Herald staff
WASILLA, Alaska — Need to kick the cigarette habit? No problem. Just trade that pack of smokes for 6 inches of meat, lettuce and tomato.
Two Subway stores, in conjunction with the Mat-Su Tobacco Control Alliance and a local hospital, offered a free cold turkey sub to the first 200 people Thursday who brought in at least a half pack of cigarettes and signed a pledge to try to quit smoking.
The cigs-for-sandwich deal was offered as part of the 24th annual Great American Smokeout. A national effort sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the smokeout tries to get smokers to quit for one day to prove they can.
People also could trade in a similar quantity of other tobacco products, such as snuff and chew.
The pledge is not binding and the swap is not a great bargain. A half turkey sub is valued at about $3.50. A half pack of cigarettes sells for around $2 in Alaska.
Titanic to dock at Pacific Science Center: Pieces of the Titanic, including some not seen on the surface since 1912, will be exhibited at the Pacific Science Center. The exhibit, to run from March to September, will include about 200 artifacts, ranging from a 13-ton section of the ship’s hull to a matching Edwardian cobalt and gold dinner plate and tea cup. The exhibit was announced at a Wednesday news conference. Displaying the 13- by 20-foot hull piece, which was recovered in 1998, will mean knocking out a wall at the center. The piece is the outside wall of first-class cabins C-79 and C-81. It will be brought to Seattle soon and stored in a Boeing facility pending the exhibit opening.
Lockes moving back into mansion: Gov. Gary Locke and his family are preparing to move back into the state Executive Mansion after a $2.7 million renovation. A moving crew is returning the furniture this week, and the Lockes plan to move back in shortly after Thanksgiving. They have been living in a $2,900-a-month rental home in Olympia during the eight-month renovation. Built in 1908 and last renovated in 1975, the Executive Mansion is the oldest building on the Capitol Campus. It is currently valued at $5 million. The renovation included repairing the leaky roof, replacing two-thirds of the wooden floors on the first floor, remodeling a second-floor bedroom to turn it into a family kitchen, updating the heating and air conditioning systems, and installing sprinklers. Other former residents of the mansion won’t be welcomed back. Bats infested the building in the past, even forcing the Lockes to move out temporarily in 1997.
