NEWS ROUNDUP
VOTE, idling Alcoa, Boeing and China, earn while you learn…
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
IT’S ELECTION DAY!
► From AP — LGBT rights, pot and Medicaid on the line in state and local races — Several city or state ballot initiatives will also test voter preferences on school funding and the sharing economy.
LOCAL
► In today’s Bellingham Herald — Alcoa to idle smelters at Ferndale, Wenatchee plants — Alcoa is idling aluminum smelting operations at Intalco Works in Ferndale and at its Wenatchee plant, the company announced Monday, Nov. 2. The announcement said the operations will be curtailed in the coming weeks to reduce costs and supply at a time when the price of aluminum is at six-year lows. The Ferndale facility has 583 employees and the Wenatchee plant employs 428 people. It is unclear how long the potlines and smelter facility will be idled.
ALSO see coverage from the Wenatchee World.
► In today’s (Longview) Daily News — KapStone workers still without a contract — Seven weeks after ending their 12-day strike, KapStone employees in Longview still are working without a contract. The paper workers’ union and KapStone have exchanged a number of letters in recent weeks, but they haven’t bargained, according to the AWPPW.
ALSO at The Stand — AWPPW members go on strike at KapStone in Longview (Aug. 27)
► In today’s Bellingham Herald — Discussion of Bellingham paid sick leave moved to city hall — The listening session on paid sick and safe leave in city limits will be moved from its originally scheduled location at Bellingham Public Library across the street to Bellingham City Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
► From the (Longview) Daily News — “Me, too” clause will cost Kelso School District $100,000 — Kelso school administrators will get a bump in pay as a result of raises given to the faculty after the September teachers strike.
BOEING
► In today’s Seattle Times — China debuts first large jet in challenge to Boeing, Airbus — The C919, expected to fly next year, can seat up to 168 passengers. Nearly all the 517 orders are from Chinese customers.
ALSO at The Stand — Boeing’s plan to shift work to China ’causes great concern’ (Sept. 18)
► In the P.S. Business Journal — Boeing’s loss of bomber contract could mean jobs for Puget Sound region — Boeing just lost the contract to build the Air Force’s next bomber, but the Puget Sound area could still win big chunks of bomber work. There’s ample precedent, because Boeing workers in the Seattle area built wing and fuselage structures for the current B-2 bomber and the F-22 fighter.
► From The Hill — House Democrats urge opposition of Export-Import Bank amendments to highway bill — Four top House Democrats — including Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA) — are urging their colleagues to oppose any amendments to a highway bill that would damage efforts to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.
► In today’s Olympian — House keeps Ex-Im Bank hopes alive (editorial)
STATE GOVERNMENT
TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP
EDITOR’S NOTE — It’s been 29 days since the TPP deal was reached, with the White House already actively engaged in a lobbying push in Congress to pass it, and yet it still remains a secret. If it’s such a great deal for American workers, why the secrecy?
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Business owners say the Trans-Pacific Partnership shows promise — U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen is still figuring out his position on the TPP. Starting next week, he is holding open meetings to hear voters’ thoughts on the proposed agreement. The Snohomish County meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14. The location has not been set. For information, call his office at 800-562-1385, or check his website at larsen.house.gov.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
► From AFL-CIO Now — Don’t let special interests break our promise to America’s veterans — Some elected officials and organizations, including the misleadingly named Koch brothers-funded front group Concerned Veterans for America, have bashed the Department of Veterans Affairs at every opportunity. The problem with these people is their ultimate goal is not to improve the VA but to get rid of it.
► From Huffington Post — House GOP wants private debt collectors to take over IRS jobs — House Republicans are pushing to give private debt collectors the right to target all unpaid tax bills, handing a traditional IRS responsibility over to an industry with a long record of consumer abuse.
► From The Hill — House highway bill amended to allow heavier trucks — A proposal to let states to decide whether they want to allow heavier trucks on their roads has been added to a $325 billion highway funding bill that is being considered by the House this week.
NATIONAL
► In today’s NY Times — TransCanada suspends request for permit to build KeyStone pipeline — The company seeking to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline asked the Obama administration on Monday to suspend its yearslong review of the project, potentially bringing an abrupt halt to a politically charged debate that had become part of a broader struggle over President Obama’s environmental policies.
TODAY’S MUST-READ
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.