Wall Street Journal

• Six Ways to Speed Up SBA Loan Approval
  Attention small-business owners: Time is running out on an opportunity to access fee-free business loans that are guaranteed up to 90%.
  
  Earlier this year, the Small Business Administration set aside $375 million to temporarily eliminate loan fees and increase the agency's loan guarantee to 90% for certain loans. The moves were part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which was signed into law by President Obama in mid-February. So far, the SBA has used about 55% of those funds; they have translated to $6 billion in loans under the 7(a) and 504 programs, says John J. Miller, an SBA spokesman.
  
  However, barring another act of Congress, SBA-backed loans will revert to their pre-Recovery Act status by the end of November or December, Miller says. The impact will be palpable. Loans made once the funds run out will only get a 75% to 85% guarantee, down from 90%. The decrease will make it tougher to get approved for a loan because lower guarantees raise a bank's risk, says Eric Grimstead, a business advisor at the Center for Economic Vitality at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash. In addition, business owners taking out loans through the SBA loan will have to pay a 2% to 3% loan guarantee fee again, he says.

The Bellingham Herald

• Bellingham Food Bank Farm means fresh produce for the hungry
  Nick Senger and Dmitri Januszewski are mixing water and ground-up fish guts in a greenhouse at the Bellingham Food Bank Farm.
  
  The air around them reeks, but the beefsteak and heirloom tomato plants that will be fertilized with what Amaris Lunde, who oversees the farm, calls a natural steroid will be happy with the concoction.
  
  As they continue working, Lunde walks through one greenhouse and into the second and along the fields in the three-acre farm at Guide Meridian and King Tut Road, north of Bellingham. The graduate of Western Washington University's Huxley College of the Environment points to sunflower sprouts, raspberry canes, red bell peppers, a variety of squash, and different kinds of peppers, from Anaheim to jalapenos to Serrano.
  

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• Sculptures by Mexican artist might grace city waterfront
  Local arts supporters hope Zuanich Point Park will soon become the outdoor setting for an exhibit of monumental metal sculptures by renowned Mexican artist Sebastian.
  
  Organizers say it would be the largest outdoor show of his work in the United States.
  
  "We're probably dealing with the most renowned urban sculptor working in the world today," said George Drake, a retired university administrator and former Bellingham City Council member. ...
  
  As part of the tourism grant, the exhibit would be showcased to promote outdoor sculptures elsewhere in Northwest Washington, including at Western Washington University, Peace Arch State Park, Big Rock Garden Park, and the San Juan Islands Museum of Art and Sculpture Park.
  

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• Artist profile: Gavin Fuller
  Bellingham native Gavin Fuller, 24, plays Elf in the current production of "Mark Twain in Fairhaven: A Musical Tall Tale" on stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28-30, at the Lynden Pioneer Museum, 217 Front Street in Lynden. ...
  
  Question: What's your performance background?
  
  Answer: I was involved as accompanist or in the orchestra for several shows during high school before actually going on stage as an actor. Jim Lortz, an associate professor in Western Washington University's theater arts department, involved me in Western's Summer Stock 2002 playing Peter in "The Diary of Anne Frank" and Eugene in "Grease." Those shows were highlights of that early involvement. My last involvement in local theater was actually playing Elf in the 2002 production of this show at the Bellingham Theatre Guild. I've played piano for 16 years, studying most recently with Bill MacDonough.

Examiner.com

• College Soccer 101: Western Washington Men's and Women's Previews
  We are in Bellingham this stop for our latest 2009 College Soccer Preview Series entry.
  
  Travis Connell is the Head Coach of both the Western Washington Vikings Soccer Men's and Women's clubs. We visited with Connell recently to hear a bit more about both of the teams he'll guide in 2009.
  
  The Vikings compete in the GNAC, and are considered by some to be one of the favorites in the Men's league and strong contenders to give Seattle Pacific a run in the Women's league. The Viking Women were recently ranked 11th in the country in a coach's pre-season poll.

AllGov.com

• Director of the Institute of Education Sciences: Who is John Easton?
  John Q. Easton has Education Secretary Arne Duncan to thank for his new job in Washington as head of the Institute of Education Sciences. A longtime specialist in education research from Chicago, Easton has known Duncan for nearly 20 years as a result of his work both in and for the Windy City’s public schools system.
  
  A resident of Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood since 1973, Easton, 59, attended college at Hobart College in Geneva, NY, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology in 1971. He went on to graduate school at Western Washington University, earning his master’s in psychology in 1973, and his PhD in measurement, evaluation, and statistical analysis from the University of Chicago in 1981.