behind schedule because of production and design delays with the revolutionary jet.

Al Baker said his airline need the extra capabilities that the 787 will bring before 2012, the date the airline is now scheduled to get its first 787.

The airline believes Boeing can move its initial deliveries into 2011 because some airlines higher on the delivery schedule have deferred their deliveries because of sour economic conditions.

Continental Airlines is ending its long-standing partnership with Alaska Airlines' frequent flier mileage program.

Under that partnership, Alaska Airlines customers could get mileage credit on Alaska's Mileage Plan frequent flier program for flights on Continental flights and Continental customers flying on Alaska could get those miles credited to Continental's OnePass program.

Under those programs, Alaska Mileage Plan members could use their miles to book Continental flights, and Continental OnePass members could use miles to book Alaska flights.

The miles partnership will end Oct.25.

Continental didn't say why it was ending the relationship, but the airline is moving from from SkyTeam airline alliance to the Star Alliance effective Oct. 25.

The Star Alliance is dominated in the U.S. by United Airlines, an Alaska competitor on north-south West Coast routes. Continental didn't have any routes up and down the West Coast, so Alaska was a natural partner.

Continental is also ending its limited frequent flier relationship with American Airlines subsidiary American Eagle.

The Pacific Northwest won't have a North American monopoly on Spain's high-tech Talgo trains beginning in 2011.

Wisconsin has signed a contract to buy two 14-car tilting technology Talgo trains from their Spanish manufacturer for use in service between Milwaukee and Chicago.

The lightweight trains that tilt into curves debuted 14 years ago on trains between Seattle and Portland with stops in Tacoma and elsewhere.

Amtrak and the states of Washington and Oregon have expanded the service now branded "Cascades" from Vancouver, B.C. to Eugene. A second daily Talgo train from Seattle to Vancouver is scheduled to begin soon.

Wisconsin will pay $47 million for the two trains. Basic pieces of the train cars will be fabricated in Spain but shipped to Wisconsin for final assembly.

Wisconsin hopes to expand the service to Madison, Wis. with another two trains it may purchase in the future.

While the trains are capable of running at 110 miles per hour, the present rail routes and their signaling limit them to a maximum of 79 mph.

In the Northwest, the trains have been a notable success attracting passengers from cars and planes with their enroute movies, bistro cars and two-classes of service.

Tacoma's J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. will launch a new Navy tugboat at 8 p.m. Saturday from its shipyard on the Thea Foss Waterway.

The launching, from Martinac's shipyard on the east side of the Foss at South 15th Street, should be visible to onlookers on the west side of the near-downtown waterway.

The boat, the YT-802 "Valiant," is 90-feet long and 38 feet wide. The vessel is powered by two 1,800-horsepower Caterpillar diesels coupled to propellers that can be directed in 360-degree arc to propel the vessel in any direction.

The boat will be manned by two officers and four crew members. It will carry 25,000 gallons of fuel and 3,800 gallons of water.

Being a Navy vessel, the tug will carry some unusual equippage, two, 50-caliber machine guns.

The boat was designed by Robert Allan Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C. and built in conjunction with Pacific Tugboat Service of San Diego.

Tugboats have become a bread-and-butter product for former tuna boat builder Martinac.

Tacoma-based Rainier Pacific Financial Group today posted a net loss of $3.7 million, or 62 cents per share, for the second quarter. This compares to a net income of $1 million for the second quarter of 2008.

The loss, according to a release, was mainly attributable to a $4 million provision for loan losses; an assessment and insurance due to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.; and a charge of $1.8 million related to investments in collaterlized debt obligathions, or CDOs.

The company increased its provision for loan losses to $4 million for the quarter, compared to a provision of $2.3 million at the end of the first quarter and $550,000 at the end of the second quarter last year.

An incraese in expenses was partially offset by a $401,000 decrease in compensation and benefits costs that followed a loss of 10 full-time-equivalent employees, lower incentive and retirement compensation, and the elimination of some compensation for executive officers and board members.

Non-performing loans totaled $39.9 million at the end of the quarter, of which $37.3 million, or 93.5 percent, were concentrated in five “residential builder relationships,” according to the release.

“We are hopeful that the operating environment will gradually improve,” said John Hall, Rainier Pacific president and CEO. “However, we anticipate the improvement will be slow during the next few quarters. We are pleased with the stability of the bank’s core business operations during these difficult times and will continue to focus on improving Rainier Pacific’s profitability and capital ratios during the balance of the year.”

Columbia Banking System, parent of Tacoma-based Columbia Bank, today announced a net loss of $6.6 million for the second quarter, compared to a net gain of $1.9 million for the second quarter of 2008.

The quarterly dip gives stockholders a net loss of 37 cents per share, compared with earnings of 11 cents a year ago.

The quarterly loss reflects a provision for loan losses of $21 million “due to the continued decline in real estate values, principally relating to residential land, lots and lot development,” according to a release issued this morning.

Columbia President and CEO Melanie Dressel told analysts during a conference call this afternoon that the $6.6 million loss was “certainly a disappointment for us.” She also said she was “concerned about the duration” of the current economic downturn evident in the Northwest. She said the continued decline of real estate property values has “unquestionably been a major challenge for us.”

However, she said, Columbia continues to be well capitalized and “we were very pleased with our net interest margin." Also, "We have ample sources of liquidity - over $1.2 billion.”

The net interest margin rebounded during the quarter to 4.38 percent, up from 4.26 percent at the end of the first quarter and nearly identical to a year ago at 4.39 percent.

Past-due loans were at $16.4 million, or 0.77 percent of total loans at the end of the second quarter, compared to $20.4 million, or 0.95 percent, at the end of the first quarter and $10.4 million, or 0.46 percent, at the end of 2008.

“We are beginning to see some light through the clouds,” Dressel told the analysts.

Part of that light shines in Vancouver, Wash., where Columbia has received regulatory approval to open a branch later this year. “We have long wanted to be in the Vancouver ares,” Dressel said.

Sea-Tac Airport owner the Port of Seattle this week began anew the stalled construction of its $419 million rental car terminal.

The terminal construction was halted mid-project last December when finance markets froze and the economy appeared to be on the verge of a free-fall.

With the thawing of the markets, the port in late June sold $317 million in revenue bonds to finance the remainder of the construction on the $419 million, 23-acre facility.

The new garage, new the intersection of International Boulevard and Highway 518, will provide parking and maintenance space for thousands of rental vehicles as well as counters for rental car companies serving the airport.

The construction project is expected to generate about 3,000 new jobs and $2 million in tax revenue for the City of SeaTac.

Shuttle buses will connect arriving and department passengers with the airport terminal from the rental car facility.

SeaTac-based Alaska Air Group, parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, today reported second quarter income of $29.1 million despite lower sales than last year's second quarter.

The profit was either a big increase over the same quarter last year or a big drop depending on what numbers were included.

Including special items such as gains and losses on fuel hedge contracts and new pilot contract transition costs, the company's $29.1 million profit was less than half of the $63.1 million reported on the same basis in the second quarter last year.

Excluding special items in both years, the $26.5 million profit in this year's second quarter was more than $40 million more than the comparable figure in 2008 when the airline holding company lost $14.1 million.

Major factors in company's April-June profit picture were a dramatic drop in fuel costs over the same period last year, reallocation of capacity from underperforming routes to new city pairs and the hard work of airline employees, said Alaska Chairman Bill Ayer.

With business and pleasure travel still becalmed by the economic situation, major domestic airlines this quarter have announced mixed results.

Continental Airlines reported big losses and announced layoffs of 1,700 workers. Delta Air Lines reported losses of 31 cents a share in the quarter, and American Airlines said it lost $390 million.

But both Southwest and AirTran airlines reported profits in the quarter.

Alaska's passenger traffic dropped 2.6 percent last month, but its capacity fell farther, 4.1 percent, translating to occupancy 1.2 percent above the same time last year.

Revenue fell to $843.9 million from $930.8 million a year earlier in the second quarter.

Ayer said he expects the air travel business to remain challenging while the economy continues to suffer.

Some analysts have speculated that some of the major legacy carriers could face cash crises next winter when traffic drops to yearly lows.

But Alaska said its $1.1 billion in unrestricted cash and marketable securities gives it an ample cushion to survive any further downturns in the economy.

The stock market responded positively to Alaska's earnings report today bidding up the stock by 6.17% percent to $22.02 at closing.

Sea-Tac Airport's newest international carrier, Icelandair, inaugurates new service between the Pacific Northwest and Iceland beginning today.

The inaugural flight will depart Sea-Tac's South Satellite terminal at 4:30 p.m.

The Boeing 757 will make regular flights from Sea-Tac to Reykjavik four days a week, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays departing at 4:30 p.m. and arriving in Iceland's capital at 6:45 a.m.

The airline provides connecting flights to a host of European destinations from Reykjavik including Copenhagen, Oslo, Stavanger, Stockholm, Paris, London, Manchester, Amsterdam, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid and others.

SeaTac's Alaska Airlines has formed a new codeshare partnership with an Hawaiian interisland carrier once controlled by a former Alaska baggage handler.

Alaska will offer codeshare tickets on Mokulele's jet service between Honolulu and and Kona, Hilo, Lihue and Kahuli under the new agreement.

Under a codeshare arrangement, airline customers can buy tickets from Alaska for Mokulele flights that have an Alaska flight number.

Former Mokulele baggage handler Bill Boyer of Tacoma once controlled Mokulele Airlines which he transformed from a small mostly charter carrier to a scheduled carrier among the Hawaiian islands.

In recent months, Republic Airlines has assumed control of the interisland carrier.

Republic had furnished Mokulele with jet service using Embraer 170 jets, but Mokulele ran into financial trouble, and Republic took charge of the carrier.

Boyer made his fortune devising the DigEplayer, portable digital movie player for airlines and other transportation carriers.

Tickets on the codeshare flights will be available for sale on Alaska's Web site beginning Saturday for flights on or after Aug. 1.

This is the last official work week for the dozens of Port of Tacoma employees who were either laid off to took the port's voluntary buy out.

The port is hosting a good bye gathering for the employees today as a way to "acknowledge the work of the people who have given so much to the port ... and to tell them thank you," said Commission President Clare Petrich.

The port notified 47 people in May that their positions were being eliminated. It also offered a voluntary separation program for staff interested in leaving their jobs.

The eliminated positions included the port's senior director of finance, directors of engineering, intermodal services and container terminal business as well several people from the port's maintenance department.

Many of the staff leaving this week have been at the port for years.

The layoffs have caused much tension at the agency, with staffers circulating a petition of no confidence in the port's executive director and questioning whether the layoffs were necessary.

Executive Director Tim Farrell has said that the port's shrinking body of business means it no longer needs as many employees.

TrueBlue, the Tacoma temporary staffing agency, reported a profit of $3.7 or 9 cents per share million for the second quarter -- down 77 percent from the same time last year.

Revenue was down 33 percent to $247 million.

"We continue to manage our business with tremendous discipline and experienced better-than-expected results in several areas this quarter," said TrueBlue CEO Steve Cooper. "Monthly same branch revenue trends improved, our risk management programs drove lower workers’ compensation expense, and our focused approach to controlling costs further reduced operating expenses. Our results demonstrate the strong operating leverage in our business model as well as the expanded need for our services."

TrueBlue closed 36 branches in the quarter, resulting in 775 branches in operation at the end of the quarter.

Under a new state law that takes effect this Sunday, most employers in Washington can avoid unemployment-insurance charges for laid-off workers temporarily hired to fill positions left vacant by military reservists.

The new law allows employers to request relief from benefit charges for temporary employees whom they must then lay off when the permanent employee comes back from active military service, according to a news release from the state's Employment Security Department.

The measure goes into effect on July 26. The legislature passed the law this past session.

To avoid being charged for these benefits, employers must contact Employment Security and specify which layoffs are due to military members returning to work.

“We corrected a clear wrong,” said Sen. Chris Marr, a Spokane Democrat who sponsored the legislation. “We should be encouraging employers to do what they can to support our servicemen and women, not saddling them with higher unemployment insurance costs for doing so. This new law removes that very obstacle and gets the state out of the way.”

“Employers who welcome reservists back into the work place shouldn’t be penalized through higher unemployment taxes,” said Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee. “This law allows our unemployment system to treat both the temporary workers and their employers with compassion.”

The new law does not apply to certain employers, including state, local and federal governments; public schools; some tribal entities; and some non-profit organizations with 501(c)(3) status. These reimbursable employers are still required to pay dollar for dollar for all unemployment benefits paid to former employees.

Sitecrafting, a Tacoma-based Web site design company, opened its new Spokane office this month.

"We see a real niche in this market for our services," said CEO Brian Forth. "We see some strategic opportunities to grow."

Those opportunities include provide Web site design and applications to Spokane's growing health care industry.

The Sitecrafting Spokane office will house four employees. Forth plans stay in the Puget Sound, though he'll be visiting the Spokane office on a regular basis.

The Bonneville Power Administration today announced several rate changes – none which will immediately affect customers of Tacoma Power and some that may affect customers of Puget Sound Energy.

The price the BPA charges its utilities customers for power will increase by an average of 6 percent in October, said a BPA release.

“This is the first power rate increase since 2002 and it’s driven by both rising costs and decreasing surplus revenues,” it said.

Additionally, customers “will also receive $163 million in returned overcharges due to a 2007 U.S. Ninth Circuit Court decision. Financial benefits for residential and small farm consumers of investor-owned utilities, which are based on BPA’s power rates as well as other factors, will be $173 million.”

At Tacoma Power, spokeswoman Chris Gleason said this afternoon, “At this point we don’t have any plans to raise rates. Obviously there are a lot of factors, but this is not a trigger for us to raise rates. Our goal is to get through 2010 before we raise rates again."

In 2011, she said, “there is a high likelihood that we will raise rates.”

At Puget Sound Energy, spokeswoman Dorothy Bracken said the utility was reviewing the BPA announcement and other data.

“We’ve just got the news. We haven’t yet reviewed all of the papers that will be coming, to know the exact amount. We will know tomorrow what the effect will be in October,” she said.

BPA markets more than a third of the electricity consumed in the Pacific Northwest. Its power is produced at 31 federal dams owned and operated by the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation and one nuclear plant. Power is sold to more than 140 Northwest utilities.

Claudia Burns, a 15-year veteran of Top Food & Drug, has been named as manager of the Tacoma Top Food at 3130 S. 23rd St.

Before joining the store's parent, Bellingham-based Haggen Inc., Burns spent 11 years in the catering and delicatessen field in Tacoma and her native Germany, according to a Haggen release today.

She previously served the company at Top Food stores in Lacey and Olympia. She lives in Olympia, and will supervise some 80 employees at the Tacoma branch.

I'm spending the next few weeks meeting with the candidates for the three Port of Tacoma commission seats that are up for election this fall.

Candidate Conversations provides some highlights from these informal interviews and justifies me expensing a cup of coffee.

This morning I met with Cathy Pearsall-Stipek, the former Pierce County Auditor who is running for commission position #4. That seat is being vacated by retiring commissioner Ted Bottiger.

Pearsall-Stipek, 77, is running against Don Meyer, who is the director of the Foss Waterway Development Authority.

We had coffee in Pearsall-Stipek's pool house, which is where she keeps her office. Here's a few excerpts from our conversation.

Pearsall-Stipek has opted not to raise or spend more than $5,000 for her campaign -- a move that reduces the amount of reports she needs to file with the state's public disclosure commission.

That means you likely won't see mailings, ads or a swarm of Pearsall-Stipek signs posted all over the county.

I asked why she's running such a low-key campaign.

Pearsall-Stipek said she's counting on voters to recognize her name from the 10 years (1993 to 2002) she spent as auditor.

(Her name was printed on everything from marriage certificates to property records and people remember that, she said).

"I feel that I've been in front of people for over 30 years," she said. "Those that know me know what I do and new people will be able to read about me in the voters' pamphlet."

=> Read more!

As Union Bank releases news of its new brand, J.D. Power and Associates has come out with a look at what attracts clients to the banks they love.

It's the brand image.

"Thirty-six percent of a shopper's selection decision is driven by the bank's brand image, while branch proximity (21 percent) and products and services (14 percent) also considerably influence which bank shoppers ultimately choose," the Power report – issued last week – said.

And while such things as perceived financial stability and reliability "can be difficult for a bank to improve," still, "branch employees can positively impact a bank's image by providing personal service, communicating proactively and having a customer-driven focus."

Concerning the importance of word-of-mouth, the report said "positive recommendations drive 36 percent of a shopper's consideration."

J.D. Power and Associates is is a California-based global marketing information service company.

After changing its name last December – from Union Bank of California N.A. to more simple and global Union Bank N.A. – the parent company UnionBanCal today announced a new corporate identity and logo.

"Today marks a significant milestone in our bank's history, and I am confident that our customers and employees will embrace this exciting change," said Union Bank President and CEO Masaaki Tanaka.

The new logo embraces a stylized "U" that "is focused on the community and 'You, the customer,'" Tanaka said in a release today.

"While we have had a three-state charter – California, Oregon and Washington – for more than 100 years, we also have offices in several major U.S. and international markets where we've been expanding our footprint in commercial real estate, energy and utilities lending, and commercial banking," he said.

The new brand, he said, "will better position us for future growth."

At last check, Union Bank, which trades under the symbol MTU, was selling at $5.85 per share, up 11 cents on the day. The stock is trading down 5.8 percent year-to-date.

UPDATE: There has been some confusion (on my part) on exactly where and by which ticker the bank trades. I've heard today from a Union Bank spokeswoman that "Union Bank doesn’t trade under MTU – UnionBanCal Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.

Which trades on the NYSE as MTU.

I hope that clears up any misunderstanding.

Here's some good news: Prices are down.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is out this week with its inflation numbers. In the Tacoma-Bremerton-Seattle area, overall numbers in the Consumer Price Index were down 0.4 percent between June of 2008 and 2009.

Among the greatest declines: household energy was down 0.2 percent in the area over the year; furniture and household operations were down 3.5 percent, and gasoline was down 33.6 percent.

For the past two months, however, prices have been drifting upward. In May and June, alcoholic beverages were up 2.3 percent and gasoline rose 22.7 percent, the BLS said.

In May alone, gasoline rose 12.9 percent.

The cost of groceries was up 2.9 percent over the entire year, but fell 0.5 percent in May and June, and 0.3 percent in June.

During DaVita's initial search for new office space two years ago, the company examined 30 different sites in the Puget Sound Region and found no viable spots in downtown Tacoma.

Company vice president and controller Jim Hilger shared that detail among others Friday during the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber's City Center Luncheon at the Pacific Grill Events Center. He was among several presenters during the luncheon, which was themed "Experience Life Locally."

Hilger, who grew up and lives in Tacoma, used his time to explain how and why the Denver-based DaVita made its decision to keep its largest business offices downtown.

=> Read more!

Seattle's University of Washington Medical Center was ranked 12th best hospital in the nation in a Newsweek magazine rating.

The magazine used a complex set of standards to rank how hospitals perform in handling complex and demanding medical problems.

Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital was at the top of the list with a total score of 30 points. Minnesota's Mayo Clinic was second.

Third was the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles followed by the Cleveland Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital.

The UW ranked particularly high in cancer treatment and rehabilitation.

Port of Tacoma commissioners today awarded a $21.8 million contract for an overpass that's expected to cut both air pollution and shipping delays on the Tacoma Tideflats.

The Lincoln Avenue overpass will carry three lanes of roadway over four sets of railroad tracks.

Truck queues at the present at-grade crossing can last as long as 45 minutes while container trains pull into and out of the port's two main intermodal yards. Those idling trucks add tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in the Tideflats.

The majority of the overpass cost will be paid with federal stimulus funds.

In total, the project will cost $53.2 million including the overpass and approach roads already built.

The port received nine bids on the project ranging from $27.7 million to $21.8 million from Scarsella Brothers Inc. of Kent. The low bid was 10 percent less than the engineer's estimate of $24.4 million.

The project will break ground in August with completion set for March 2011.

Tacoma and Pierce County should be proud of their work retaining DaVita, members of the Rotary Club of Tacoma were told Thursday.

During the club's weekly lunch, Bob Drewel of the Puget Sound Regional Council gave an overview of the council's work and highlighted important areas of economic interest.

The PSRC is a government agency whose responsibilities involve transportation planning, economic development and growth management. Drewel is its executive director.

"One of the things (the region) has to do is grow jobs in economic sectors outside of King County," Drewel said. He went on to praise Tacoma for DaVita's decision in June to keep its headquarters here.

DaVita, which operates a network of 1,400 kidney treatment centers nationwide, is the city's second-largest downtown employer with 900 workers. The city offered several inducements, including business and occupation tax forgiveness based on the number of new employees the company hires.

As for Tacoma's largest downtown employer, Russell Investments, Drewel said he didn't need to tell the group the importance of their decision on whether to move their headquarters to Seattle.

But "we don't just need one Russell, we need to grow as many as we can," Drewel said.

Drewel also touched on the rumors swirling about Boeing and the second 787 production line.

"What we have here is a great deal of information with little knowledge," he said.

Panama's Copa Airlines today announced orders for 13 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Those aircraft are worth in excess of $1 billion at list prices.

The new order bring's Copa's 737 orders to 27. The 13 planes ordered today are expected to be delivered to the airline between 2012 and 2015. The airline took eight additional delivery options for planes to be produced between 2015 and 2017.

The new aircraft, built in Renton, are to be equipped with Boeing's new "Sky Interior" that borrows interior design elements from Boeing's Dreamliner. The interior features wider window surrounds and enhanced lighting.

The planes will also benefit from aircraft and engine modifications that are expected to improve their fuel economy by two percent.

The Boeing Co. has won an order for four telecommunication satellites from Intelstat Ltd., the world's leading satellite services provider.

Boeing didn't release a dollar figure for the contract, but analysts estimated the contract could be worth in excess of $1 billion.

The satellites will a variation of Boeing's 702 satellite design. The company has been developing the new satellite for more than four years.

The work on the satellites will be done in California.

A shuttle bus carrying passengers from Sound Transit's new Link light rail station in Tukwila to Sea-Tac Airport begins service Monday.

Service on the Link system between Tukwila and downtown Seattle starts up this weekend, but the bus shuttle service will be delayed until after the opening weekend crowds disappear, said the airport.

The bus will carry passengers the last 1.7 miles from the station to the airport's arrival level and to the public transit area at the airport's south end until December.

That's when Sound Transit and the airport expect to open up the airport station.

That station, adjacent to the airport garage, will be connected to the terminal with an elevated walkway.

The press release from the office of State Attorney General Rob McKenna today minces no words.

"A new type of bottom-feeder is chomping at homeowners struggling to keep up with their loan payments,” McKenna said.

And some of those bottom feeders have themselves been chomped, as Washington has joined the Federal Trade Commission and other states in “a crackdown on foreclosure rescuers and loan modification businesses that charge hefty upfront fees and often provide no help.”

Five state cases were announced Wednesday McKenna’s Consumer Protection Division. Also, four other businesses that provide mortgage-related services have been issued civil investigative demands, which are similar to subpoenas.

According to a press release, McKenna’s office this week is also communicating with 138 state businesses that market foreclosure assistance, loan modification services or other mortgage-related services – to inform them about state laws.

=> Read more!

Southwest Airlines and AirTran Airways today kicked off what some analysts say could be the beginning of a fall airfare war.

The two airlines are offering some roundtrip coast-to-coast airfares below $200. Most other airlines have matched those fares on competitive routes.

Air travel typically drops during the fall, and airlines are looking to stimulate already lagging traffic with bargain fares.

The opening of Sea-Tac Airport's third runway last fall and the recession-caused drop in air traffic is helping the airport with a couple of long-deferred runway projects.

The airport is completely rebuilding its longest runway, the nearest one to the terminal, this summer. And now the airport says it may do the same with the center runway two years from now.

That center runway is the second longest at the airport at 9,426 feet. It was opened in 1972. The FAA rates its pavement as being in fair condition. The runway now being rebuilt was rated as poor.

The first runway being rebuilt now dates from 1944, but it has been overlayed with new asphalt several times, the last time in 1992.

Thanks to federal economic stimulus money, more than two dozen yard trucks at the Port of Tacoma now spew less toxic diesel emissions into the air.

Gov. Chris Gregoire visited the Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE) terminal at the port Wednesday to celebrate the completion of a first round of projects funded by the economic stimulus dollars and aimed at reducing diesel emisssions in the ports.

TOTE received $121,000 to retrofit 27 yard trucks with green mufflers -- catalytic converters that reduce about 65 percent of the diesel particulate matter coming from the vehicles.

The project was part of $1.7 million in stimulus funding that will go mostly toward creating reducing emissions from equipment used at Washington ports.

Gov. Gregoire said that the stimulus dollars were not only making sure people stay healthy by improving air quality, but also putting people to work.

"I want to make sure that these dollars are reported back to President Obama as being money well spent," she said.

The retrofitted trucks represent about 60 percent of TOTE's fleet. TOTE president Bill Deaver said the rest of the older units will be retired.

"This is a major step in protecting the air we breath and the environment we work in," Deaver said.

In total the stimulus funding will help reduce emissions coming from almost 400 pieces of cargo handling equipment at the ports of Tacoma, Seattle and Vancouver, WA.

Some of the money will also go toward school districts to help reduce diesel emissions from school buses.

The work at TOTE moves the Port of Tacoma further towards the emission-reducing goals it's set as part of the Northwest Ports Clean Air Initiative, a partnership between the Tacoma port and ports of Seattle and Vancouver.

The Tacoma port reported the results of its first year of clean air efforts last week.

So far 57 percent of the ships that call frequently at the port use use cleaner burning fuel and 47 percent of the cargo handling equipment meets cleaner burning engine standards.

Washington will receive up to $6.2 million in federal funds to go toward a rebate program for consumers who purchase new Energy Star qualified home appliances.

The funds were announced today by the U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu. They come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“Appliances consume a huge amount of our electricity, so there’s enormous potential to both save energy and save families money every month,” said Secretary Chu. “These rebates will help families make the transition to more efficient appliances, making purchases that will directly stimulate the economy and create jobs.”

The program is state run and state's must file their intent to participate by Aug. 15. States and territories will receive 10 percent of the funds after submitting the initial application with the balance awarded after their program plans are approved, according to the news release.

Participating states will be able to select which residential ENERGY STAR qualified appliances to include in their programs and the individual rebate amount for each appliance.

DOE recommends that states and territories focus their program efforts on heating and cooling equipment, appliances, and water heaters as these products offer the greatest energy savings potential.

The Recovery Act appropriated funds for the program to help achieve the national goals of spurring economic growth, creating jobs, saving energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. States and territories can use these funds to leverage the utility companies and energy efficiency program sponsors in their area.

For more information on these and other Recovery Act related funding opportunities, visit www.energy.gov/recovery .

By Kelly Kearsley
The News Tribune

Pierce County’s unemployment rate dipped ever so slightly to 9.7 percent in June and added 700 jobs over the month, according to a report released by the state’s Employment Security Department Tuesday.

That’s good news – at least for now.

“When you put these two things together – for the moment, we are plateauing. We’re not really going up, but we’re not really going down,” said Paul Turek, the ESD economist for the area.

The county’s revised unemployment rate for May was 9.9 percent. The county numbers are not adjusted for seasonal changes in employment.
Though the number of jobs in the county was 12,300 less than last year at this time, several industries actually posted improvements over the month. The most notable was professional and business services, which grew by 600 jobs. Construction, manufacturing and leisure and hospitality also posted gains.

The June employment report is encouraging, but whether it means that the county has reached the bottom of this recession is anyone’s guess.

“On one hand, the positive side says we may be ready to start climbing the hill –or we could just be in a holding pattern,” Turek said.
The county counted a total of 270,400 jobs last month – the figure hasn’t changed much from January, but remains well below the total of 282,700 jobs the county counted last year at this time. The total number of job in the county peaked in December 2007 at 285,800.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has stopped – or maybe just paused – the run up it’s been on over the last year. The jobless rate in June 2008 was 5.7 percent.

The state’s unemployment rate ticked up to 9.3 percent from a revised 9.1 percent last year. The state’s figures are seasonally adjusted.

The state lost an estimated 10,500 jobs over the month and posted 117,800 fewer jobs over the year.

“I am confident the steps we are taking at the state and federal levels will help us pull out of the most challenging economic times since the Depression,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said in a news release.

“We are beginning to see signs that our economy may be stabilizing and recovery efforts are working, but it will take time,” she said.

Industries recording the largest declines were government, retail trade, education and health services and construction.

An estimated 329,983 people in Washington were unemployed and looking for work in June.

Kelly Kearsley: 253-597-8573
Kelly.kearsley@thenewstribune.com

There’s good news – if you’re a developer with a sewer permit and you find yourself with a bit too much recession and not quite enough calendar.

According to a release from Pierce County Public Works and Utilities, “Due to the downturn in the building industry, some developers need to delay projects until market conditions improve. Pierce County is taking steps to help those developers keep from losing their original investment in fees and applications.”

A sewer permit extension window that expired June 30 has been extended, this time through December 31, the release said. “The action allows all sewer applications, approved plans and permits that would expire by the end of the year to remain valid for an additional 12 months.”

Last fall, as part of an economic stimulus package, the County Council passed an ordinance that allowed the Planning and Land Services Department to offer a 2-year time extension on active building permits, vesting rights, and other land-use development applications and approvals. Through a policy revision, Public Works and Utilities offered a similar, but shorter extension to active sewer applicants.

“The original policy change applied only to sewer applications that would have expired before July 1,” the release said. “Now those that will expire by the end of the year are also eligible for the one-year extension.”

He circumnavigated the globe, finishing in 2007. He helped create the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington. It was his donation that fostered the UW’s Dempsey Indoor Training Stadium.

And now Neal Dempsey – managing general partner at Bay Partners, a Palo Alto, Calif. entrepreneur incubator – has been named as a member of the LeMay Automobile Museum board of directors.

“Over the past 20 years, Dempsey has guided more than two dozen start-ups to obtain highly successful outcomes – either through an IPO or by acquisition. He currently sits on the Board of nine technology companies,” according to a release from the museum.

Dempsey “is as passionate about investing in technology as he is about giving back to the community. He approaches both with the same enthusiastic, hands-on manner,” the release said.

As Tacoma wrestles with how to reset its parking policies to foster growth downtown while saving energy, it will host a regional parking conference this month at the Hotel Murano.

The Pacific Intermountain Parking & Transportation Association Conference and Trade Show is set for July 26 through July 28.

The conference is expected to bring together traffic engineers and parking professionals from Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Gas prices, on the decline in the Tacoma area for several weeks, broke through the $2.50-a-gallon mark on their descent today at one Tacoma area station.

That station, the ARCO at Puyallup and Portland avenues, is selling regular unleaded for $2.49 a gallon today according to Tacomagasprices.com.

Average Tacoma regular prices were $2.701 a gallon, down nearly a dime from a week ago and $1.595 down from this time last year.

Sea-Tac Airport will detour parking customers to the south entrance of its multi-layered garage structure beginning Tuesday about 7 p.m. when it closes the north entrance.

That north entrance is expected to remain closed until about 5 a.m. Wednesday.

A new beam will be installed to support a pedestrian bridge from from the garage to Sound Transit's new airport light rail station.

That Link rail station is expected to open sometime in December. The Seattle Link system is scheduled to open July 18 for trips between the present two ends of the system at Tukwila near the airport to downtown Seattle.

SeaTac's Alaska Airlines is one of five international airlines on four continents that today announced they've joined a group of airlines dedicated to finding new sustainable fuels to power their flights.

Joining Alaska were British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, TUIfly and Virgin Blue in joining the Sustainable Airline Fuel Users Group.

That group was formed last fall by Air France, Air New Zealand, Cargolux, Gulf Air, Japan Airlines, KLM, SAS and Virgin Atlantic Airways.

Some of those airlines have already experimented with fuels made from plants in test flights without passengers. According to reports, that biofuel functioned well in jet engines.

The issue is creating a sustainable supply at a reasonable cost.

According to a release from the Franciscan Foundation, the two-year campaign for St. Anthony Hospital has exceeded its $10 million goal by raising just over $11 million. The money has come from pledges and contributions from individuals, companies and foundations to help build and equip Gig Harbor’s new hospital, which opened in March.

The foundation has also secured $5 million in state-grant funding to help improve traffic access to the new hospital, according to the release.

=> Read more!

By JESSICA MINTZ
The Associated Press

Microsoft Corp. is giving a select group of technology-savvy testers an early peek at its Office 2010 software, but it's keeping a key development - free Web-based versions of programs such as Word and Excel - under wraps a little while longer.

Monday's launch of this "technical preview" indicates Office 2010 is still on track for release in the early part of next year.

Microsoft is updating the highly profitable desktop software package to add more ways for people to work simultaneously on documents, organize their e-mail and edit videos and photos, among other changes. And for the first time, Microsoft is adding free companion versions that run in a Web browser.

Microsoft Office is by far the most popular software package worldwide for making presentations, spreadsheets and other documents, and its dominance is in no immediate danger. But the company is trying to defend against a long-developing trend in which software is moving from the desktop to the Web.

Google Inc. has been pushing its own free, Web-based programs for more than two years, though it has yet to gain much traction with corporations.

With Office 2010, Microsoft must decide how much software it can give away online without undermining its lucrative desktop software business. If it doesn't make the right calculation, the software maker could find itself in the same position as newspapers that gave online content away and now are struggling to replace print revenue.

In Microsoft's case, the "Home and Student" version of Office 2007 is listed at $150, though it can be found on Amazon.com for $90. Such sales deliver attractive margins - in 2008, the division responsible for Office logged $12.4 billion in profit on nearly $20 billion in revenue.

The Office 2010 Web programs will be Microsoft's first real attempt at an online office package. In 2007, Microsoft launched something called Office Live Workspace, which let people view and comment on documents, but it lacked tools for creating and editing files.

The browser-based programs are on a different development cycle from the desktop programs, and Microsoft says the Web versions' "technical preview" will be ready in August.

The Web version of Office 2010 will be free to consumers, in a version supported by advertising. Microsoft will let companies with long-term Office licensing agreements install the online programs on their servers for no extra charge. Companies will also be able to buy subscriptions to access the programs through Microsoft-operated data centers.

Microsoft has not said how much Office 2010 will cost, only that it will sell five variations on the suite, two for big corporations and three available to consumers and small businesses.

Microsoft says people attending its annual partner conference this week in New Orleans will be among the tens of thousands invited to try the new software.

With 2009 more than half done, the Boeing Co. this week reported net commercial airplane orders through July 7 of just one aircraft.

The company recorded 65 sales during the first half, but that figure was offset by 64 order cancellations in the same period.

At that rate, the company will be only two aircraft on the positive side when the year is done.

That compares with last year's orders of 662 commercial aircraft and with 2007's net orders of 1,413 planes. In 2006, the company recorded 1,044 net orders. In 2005, Boeing reported 1,002 airliner orders.

The lowest order year in recent times was 2003 when the company garnered just 239 net orders. In 1983, net orders dropped below 200 to 195.

Issaquah's Costco Wholesale Corp., the nation's largest warehouse club retailer, is reporting sales for the five weeks ending July 5 were down six percent.

Subtracting the effects of lower gas prices this year compared with last and the impact of foreign exchange variations, the company reported same store sales were up one percent over the same period in 2008.

For the first 44 weeks beginning in September last year through July 5 this year, total sales worldwide were off 3 percent. Without the effects of gasoline sales and exchange variations, that 44-week period say a 3 percent positive change in sales, said the retailer.

Temporary labor provider TrueBlue Inc. will announce its second quarter results after the market closes July 22.

Tacoma-based TrueBlue, formerly Labor Ready, is expected to post a loss of 5 cents a share. That's the average of earnings predictions from Wall Street analysts who follow the company as reported by Zacks Investment Research.

Last year during the second quarter the company reported earnings of 35 cents a share. TrueBlue closed today a $7.87 a share, up 13 cents.

Members of Tacoma-based MilePost Credit Union – with branches at 1201 S. Union Ave. and 3633 Pacific Ave. – have approved a merger with Sound Credit Union.

Sound Credit Union, with 11 branches in the South Sound, is likewise based in Tacoma and with the merger will have assets of approximately $477 million, according to spokeswoman Robyn LaChance.

With the addition of 6,600 MilePost members, the combined institution will have a total of 44,000 members, she said.

The merger will likely be complete on Aug. 31. There will be no branch closures because of the deal, and no employees will be laid off, she said.

Sound President and CEO Richard Brandsma said today, “We have a strong branching network. Sound Credit Union is one of the strongest, and we fit with where they wanted their organization to go. It’s part of our strategic plan to put together a strong branching network and be financially strong.”

Before the merger, Brandsma said, Sound was the 17th largest credit union in the state in terms of assets. After the merger, he said he expects to be 14th or 15th.

As the the reason behind the merger, he said, “Unfortunately it does take size if you want to expand and grow. With the merger, it allows us to have more members, more deposits, more assets.”

Sound Credit Union is the product of mergers with some 13 different credit unions, Brandsma said.

For more information, visit the Web sites of either MilePost or Sound Credit Union.

Sea-Tac's dominant airlines, Alaska Air Group's Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, are testing new satellite navigation procedures that could save 2.1 million gallons of fuel a year at the airport.

The new procedures, pioneered 15 years ago by Alaska to improve the reliability of its flights into difficult and weather-challenged airports in the 49th State, could also cut down on noise that some residents must endure from landing aircraft.

The Required Navigation Performance procedures use global position satellites to precisely position an incoming plane along a programed approach path.

That approach path, unlike traditional stairstep approaches allows aircraft to make more efficient continuous descents to the runways.

The new procedures can also cut down on the length of the approaches allowing aircraft to avoid some neighborhoods altogether and to shorten their approaches, cutting fuel use.

Alaska is the only carrier in the U.S. whose whole fleet is equipped for RNP procedures. Horizon soon will have its entire fleet similarly capable.

Alaska and Horizon together provide about half of the air transport to and from Sea-Tac Airport.

Plans to renovate the 49-unit Olympus Hotel, 817 Pacific Ave., are moving forward.

The Korean Women's Association bought the affordable housing project in the fall of 2008, and since then it has secured about $500,000 from the state's Housing Trust Fund.

Jeannie Darneille, interim executive director of the KWA, said Thursday that the organization is looking at putting out requests for bids in August for improvements to tenant spaces using that money.

The group hasn't decided what to do yet, but Darneille said it could be anything from weatherization and safety improvements to carpet and painting.

This is the first phase of the KWA's renovation plan for the hotel, which was built in 1909.

"We're looking at 1.1 to 1.2 million dollars in renovations (to get to) the point where we envision to be," Darneille said.

That includes finding a tenant for the basement of the historic hotel, which is about 6,000 square feet. Darneille said about 1,200 square feet of that is being used as preparation space by Paddy Coyne's Irish Pub, which has a ground-floor entrance onto Pacific Avenue.

The basement space is accessed by elevator in the foyer of the hotel.

"We love our relationship with Paddy Coyne's and want to work to maintain that," Darneille said.

Washington Sen. Patty Murray today lauded a proposed 400-acre solar project near Cle Elum in Kittitas County.

The Teanaway Solar Reserve is expected to generate enough electricity to power 45,000 homes when it goes into operation in 2011.

"This project is more than just an energy creator, it's a jobs creator," said Murray. The proposed Teanaway Solar Reserve would create hudreds of new jobs from the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in Kittitas County," she said.

The jobs will be created in the manufacturing of the 400,000 50-by-40-inch that will be built in area.

The panels, if were mounted touching one another would cover about 66 acres of land. But the panels will be mounted separately with corridors of vegetation between them.

The land proposed for the solar voltaic array is a south-facing mountainside about four miles from Cle Elum.

The land has been logged over. The area receives about 300 days of sunshine a year.

The project expects to sell its renewable power to Washington untilies who are now mandated by state law to buy 15 percent of their power from green sources.

The solar power project is the largest in the Northwest, and one of the largest is the country.

Portland's SeaPort Airlines expects to start service this fall to provide air connections from four Arkansas cities to Memphis.

Those four cities, Harrison, Jonesboro, El Dorado and Hot Springs have been without airline passenger service for more than a year.

SeaPort provides commuter service 10 times daily between downtown Seattle's Boeing Field and Portland.

SeaPort will use the same kind of aircraft in Arkansas, the single-engine turboprop Pilatus PC-12, that it uses in its Seattle-Portland flights. The PC-12 carries nine passengers.

The four Arkansas communities have been without air service since June of last year when Mesa Air Group dissolved it Air Midwest subsidiary. Mesa flew between the Arkansas cities and Dallas-Fort Worth.

SeaPort will receive a federal Essential Air Service subsidy of $6 million. Great Lakes Airlines had originally signed up to provide the service, but withdrew in April because it had trouble finding enough Beech 1900D twin turboprops to provide the service. The Beech has 19 seats.

SeaPort also connects Portland with Newport, Astoria and Pendleton in its home state.

I remember being miffed, years ago, when Hallmark began trotting out its Christmas decor before Halloween.

Halloween? How about the 4th of July?

There’s a story in today’s business section about how Sears started its Christmas push last weekend, “while most of America was recovering from Fourth of July fireworks and cookouts.”

I remember waiting until Thanksgiving weekend for the smell of a fir tree, the sounds of the Salvation Army bells and the spell of the carols sung by choirs. Now, nearly six months before the actual holiday, Sears and Kmart are celebrating the season with Christmas sales.

Retailers blame the recession, the article says. They want to attract traditional 4th-quarter business a few months early.

“The phenomenon, known as Christmas creep, is expected to kick into overdrive this year as retailers fight for their share of shoppers’ shrinking pocketbooks,” the article continues.

It’s Christmas creepy, if you ask me. It’s one thing to keep Christmas in your heart all year long - it’s another to leapfrog the summer’s Back-to-School bargains with a sale on parkas and snow blowers in early July.

Have Dasher, Blitzen and Rudolph even got their winter coats yet?

What would Santa say?

The state Department of Financial Institutions has posted a link on its Web site
saying that counterfeit cashier’s checks bearing the name of DuPont-based Venture Bank are now in circulation.

As required, the bank had contacted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to report the checks.

According to the FDIC notice, “The counterfeit items display the routing number 125107671, which is assigned to Venture Bank. A security feature statement is shown beneath the top border. The bank's logo and name are displayed in the top-left corner. The words ‘Cashier's Check’ appear inside of a box in the top-center area. Authentic cashier's checks are brown and display the words ‘Cashier's Check’ on the top-right side of the check. The bank's logo, name and telephone number appear in the top-center area.”

Should you receive or come in contact with any of these checks, the FDIC advises that you contact Chris Knudsvig, the bank’s assistant vice president and internal auditor, at cknudsvig@venture-bank.com or at 253-284-9510 ext. 7303.

Have Tacoma gas prices seen their summertime peak and begun their decline?

A look at the numbers from tacomagasprices.com shows that may be what's happening.

According to the Web site, average prices for regular unleaded fuel in the Tacoma area fell 3.2 cents over the last week to $2.76 a gallon.

That's still slightly higher than a month ago, but it may indicate a positive trend.

In any case, the price is considerably less than it was this time last year when pump prices were still rising and the average was $4.308 a gallon.

Three ARCO stations shared the honor of having the lowest priced gas in town at $2.59 a gallon. Those stations are located at 2802 Portland Ave., 17601 Canyon Road and South 112th and Steele streets.

Boeing's still grounded 787 Dreamliner is testing its mettle on the ground this week at Everett's Paine Field.

The plane began taxi testing Tuesday manuevering on the ground along the Paine Field runways and taxiways.

In one instance, the plane accelerated to fairly high speed and then slowed down using its brakes, engine reversers and spoilers to bleed off speed.

First flight still awaits Boeing's decision on how to best fix the wing-body join area of the aircraft after static tests showed weakness there.

Boeing has postponed the first takeoff for weeks because of that issue. The Dreamliner's first flight is now nearly two years behind schedule.

The newest duo of developers eyeing downtown Tacoma's historic Elks Temple with plans for its resurrection, first tried and failed to buy the nearby Old City Hall for an updated reuse.

Grace Pleasants, a Tacoma developer and her development partner, Rick Moses of California, say they first focused their energies on the Old City Hall.

That building was scheduled for conversion to condominiums, but that plan ran aground when two office tenants declined to give up their favorable leases and leave the building without considerable compensation.

Pleasants and Moses said they thought they could solve the office issue and convert the old building with the Italianate clock tower into residential units. The owners, Stratford Co., declined their offer.

Thwarted on Old City Hall project, they turned their energies to the nearby Elks Temple at 565 Broadway.

They now plan to buy the temple and the lots adjacent to it, resell the temple to Portland's McMenamins for use as a brew pub hotel and build a five story apartment building with a ground floor grocery story on the next door lots. Under their plan, the City of Tacoma would build a five-story garage as the foundation for the apartment and retail building.

The Seattle Times is reporting that members of the state's congressional delegation said today that Boeing is laying down an ultimatum to its biggest union: Unless a long-term agreement barring strikes by the Machinists is reached by this fall, Boeing will build a second production line for the 787 someplace outside Washington.

Here's the rest of Dominic Gates' story:

"The whole thing comes down to, can they get a long-term agreement with the union, with a no-strike clause," influential U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Bremerton, said in an interview Tuesday. "That's what ultimately has to happen here in the next two or three or four months — or they are going to go elsewhere.

"I think if they get this agreement, they would stay."

In a separate interview, Gov. Chris Gregoire said Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson told her recently the company is seeking a long-term no-strike agreement with the Machinists union.

Carson also said Boeing will likely make its decision on the location of a second 787 production line this fall, though Gregoire said he did not specifically link the two elements as an ultimatum.

What the politicians seem to envision is some kind of "social contract" with the union in which Boeing would publicly commit to stay in this region in exchange for labor peace.

Concern about the location of a second 787 line has intensified with news that Boeing is buying the Charleston, S.C., plant of 787 supplier Vought Aircraft Industries.

Dicks, the third-ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, is an aggressive lobbyist for Boeing on issues such as its bid for the Air Force refueling-tanker contract and is close to the company's leadership.

He said the ultimatum was laid out for him and other members of the congressional delegation by "high-ranking people in the Boeing Company" whom he declined to name.

Dicks also said that at a March meeting with Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, arranged by Gregoire and held in the Washington, D.C., office of Sen. Patty Murray, "McNerney was very candid."

"The message was that we need to get a resolution of this (strike) problem. We can't live with this."

Both of Washington's U.S. senators and most of its representatives were present, Dicks said, as McNerney laid out how Boeing plans to do a detailed assessment of where to put a second 787 assembly line in an open competition, with Everett as only one option among several.

We've been writing about the struggles to get a first-class hotel built on the west side of downtown Tacoma's Thea Foss Waterway for more than four years now.

During much of that period, Seattle hotelier Robert Thurston repeatedly redesigned the project to make it fit the shifting marketplace. In the end, though Thurston and his partners felt confident enough to buy the property from the Foss Waterway Development Authority and invest considerable funds in drawing plans and securing permits, the project never broke ground.

Blame the economy and the deflated condo market for that. But throughout what must have been an agonizing process, we've heard little from the reclusive Thurston himself. We've called him many times, but he never chose to call back.

But now that Thurston is working to sell the site to Bellingham hotelier Hollander Investments, he's providing more details about just how the hotel situation came to this point.

Here is his explanation sent to us in an e-mail to help shed some light on the details and to flesh out what were perhaps oversimplified explanations in our stories:

• First, the mixed use (100 key hotel plus three floor condos) development we planned was permitted, and funded with equity and the debt. Site-4 was sold with the FWDA approvals. We’d met numerous requirements including capital requirements to move forward.
• We were ready to start construction, but decided otherwise because our equity partner flagged the business risk that was then surfacing of having to sell three floors of residential units. Without these sales our development plan would have failed.
•Condo sales, as evidenced at the adjoining waterfront were literally non-existent, and the neighboring retail had also not fared any better (no leases or buyers).
•Residential markets in Tacoma were in a state of collapse. Other markets later followed.
•The FWDA was advised that we would not proceed with our mixed use model because it was then not economically sustainable given the market shift in residential sales; the FWDA was offered to take back Site-4 at cost in November of 2008. In deference to FWDA requests we entered an agreement instead to sell to a third party who would bring capability, experience, and hospitality uses to Site-4.
•For us to proceed, in light of the failing residential markets would have been foolish and harmful to Tacoma’s waterfront development. Our large investment in plans, permits, drawings and more will not be recouped.

The Port of Tacoma has posted some tangible results in the first year of its regional effort to reduce port-related diesel and greenhouse gas emissions.

The ports of Tacoma, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. adopted Northwest Ports Clear Air Strategy last year. The plan included short- and long-term goals for cutting down air pollution generated by port activity.

In a news release sent out today, the Tacoma port reports that the results from program's first year. According to the port:

- 57 percent of the ships that call frequently at the port use what's called distillate fuel -- basically a distilled fuel that burns cleaner than traditional bunker fuel. The port would like all ships to be using distillate fuel by 2010.

- 47 percent of the cargo-handling equipment meets cleaner burning engine standards. The port would like all the cargo handling equipment to meet these standards by 2010. All the cargo handling equipment already uses ultra low sulfur diesel or a biodiesel blend.

- All of the switching locomotives at the port use ultra low-sulfur diesel. and the Port supported the participation of its rail operators in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay program.

- 86 percent of the drayage -- or short haul -- trucks serving the port meet emissions levels that equal 1994 emission standards. The port would like all the drayage trucks to meet the 1994 emission standard by 2010.

Falling by 19.8 percent, hotel occupancy in the Tacoma area led Washington in May with declines felt nearly statewide.

Only the Tri-Cities and Central Washington saw an increase in occupancy, up 3.4 percent for the month, according to a monthly report by Bellevue hospitality consultant Wolfgang Rood.

The statewide average occupancy rate fell 10.2 percent for the month, compared to May of 2008, Rood said. The Tacoma area rate, with 60.6 percent of rooms occupied, fell from 75.6 percent the year before.

The Tacoma area again stood alone when marking the average daily room rate in Washington. The Tacoma average rate, $82.28, was up 0.5 percent from May of 2008. All other regions of the state reported a decline in the average rate – with the statewide average, $124.68, dipping 4 percent from $129.92.

Hotels in the Bellevue area saw the greatest decline in the rate, down 13.5 percent to $133.99. The rate in Downtown Seattle, $171.38, was down 1.2 percent from 2008.

The Federal Reserve Board of Governors today issued details of an agreement with Everett-based Frontier Financial Corp., parent of Frontier Bank. The agreement was signed July 2.

The agreement says the bank may not pay dividends or make major financial decision without approval by the governors, and that the bank must prepare a detailed financial plan concerning its future.

The plan, according to the agreement, must be prepared within 60 days and must offer “an acceptable written plan to maintain sufficient capital.” It must address and consider, among other matters, current and future capital requirements, the adequacy of capital, a projection of growth and the proposed source of necessary additional funds.

The bank is also now required to prepare quarterly progress reports for the board, and may not make significant personnel decisions without approval.

Frontier shares reached a 52-week low of 94 cents in trading early today, and are currently trading at 95 cents, down 78 percent year-to-date.

The Boeing Co., making official what's been a loud rumor in the aerospace industry for weeks, today announced the purchase of Vought Aircraft Industries' North Charleston, S.C. plant.

That plant produces major composite fuselage sections for the 787 Dreamliner.

The purchase, for $580 million and forgiveness of debt Vought owed Boeing, set off speculation once again that Boeing would open a second 787 Dreamliner production line in the South Carolina city.

Besides putting Washington State economic development officials on high alert and causing anxiety in political circles in the state, the purchase gives Boeing control over a weak link in its outsourced 787 production chain.

Boeing had previously bought Vought's share of Charleston-based Global Aeronautica, a concern that mated Vought-built 787 fuselage sections with sections made by Alenia in Italy and by Boeing's Japanese partners.

From the beginning of the 787 production scheme, some analysts had wondered why Boeing had picked the financially unstable Vought to do vital and technologically advanced work on the Dreamliner.

Vought has had a handful of owners in recent decades and has announced and then canceled plans to consolidate and close plants.

By most accounts, Vought's work on the 787 fuselage sections was among the most troubled in the whole outsourcing scheme. Boeing reinforced Vought's efforts with its own engineering workforce and with money to get the project up to speed.

When Vought delivered the first fuselage sections two years ago, the sections were barely more than hollow shells. Under Boeing's scheme, Vought and other suppliers were to deliver major pieces of the aircraft wired and plumbed and ready to literally snap together in three days at the company's Everett final assembly line.

Boeing has been hinting for months that it could open a second assembly line for the much-delayed 787 at another location than Everett.

Charleston would make some sense because putting the plane together there would eliminate one cross-country flight by Boeing's outsize 747 Dreamlifters carrying the pieces built in South Carolina to Everett.

And building a second assembly line in Charleston would be a slap at what Boeing considers are difficult union workforces in Washington that have regularly struck the company. South Carolina is a right-to-work state where unions are hard to organize, and payscales are lower.

On the other hand, Boeing would have to build a new construction hall on the Charleston site and hire more workers in an area that has few trained aerospace mechanics.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Scott Carson told Gov. Chris Gregoire today that the company had made no decision on the second assembly line.

Meanwhile, aerospace industry forces in Washington moved to full red alert status.

Linda Lanham, a former union lobbyist and executive director of the Aerospace Futures Alliance wrote members:

"While this is not a final decision by The Boeing Co. regarding production of the 787 second line," she said referring to the purchase announcement, "it should register a loud wake up call for all of us.

"It is time for all of us to pull together and create a competitive environment to promote and enhances Washington's aerospace industry," she said.

What Washington could do further to entice Boeing to open a second line here is not clear. A recent Snohomish County study indicated that some advantages southern sites have over Everett are items that a mere vote by the Legislature would not change, namely, a higher cost of living, higher wages and an established union-friendly environment.

Boeing would have little to lose in setting up a satellite assembly line in the South other than the already strained goodwill with Puget Sound.

A second assembly line would serve to give notice to unions that their jobs aren't necessarily permanent here, and it would give Boeing more geographic diversity in case of a natural disaster. Another plant in another state, say North Carolina or Texas, for instance, would add to the ranks of Boeing supporters in Congress.

The risk for Boeing is that it would again be trying a radically different production model in a program already suffering mightily from trying to change too many tried and true methods at once.

The residential real estate market in Pierce County is perking up for the summer as more people move from simply looking at homes to actually making offers on them.

Pending sales of homes and condominiums in the county were up 27 percent in June to 1,341 from the same month last year, according to the figures released by the Northwest Multiple Listings Service today.

The median price ticked up slightly over the month to $230,000, though it remains 11 percent below where it was a year ago.

Local real estate agents said low interest rates, first-time home buyer credits and the prospect of good deals are spurring some hesitant shoppers into taking action.

“It’s the people that have been tire kicking for awhile – maybe they’ve been waiting for their homes to sell and their homes are finally selling,” said Cheryl O’Brien, president of the Tacoma Pierce County Association of Realtors.

O’Brien, a Realtor with John L. Scott in Gig Harbor, said her office currently has more sales than listings, including the sale of two properties that were over $1 million and six properties over $500,000.

“Everything is creeping up,” O’Brien said. “It’s been awhile since we’ve seen anything over $1 million sell.”

Still much of the recent sales activity remains in the lower price range. O’Brien said that it’s a “seller’s market” for homes priced at $300,000 or less and other agents reported some instances of multiple offers on such homes.

And while there’s been an uptick in pending sales, the number of closed sales has yet to catch up to where the county was last year at this time. Closed sales were down 7 percent to 798 in June when compared to June 2008, according to the MLS report.

Dick Beeson, a NWMLS director and a broker with Windermere Commencement Associates in Tacoma, attributes the gap between pending and closed sales to the number of offers on short sale homes that don’t come through.

A short sale happens when a home owner sells her home for less money than she owes the bank. Such transactions require bank approval before the sale can be completed.

But Beeson said the increase in number of people making offers on homes is a good sign.

“It means they want to buy something,” he said. “They’ve actually stepped up and put it into writing – they are getting into the game.”

Kelly Kearsley: 253-597-8573
Kelly.kearsley@thenewstribune.com

Alaska Airlines' June passenger traffic fell by 2.6 percent, the airline says.

But Alaska's planes operated with more seats full, 80.7 percent versus 79.5 percent, because it has cut its capacity by 4.1 percent.

Meanwhile at Alaska's sister airline, Horizon Air, passenger traffic fell by 9.2 percent in June, but capacity fell at a steeper rate, 10.8 percent. Horizon's planes were 79.4 percent full in June this year compared with 78 percent in June 2008.

British Airways this week announced it had deferred delivery of its first six superjumbo Airbus A380 jets.

The delivery dates have been pushed back an average of five months, the airline said. The first of the planes is due for delivery in 2012.

Delivery of six additional A380s was delayed by an average of two years, the airline said.

Boeing has seen orders for its mid-sized 787 Dreamliner evaporate as the aircraft encounters production and design problems.

The A380, with more than 500 seats, is proving to be too big for some routes, and analysts are wondering whether airlines will carry through with all of their orders at a time when business and tourist travel is falling.

Some 1,200 union workers in Macy's stores from SeaTac to Bellingham have approved a new contract by a 75 percent margin.

The new agreement with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 21 included better wages, a signing bonus and new seniority, scheduling and union security language, the union said.

"This was a tough bargain, and the members showed each and management that while we can never get everything we want, if we speak with one voice, we can get what we need: respect as workers and better wages and benefits," said David Fleishman, the union's negotiation director.

The previous contract had expired in April.

Tacoma's Macy's is not covered by the new contract. A separate local represents workers at the Tacoma Mall stores.

The Port of Seattle has restarted a $419 million rental car terminal construction project shut down last December because of uncertain financing.

The 23-acre terminal at the junction of International Boulevard and Washington 518 north of the airport, is now scheduled to open in 2012.

The project will consolidate most of the airport's rental car counters and rental car parking from the airline terminal and its adjacent garage into a new facility. Passengers will be shuttled between the rental car terminal and the airport.

The terminal will house 10 rental car companies and some 5,400 rental vehicles as well as a bus maintenance facility.

The terminal's opening will free up for public use space in the terminal parking garage now used for rental cars.

The construction project will generate up to 1,000 jobs this year, the port said.

The construction was halted late last year when financial markets took a swoon. The port recently was able to sell revenue bonds to fund continued construction.

Just when you thought airlines couldn't jam more passengers into a plane, a Chinese airline says it is considering a passenger accommodation plan that could squeeze 40 percent more people into what's now a 150-seat Airbus.

Spring Airlines is talking with the European planemaker about adding stand-up accomodations to its yet-to-be-delivered A320s.

The standing seating plan would substitute stool-like seats for conventional seats.

The launch customer for Boeing's troubled 787 Dreamliner, All Nippon Airways, has added five more of the revolutionary jetliners to its orders.

That brings All Nippon's total orders to 55 for the twin jet.

The Japanese airline's new orders appeared as some other airlines backed away from their prior orders for the composite airliner.

Australia's Qantas recently canceled orders for 15 of the planes. Other airlines have canceled orders for 57 of the planes this year as delays continue to mount for its delivery schedule.

The first test 787 was scheduled to fly by the end of last month after four prior delays, but a problem with the wing's joint with the plane's body delayed that first flight indefinitely while Boeing seeks a cure.

The 787, hit with production screw-ups, parts shortages, labor strikes and design issues, is now two years late in leaving the ground.

Boeing Co. delivered 125 airliners in this year's second quarter, the company reported today.

For the year, the company's Puget Sound factories in Renton and Everett have produced and delivered a total of 246 airliners.

The popular 737, built in Renton, was the most numerous of those deliveries with 99 planes turned over to customers. The big twin-engine 777 deliveries were 21. The company delivered two 747s and three 767s.

Boeing's most popular military aircraft in the second quarter was the F/A-18 fighter and electronic warfare aircraft with 13 delivered.

Minnesota-based Sun Country Airlines is moving its gates at Sea-Tac Airport to the South Satellite.

The airline will also move its terminal counter to the new Delta counter.

The moves are part of a reshuffle of gates and terminal counters brought about by the merger of Delta and Northwest airlines. Delta has consolidated its gates with those of Northwest in the South Satellite and merged its ticket counter with Northwest's in the terminal.

The News Tribune has confirmed that members of Tacoma Elks #174 last night approved the sale of its property at South 23rd and Union streets.

A few weeks ago, we reported that the lodge turned down Wal-Mart's bid to buy the 17-acre property but that the group was close to an agreement with another developer.

A member told us this morning that the developer is planning office space, a McDonald's and a Starbucks.

Check here for more details as we confirm them.

UPDATE: Lodge members on Wednesday night approved a contract with Opus, a Minneapolis-based real estate developer who in 2008 finished Federal Way Crossings, a 21-acre retail development on South 348th Street.

Gary Giambrone, the Elks' special representative who is in charge of the lodge, said Thursday that the contract comprises two phases of development, and that the Elks' Grand Lodge trustees still must approve both phases.

Opus has a four-month contingency on both phases, Giambrone said, which gives the developer and the Elks the flexibility to assess the market before breaking ground.

=> Read more!

State Attorney General Rob McKenna praised the Federal Trade Commission for tackling a Tacoma company "that preyed on financially strapped consumers."

The FTC sued Mutual Consolidated Savings last week for allegedly using robo-calls to aggressively target consumers then charging fees of $690 to $899 while providing little help.

On Monday, the FTC froze the company's assets and a court-appointed receiver took control of the business.

“Mutual Consolidated Savings has been the source of numerous consumer complaints,” McKenna said. “The Federal Trade Commission’s move to shut down its Tacoma call center means that fewer consumers will be misled by the company’s promises to bail them out of debt.”

McKenna urged consumers to use a legitimate credit counselor and his office offered tips on how to sort out the bad actors from the good ones.

“When you’re drowning in debt, you’re desperate,” McKenna said. “But if you’re not careful, your chosen rescuer may toss you an anvil instead of a life preserver.”

Here's how to spot a debt repair scam:

- The company promises to repair a bad credit report.

- The organization wants you to pay before any services are provided.

- You aren’t informed of the legal rights and actions you can take yourself for free.

=> Read more!

A blog post on CBS Moneywatch.com recently reported Tacoma at the top of a list of "The 10 Best Housing Markets."

"Some markets are poised to do quite nicely — others will tank. Based on the Case-Shiller index, Moody’s Economy.com forecast the 10 best and worst markets between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the fourth quarter of 2013," according to the post.

I haven't been able to find the original source of the list. When I do, I'll let you know what exactly it was about the Tacoma market that ranked us so high.

Alaska Airlines has painted several of its 737s in Disney paint schemes. Now Amtrak is getting in the act to promote a new Disney version of a wintertime classic.

Disney has chartered an Amtrak train, painted its engine and cars like an English town at Christmastime complete with the characters from its new movie "A Christmas Carol."

The train began a nationwide tour promoting the film on Memorial Day in Los Angeles. It visits Seattle this week for the three-day Independence Day holiday.

The train will visit Seattle's King Street Station Friday through Sunday for free public viewings. The train features sneak previews of the film with Jim Carrey, inactive movie making exhibits and background information about the story.

No word yet on when the train will pass through Tacoma, but expect it either late today, or more likely, sometime Thursday along the BNSF tracks that skirt the waterfront and Puget Sound.

In Seattle, the train will be open Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. King Street Station is adjacent to Qwest Field at 303 South Jackson St.

Registration of new vehicles fell nearly 38 percent in Washington in May compared with the same month a year ago, according to data from an auto market analysis firm.

Cross-Sell reported a total of 13,602 new vehicles registered by Washington car dealers last month compared with 21,865 vehicles in May 2008. That's a 37.8 percent decline.

Used car registrations fell but not as severely. Dealers registered 26,104 used vehicles in Washington in May, and private parties registered 20,065 used vehicles.

Year-over-year used vehicle title registrations were down 8.2 percent at dealers and 7.7 percent among private parties.

Leading the new car sales were compact sport utility vehicles, compact cars and small sport utilities, said Cross-Sell.