Boeing news: 

►  In today's News Tribune -- Rumors fly of new Boeing 787 assembly line -- The news wires and the Internet were alive Wednesday with hints that Boeing could soon announce a location for a second 787 Dreamliner assembly line -- and it won’t be in the Puget Sound area. Locating a secondary assembly line elsewhere would give Boeing even more leverage over its local unions and the state in order to extract more concessions and tax breaks.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing ramp-up won't be easy, Boeing suppliers say -- Boeing has an ambitious target of rolling out 10 787s per month by the end of 2012, which would likely require a second production line. Even as Boeing dropped a hint such a line wouldn't necessarily be in Everett, executives with two major 787 suppliers say ramping up production will cost big money and involve tricky contract negotiations with Boeing. A Boeing spokeswoman says there's no time frame yet for making a second 787 line decision and a decision is not imminent.

►  At Murray.Senate.gov -- Murray on Senate floor: "No more illegal subsidies for Airbus" -- Says Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA): "Airbus is a mature company with more than half of the market for large commercial aircraft -- but Europe is still treating the company with kid gloves…Launch aid for the A350 or any other form of preferential financing for Airbus is unacceptable." 

►  In today's Everett Herald -- Now Boeing's in it to win it (editorial) -- Flexibility to tailor a tanker as closely as possible to the Air Force's needs should boost Boeing's chances. In addition, having the U.S. government award a gigantic military contract to a company that's the focus of a U.S. challenge over illegal trade practices is contradictory to the point of national embarrassment. Sen. Patty Murray has been driving that point home to the Pentagon and her colleagues.

News from Olympia: 

►  In today's Olympian -- State readies for new shortfall -- Gov. Gregoire’s office is bracing for another drop in the state revenue forecast today at 10 a.m. and has plans for further spending reductions, if needed. A preliminary report for June revenue showed that tax collections in the past three months were running $166.5 million below what was forecast in March.

►  At WFSE.org -- Re-negotiated General Government contract ratified -- The contract covering 30,000 WFSE-represented state employees has been ratified, 3,884-369. 

►  At TheOlympian.com -- Kelley edges Haigh for JLARC leadership -- JLARC is now debating how to schedule the many pending audits, which its director predicts will be more than the staff can do if not rearranged. Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles doesn't want to hold up a review of workplace safety programs, wanting it to build on an L&I work group examining the retro program.

►  At TheNewsTribune.com -- Carol Moser is new chairwoman of state Transportation Commission -- Moser is a Richland City Councilwoman who ran for the legislature last fall as a Democrat.

Local news: 

►  In today's Spokesman-Review -- WSU announced final cuts: 359 jobs, three programs -- WSU will not fill 167 vacancies, and it will cut 192 faculty and staff positions. Many programs in Pullman and at campuses in Spokane, the Tri-Cities and Vancouver also will see reductions. 

►  In today's Seattle Times -- UW employee given leave after talking to media -- The facilities services employee was quoted in a seattletimes.com story last week about the department's plan to lay off 17 custodians and eliminate the night shift for many remaining workers. 

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Seattle school board recalls laid-off teachers -- The board announces the recall of 57 of the 160 teachers who received reduction-in-force notices in May. 

►  In today's Oregonian -- Oregon leads nation in percentage of clean-energy jobs -- So says information released today by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Washington ranks 11th. (But how many of these jobs pay good family wages, and are the taxpayer subsidies worth it?)

Health care reform: 

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Regional lawmakers, doctors join campaign supporting public-health plan -- Pushing back against Republican attacks on President Obama's vision of a public-health plan, a nationwide coalition of state lawmakers, small-business owners, physicians, community groups and others launch a public-relations campaign aimed at building support for an option they believe is essential for meaningful health reform. Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Kent) was one of several state lawmakers who delivered a letter to Congress on Wednesday urging quick action on an overhaul that includes a public plan to compete with private insurers. The letter was signed by 700 state legislators from 47 states, including 33 from Washington.

►  In today's Oregonian -- Health care: The bipartisanship of fools (E.J. Dionne column) -- Where did we get the idea that the only good health care bill is a bipartisan bill? Is bipartisanship more important than whether a proposal is practical and effective? And if bipartisanship is a legitimate goal, isn't each party equally responsible for achieving it?

►  At Huffington Post -- Daschle urges Obama to drop public health care plan option -- The man once slated to head Obama's health care system overhaul is now coming out against one of the chief components of that effort. (Here's a better idea, Tom: Pay your taxes and shut up.)

►  In today's Washington Post -- Heavy lifters for a health reform bill (David Broder column) -- It is significant that the Daschle-Dole plan sidesteps the raging controversy over whether there should be a government-sponsored plan to compete with private insurers. Daschle reluctantly agreed that there would be no federal-government plan. Instead, states that want it could include such a plan on the menu for their residents. Five years from now, if a demand for such an option still exists, the president could recommend it, and Congress would have to vote on it.

National news: 

►  From AP -- U.S. jobless claims fall for first time in 21 weeks -- The number of people on the unemployment insurance rolls has dropped -- by 148,000 to 6.76 million -- for the first time since January, the largest drop in seven years and an indication layoffs may be easing.

►  From AP -- Chrysler plans to restart 7 assembly plants -- It plans to restart the plants at the end of June after silencing all of its factories during its six-week stay in bankruptcy protection.

►  In today's NY Times -- A short-term fix for transportation -- With plans for a six-year, $450 billion bill hung up over the question of how to pay for it, the Obama administration says it wants to put off the thorniest questions for now. Instead, they propose essentially extending the existing law for 18 months and finding a short-term way to pay for highway and transit projects.

►  In today's NY Times -- Benefits for same-sex partners (editorial) -- Obama’s decision to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees is a victory for fairness in the workplace. It is a serious omission, however, that his new policy does not include health and retirement benefits, which heterosexual married employees receive. The administration has more work to do, on employee benefits and other issues, to keep its promise to work for equal rights.

►  In today's NY Times -- Slump dashes Oregon dreams of some Californians -- The Californians who cashed in on overpriced real estate to move to “lifestyle destinations” in the so-called New West contributed to Oregon’s growth. Now, in some cases they are adding to its economic struggle. In May, Oregon had the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, at 12.4%.

►  In today's LA Times -- Wall Street isn't buying Obama's market reform plan -- At its core, Obama's overhaul of regulations for the financial industry seeks a fundamental change: Make the bureaucracy work for consumers, not just Wall Street. And Wall Street, not surprisingly, doesn't like it. (Who's surprised? Can we see a show of hands? Anyone? Bueller?)