Consumers are likely to see milk prices rise to record levels because the government is raising the minimum price paid to farmers to a record high, dairy experts say. The farmers’ price is rising to $1.69 a gallon, a 50-cent increase. That could send the price of a gallon up to $3.40 at the grocery store.
Alaska’s Gourmet Subs beat out competitors including Subway to win a contract from Washington State Ferries to serve sandwiches, pizza and pasta on Seattle’s Colman Dock for up to 10 years, a ferry spokesman said. The shop will feature subs with such items as reindeer sausage, smoked salmon and halibut.
Lumber producer Weyerhaeuser Co. returned to profitability in the first quarter, led by continued strength of single-family housing starts and the wood-products market, as well as improvement in the pulp, paper and containerboard markets. The Federal Way company reported net income of $121 million, or 54 cents a share.
Alaska Air Group Inc. narrowed its losses in the first quarter as higher revenue and unexpectedly high winter passenger traffic more than offset climbing jet-fuel costs. The Seattle holding company for Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air reported a loss of $42.7 million, or $1.59 a share, compared with a loss of $56.3 million, or $2.12 a share in the first quarter of 2003.
Boeing Co. has used proprietary information belonging to a competitor at least twice in trying to win a government contract, according to an Air Force memo filed in a Lockheed Martin lawsuit against Boeing. The nine-page memorandum suggested that the Chicago-based defense contractor’s improprieties extended beyond the “handful of people” that Boeing blamed for unethical behavior in winning a 1998 rocket contract.
AT&T Wireless, which is being sold to rival Cingular Wireless, lost $58 million in the first quarter, blaming high customer turnover and deep discounts to new customers. The results reported Friday amounted to a loss of 2 cents a share and fell short of Wall Street expectations. It was the second straight quarterly loss. A year ago, the Redmond company had a profit available to common shareholders of $135 million, or 5 cents a share. That figure reflects a $7 million deduction related to preferred shares.
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