Legislative news:
▪  In Saturday's Seattle Times -- Free speech -- for companies, too -- Whether employees should belong to unions is a question for them to decide. Government should be neutral about it. Two bills introduced in the Legislature violate that neutrality and should be rejected. (Bollocks. Our government stopped being "neutral" the moment it decided to grant special taxpayer subsidies to a particular industry -- and deny them to all others. Businesses that accept that special subsidy, and don't create the family-wage jobs taxpayers were promised, should not have the "right" to keep our money when they hire union-busters to "fend off" employees' organizing campaigns. And what's with "fend off?" Are working people a bunch of barbarians at the gates?!)
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- The heavyweight fight for the waterfront -- Gov. Gregoire tried to do what she's done many times before: force a compromise between House Speaker Frank Chopp and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels through personal, private, one-on-one diplomacy. It didn't work.
▪  In today's Olympian -- Bill would let state workers retire earlier with benefits (column)
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Mental-health bill requires equality -- The second half of a state law signed in 2005, the bill would require health plans to apply the same copays and out-of-pocket spending caps for mental-health services that they do for other medical and surgical procedures.
▪  In today's News Tribune -- Get special interest taint out of judicial elections (editorial) -- Suggested headline for inevitable op-ed response from the BIAW: "Get government off our taint!"
▪  In the P.S. Business Journal -- Why Washington should not require health insurance -- (op-ed by former-Cato-Institute-fellow free-market-health-care advocate who now gots-himself-a-think-tank)

Local news:
▪  Today from Canadian Press -- Longview Fibre is sold -- Brookfield Asset Management of Toronto will operate the specialty paper and packaging business under the Longview Fibre name.
▪  In the Bellingham Herald -- Hearing today on big-box ordinance -- A previous city ban on big-box stores will lapse in mid-March unless the council renew it this month.
▪  In Sunday's Bellingham Herald -- What school workers earn; commitment to kids motivates many
▪  This article in today's P-I goes out to our WSLC co-workers -- Grumpy workers are the best workers

National news:
▪  Today from AP -- Southern California grocery workers prepare for labor talks
▪  In Sunday's Denver Post -- Union bill stirs threat of backlash -- Colorado business leaders can expect a political battle on a national scale if they decide to push a constitutional amendment to make Colorado a right-to-work state, says WSLC President Rick Bender.