After having houses languish unsold on the market for over a year, the marketer of Grove Cypress, a 15-home development in south Snohomish County, has discovered the key to finding buyers for the remaining $500,000 houses: street balloons.

"We've tried banners, flags, sandwich boards, arrow sign wavers... the works," said Ron Freeman, Grove Cypress lead marketer. "I think the balloons will really do the trick."

Friday's news that the Hearst Corporation will cease all printing operations at the Seattle P-I if a buyer for the paper is not found within 60 days shocked journalism enthusiasts across the Puget Sound.

While some crazy rumors have circulated that the impending closure is due to the fact that the paper has been bleeding money for years, The Naked Loon has obtained an exclusive interview with a high-ranking Hearst executive who reveals the real reason for the sale.

In a press release Thursday, The Walt Disney Company announced the launch of a new "scared straight" service for naughty toddlers that will debut in seven markets across the country, including Seattle.

"Our proactive and highly efficient business model bypasses the usual parental notifications," said the statement from Disney's corporate office. "We locate misbehaving children, scare them straight, and then bill the parents afterward."

Following a dismal fourth quarter report which saw profit tumble by 97 percent, Starbucks has announced a bold, multi-faceted plan to reposition itself in the harsh economy through a combination of in-your-face customer service, excessive begging/pleading, and illicit drug use.

Although delusional CEO Howard Schultz appears to truly believe that the company is in better shape to weather rough economic times following a year of violent layoffs...

Hit hard by the double whammy of a faltering economy and falling gas prices, oil companies have launched a nationwide consumer education program extolling the benefits of driving.

Over the next three months the industry plans to spend $50 million attempting to convince the public that "Now is a Great Time to Drive."

Tacoma-based shoe company Wear the Foot issued a press release Tuesday announcing the latest breakthrough in high-tech shoe wizardry: the Pump-Light-Rolly shoe.

"We're proud to be the first and only shoe company in the world to offer the advanced breakthroughs of pump technology, light-up soles, and wheeled heels in a single shoe," CEO Howard Spitzer was quoted as saying in the release.

Call centers at New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. were flooded with angry calls this week following the company's launch of their first advertising campaign in the newly-acquired Seattle market.

Former WaMu customers were livid at the slogan used in the ads: "We're Like You, But Much Richer™." The television spots feature dozens of caricatures of Northwesterners such as "Logger," "Grunge Band Guitarist," and "Radio Psychologist."

Hot on the heels of a wildly popular advertising campaign featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, as well as the overall unprecedented success of their Vista operating system, Microsoft rocked the Northwest Friday with their latest unexpected bombshell:

Effective September 22nd, Sierra Mist will be available in all break rooms.

As 27,000 Boeing machinists hit the picket lines for the fifth day, representatives of the International Association of Machinists (IAM) released a comprehensive list of union demands on Wednesday.

While the list contains the usual complaints about pay raises and pensions, many machinists say it’s the lesser known issues like better coffee in the breakroom and more comfortable hand protection that are the most important to them.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company announced Monday that it will begin testing of a new soft drink in five markets across the United States, including Seattle. Dubbed Coke Nega, the new offering is "110% calorie, caffeine, carb, and taste-free," according the company.

"The soft drink-buying public's reception of Coke Zero since its introduction in 2005 has been phenomenal," said Coca-Cola spokesman Rob Morton. "But we told our beverage engineers that people hated it and were rioting on the streets calling for their heads, so they have been working non-stop since then to come up with the next great Coke."

Building on the unbridled success and runaway popularity of the South Lake Union Trolley, a spokesman for Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc. announced Wednesday that construction of a second streetcar line in the neighborhood will begin immediately.

The new "Because I Can" line will run approximately half a mile, circling the three blocks bounded by Republican Street to the north, Boren Avenue to the west, Pontius Avenue to the east, and Harrison Street to the south. The streetcar will have a single stop, located on Harrison.

"With the South Lake Union Line already running at nearly eight percent capacity, we cannot afford to waste time on this new line," said Allen in a written statement released by Vulcan. "I have already purchased the property at 1165 Harrison and will begin demolition of the existing structure as soon as we acquire permits from the city."

A coalition of Puget Sound business leaders issued a challenge to Washington State lawmakers Thursday, calling for greater complexity and obfuscation in business regulations.

Representatives for the Seattle Area Alliance for Increasing Complexity in Government Regulations (SAAICGR) announced their proposal in a press conference from Olympia Thursday morning.

"The business climate in Washington is pretty challenging right now thanks to the seemingly endless amount of red tape the state forces you to go through to perform even the simplest of tasks," said Costco CEO James Sinegal, one of the groups founding members. "But we are confident that with just a little more effort, 'seemingly endless' can turn into 'literally endless.'"

Gainfully employed twentysomething Mark Jones reported Tuesday that last night's business ideas meeting with five of his friends at McCormick & Schmick's was "definitely a rousing success."

The meeting was initiated by an email from Jones to six of his former college friends with the subject line "let's all quit and get rich." Although the six men aged twenty-six to twenty-nine are all gainfully employed, making $60-$90,000 a year, the suggestion was met with great enthusiasm.

"It's like, who doesn't want to stick it to the man, and strike it out on their own," said Gabe Lamont, 27, currently employed as a software engineer for Amazon.com.

Analysis

In an attempt to stop hemorrhaging money, Starbucks—whose stock price has tumbled over sixty percent since October '06—recently announced the impending closure of over six hundred stores, including twelve in the Puget Sound region. Here's a look at what went wrong for the largest dealer of legalized drugs in America, and how you can cope with the crippling withdrawal.

What do they do?

Starbucks business model is ostensibly based on selling coffee, the mind-altering drug of choice for busy self-important professionals. In recent years, they have deluded themselves into thinking that people visit their stores for the "atmosphere" rather than the drugs. This has led to a series of inexplicably poor business decisions such as CD kiosks, placing as many as seven stores on a single block, and attempting to sell $12 pastries.

James Elmore spent the night in the bed of his El Camino. A mass of ladybugs had crept up his leg the night before as he finished the endless chores of his startup farm. He didn't want to take the helpful bugs all the way to his house in Arlington.

Besides, all his chores—those endless, repetitive, and mind-numbingly boring chores—would be waiting for him the next day. The dandelion is a harsh mistress.

Farming dandelions requires daily sacrifices from Elmore, his wife Eleanor, and his nine children, who hope to someday turn their 153-acre plot of dandelions in Trafton into a thriving ranch that supports the family of eleven.

"It's this crazy dream we have," says Elmore, 36.

A group of Seattle business leaders and local economists released a statement today declaring that the intersection of 6th Avenue and Pike Street is definitely, positively, absolutely immune to a recession.

"It has become apparent that Washington State, Greater Puget Sound, the city of Seattle, and even downtown Seattle are not immune to a recession," the statement said, "however, we are confident that the encroaching recession will not affect the intersection of 6th and Pike."

Anchored by the economic powerhouses of Niketown and American Eagle Outfitters, economists are certain that 6th and Pike will easily avoid the increasing unemployment, stagnant wages, and business failures that have plagued the nation in recent months.