Last Throes update:  ■  Today from AP -- Six more Marines killed in Iraq bomb attacks
■  Today from AP -- War tab now at $6 billion a month
■  Today from Reuters -- Senate clears $445 billion for defense --  Bill includes another $50 billion for the Iraq war, but rebukes Bush on the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere.
■  In today's NY Times -- Doing the 9/11 time-warp again (editorial) -- Bush's latest speech was a reprise of his 9/11 rhetoric that suggested an avoidance of today's reality that seemed downright frightening.
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Credibility canyon (editorial) -- The president's speech capped an increasingly disjointed effort to rally support for continuation of a war launched on false pretenses... Cheney now speaks of "decades of patient effort." That sounds like a prescription for endless war, and it contrasts with Cheney's statements in May that the insurgency was "in the last throes."
■  In today's NY Times -- Sounding old themes on Iraq (editorial) -- If Bush still cannot acknowledge the flaws in his policy on Iraq, how can he fix them?

Political news: ■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Initiative 912 is battled by business -- If voters repeal the gas tax, highway investment will sink to 2000 levels when Washington ranked second-lowest in the nation for per-person highway spending... "You would think, if we are investing in our future and for the sake of our economy, that we would be among the top states in terms of infrastructure investment."
■  In today's News Tribune -- State GOP's opposition to gas tax irresponsible (editorial) -- The State Republican Party has betrayed a good number of its members in Olympia, not to mention its supporters in the business community, by seeking to undo this year's transportation package.
■  In the Columbia Basin Herald -- Governor urges state to work together -- "It's a critical moment in time for us (regarding our roads and highways). We are either going to move the state forward and say we'll not continue that neglect. Or, we're going to maintain that status quo."
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Voters will get their chance to recall Spokane mayor
■  In today's Yakima H-R -- Doc feels the heat -- Rep. "Doc" Hastings, DeLay's hand-picked House Ethics Committee chair, furiously backtracks from his earlier comments supporting DeLay.
■  In today's Washington Post -- DeLay meeting, RNC actions coincided -- The Republican leader and his alleged co-conspirator conferred on the same day the checks were ordered.
■  In today's Washington Post -- Report warns Democrats not to tilt too far left -- Since Kerry's defeat, some Democrats have urged that the party adopt a political strategy more like one pursued by Bush and Rove -- which emphasized robust turnout of the party base rather than relentless, Clinton-style tending to "swing voters." But Clinton-aligned party strategists disagree.

Local news:  ■  In today’s Yakima H-R -- Yakima Brewery closes plant -- Bert Grant's Real Ales will no longer be brewed in Yakima; production will move to the Southeast, West Coast and Northeast.
■  In today’s Tri-City Herald -- Audit review first step for Hanford workers (editorial)
■  In today's Seattle P-I -- Boeing, Airbus tensions soar in aircraft subsidy dispute

National news:  ■  Today at BusinessWeek online -- Wal-Mart's giant sucking sound (op-ed) -- That's what one hears as the giant retailer sops up the vitality from middle-class families, local communities, and the national economy. It is beyond time for all Americans to wake up from this nightmare and support those companies -- Costco, for example -- that believe that companies and their CEOs have as much responsibility to employees, customers, and the nation as to shareholders.
■  At the Working Life blog -- Bringing down Mickey Mouse -- Out of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting yesterday comes some good news: the first Industry Coordinating Committee has been formed for the unions dealing with the information industry.
■  In today's Washington Post -- Lockheed to cut employee pension benefits for new workers
■  In today's NY Times -- Bill to strengthen pension plans is mired in dispute

THURSDAY, OCT. 6  ■  Talks will continue, but no formal action on Solidarity Charters -- The AFL-CIO Executive Council today "heard a report on continuing efforts to keep the grassroots labor movement intact," but did not vote to revise its earlier Solidarity Charter proposal, which was rejected by the disaffiliated unions of the Change to Win coalition. The Council did authorize President John Sweeney to continue Solidarity Charter talks. (See press release below.)

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 5  ■  Forum on Iraq War's toll on working families this Sunday

Local news:  ■  In today’s News Tribune -- Peninsula Light workers ready to strike -- IBEW 483 says the Gig Harbor utility has decided to implement its “best and final” contract offer next week, a contract that the union's members already rejected because of significant health care cuts.
■  In yesterday’s Columbian -- Minimum-wage workers to get 28-cent an hour raise -- One Salmon Creek woman hopes the minimum-wage boost will let her save for her children's birthdays. If there's money left over, she hopes she and her husband can afford to eat every day.

State of the Unions news:  ■  At the Working Life blog -- Fuzzy math at 16th Street -- A reliable source says there might be some fuzzy math going on at the national AFL-CIO with the 4-cent per capita hike that's supposed to help state feds and CLCs hard-hit by disaffiliations. Tomorrow, the AFL-CIO Executive Council meets to figure out how to close its own $28 million budget gap.

Boeing news:  ■  In today's Everett Herald -- Strike had its moments (Corliss column) -- Union insiders credit District 751 President Mark Blondin, saying he did an outstanding job of learning what the members wanted, and building a trust that he could deliver it, so long as they stood behind him. 
■  In today's Everett Herald -- Strike was not as bad as feared -- The 28-day Machinists union strike has hurt the Boeing Co. less than Wall Street expected, says an industry analyst.
■  Today from AP -- Strike hampers Boeing deliveries -- The company delivered 62 commercial airplanes in the third quarter, its lowest total for the period in a decade due to the strike.
■  In today's Everett Herald -- Boeing finishes deal on 777 sale -- Jet Airways will buy 10 of the jets in a previously announced deal. An Irish carrier also says it plans to buy nine 737s.

Political news: ■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- No "jackpot verdicts" -- New study finds no big spike in malpractice settlements, verdicts or claims. 
(Also: Don't let insurance companies take away your rights with I-330.)
■  In today's News Tribune -- Numbers deny malpractice crisis
■  In today's Seattle Times -- Medical malpractice claims drop for 3rd year
■  In yesterday's Columbian -- Roadway projects driven by gas tax -- The gas-tax increase provides $40 million to widen a portion of Highway 14 in Washougal, the site of several fatal accidents. But that money will disappear if I-912 is approved by voters next month.
■  In yesterday's Columbian -- Roads too valuable to repeal gas-tax hike (Brunell column) -- We need the gas tax money to maintain our roads and bridges and keep them safe. The longer we wait to make those repairs and improvements, the more extensive -- and expensive -- they will be.
■  In the Seattle Weekly -- Port in a storm -- The races for Seattle Port Commission might change the direction of King County's billion-dollar, economic-development government.
■  In today's NY Times -- Bush plans to press ahead with broad political agenda -- He says he still has "plenty" of political capital and will spend it on Social Security privatization and other issues.

National news:  ■  In the Christian Science Monitor -- Post-Katrina easing of labor laws stirs debate -- At a time when Latino immigrants are expected to form a big part of the Gulf reconstruction labor pool, the Bush administration has temporarily suspended sanctioning employers who hire workers unable to prove their citizenship, essentially allowing contractors to hire undocumented workers. That move follows Bush's Sept. 8 decision to lift in Katrina-hit areas the 1931 Davis-Bacon Act.
■  At CNSNews.com -- Republicans introduce a bill the unions won't like -- Now, Senate Republicans have introduced a bill that would automatically trigger a year-long suspension of the Davis-Bacon Act in future disaster sites that receive emergency declarations from President Bush.
■  At StopAlbertsonsNow.com -- Albertsons "selling" stores to its non-union subsidiary
■  At the Confined Space blog -- Harriet "Pit Bull" Miers headed law firm engaged in union busting
■  In today's LA Times -- Airlines face billions in pension payments -- They must add $10.4 billion to their plans by '08, more than some can afford, and easing the rules may not fix the problem.
■  In today's NY Times -- At the very top, a surge in income in 2003 -- The share of income going to the richest slice of Americans -- the top tenth of 1 percent -- grew significantly in 2003 while the share going to 99 percent of Americans fell, according to new tax data.

TUESDAY, OCT. 4  ■  Say NO to "More of the Same;" reject do-nothing crowd's I-912
■  In today’s Seattle P-I -- I-912 seen as more than a vote on gas tax -- The most recent Elway Poll shows support for I-912 waning; support has fallen from 55% in June to 41% in September.
■  In today's Columbia Basin Herald -- Gas tax repeal is a void oil companies could easily fill (editorial)
■  Today at On the Road to 2008 -- Focus on I-912 opposition: GOP Rep. Dave Schmidt -- He says: "My constituents didn’t send me to Olympia to hide my head in the sand when difficult issues come up... they are seeing more people hurt on the highways while they spend more and more of their time in gridlock. It’s time for a change." (And speaking of head-in-the-sand...)
■  Today at HorsesAss.org -- "Where's Rossi?" Day 21 -- Despite what his spokesperson says while he takes "a well-deserved break from politics," I-912 is Dino Rossi’s baby.  If it passes because its patron saint shrewdly and cynically remains silent, then the consequences are on his head.

More political news:  ■  In the Yakima H-R -- Hastings supports DeLay as victim of "political vendetta" -- The House Ethics Committee chairman appears to have already reached a conclusion about his sponsor DeLay, adding that "we don't have the resources" to conduct an investigation of him.
■  Today from Reuters -- DeLay indicted on new charges -- Two new felony charges including money laundering following a conspiracy indictment last week of the former House Majority Leader.
■  In today's Yakima H-R -- AARP criticizes medical measures: I-330 and I-336
■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Murray assures followers of powerful agenda -- "I'm tired of talk show hosts saying the Democrats don't have an agenda," says the state's senior U.S. Senator. 
■  In today's Spokesman-Review -- City council hires lawyer in press for access to West's computer
■  In the SF Chronicle -- Union political spending under fire -- Union workers can already decline to have their dues spent on issues other than bargaining, but California's is an ideological battle.

Local news:  ■  At the New Standard -- Washington state UFCW locals merge -- Merger between Locals 1001 and 1105, made official on Saturday, creates a 30,000-member-strong organization.
■  In today’s Tri-City Herald -- CH2M Hill Hanford lays off 170 employees -- That leaves about 1,170 employees working on its DOE contract to operate Hanford's tank farms and related work.
■  In today’s News Tribune -- Unfounded rumors about police have no place in public (op-ed) -- As president of the (Tacoma police) union I would like to offer some insight that might help citizens understand our perspective (on opposing public disclosure of the Brame internal affairs probe).
■  Today from the P.S. Business Journal -- Associated Grocers names new president: John Runyan

National news:  ■  In today’s News Tribune -- Supreme Court hears Pasco wage case -- John Roberts’ first case as chief justice involves workers’ wages at an Eastern Wash. meat processing plant.
■  Today at House of Labor blog -- Forget the Constitution: Roberts, Miers and Tyson -- What Roberts and Miers share is a history as corporate lawyers where they spent much of their professional lives arguing that statutory ambiguities (like that in Pasco's Tyson Foods case) should be resolved in favor of their corporate clients. That likely business bias is far more relevant to 95% of their work as Justices than whatever views they have on broader constitutional or social issues.
■  In today's Washington Post -- Biggest FEMA contractor for Katrina lacks building license
■  In today's NY Times -- Faux news is bad news (editorial) -- In its purchase of self-aggrandizing agitprop, the Bush administration plainly violated the law against spreading "covert propaganda" at public expense. More than that, Bush officials forged a cheesy new low in Washington politicians' endless bazaar of peddling public relations initiatives at taxpayers' expense.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3  ■  Minimum wage increase to $7.63 is "great news" for workers
-- "But $7.63 an hour is still poverty wages for thousands of Washington families who are struggling to afford a tank of gas or a trip to the doctor," says WSLC President Rick Bender.
■  At L&I's web site -- State minimum wage to increase to $7.63 starting an hour Jan. 1, 2006

Boeing news:  ■  In the News Tribune -- Round 2 for Boeing -- Main table negotiations with the 18,400-member SPEEA begin in earnest Nov. 1 at a SeaTac hotel. The goal of the talks is reaching a settlement before the union’s Puget Sound-area contract expires Dec. 1.
■  In the Everett Herald -- SPEEA heeds strike lesson -- "The IAM set the bar high, and maybe the company learned that it is much easier to put a respectable good offer on the table."
■  In Saturday's Seattle P-I -- Boeing workers back after IAM strike, 25 to 30 planes behind

Local news:  ■  In Sunday's Seattle Times -- School union's (PSE) leaders approve alliance with SEIU -- If, as expected, delegates at a PSE convention in December approve the deal, the new union will include about 86,000 members, making it the largest union in Washington state.
■  From AP -- 26,000-member Public School Employees union leaders favor merger with SEIU
■  Today from AP -- After a 13-year court battle, Microsoft to begin $72M payout to temps
■  In Saturday's Daily News -- Simpson won't build a new sawmill in Cowlitz County
■  At Working Life blog -- Labor issues and the Supreme Court -- First case under Roberts may be Pasco's Tyson Foods case on whether workers should be paid for walking to the production line.

I-912 news:  ■  In Sunday's Seattle Times -- How the state spent our gas taxes -- Rep. Joyce Mulliken (R-Ephrata): "This is the first time I've voted for any tax increase of any nature since 1994, when I first took office. But transportation taxes are user fees. I've had the business community thanking me for my position, and it's never easy for an elected official to go home and say she voted for a tax increase when I had a solid record of no new taxes."
■  In today's Seattle Times -- I-912's politics of division (Riley column) -- Don't let I-912 backers fool you as they try to morph the state DOT, which has been bringing in nickel-tax projects on time and under budget, with everything that is wrong with Sound Transit and the Seattle Monorail Project.
■  In today's Yakima H-R -- The 9.5-cent gas tax: Keep it or kill it? -- Many businesses, including Eastern Washington shippers who lose time on Interstate 90 when their trucks are stopped by avalanches, want improved roads, notes the Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce.
■  In Sunday's King Co. Journal -- Maple Valley counting on gas tax -- Millions of dollars the city was relying on for major transportation projects could be lost Nov. 8 if I-912 passes.

Other political news:  ■  In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Reject both doctor's and lawyer's initiatives (editorial) -- The rhetoric surrounding Initiative 330 and Initiative 336 is testament to why such complex issues -- tort reform, insurance reform and patient safety -- should not be on the ballot.
■  In Sunday's Seattle Times -- Vote for clean air (editorial) -- Endorsement of "common-sense" I-901. 
■  In Sunday's News Tribune -- Where there's smoke, there's ire (I-901 op-ed) -- People in Washington want to protect their right to breathe clean indoor air where they eat, work and socialize.

National news:  ■  In today's NY Times -- Exploiting Katrina (editorial) -- Congress has used Katrina as cover for a remarkably brazen raid on the public treasury and environmental protections.
■  In today's NY Times -- GM and a U.S. agency see pensions in different lights -- Feds say the company's pension fund is $31 billion short while the automaker says it is "fully funded."
■  Today from AP -- Florida Wal-Mart employees begin to organize, but they're not a union
■  In today's LA Times -- Unions working a new tactic against governor -- Labor leaders are contacting corporations to stem donations to Schwarzenegger's initiative campaigns.
■  From AP -- This is Mother Jones country -- Small Illinois town wraps its identity and arms around the hell-raising labor activist as they prepare to celebrate her 175th birthday.