Legislative news:
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Latest payday-loan bills focus on education, oversight -- Reps. Appleton and Kirby, who once sparred over legislation, working together on a more measured approach.
▪  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Richard Petty calls proposed NASCAR track a "win-win" 
▪  At Postman on Politics -- NASCAR drivers make case for raceway -- The drivers say Sen. Prentice opposes the Kitsap site, but said she may be able to support Lewis County or another site. "She may disagree with us, but at least she knows we're charming," jokes Darrell Waltrip.
▪  In today's News Tribune -- School funding falls short, says WEA-backed report
▪  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Privatization takes its toll on highways (op-ed) -- With state budget shortfalls and a general unwillingness to raise taxes, state politicians are flocking to private investors for the highway equivalent of the payday loan.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Agreement on viaduct issue: It's a mess -- "We're headed for a major train wreck," says former Seattle Mayor Charles Royer, one that "could end political careers."

Local news:  ▪  Federal grants available to promote women in apprenticeship
▪  In yesterday's (Aberdeen) Daily World -- Biodiesel firm refuels its financing plan -- What it means for Grays Harbor is that the company now has enough capital to complete its local facility that will produce 100 million gallons of biodiesel annually. It is scheduled for completion by July.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Potential fraud feared in drive to sign up voters -- Paid canvassers in ACORN's drive last fall to sign up low-income and minority voters may have forged forms.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Firefighters take 69 floors for leukemia -- On March 4, more than 1,200 firefighters from 15 states will race up 69 stories of Seattle's Columbia Center in full gear.

Grocery talks:
▪  In today's LA Times -- Southern California grocery talks see little progress -- If both sides don't agree to extend the current contract beyond its scheduled March 5 expiration, the UFCW will be free to strike and the three large grocery chains will be allowed to lock out some 65,000 workers.
▪  Today from AP -- Safeway profit jumps 77% -- Fourth-quarter profit surges to cap the grocer's best performance in five years, a comeback driven by contentious cost cutting.

National news:
▪  In today's NY Times -- Labor seeks boost from pro-union measure -- Organized labor is fighting for the Employee Free Choice Act as if its life depended on it... Aides say they expect the bill to be approved next Thursday in the House, where it has 234 sponsors, including seven Republicans.
▪  In today's Cleveland Plain-Dealer -- Give workers a choice on unions (AFL-CIO op-ed) -- One of the primary reasons working people are getting left behind is they've lost their ability to bargain with their employer for better wages and benefits through unions.
▪  In today's LA Times -- Union misled farmworkers, panel says -- In a rare rebuke, a state labor board rules that the UFW deliberately misled workers about their rights not to join the union.
▪  In today's LA Times -- 17-state sweep targets illegal hiring -- Employees of a janitorial company are arrested and 3 top executives are indicted in an immigration raid.
▪  In today's Washington Post -- Group is a work in progress -- "They Work for Us," a group headed by former AFL-CIO Political Director Steve Rosenthal and funded by SEIU and other unions, is spending considerable time in an Abbott-and-Costello-like routine of just explaining its name.

Political news:
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- State GOP must rediscover its roots (op-ed by former party boss) -- The party must rededicate itself to those values the majority of voters share: smaller government, spending restraint, lower taxes and policies that spur entrepreneurial growth and job creation.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- McCain in town to court conservatives -- From AP  McKenna to endorse him
▪  Today from AP -- Democrat Tom Vilsack ending '08 presidential bid -- Yes, he was running.
▪  In The Onion -- Guiliani to run for president of 9/11 -- "Sure, he has no foreign or national policy experience, and both his personal life and political career are riddled with scandal," says an area political analyst. "But in the key area of having been on TV on 9/11, the other candidates simply cannot match him."

The Women's Bureau and the Employment and Training Administration's Office of Apprenticeship have announced the availability of $972,180 to establish a grant program for the purpose of assisting employers and labor unions in the placement and retention of women in apprenticeship and nontraditional occupations. The Program Year 2006 Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA) is authorized under the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Act of 1992.

The agencies anticipate awarding two-year grants totaling approximately $300,000 each to up to three community-based organizations (CBO)/registered apprenticeship program (RAP) consortia, each consisting of a minimum of one each of: (1) A construction industry RAP sponsor, and (2) a CBO (which may be faith-based) with demonstrated experience in securing job training services from established training institutions such as community colleges, and providing placement and support services to women in construction industry jobs. The grants will be funded in increments of $150,000 for each year. Funding for the second year will be contingent upon satisfactory progress toward grant requirements for placement of women in registered apprenticeship programs as outlined in the application.

Applications are due by April 13, 2007.