PORT OF SEATTLE

► In the Seattle Times — Proposed arena a job-killer, says Port of Seattle leaders — Seattle and King County leaders say the Port of Seattle can thrive next to a new NBA and NHL arena, but the Port sees potential damage to its plan to expand and add up to 100,000 new jobs to the area.

► In the News Tribune — From the Panama Canal to the Puget Sound— A wider, deeper Panama Canal will open in 2014, meaning that bigger cargo ships filled with more containers of consumer goods can move directly to the population centers of the East Coast instead of stopping on the West Coast and sending the goods across the country. But some global supply-chain experts say the pre-recession projections of a huge shift in cargo from West Coast ports to East Coast ports no longer add up.

HANFORD

► In the Tri-City Herald — Nuclear safety amendments rejected by House committee — The House Rules Committee last week rejected consideration of amendments offered by Democrats to block changes to the health and safety oversight of nuclear weapons facilities. The Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council joined national labor organizations opposing changes to safety oversight and requirements included in the House Defense Authorization bill for fiscal 2013. HAMTC believes the changes would weaken safety protections for workers at Hanford.

ALSO at The Stand — House Republicans threaten nuclear worker safety (May 16)

► At Huffington Post — Nuclear Regulatory Commission chief steps down — Under a withering assault from the industry, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko is stepping down, effective upon the confirmation of his successor.

ELECTION

► In the Seattle Times — GOP’s Zarelli decides not to seek re-election to State Senate — Sen. Joseph Zarelli (R-Ridgefield), the ranking Republican on the Senate Ways and Means Committee, sent out a surprise announcement Friday afternoon that he won’t seek re-election. When asked why he was leaving, Zarelli said it was just time to move on.

► In today’s (Everett) Herald — GOP pins hopes on two State Senate seats — If Republicans pick up three additional seats, they’ll snag control of the chamber for the first time since 2004. And GOP leaders consider two of their best chances lie in knocking off long-tenured Democratic Sens. Mary Margaret Haugen of Camano Island and Rosemary McAuliffe of Bothell.

► In today’s Seattle Times — Final filing day in state offers wealth of choices — This is shaping up to be one of the most competitive elections in years with high turnover in statewide offices, the congressional delegation and the Legislature.

STATE GOVERNMENT

► In today’s Seattle Times — UW, WSU expand enrollment in schools’ engineering programs — As part of a budget agreement in the last legislative session, lawmakers directed the UW and WSU to use $3.8 million apiece toward engineering, which will eventually result in 380 more engineering degrees per year — a 29 percent increase in the total number of students getting engineering degrees from state schools.

► In today’s Olympian — Local governments should eventually get liquor funds (editorial) —  The Legislature cut $10 million in other state funding to cities and counties during this year’s difficult supplemental budget process. Many of the cities are angry, saying state legislators broke faith with voters who approved 1183, and it’s a promise that must be kept.

► In the News Tribune — UPS hasn’t turned over info to L&I on Federal Way wreck— State Labor and Industries officials say shipping giant United Parcel Service is resisting efforts by state inspectors to investigate a crash that badly injured a local UPS worker last year.

► In the Olympian — Sales end for Liquor Control Board, work doesn’t — The state agency will be working well past the closure of liquor stores June 1 to transition the liquor business to a private system — with training new licensees and selling the distribution center among the items on its to-do list.

NATIONAL

► In The Hill — Democrats wade into major airline union battle — Both senators and House members have sent letters to American Airlines CEO Tom Horton this week asking the airline to move forward with a union election at the company. The airline, in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings, filed a lawsuit objecting to the NMB setting a union election for the CWA.

► At TPM — Conservatives liken Dem bill targeting citizenship tax-dodging to Nazis, Soviets — New Democratic-led legislation aimed at penalizing those who would renounce their U.S. citizenship to dodge taxes has provoked fiery criticism from influential conservatives and is putting Republican leaders in a politically precarious situation. Inspired by the actions of Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook co-founder who renounced his citizenship ahead of a large tax payment, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist compared it to the actions of Nazi Germany.

► In today’s Washington Post — Supreme Court faces pressure to reconsider Citizen United ruling — The Supreme Court has already blocked a Montana Supreme Court decision defying Citizen United, and the justices may simply set their counterparts in Helena straight by summarily reversing the finding. But pressure is being applied to at least let Montana make its argument.

TODAY’S MUST-READ

► At Huffington Post — ALEC in Wisconsin: The hijacking of a state (by Mary Bottari) — But what has the Walker/ALEC agenda gotten Wisconsin residents? Rather than delivering the 10,000 new businesses and 250,000 jobs, Walker is down 4,338 businesses from when he took office and the state ranks dead last in job creation according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

ALSO at The Stand — Volunteer for Wisconsin GOTV phone banks in Seattle

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.