Cabela’s to open West Side store

Cabela’s Inc. announced Wednesday that the company will build a superstore in Lacey, Wash., near Olympia.

Sidney, Neb.-based Cabela’s recently announced plans to build a similar outlet in Post Falls.

The Lacey store will have 185,000 square feet of space, and could open by next fall, Cabela’s said in a press release. It will include many of the same features announced for the Post Falls location, such as a trout pond, indoor archery range and deli.

Cabela’s has 18 retail locations, four of which opened this year. Plans have been announced to open another 10 stores, in addition to the sites in Post Falls and Lacey.

Richmond, Va.

Company to push smoke-free films

The nation’s largest cigarette maker is asking Hollywood not to put its products on the big screen, citing studies that have shown cinematic portrayals of tobacco use can entice children to smoke.

Richmond-based Philip Morris USA said Wednesday that it will run advertisements in Daily Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and other trade publications imploring moviemakers: “Please Don’t Give Our Cigarette Brands a Part in Your Movie.”

The ad campaign begins this week and will last several months, Philip Morris spokesman David Sutton said. He said the initiative was conceived after meetings with entertainment industry representatives.

Washington

Farmers received billions in error

The Agriculture Department on Wednesday acknowledged making improper payments to farmers worth more than $2.8 billion last year.

Officials explained that most of the payments involved missing or incomplete paperwork.

“We take this very seriously,” said Chuck Christopherson, the department’s chief financial officer. “We know this is something that we can address and that we can fix.”

Federal law requires agencies to track erroneous payments, such as checks sent to farmers who were not eligible for a particular program, or payments for the wrong amount of money.

The amount of improper payments in fiscal 2006 was about 11 percent of farm program payments, the department said. The fiscal year ended on Sept. 30.

Officials said nearly all of that, 10 percent, was because of missing or incomplete paperwork. As of last year, officials included in their tracking payments for which paperwork was missing or incomplete, such as a form that went unsigned.