Legislative news:
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Crane safety regulation closer to reality -- The House unanimously passed a crane safety bill requiring inspections of construction cranes by a state-certified inspector. "We have to be certified to operate a forklift but not a 100-ton crane in this state," says IUOE 302's Randy Loomans. "This bill's really going to change lives; it's going to save lives."
▪  In today's News Tribune -- Lawmakers or justices will decide tax limits -- Local governments have lost more than $1.6 billion in the six years since I-747 limited tax-revenue growth. Whether those limits remain in place is in the hands of the Washington Supreme Court and/or the Legislature.

Local news:
▪  In today's Bellingham Herald -- Brown & Cole closing 3 more stores -- The Burlington Food Pavilion, the Woodland Save-On Foods and the Okanogan Food Depot shutdowns displace 81 employees. (Why is this happening? See Craig Cole's Feb. 27 guest column about the business strategy of his biggest competitor, Wal-Mart, to shift its health-care costs to state taxpayers.)
▪  In today's Tri-City Herald -- DOE proposes $1.9B for Hanford -- That's $42 million less than the White House budget request; $15 million more than what Hanford officials expect for this year.
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Boeing tanker passes test -- The company's KC-767 connects with a B-52 bomber numerous times and transfers 10,000 pounds of fuel during a four-hour flight.
▪  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Deaconess, Valley nurses approve contract (brief) -- The vote affects more than 800 nurses at the two Empire Health Services hospitals.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Costco workers to get a raise -- Already criticized by Wall Street analysts for treating employees too well, Costco bumps up wages. Entry-level workers get a $1-an-hour boost to $10.50 and the top scale goes to $20 an hour. Says analyst: "Investors won't like it."
▪  In today's Salem S-J -- Union member organizes protest against spending -- Some SEIU 503 members plan a protest against the union, which they say undermines the American worker with its support of undocumented workers and the unions these workers are members of.

National news:
▪  In today's Washington Post -- House bill pins minimum wage increase to Iraq funding -- House leaders have added legislation raising the federal minimum wage to an emergency spending bill for the Iraq war. They hope to break a logjam with the Senate over the wage bill, a top Democratic priority that was once seen on Capitol Hill as a relatively easy compromise.
▪  In today's Denver Post -- AFL-CIO may ask Dems to move '08 convention from Denver -- Labor was stung by the Democratic governor's veto of a bill nixing the state's quasi-"right-to-work" law.
▪  In today's NY Times -- U.S., South Korea restart talks on trade pact -- Seoul agrees to resume American beef imports in a concession aimed at smoothing the path toward an agreement.
▪  Today from AP -- Home Depot shareholders sue over pay -- Shareholder plaintiffs failed to get a temporary restraining order blocking ex-CEO Nardelli’s $210 million parachute, but the latest suit pins blame on Home Depot’s board and its top officers for a wide variety of alleged wrongdoing.