Attention music lovers: iTunes Store now sells thousands of songs without copy protection.

That means you can listen to them on any device that plays digital music.

The service – called iTunes Plus – features tracks that are free of digital rights management, or DRM, technology. The copy-protection software limits where songs or movies can be played and distributed.

The unrestricted content means some songs purchased from iTunes will work for the first time directly on portable players other than Apple’s iPod, including Microsoft Corp.’s Zune.

The inaugural batch of iTunes Plus songs includes music

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ChangMook Sohn, executive director of the State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, today sent his latest economic forecast – for June – to the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors. The advisors will meet Friday in Olympia to review the forecast.

Among the highlights:

&bull Nationwide, what little GDP growth there was in the first quarter (1.3 percent) was more than accounted for by consumer spending which rose at a rate of 3.8 percent.

&bull Housing starts continued to plunge in the first quarter, falling at a 19.9 percent rate to 1.474 million units. The mortgage rate declined

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There’s a puppy on the East Coast, or maybe in Canada. The owner is a missionary, and about to leave home to do God’s work in Africa. You, a dog lover, can have the puppy for free.

That’s what the online ad says. That’s what you read when you go to the Web site. That’s what you hear when you call the number.

Yes, the puppy is free – but there will be a $400 shipping fee. Please wire the money immediately.

Guess what! There is no puppy. You’re out the $400. So goes one of

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Looking for an inexpensive plane ticket? Expedia will add low-cast airline JetBlue Airways Corp.

JetBlue will list flights on Expedia and unit Hotwire for five years, the companies said Thursday according to Bloomberg News.

JetBlue in August began selling flights to offline travel agencies through Sabre Holdings Corp. and is on a testing basis with Sabre’s Travelocity.com, the No. 2 U.S. online travel agency, JetBlue spokesman Bryan Baldwin said.

JetBlue, which trails Southwest Airlines Co. among U.S. low-cost carriers, is trying to boost sales after two straight years of losses and winter operating problems that caused

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St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood and St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way this month received the 2007 Partners for Change Award for waste-reduction, mercury-elimination and recycling programs.

The awards were presented by Hospitals for a Healthy Environment. The three Franciscan Health System hospitals were among 128 hospitals, health systems and health care organizations in the United States honored by H2E.

In 2006, St. Joseph, St. Clare and St. Francis recycled, reused or donated 138,000 pounds of materials that otherwise would likely have ended up in landfills. "We always strive to be good

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It may be too soon to call this a trend, but the numbers look right. And what with gasoline prices traditionally bound upwards on the edge of a holiday weekend, today it’s different.

The price of gasoline is going down.

A gallon of regular gas in Tacoma fell again Friday – to $3.415, down from $3.429 on Thursday. In Bellingham, home of the state’s most highly priced gas, the price fell from $3.541 to $3.539, according to AAA. Spokane is maintaining its reputation for selling Washington’s cheapest gas, at $3.302 a gallon, down from $3.308.

A month

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Hundreds of business and community leaders gathered at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center last night to honor four people for their work in community and business.

The room was crowded. The food was good – including the famous cheesebread. And everybody had read The News Tribune’s series profiling the winners: Ray Tennison of Simpson Investment Group, Joe Stortini of Joeseppi’s Italian Ristorante and George Weyerhaeuser of the company that bears his family’s name. (Note to YMCA CEO Bob Ecklund and his fans: Bob’s profile will run in Sunday’s paper. Columnist Dan Voelpel will tell the story of

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Amazon.com today announced it is seeking enthusiastic, energetic young Muggles under the age of 18 to be filmed sharing their excitement for the epic series and championing their favorite Harry Potter character.

Between five and 15 entrants will be selected as "Amazon Kid Correspondents," and will serve as Amazon.com’s Harry Potter aficionados in media interviews and on the Amazon.com Web site leading up to the much-anticipated July 21 release of "Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows."

Selected video submissions will be shown on the Amazon.com Web site for customers to enjoy. The deadline for submissions is 11:59 p.m. June

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