DAILY NEWS
Hanford cuts, privatization poison, white-fare
Tuesday, June 6, 2017
LOCAL
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Labor Department to spend $1.6M to help laid-off Boeing workers — Boeing has issued more than 1,000 layoff notices so far this year, and more are expected in the coming months. The Labor Department plans to use the money to pay for job training and other services, and to open a job service center in Lynnwood for affected Boeing workers. The center will offer career services, apprenticeship information sessions and short-term skills workshops.
► In today’s (Longview) Daily News — Labor talks heat up for clinic workers — Union pickets (IAM Local 536) lined the street outside the Cowlitz County Family Health Center on Monday afternoon in a show of support for clinic employees who have been engaged in contract negotiations with the center since November.
► From AP — Logging operations critical to forest restoration — A new collaborative approach hopes to show responsible environmental stewardship can boost the health of Washington’s forests and the state’s regional economies.
THIS WASHINGTON
► From KNKX — As budget talks crawl, a Washington State Senate race accelerates — It’s only June in an off-election year, but yard signs are up and candidates are knocking on doors in Washington’s 45th legislative district. It’s just one race, but the outcome could decide who controls the Washington state Senate.
INFRASTRUCTURE
► In today’s (Everett) Herald — Selling off air traffic control won’t make skies safer (by Bill Center) — Don’t be fooled by the word “nonprofit” in the proposal. The flying public would foot the bill as the airline industry and other users passed costs along to fare-paying passengers. The proposal will ultimately not save taxpayers a dime and will almost surely cost more than our current approach. Even worse, many smaller regional airports would likely lose air traffic control services under the new arrangement, depriving them of vital commercial and emergency access — a classic case of paying more for less. It will allow our elected leaders to avoid raising taxes, then protest indignantly whenever the air traffic control system falls short.
THAT WASHINGTON
► In today’s Washington Post — Senate GOP aiming to conclude divisive health-care push — one way or the other — Senate Republican leaders are aiming to conclude their perilous and divisive effort to rewrite the nation’s health-care laws as soon as late this month, giving themselves only weeks to resolve substantial disagreements and raising the possibility that their push will collapse.
► In today’s NY Times — China looks to capitalize on clean energy as U.S. retreats — China, which has a considerable hold on solar and wind businesses, wants to use its technological expertise to help other countries meet their climate goals.
► In today’s Washington Post — EPA chief Scott Pruitt claims that ‘almost 50,000 jobs’ have been gained in coal. He isn’t even close. — The EPA administrator had a shiny new talking point to roll out on the Sunday morning shows as he defended President Trump’s decision to exit the Paris accord on climate change.
► In today’s NY Times — Where are the United States Attorneys? (editorial) — President Trump fired half after the others quit. Yet the law-and-order president hasn’t even nominated a single replacement.
► In today’s Washington Post — ‘I know what Paul Ryan stands for’: Eighth-grader defends refusal to pose with House speaker — It was a small act of defiance: Dozens of eighth-grade students from South Orange Middle School in New Jersey declining to pose for photographs with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) during a trip to Washington.
NATIONAL
► From AP — Justices side with religious hospitals in pension dispute — Religious hospitals don’t have to comply with federal laws protecting pension plans, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled Monday in a case that affects retirement benefits for roughly a million workers nationwide.
► From Bloomberg — More states lock down join employer relationship — To provide certainty about joint employment to employers and to state regulators administering labor laws, states have been passing laws to define joint employment.
► In today’s NY Times — Truckers’ message for you: Chill out, stop texting, and have respect — We asked truck drivers what they would say to drivers of four-wheeled vehicles if they got the chance. Responses came in with practical advice about highway safety, fervent pleas to put down those smartphones and requests to be treated with dignity.
The Stand posts links to Washington state and national news of interest every weekday morning by 10 a.m.