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Sears saleswoman Linda Klein, left, shows a front-loading washer to Lesley Mollet of Port Orchard and her son, 1-year-old Rieley Niemann, on Monday in Silverdale. Rebates, funded by federal stimulus money, will be available starting March 15 for people who buy high-efficiency refrigerators or clothes(Larry Steagall | Kitsap Sun)

The long-anticipated “Cash for Appliances” program, in which consumers can trade in their energy-hog appliances for new energy-savers and save up to $100 per appliance, begins March 15.

Patterned after last year’s Cash for Clunkers program, this one uses federal stimulus money to provide as many as 60,000 rebates in Washington.

Rebates are available only for clothes washers and refrigerators. Consumers who purchase a qualifying washer can get a rebate of $100. those who buy a refrigerator can get $75.

Organizers of the program at the state Department of Commerce and retailers say that while the program is slated to go through the end of 2011, it really ends when the money runs out.

And that’s probably sooner than later.

“We anticipate that the rebate money will go quickly, so we encourage that all of our customers take advantage of the refunds as soon as possible,” said Connie Elia-Boushie, manager of the Sears at Kitsap Mall.

Just like the Cash for Clunkers program that removed gas guzzlers off roads for cleaner air, the Cash for Appliances program aims to encourage consumers to be mindful of the environment, and not just the price.

“We really want to create that new awareness,” said Rebecca Stillings, Commerce program manager.

Not all Energy Star appliances will qualify for the rebate.

For the washers, many of the qualifiers will be the higher-end ones with efficiency ratings greater than 2.46 percent.

Refrigerators will have to have nine cubic feet of space or more to qualify; wine coolers or dormitory refrigerators won’t.

Recycling clunker refrigerators, or at least taking them off the electrical grid, will be required. Recycling clunker washers will be encouraged, Stiller said.

Rebates are available for one washer and one refrigerator per household. Developers, landlords and businesses are not eligible.

Some $5.6 million is available in Washington for the rebates.

Local retailers hope the new incentives will get cautious consumers off the fence.

“I absolutely know there’ll be a reaction,” said Elia-Boushie of Sears.

Joyce Anderson, owner of Schmidt’s Home Appliance and Sleep Center on Bainbridge Island, has already seen a lot of interest.

“I actually have had people asking me about it,” she said.

Bruce Nilsen of Nilsen’s Appliance in Silverdale said Northwest customers already have the environment in mind when they’re selecting an appliance, and this can only help.

“It’s huge,” he said.

The state Department of Commerce plans to activate a Web site this week where shoppers can get more information on which appliances qualify and download rebate forms. it will be at www.www.cashforapplianceswa.com. In the meantime, click here to learn more about the program.

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We left off on our interview with Rock Racing’s Michael Ball two days ago where he discussed his recent difficulty obtaining a UCI license, the situation with American Floyd Landis and how, at least for the 2010 season, he plans to have the strongest amateur team on the planet.

Today we finish off with how Ball’s experience with cycling compares to his life in the fashion world, what he would change in the sport if he could, his new line of Rock Racing bikes and what the future holds for his Rock Racing team.

Read part 1 of the Interview

VeloNation: How does the fashion world compare to the cycling world? it seems to me that cycling would be an easier industry to be involved in.

Michael Ball: I thought so [laughing]. from an industry standpoint cycling isn’t as difficult as a business. As a sport that is something completely different. The sport isn’t an industry per se. you are not making any money here. It’s a pretty simple model and we’re not getting rich. In the fashion industry I have to come out with four collections a year that better razzle and dazzle the buyer and consumer or you’re out of business. In cycling, you are developing new technology, a new paint scheme, the latest this, the latest that. It’s a little bit easier. Once you establish yourself as making bicycles you are making bicycles. you don’t need to come out with four different collections each year to stay on the front pages of magazines or in the window of Neiman Marcus.

VN: If you could wave a magic wand, what would you change about the sport of cycling?

Ball: I would decentralize it. The UCI holds too much power and that power needs to go to the riders. The riders are the ones that own the sport, but so many are happy to get a paycheck. a lot of them aren’t the most sophisticated characters. I use Mancebo as an example. He is a very simple guy and most cyclists are. that is not a jab at them. This is only what Mancebo is interested in: his family – obviously, go out and train, go race, at the end of the day have a nice dinner and a bottle of Spanish wine – no matter where he is in the world and go home and f**k his wife. That’s it! It’s very simple: training, Spanish wine and f**k his wife. It’s not too complicated and I think it is beautiful and that is the cool thing about cycling and what drives me to the sport. The ‘pureness’ of it. Forget about all the scandals and the politics. at the end of the day it is so simple and such a beautiful life compared to mine. mine is as complicated as you can get.

VN: Where can someone go to get a Rock Racing bike? How are you distributing them?

Ball: We are distributing them ourselves and building [the brand] it from here. we are looking to get our distribution into South America and Mexico, because we are very popular down there. we have some interest in Europe. but for now we are keeping it close: here [U.S.], Mexico and South America. we are going to let it build in a very natural way. we are not going to go crazy and try to push this down peoples throats. Kind of the same way I built Rock and Republic – just do cool shit.

VN: Will you be able to order a bike online?

Ball: You will absolutely be able to order a bike online. The website is almost finished and looks really cool. The bikes are incredible, as is the apparel. The pricing is in line with today’s world. The pricing is in the sweet-spot. I have been riding the prototype bike for over a year and now we have the production bike, which I am riding. Man oh man, really super cool. I am really proud of the production team, the design team, and now the sales team. It’s such a great group of people to work with. They are very passionate and focused. we know we have something very special and different to offer.

VN: You seem very passionate about the sport of cycling. Why do you continue to try? Why don’t you just say, ‘I’m done with this.’?

Ball: I am passionate and competitive. I am not going to let Pat McQuaid of the UCI determine who I am as a person. F**k no! There comes a time when you just have to say these are the guys running things right now. someday it will change but it will not change tomorrow, so I just have to learn how to live with it, or get out.

I’m not getting out, so I have to live with it. I could change the sport in a positive way and I think in some degree I have. The message has always been clear – whether it’s in cycling or elsewhere, people deserve a second chance and an opportunity, within reason, obviously. for those to sit back and criticize or pass judgment on these riders, or myself, or anybody on this planet, look at yourself in the mirror and take inventory on the things you have or haven’t done. that is my personal feeling and instinct, to give others the opportunity.

Michael Ball Interview Part 2: If I could change the (cycling) world

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In 2004 Michael Evans bought a ticket from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires. he had suffered two recent traumas: the end of his six-year marriage and the failure of John Kerry’s presidential campaign, on which he had slaved for four months. “I was physically and emotionally fried,” says Evans, 44, up to that point a peripatetic business and political consultant. Time for a makeover.

Evans restored his juices in Mendoza, in the foothills of the Andes. he discovered a new career: vine renting. His five-year-old company, Vines of Mendoza, manages a 1,046-acre Argentinean vineyard on behalf of casual winemakers who would rather do the quaffing and let others handle the pruning.

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Each owner pays Evans $55,000 an acre for a planted vineyard. Beginning in the third year, owners pay cost plus 25% for a slew of services. Pruning, mowing and irrigation come to $1,500 per acre; harvesting, $114 per acre. Evans will also ferment, bottle and distribute the wine, leaving owners to focus on fun stuff like choosing a name and designing a label. In a good year you can get 250 cases of Malbec from an acre of grapevines.

Click here for more about jobs, careers and second acts.

To entertain visiting investors and lure new ones, Evans converted an old Spanish Colonial house into a tasting room and built a wine store and bar, featuring 100 Argentinean varieties, in the Park Hyatt Mendoza. the surrounding area isn’t shabby, either. In October Seattle technology executive Michael Brochu and his wife rode horses to survey their 5-acre plot tended by Evans. they stayed overnight in a nearby stone casita, ate steak at an Argentinean barbecue and put back a lot of wine. “I can’t say I’ve had as much fun with any other investment,” gushes Brochu. Evans is having fun, too. Last year Vines of Mendoza generated $3.7 million in revenue, down 30% from 2008. About 80% came from selling the plots.

Launching a wine empire was a huge leap for Evans, who had bounced around for 20 years working political campaigns, doing business development for a few technology startups and running the foundation arm of the trade group for the wireless-communication industry. When Kerry lost in 2004, Evans was renting an apartment in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and most of his belongings were in storage. on a whim he met up with David Garrett, an old friend, in Buenos Aires. the pair took a wine-tasting class, and their instructor suggested they look up wine expert Pablo Gimenez-Riili, who gave them a tour of his family’s vineyard in Mendoza. “A lightbulb went off,” recalls Evans. “The combination made me think that Mendoza is Napa Valley 35 years ago.”

Evans and Garrett rented a house for $400 a month and came up with a business plan. they decided to open a tasting room featuring Argentinean wines, a hotel and a mail-order business that would ship Argentinean wine from a Napa Valley, Calif. warehouse to buyers in the U.S. and Europe. In six months they raised $260,000 from family and friends. Evans kicked in $85,000 in savings and credit card debt; in lieu of putting up his own money, Garrett agreed to work for free while he ate into his savings. “I was all in,” says Evans, who took Spanish lessons for an hour a day. “My advice is to invest enough of your own money that it hurts.”

Selling somebody else’s wine was fun, but Evans really wanted to make his own. That would require capital, so the twosome worked the phones for up to 14 hours a day, mailing articles about Mendoza and Argentinean wine to prospects. “Raising money is hard, especially when you’re sitting in a lawn chair in Argentina talking to people about a business that doesn’t exist in a place they’ve never seen,” says Evans. “We had to get through hundreds of noes before we could get to one yes.”

Fifteen months later Evans and Garrett had rustled $2.9 million from 59 angel investors, who put in $5,000 to $400,000 apiece. they used the money to buy the land and to build the tasting room. Twelve of the investors also bought units in the co-op. Of 100 plots between 3 and 18 acres apiece, 32 remain for sale. (Evans owns 20 acres.) Owners can buy the land only if they agree to plant grapes on it. Once a plot is sold Vines of Mendoza sends the buyer a case of unmarked wine. the owners sample it, then consult with Santiago Achaval, Evans’ chief winemaker, about their likes and dislikes. Based on that conversation, Achaval helps them pick which of the 14 available grape varieties to plant.

Prepping a vineyard isn’t cheap. Evans spent $300,000 for a well and an irrigation system, $30,000 to install underground power lines (to avoid spoiling the views) and $285,000 for 250,000 grape plants, half of which came from Italy in refrigerated containers. then the partners had to clear the brush from the virgin desert ground and put in roads to get to it. (In the early months they spent $15 a day to rent horses from a gaucho, who would meet them on the side of the road and take them to the vineyard.) By the fall of 2007 planting had begun.

Harvesting Profits In Argentina's Wine Country

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(The Frisky) — Was is just me, or did George Clooney seem upset at the Oscars last night?

His sourpuss act in the front row almost made me miss Jack Nicholson smirking in his dark sunglasses. and George’s lady, Elisabetta Canalis, wasn’t looking too chipper either — those two had “Debbie Downer” written all over their faces.

Sure, George played nice for two seconds on the red carpet, but once he got inside … forget it. what the heck does he have to be so pissed about? here are our best guesses.

1. George is over it. He’s happy where his career is and this whole Oscar business is too much of a pretense for him to even pretend to enjoy it anymore.

2. Elisabetta told George she was pregnant just moments before their Oscar limo arrived.

3. he knew he wasn’t going to beat Jeff Bridges, plain and simple. Sure, he has an Oscar for best supporting actor, but he wants the big boy. he resented wasting 14 hours of his time for a loss?

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4. George hated his floppy, gray hairdo and couldn’t stop thinking about it long enough to have a good time.

5. George wanted to go stag, but his publicists forced him to take Elisabetta to help him shed his swinging bachelor image.

6. he was wearing Spanx to hide recent weight gain. he wasn’t unhappy — just uncomfortable.

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7. he likes to ride his motorcycle on Sundays, and his whole routine got thrown off.

8. like any man, George hates seeing all of his ex-girlfriends in the same room at the same time.

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9. he was trying to tone down his enthusiasm so as not to make Elisabetta feel bad that she didn’t get nominated for her role in “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo.”

10. George and Elisabetta got their Botox injections too close to the big night. they wanted to smile, but just couldn’t.

11. Some starlet accidentally stabbed his toe with her stiletto while walking down the red carpet.

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