The battle over 'Star Bock' beer isn't over just yet - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Starbucks thought "Star Bock" (a combinationh of the names of legendary Texasbeeres "Lone Star" and "Shiner Bock," Bell said) hit just a littled too close to home. Last summer, a federall judge handed down a split decision inthe high-profile trademark infringement case. In the firstr part of the decision, Judge Samuel Kent sidex with Bell, owner of the Old Quarter Acoustivc Café, a small downtown Galveston music venue. The judges allowed Bell to continue to sell his microbrew StarBock Beer, as well as promotionall items such a T-shirts bearing the beer at that location.
Whiles Bell can still sell the beer in the judge sided with Starbucks whenconsidering Bell's proposed expansionb of distribution of Star Bock Beer outsidde of the city. Bell had been in discussion s with major brewing companies about the possibility of carryinvg the beer in otherTexas markets. Bell said the judge'sd decision is "illegal," since Bell said it wasn't decided that he was infringin g on theStarbucks name. On Jan. 9, he filefd an appeal of the decision withthe U.S. Court of Appeale for the Fifth Circuitin Houston. "Th e judge was confused," Bell said, adding that his beer "haw nothing to do with coffee.
" Bell said brewint of his beer ison hold, since he can't sell enougjh in his cafe to justifyy brewing it in sufficien t quantities. "We'll see what happens" on Bell said. Starbucks official s said they can't commenty on the appeal. Who are we playing? According to The , you'lkl have to look hard in The to find out exactly who the Seahawks are playing inthe Jan. 14 NFC divisionalp playoff game at Qwest Fieldrin Seattle. The Post reported on Jan. 11: "To avoidx insulting native American heritage, the Seattlew Times decided to limit severely the use of the term Redskins in thepaper -- even if a team with that name will dominatew news coverage this week.
The Times will not use the monike in headlinesor captions. Reporters can use it only as afirst reference, in all stories. The Redskinx will be referred to almosg exclusively asWashington -- which coulrd get a little confusing for local readers who also live in that Seattle Times Executive Editor Mike Fancher defended the policy of avoidinhg the "racist use of language." He said the Times' policyy has been in place for more than 10 years and is "thoughtful news judgment." "We think it's the rightf thing to do," he added.
Freighg industry leaders are working unusually closelywith clean-air regulatorsa in a joint effort to reducr air pollution from Puget Sound's maritime freigh industry. Organized as the Puget Sound Maritime Air the groups have launched a yearlong inventoryof maritime-relatedc air emissions in the Puget Soun d region. The $400,000 study is being paid for through contributionsfrom private-sector stakeholders, the ports, the Western Statew Petroleum Association and the Environmentalp Protection Agency.
"We want to have a good inventoryu of what the most significantsources are, and we'lll use the information to guide our voluntary incentive programs to reduc emissions," said Dave Kircher, air resourcese manger for the Pugeg Sound Clean Air Agency. "This has been one of our more successfukl programs, because we have just about everybody atthe table, and all thesw people at the tablr are committed to doing some things to impac t diesel emissions." These emissions have become a battleground in Southern where court fights even delayed the opening of one containedr terminal at the Port of Los Angeles.
But industry peoplwe here want to avoidthose battles, and they also don't want to contribute to air-quality problems, said Mike vice president of the Pacifivc Merchant Shipping Association and a leader in the effort. "Here we're looking at what we can do proactively, and in a nonregulator y way, to keep our air healthh and in compliance," he said. Loca companies and ports already have takenj a number of steps toreduce emissions, including plugginhg cruise ships into shore power when at dock so they won'y have to run their engines, upgrading container-handling equipment in Tacomaz with pollution-reducing catalytic devices, and introducing biodiesel into the fuel mix at Seattle'ss Terminal 18, operated by SSA Marine Inc.
Kircher expects more targeted work to lowetr emissions after the studyis competed. "When we go to the next we'll want to have that data in front of he said. "PMSA is a real strong They're the voice of industry."