NEWS ROUNDUP
Poverty wages at SeaTac, 777 backlog, Swami DeBolt…
PORT OF SEATTLE
ALSO at The Stand — Report: Alaska Airlines profits at expense of workers, community
► In today’s News Tribune — Maersk signs contract to stay with Port of Seattle— The Port of Tacoma had been recruiting Maersk to return to Tacoma after it left two years ago, but the firm has reportedly signed a contract that will keep it calling at the Port of Seattle for several more years.
STATE GOVERNMENT
► In today’s Bellingham Herald — Legislature funds local stormwater projects — The legislature restored funding for various water quality projects in Whatcom County, overriding Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget recommendation to zero out funding for them. The state Department of Ecology just released a list of stormwater projects funded by the Infrastructure Jobs Bonds.
► At Crosscut — What Gregoire’s late embrace of taxes for education means (by Dick Nelson) — Surprisingly, the business community could be the key to deciding whether the state follows the lame-duck governor’s well-spoken advice.
BOEING
► From Bloomberg — Boeing says backlog hindering sales — Boeing says that the about 3 1/2-year wait to deliver a new 777 aircraft is crimping sales at a time airlines have made the plane their top choice for ferrying international travelers. Boeing plans to boost production of the wide-body, twin-engine jet from 7 to 8.3 per month by the first quarter of next year.
► In today’s Spokesman-review — Air Force to rank tanker sites — Fairchild and about 60 other Air Force bases will be scored on criteria such as cost, capacity and environmental concerns to decide which will get the first batch of new Boeing-built air refueling tankers.
LOCAL
► In today’s Columbian — Arbitration panel mostly denies pay hikes for C-Tran workers — The panel detailed a contract that gives some victories to both parties. But on the key issues of pay and overtime, the panel appeared to side mostly with C-Tran and against ATU Local 757.
► In today’s Yakima H-R — Del Monte staying mum on Snokist cannery’s future — Del Monte Foods remained noncommittal on whether it plans to operate Snokist Growers’ Terrace Heights cannery, which once employed hundreds of workers, after it acquires the assets of the bankrupt Yakima fruit cooperative.
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Reardon’s plan to fill county budget gap riles council — Some Snohomish County Council members made their annoyance clear Monday as embattled County Executive Aaron Reardon’s finance staff discussed a looming budget shortfall next year of at least $5.5 million.
► In today’s Columbian — Vancouver’s biennial budget foresees no layoffs
ELECTION
► In today’s Seattle Times — Democratic Rep. Eddy to co-chair GOP Sen. Litzow’s re-election campaign — Rep. Deb Eddy (D-Kirkland) is well known for speaking her mind even when her party would rather she wouldn’t.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Note THAT’S bipartisanship!
► In today’s Kitsap Sun — Tim Sheldon to seek 3rd term as Mason Co. commissioner — After saying he didn’t plan to seek re-election, he made his change of mind official Monday. He will run for a third term.
NATIONAL
ALSO at The Stand — Fair elections rule tossed on technicality
► In today’s Washington Post — Taxmageddon sparks rising anxiety— Defense contractors have slowed hiring. Tax advisers are warning firms not to count on favorite breaks. And hospitals are scouring their books for ways to cut costs. Across the U.S. economy, anxiety is rising about the potential for widespread disruptions after the November election, when a lame-duck Congress will have barely two months to resolve a grinding standoff over taxes and spending.
► In today’s Washington Post — Red flags said to be unheeded by JPMorgan bosses — In the years leading up to JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion trading loss, risk managers and some senior investment bankers raised concerns that the bank was making increasingly large investments involving complex trades that were hard to understand. But even as the size of the bets climbed steadily, these former employees say, their concerns about the dangers were ignored or dismissed.
► In The Hill — Reid agrees to GOP demands to move Ex-Im bank reauthorization forward — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) agrees to Republican demands for votes on five amendments to legislation reauthorizing the Export-Import Bank, but it remains unclear whether the upper chamber can finish its work on the legislation by May 31, when the bank’s charter expire.
TODAY’S MUST-SEE
► Watch the new video from President Obama’s re-election campaign targeting Mitt Romney’s lucrative job-killing stint at Bain Capital:
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 9 a.m. These links are functional at the date of posting, but sometimes expire.