More legislative news:
▪  Today from AP -- Paid family leave passes Senate 32-17 -- House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler says she thinks the bill had a good chance of passing the House: "I think that will probably play pretty well in our caucus. Especially when it comes to having a child, those first months are so critical for bonding with a newborn. It's incredibly important that if nothing else, we do that."
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Senate vote puts state closer to offering paid family leave -- Republicans call paid leave for new parents another step toward socialism.
▪  In today's Spokesman-Review -- Senate approves paid family leave -- Gov. Gregoire has not yet seen the bill, but is "generally supportive of the concept," says her spokeswoman.
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Cost of living exceeds community college salaries -- Full-time faculty members say they don't earn enough teaching at Seattle's colleges to keep up with the city's rising costs. Part of the problem: Faculty who have earned pay raises for performing extra work or attending workshops haven't gotten them because the state hasn't provided enough money.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- Gregoire: Let's get to work on the viaduct -- City and state officials tried to put the best face on a tough situation, announcing a $915 million plan to start work on parts of the Alaskan Way Viaduct while postponing to late 2008 a decision on how to replace it.
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- 38,000 more children with health care (editorial) -- This was not reckless spending. The children's health-care-coverage bill was a judicious use of resources to pay for medical checkups and preventative care now rather than paying for costly emergency care later.
▪  In today's Oregonian -- Health care for all builds steam (in Oregon) -- As hundreds rally on the Capitol steps for universal coverage, leaders of competing plans pledge to merge their proposals.

Boeing news:
▪  In today's Seattle Times -- SPEEA critics elected to board (brief) -- The vote by the 24,000-member union gives critics of executive director Charles Bofferding four of seven seats on the board. 
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- 787 begins with an end -- Boeing unveils its first completed 787 vertical tail fin -- the piece of the plane that will help guide the company's 787 Dreamliner.
▪  Today from AP -- Airbus faces more pressure over cuts -- Airbus unions say workers in France, Germany and Spain will strike Friday to protest the aircraft maker's plans to cut 10,000 jobs. 

National news:
▪  In today's NY Times -- Immigration misery (editorial) -- As the country waits for Congress and the president to enact immigration reform, the indecency of existing policies is becoming tolerable.
▪  In today's Wash. Post -- Firefighters gain favored spot with '08 hopefuls -- Who else but the union that represents many of America's first responders -- the heroes of Sept. 11, 2001 -- can draw 11 declared or would-be presidential candidates from both parties to speak on the same day?
▪  In today's NY Times -- Clinton a hero, Guiliani a no-show for firefighters -- Giuliani angered the union when he cut off efforts to recover the remains of 9/11 victims before all had been found.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Wal-Mart said to have bigger banking plans than previously acknowledged
▪  In today's NY Times -- When to violate the top two commandments of anti-government crusaders (op-ed) -- The ostensible champions of economic efficiency, they have kept government budgets smaller and blocked some transfers to low-income families. But in the process, they have made everyone poorer. Some believe minimal government is synonymous with economic efficiency. But it is not. Economic efficiency sometimes requires that government play a larger role.
▪  In today's NY Times -- Democrats' measure for Iraq pullout in 2008 nears Senate vote -- House Democratic leaders also plan a critical test vote for their own Iraq legislation, a huge emergency spending bill that also includes a timetable for withdrawal in 2008. Bush vows to veto both bills.