Business

<< Previous   of   Next >> Associated Press  (click to enlarge) Best Buy will sell name brands such as Fender.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 Business Briefly Local gasoline prices continue to ease slightly The average price of a gallon of gas in the Puget Sound area fell to $4.24 on Monday, according to AAA. That's 15 cents lower than the record high that was set in the region in late June, although it's still $1.30 higher than the average price a year ago. The auto club's survey found that average price of diesel locally is just below $4.90 a gallon. Best Buy to start selling musical gear Hoping to cater to everyone from the garage guitarist to a recording musician, Best Buy Co. Inc. will set aside space for musical instruments and gear in dozens of stores nationwide. The nation's largest consumer electronics retailer plans to open as many as 85 of the music centers by the end of the year. Each will include roughly 1,000 different products with well-known brand names such as Fender, Gibson and Roland. Plan aims to help mortgage sector The Bush administration and federal banking regulators joined with the nation's four largest banks Monday to endorse a new way to pump money into the battered U.S. mortgage market. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveiled a set of best practices designed to encourage banks to issue a debt instrument known as a covered bond. The administration hopes these bonds will replace some of the mortgage financing that has disappeared as investors have incurred huge losses. Verizon earnings up, revenue short Verizon Communications Inc.'s second-quarter earnings rose 12 percent, while revenue was shy of expectations and customers disconnected their landlines faster than before. The nation's second-largest telecommunications company earned nearly $1.9 billion, or 66 cents per share, in the quarter, up from $1.7 billion a year ago. Revenue rose 3.7 percent to $24 billion. The company lost 11 percent of its residential landlines in the past year. GM cuts production lines in two states General Motors Corp. will cut shifts at plants in Ohio and Louisiana, eliminating 1,760 jobs, as part of the automaker's plan to reduce vehicle production due to weak demand for trucks and sport utility vehicles. The cuts bring GM's truck and SUV production cuts to just under the 300,000 units company officials had hoped for this year. GM already has been idling various truck and SUV production. PSE buys power plant in Sumas Puget Sound Energy has completed the purchase of a 125 megawatt natural gas-fired power plant in Sumas. The $30 million transaction with a subsidiary of National Energy Systems Co. of Kirk­land includes a four-mile pipeline that brings natural gas to the plant from a main Canadian gas transmission line. The Sumas plant was built in 1993 near the U.S.-Canada border. From Herald staff and news services

1. Arlington brothers’ fight led to death, police say 2. Detectives consider slaps to father lethal 3. Woman found dead at Bothell house fire 4. Two teens hurt in collision near Granite Falls 5. Lottery win helps Lake Stevens convenience store owner pay bonuses 6. Everett man shot in groin; two men, one woman are arrested 7. I-5 car chase was result of driver's medical condition 8. CBS cancels ‘As the World Turns’ 9. Jail inmates’ meal complaint omits a crucial fact 10. Locker dips toe in NFL pool 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Zambian woman thanks students for their help • Food banks see rise in use • ‘Making Spirits Bright’ in Edmonds • Wolfpack takes aim at state • Seahawks help students smile • 95 and still volunteering • Sno-King joined by local TV king • Veterans back for Wildcats • Lynnwood seeks to plug $2 million budget gap • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million