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AGRICULTURE

• Valley beekeeper buzzing with scientific solutions to Colony Collapse Disorder (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• Monroe farmers win sustainability award (Everett Herald)

 

BUDGET & TAXES

• Are pension cuts ‘class warfare’ or ‘reform’? Lawmakers differ (The News Tribune)
• Washington lawmakers scrap over budget, and governor holds bills hostage (AP/Oregonian)
• Lawmakers struggle with budget negotiations (AP/Seattle Times)
• Education funding concerns persist with state budget woes (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• BLOG: They don’t negotiate in the media, unless they do (Jim Camden/Spokesman-Review)
• BLOG: New GOP budget a game changer or waste of time? (Jim Camden/Spokesman-Review)
• EDITORIAL: Budget plans aren’t taking state where it must go (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• EDITORIAL: The choice in Olympia: Pretty budget or real budget (The News Tribune)
• EDITORIAL: Tightening down on PERS (Oregonian)
• EDITORIAL: Budget fight amounts to $200 million question (Spokesman-Review)
• EDITORIAL: No more foot-dragging on the state budget (Seattle Times)

 

BUSINESS, INDUSTRY & ECONOMY

• Boeing’s Wichita workers to learn whether they have job offers (Puget Sound Business Journal)
• Local homeowners may benefit from settlement with mortgage brokers (The Daily News)
• Higher gas prices threaten U.S. economy (Everett Herald)

 

COURTS, CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT

• The few, the proud: State Patrol cadet hopefuls test in Olympia (The Olympian)
• Drunken drivers’ death toll is high (Seattle Times)
• EDITORIAL: Court ruling aside, traffic camera foes still have options (The News Tribune)

 

DAMS

• Dam-olition under way at Condit (The Columbian)

 

EDUCATION (K-12) & SCHOOL SAFETY

• Report: Washington graduation rate improving but not enough (AP/Seattle P-I)
• Health care proposal worries Washington educators (Tri-City Herald)
• Bill to save on health care irks teachers (Yakima Herald-Republic)
• School districts seek to continue levies (Everett Herald)

 

ENERGY & UTILITIES

• EDITORIAL: Not-so-bright idea (The Olympian)

 

ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES

• County continues legal battle against stormwater rules (The Columbian)
• Bellingham to buy land to preserve Lake Whatcom (AP/Kitsap Sun)
• Impact of wilderness plan on timber industry reignites jobs vs. trees debate (Peninsula Daily News)
• Study: Plenty of logging waste to support biomass expansion (The Daily News)
• OPINION: Environmental policy: Action crucial to build on legislative momentum (Andrea Durbin, Oregon Environmental Council and Doug Moore, Oregon League of Conservation Voters/Oregonian)

 

GAY RIGHTS

• BLOG: Marriage ref.: Catholic prelates weigh in (Joel Connelly/Seattle P-I)
• OPINION: State’s new law infringes on religious right (Don Hill/Yakima Herald-Republic)

 

HEALTH CARE

• Ron Wyden’s Medic
  are stand brings Republican allies, angers Democratic friends (Oregonian)
• OPINION: A Republican ‘Mediscare’? (Dana Milbank/Everett Herald)

 

HIGHER EDUCATION

• Tuition increase might affect GET program (Tri-City Herald)
• Colleges may have to wait to enact tuition variances (The News Tribune)

 

LABOR

• OPINION: Labor agreements iron out issues before construction starts (Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy, chair Sound Transit Board and Joni Earl, CEO of Sound Transit/The News Tribune)
• OPINION: More use of labor agreements in public projects raises costs for taxpayers (Steve Isenhart, president, Associated General Contractors of Washington/The News Tribune)

 

LEGISLATURE

• BLOG: In case you missed it: Gov. Chris Gregoire on the threat to veto if lawmakers don’t make progress (Niki Reading/TVW)

 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

• Pierce councilman’s plan: Send any new county tax to voters (The News Tribune)

 

OPEN GOVERNMENT

• Report: Oregon’s ethics rules occasionally undermined by ‘loopholes’ (Oregonian)

 

POLITICS

BALLOT MEASURES

• Castle Rock police chief to face state panel over I-1183 ads (The Daily News)
• Opponents try to cut off liquor privatization (AP/The Daily News)
• New wrinkle in pot debate: stoned driving (AP/The Daily News)
• Will Eyman sit it out this election cycle? (Everett Herald)

 

ELECTIONS

• On farewell tour, secretary of state urges local students to get involved (The Daily News)
• EDITORIAL: Sam Reed and the state of politics (The Daily News)

 

LEGISLATURE

• Kennewick city councilman to run for 8th District seat (Tri-City Herald)

 

LOCAL

• David Madore to challenge Commissioner Boldt (The Columbian)
• County’s high court races are shaping up (The Olympian)

 

STATE

• McKenna stumps in Vancouver (The Columbian)
• BLOG: Josh Brown out as potential contender for Norm Dicks’s seat (Jordan Schrader/The News Tribune)

 

REDISTRICTING

• COLUMN: A quest for fairness in redistricting (Peter Callaghan/The News Tribune)

 

STATE GOVERNMENT 

• Did Oregon add 9,000 state workers while revenue dropped $4 billion? (Oregonian)
• State ranks 2nd for regulating home child care (The Columbian)
• State weighs more private contracts for services (The Olympian)

 

TRANSPORTATION

• C-Tran will tackle vote on sales tax (The Columbian)
• Oregon lawmakers hear from CRC critics (The Columbian)
• For Columbia River Crossing, Coast Guard objections are just the beginning (Crosscut)
• Oregon Department of Transportation declares default on U.S. 20 project (Oregonian)
• OPINION: Dig this: A modest CRC proposal (David Schaerer/Oregonian)

 

WAR AGAINST TERROR

• EDITORIAL: The mission in Afghanistan is over — leave (Seattle Times)