Tacoma now has 12 new public electric vehicle charging stations available for public use at a cost of $3 per charge.

The stations are located at the following facilities:

Thurston County Chamber is hosting Morning MIXXer from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Feb. 7 at Columbian Hall, 6794 Martin Way East, Lacey. The cost is $5 for members and $10 for general admission. Click here for more information.

Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber is hosting Small Business Roundtable from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Feb. 8 at 5000 Bridgeport Way West, University Place. Call Savannah Kimball at (253) 683-4881 for more information.

Thurston County Chamber is hosting Morning MIXXer from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Feb. 7 at Columbian Hall, 6794 Martin Way East, Lacey. The cost is $5 for members and $10 for general admission. Click here for more information.

Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber is hosting Small Business Roundtable from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Feb. 8 at 5000 Bridgeport Way West, University Place. Call Savannah Kimball at (253) 683-4881 for more information.

Members of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge Citizen Advisory Committee will discuss new toll rates for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge during a meeting Feb. 8 at the Gig Harbor Civic Center. An informational open house hosted by the Washington State Department of Transportation will precede the meeting.

The committee will consider rate scenarios before recommending a new toll rate to the Washington State Transportation Commission in March.

Port of Tacoma is hosting two open houses to allow Pierce County residents, business partners and customers an opportunity to review and comment on its draft strategic plan.

The plan will guide the organization during the next three to five years.

Check The Live Wire if you're interested in serving on the SWAC Advisory Committee.

OlyBlog reminds readers that outdoor burning is still illegal in some places – despite the winter storm.

The Green Building Certification Institute has awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Platinum certification — the highest possible, most rigorous certification in the LEED system — to the University of Washington Tacoma's Russell T. Joy Building.
 
The Joy Building is the first in Tacoma and first in the University of Washington to achieve a Platinum rating in the "new construction/major remodel" LEED system. It is the second state-funded building to receive the recognition.

Tacoma Shift Happens 2012 kicked off today at 1 p.m. at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. The goal of the "Go Local" event is to celebrate local, independent business and shift attendees' priorities to putting local living first.

"We tend to focus on one big company that has a thousand employees," said Patricia Levy-Davis, president and co-founder of Go Local. "But what we are unaware of is there are over 6,000 independent businesses in Tacoma and that makes a huge impact on our tax base, our community involvement and jobs in general."

This year's event began with Sustainability Smart Labs on Entrepreneurship. Participants not only listened to speakers, but also were asked to participate in several exercises, including at one point throwing paper airplanes that had ideas on them.

Fife Milton Edgewood Chamber is hosting a luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 1 at Emerald Queen Hotel & Casino, 5700 Pacific Highway East. The cost is $20 for members in advance and $30 at the door for everyone. E-mail aaron@fifechamber.org for more information.

Kent Chamber of Commerce is hosting a membership luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 1 at ShoWare Center, 625 W. James St. The speaker is Joni Earl, chief executive officer of Sound Transit. The cost is $20 for members and $30 for non-members. Click here or call (253) 854-1770 for more information.

Thurston Economic Development Council his hosting a local energy convergence forum from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 30 at The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. NW, Olympia. The cost is $30. Click here for more information or to register.

Fife Milton Edgewood Chamber is hosting a luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 1 at Emerald Queen Hotel & Casino, 5700 Pacific Highway East. The cost is $20 for members in advance and $30 at the door for everyone. E-mail aaron@fifechamber.org for more information.

Cornerstone Financial Strategies LLC has moved from University Place to downtown Tacoma. The firm's new offices are at 505 Broadway, Suite 400.

Bill Pickles RFC and Brad Berger CFP, CLF, are Cornerstone's owners and managing partners.

Increased exports of agriculture products helped boost the Port of Tacoma's full containerized export volumes by 11 percent last year.

Agriculture products account for more than half of the port's full containerized exports. Leading agriculture exports through Tacoma include potatoes, hops and hay.

Columbia Banking System, Inc. reported net income applicable to common shareholders of $14.8 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, an increase of 17 percent compared to net income of $12.6 million for the same quarter of 2010.  On a diluted earnings per common share basis, net income rose 16 percent to 37 cents for the fourth quarter, compared with net income of 32 cents per share a year earlier.

Net income applicable to common shareholders for the year ended Dec. 31 was $48 million, an increase of 86 percent from net income of $25.8 million for 2010.  On a diluted per common share basis, net income for 2011 was $1.21 compared with 72 cents a year earlier.

Goodwill's VITA program is kicking off another tax season by offering free tax assistance during the annual KeyBank Super Refund Saturday and every Tuesday and Thursday through the federal tax deadline on April 17.

The Super Refund Saturday event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 4 at Milgard Work Opportunity Center, 714 27th Ave., Tacoma. RSVP to Kim Houg at (253) 573-6698.

The Live Wire talks about "being business basic savvy."

BIA Blog looks at proposed changes to Tacoma's downtown off-street parking requirements.

Walmart's Washington State Giving Council has awarded 10 grants totaling $375,000 to nonprofit organizations across the state. The grantees are all focused on addressing basic needs, including hunger and job training.

Organizations receiving grants include:

Tacoma-based BLRB Architects will design the remodel for the historic Washington Elementary School building, if the Tacoma School Board approves the administration's recommendation at its Jan. 26 meeting.

A staff team selected BLRB as the top firm from among three finalists interviewed Jan. 11.

Tacoma Power has created an online outage reporting tool for customers having trouble reporting their outages using the (253) 502-8602 outage reporting line. Customers can now visit  www.mytpu.org/outagereport to report an outage.

The utility has received many reports of downed or damaged power lines. Many of those lines are ones that run from the pole to the customer's home. To determine if the problem is isolated to a single home, customers should see if their neighbors have power. If they do, customers should report the outage to Tacoma Power either through the phone (253) 502-8602 or website and should note that the problem is at their home only.

The Live Wire looks at "attainment plan."

BIA Blog looks at the Children's Museum grand opening.

Port of Tacoma is operating with reduced staff, but port-operated Terminal 7 is closed today because of snowfall.

Rail service is operating as normal at the North Intermodal Yard and Union Pacific's domestic service in the South Intermodal Yard. Port maintenance crews are plowing rail yards and terminals, and spreading sand and de-icer as necessary.