Business briefs: Bothell firm lowers loss, hikes shares

Helix BioMedix Inc., a developer of wound-healing proteins known as peptides, said it lost $3.4 million last year, down from $3.8 million in 2006. The Bothell company’s revenue totaled about $500,000, up dramatically from the $71,000 it made in the previous year. After announcing its results, Helix’s shares gained 7 cents, or 11 percent, to close at 69 cents. This year, Helix hopes to launch a new skin care product that uses its peptides.

IRS to help poor get aid checks

The Internal Revenue Service will open some 320 offices on Saturday to help low-income people, including some retirees and veterans, get the checks they are eligible for under the economic stimulus act passed by Congress in January. The tax agency said Monday that community and advocacy groups such as the AARP and the United Way of America will also make special efforts on that day to ensure that people who don’t ordinarily file tax returns don’t miss out on the payment. A list of IRS offices and partner sites providing assistance is available on the IRS Web site, www.irs.gov, or by calling the IRS hotline, 800-906-9887.

Post CEO Graham gets same salary

Just as he has for the last 17 years, Washington Post Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Donald Graham received a $400,000 salary and no annual bonus, according to a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Graham’s total compensation, including $11,700 in company contributions to his 401 (k) plan, was $411,700. In 2006, he received compensation valued at $811,836, which included the $400,000 salary and $400,000 in incentive-based compensation. Graham earned his compensation during a year in which the value of Post stock rose 6.1 percent, from $745.60 to $791.43. The Post owns The Herald, other media companies and a tutoring business.

KFC chain adding grilled chicken

What in the name of Col. Harland Sanders is going on at KFC? The chain built on Sanders’ secret recipe for fried chicken is about to give equal billing to, gulp, grilled chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken customers will be greeted eventually by lighted “Now Grilling” signs, starting in coming weeks in select U.S. cities. Storefront signs will be altered to promote the new product — called Kentucky Grilled Chicken. Even the brand’s ubiquitous chicken buckets will get a makeover. Louisville-based KFC hopes grilled chicken will lure back health-conscious consumers who dropped fried chicken from their diets.

T-bill rates rise at Monday auction

The Treasury Department auctioned three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.2 percent, up from 1.1 percent last week. Six-month bills were auctioned at a discount rate of 1.55 percent, up from 1.31 percent last week. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,969.67 while a six-month bill sold for $9,921.64. Separately, the Federal Reserve said Monday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for changing adjustable rate mortgages, fell to 1.35 percent last week from 1.52 percent the previous week.

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