SEATTLE – Penny auction sites lure consumers with cheap prices on brand-name electronics, designer handbags and discounted store gift cards. But an investigation by the Washington Attorney General’s Office shows how some of these sites can fool consumers into paying big bucks on an auction with no winner. These sites use shill bids to drive up prices by one unlucky penny at a time.

The owner of PennyBiddr, based in Federal Way, agreed to shut down the site and refund consumers nationwide as part of a settlement announced today by Attorney General Rob McKenna and Assistant Attorney General Jake Bernstein. Documents filed by the state in King County Superior Court accuse the company of using phony bids to artificially increase prices and sometimes make it impossible for consumers – who had already spent money – to win an auction.

“Here’s my two cents on penny auctions,” Bernstein said. “They’re essentially a form of entertainment in which you to pay to play. In a legal auction, a consumer may be able to buy an expensive item for an incredibly low price. But if you don’t know how these auctions work or you find it difficult to stick to a spending limit, you can easily be suckered out of lots of money. Worse, some site owners collude with friends or even use an illegal software code to place bogus bids.”

Since its creation in 1853, the Washington State Library has made it a priority to provide patrons with access to information and historical publications related to Washington and the Pacific Northwest. 

The remarkable progress in technology over the years has allowed people to acquire information and publications faster and easier than ever before. The Washington State Library has embraced technology to make its offerings more accessible to the public. These statistics indicate that. From 2002 to 2009:

• The number of visitors to the State Library has increased by 22 percent, from 370,328 to 451,865.

• The number of books checked out has risen 78.6 percent, from 648,487 to 1,157,992 (in the first six months of 2010, 624,765 books have been checked out).

• State Library Web site usage has skyrocketed up an amazing 1,570 percent, from 33,827 to 564,787 page views (there have been 313,765 page views in the first six months of 2010).

Aberdeen, WA - The brig Lady Washington, the Official Ship of the State of Washington, and the topsail ketch Hawaiian Chieftain will participate in a re-enactment of an 18th century fur trade meeting at Fort Columbia State Park on Sunday, October 3. The vessels will rendezvous with as many as 40 Chinook Nation paddlers in the Columbia River offshore of the park, which is just south of the town of Chinook on US Highway 101. The event is scheduled to take place 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The free living history event is titled “Chinook Nation – U.S.A: International Trading Partners 1792-2010.” The program is offered through a partnership between the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, the Washington State Historical Society, the Chinook Nation, the National Park Service, and Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority.

The public is invited to view the trading activities with crews on Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain from Fort Columbia State Park. The land at the park is the traditional home for the Chinook Nation. Tribal interpreters will be on-site near the restored theatre at the park’s entrance to orient visitors to the trade re-enactment as it unfolds.

Satsop, WA - If someone told Mike Warren that he has tunnel vision it wouldn’t offend him a bit.

But it would be more accurate to say that it’s a vision for tunnels or rather building a world-class tunnel training program that Warren, the training director of the Northwest Laborers-Employers Training Trust, is realizing at Satsop Development Park.

“The Puget Sound area is beginning to get the nickname in the tunnel industry as the Silicon Valley of tunnels because of all the work that is coming up here. Also, three of the world’s biggest tunnel manufacturing companies are right here,” said Warren.

The first tunnel class this fall to be taught at Satsop – SHAFT (Safety & Hazard Awareness for Tunnels) – will begin Oct. 4. It’s a one-week, 40-hour course. Students do not have to be part of the Laborers Union to attend, but they do need to be in the Laborers Union to do tunnel work, Warren explained.

Olympia, WA - A nationwide recall of certain Similac-brand powder infant formulas will have a big impact in our state. The product is the main baby formula offered to non-breastfed babies of Washington’s Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition program — also known as WIC.

Similac maker Abbott Nutrition issued the voluntary recall after finding that some of its powder formula products had been contaminated with parts of a small, common beetle. Products affected by the recall that are provided by Washington WIC include Similac Advance in 12.4 ounce and 12.9 ounce containers; and Similac Isomil Advance Powder in 12.9 ounce containers.

Only the products in the powdered form are included in the recall. These are among the primary infant formula products distributed by Washington WIC, which served more than 30,000 formula-fed infants last month. No illnesses are known to have been caused by the product in Washington.

The WIC program advises clients to check the lot number of their Similac products (www.similac.com/recall) online to see if they’re subject to the recall. If so, the products should not be fed to babies. They may also call the company’s information line, 1-800-986-8850.