It’s costing $4.23 for a gallon of unleaded gas today, Friday, as the three-day weekend approaches, up from $4.07 a month ago, says AAA.

Today’s price comes closer even yet to the all-time high in Kitsap of $4.37 in June 2008. The switchover to summer blend at West Coast refineries is being blamed, along with the fire at the Cherry Point refinery at Ferndale, in Whatcom County.

Rachel Pritchett

Thirty-five state liquor stores will remain open until June 1, including Belfair’s on Highway 3. 

Closing on Memorial Day will Gig Harbor’s Point Fosdick store, followed Tuesday by those on Bremerton’s Naval Avenue and Port Orchard’s Lund Avenue, and Wednesday by Bainbridge’s Tormey Lane location, one in Poulsbo Village and a third on Silverdale’s Bucklin Hill Road.

The new free service can help consumers plan for retirement, or get estimates for disability and survivor benefits.

The administration states the process is safe.

To get your information, go to http://socialsecurity.gov/mystatement/. You will be asked to provide information already on files with Social Security to verify who you are.

— Rachel Pritchett

BREMERTON NATIONAL AIRPORT — Port of Bremerton commissioners on Tuesday opted not to raise rates at the Port Orchard Marina.

“We couldn’t justify it,” Commissioner Larry Stokes said.

Presently, no other local marina charges as much as the Port Orchard Marina for uncovered moorage, according to a study from the port. Boaters pay more than $350 a month for a slip.

Uncovered moorage rates among local marinas are cheapest at the Brownsville Marina, which charges less than $200 a month. The Port of Poulsbo is the second best bargain, with rates of just more than $200.

Port Orchard Marina also is the most expensive for covered moorage, charging more than $550 a month. Kingston, the cheapest, charges less than $400.

The last time the port raised rates at the Port Orchard Marina was between 2006 and 2009.

Port marinas chief Steve Slaton said the waiting list for the Port Orchard Marina is declining, due to a poor economy. About two dozen names are on the list. That’s down from before the recession, when nearly 60 names were on the list.

Since 2008, the port has “managed” the waiting list, removing names of people who died, moved away or no longer were interested, and began charging a $25 annual fee to stay on the list. That also contributed to a shorter roster of names.

The Port Orchard Marina always runs close to full.

Commissioners recently also decided not to lower rates at the Bremerton Marina to generate more interest among boaters. The marina is a third full with many boats there with a yacht-sales firm. You can read that story here:

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/apr/11/lower-rates-might-not-fill-bremerton-marinas/

The average price for a gallon of unleaded today, Wednesday, stood at $4.20, up 15 cents from a week ago. That not so far off from the all-time record for high prices, which hit locally on June 21, 2008, when the price rose to $4.50.

Diesel locally today is selling at $4.51 on average, according to auto club AAA. Premium was at $4.62.

Following is a discussion that AAA national analyst Avery Ash put out Monday. As you can see, prices are falling in the rest of the nation, except for the West Coast. He said it’s the annual switchover at refineries from winter mix to summer mix, creating less supply:

By Avery Ash, AAA
Declining crude oil prices and renewed economic concerns have pressured the national average gas price steadily lower since early April.

The national average price at the pump has now declined for 28 consecutive days and is 21 cents lower than the April 6 peak of $3.94. This streak of declining prices is the longest since 2010, when prices dropped 21 cents from May 7 to June 3. If the current streak is extended tomorrow, it will be the longest streak since 2009, when prices declined 23 cents from June 22 to July 21.

Today’s national average price for a gallon of regular self-serve gasoline is $3.73. This is five cents cheaper than the price one week ago, 17 cents cheaper than one month ago and 24 cents cheaper than one year ago.

A decline in the price at the pump has not been seen west of the Rocky Mountains, where tight gasoline inventories have sent prices higher even as crude oil prices and retail gas prices across the rest country have moved lower. While it is not unusual for gasoline stocks to decline at this time of year, as refineries undergo maintenance and the switchover from winter-blend to summer-blend gasoline takes place, current West Coast stocks, as reported last week by the Department of Energy, are at their lowest level since 1992. While 46 states and the District of Columbia have seen their price at the pump decline since April 14, Alaska (3.4 cents), Washington (7.1 cents), Oregon (8.5 cents), and California (11.6 cents) have seen prices increase.

This from ForeclosureRadar, a service that tracks foreclosure trends. First is a discussion of what happened nationally in April. I’ve put the April statistics for Kitsap County below that. You can see that the foreclosure pipeline is slowly narrowing both nationally and locally, hurting investors. If you’d like more local detail, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Rachel Pritchett, reporter
rpritchett@kitsapsun.com
360-475-3783

The discussion from ForeclosureRadar:
Foreclosure Starts declined across our coverage area wiping out the small gains in new foreclosure filings last month. In California, notice of default filings are down 69.8 percent from the peak in March 2009, and 15.8 percent from April 2011. Notice of trustee dale filings, the start of Arizona’s foreclosure process, are down 59.4 percent from the peak in March 2009, and down 8 percent year-over-year.



Foreclosure sales also declined, however, foreclosure investors purchased a record percentage of the limited inventory that was actually sold. Nevada investors purchased more than 50 percent of foreclosure sales for the first time at 50.7 percent. Arizona followed with 44.6 percent and California at 41.3 percent. The low number of sales, combined with record percent purchased on the courthouse steps left very little to become Bank Owned (REO). This further depletes the inventory of Bank Owned homes as REO sales continue to outpace the addition of new inventory.



Despite investors purchasing a higher percentage of foreclosure sales, margins have rapidly declined in recent months. In both Arizona and Nevada winning bids on the courthouse steps on average equal the current estimated value of those properties. In California the discount between market value and winning bid have on average declined to 12.3 percent. This leaves investors who intend to resell their purchases with record low profits after eviction, repairs, and closing costs.

Now the local discussion:
There were 37 new foreclosure filings in Kitsap County in April.

That was a 68 percent decrease over a year ago. and a 52 percent decrease over March. This is the first step in the foreclosure process.

As for foreclosure outcomes in Kitsap County in April, the last step in the foreclosure process, 17 were canceled prior to being auctioned off on the courthouse steps. That means that the parties successfully negotiated a loan modification or the property became a short sale.

Fifteen went back to the bank, and one was sold to a third party.

Foreclosure outcomes of all sorts in Kitsap County were drastically down in April over a year ago.

By Kitsap Sun staff

SILVERDALE — The public is invited to a groundbreaking of Harrison Medical Center’s orthopaedic center Thursday in Silverdale.

The celebration begins at 4 p.m. at Harrison’s medical campus.

The 45,000-square-foot orthopaedic center will occupy three floors and will be a wing of the existing facility, which is used mostly for women’s and children’s health care services.

The center is estimated to cost $21 million to build and is expected to open in August.

The address is 1800 NW Myhre Road.

The expansion will be funded mostly by a $1 million state grant. It includes adding between five and eight sites for prospective businesses and manufacturers.

The work also includes the completion of Cruiser Loop Road. The activity is located in the northeast part of the industrial park near Safe Boats International’s manufacturing facility.

Engineering on the project is complete, and the estimate by N.L. Olson & Associates of Port Orchard came in $200,000 more than what’s available in the grant, due to the planned enlargement of a retention pond to serve Safe Boats. The maker of fast security boats is the port’s largest industrial-park tenant.

Port staffers anticipate a favorable bidding climate, and said any difference could be made up by unexecuted capital projects and timber harvest at the site.

The work is expected to be completed by October.

Century West was among four firms that competed for the work on the planning blueprint, called an airport master plan. The planning update is to begin later this year and will include input from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA will pay $462,000 to Century West over 2012 and 2013. The port will pay $46,200, with some of that money coming from timber revenue.

Century West has worked on airport master plans for similarly sized airports in the Northwest. For its update of the Bremerton National Airport master plan, it will call on the services of Bremerton-based Parametrix, Inc., an engineering firm, for environmental and stormwater planning, and also a Florida company, Airport Business Solutions, to help with financial planning.

The selection was announced at a Port of Bremerton commissioners’ meeting this week.

The average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline crept up 3 cents between Thursday and Friday, landing at $4.08 a gallon.

Diesel on Friday stood at $4.46 a gallon, according to auto Club AAA.

Last year this time, Kitsap motorists paid $4.06 a gallon for gas, on average.

Hawaiian motorists were paying $4.55 a gallon, while Missouri drivers had an average price of $3.46.

Meanwhile, The Associated Press reports the price of oil is falling after reports that China’s rapid growth appears to be slowing down.

China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, reported a sharp decline in both investment and industrial production growth in April. A slowdown in China could push oil consumption — and prices — lower this year.

Benchmark U.S. crude lost 26 cents to $96.82 in New York while Brent crude lost 31 cents to $112.42 per barrel in London on Friday.

Oil prices have declined for most of the past two weeks following weak jobs numbers in the U.S. and political changes in Europe that could derail its plan for economic recovery.