State government news:

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Gregoire "humbled" to be mentioned as solicitor-general candidate -- The governor said she would have to consider the post if it were offered to her. But she also called any talk of her being offered the job "totally premature."

►  At Publicola -- Sonntag will run for governor if Gregoire leaves -- State auditor Brian Sonntag just told KOMO 4 News that he will run for governor if Gov. Chris Gregoire is appointed to replace US Solicitor General Elana Kagan by the Obama Administration.

►  In today's Olympian -- Puget Sound funds misspent -- The first audit of a new state agency dedicated to cleaning up Puget Sound has found cost overruns, failure to follow the law in awarding no-bid contracts, and wrongful use of state money on gifts.

►  In today's Kitsap Sun -- Ferry system trying to rein in overtime, travel spending -- The moves come after Washington State Ferries was criticized in a series of KING 5 television reports for spending millions of dollars paying employees for driving to and from work for “special projects” and allowing a group of staff chief engineers to rack up mostly self-assigned overtime.

Boeing news:

►  In the (Everett) Herald -- Boeing backers seek to penalize EADS tanker bid -- House and Senate members from Washington, Kansas, South Carolina and Illinois introduced the "Fair Defense Competition Act," which would require the Pentagon to consider in the tanker contest the illegal subsidies the World Trade Organization recently ruled that Airbus received.

►  In today's (Everett) Herald -- Aerospace center to open June 7 -- The new training center at Paine Field will be driven by workforce supply and demand. Via the center, technical experts will provide short, hands-on, job-specific training to employees at convenient times.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Six 787 Dreamliner orders cancelled -- That brings to a round 100 the total number of Dreamliner cancellations after more than two years of delays and the downturn in the aviation business since 2008. The new jet still has a big order backlog of 860 jets.

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Local aerospace firm Janicki plans Utah plant -- It will get a $316,275 tax credit from Utah, but the company president says the main consideration for going outside Washington was to be near the Alliant parts plant. "We really didn't approach the state of Washington," he said. "We needed to get closer to where you make most of the parts."

Job news:

►  In the National Journal -- More jobs may be created this year than in Bush's entire presidency -- If the U.S. economy produces jobs over the next eight months at the same pace as it did over the past four months, the nation will have created more jobs in 2010 alone than it did over the entire eight years of George W. Bush's presidency.

►  That said... from AP -- Millions of cut jobs likely not coming back -- Fewer construction workers will be needed. Don’t expect as many interior designers or advertising copywriters, either. Retailers will get by with leaner staffs. The economy is strengthening. But millions of jobs lost in the recession could be gone for good. And unlike in past recessions, jobs in the beleaguered manufacturing sector aren’t the only ones likely lost forever. Economists think it will take at least five years for the economy to regain the 8.2 million jobs wiped out by the recession.

Local news:

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Murray lines up $44 million for further Hanson Dam repairs -- Sen. Patty Murray persuaded her colleagues on the Senate Appropriations Committee to put the money into a supplemental spending bill the Senate is expected to vote on this month.

►  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Work stops for safety evaluation at Hanford plant -- Work was stopped Thursday at the Hanford Plutonium Finishing Plant for a safety stand down after a worker cut or scraped himself on debris that possibly was radiologically contaminated.

►  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Immigration reform group rallies outside Rep. Hastings' office -- About 30 Tri-Citians were asking for "justicia para todos," or "justice for all," at a rally in front of Rep. Doc Hastings' Pasco office. When asked "What's the beef?" by an elderly gentleman walking a small dog, Rodolfo Cartagena of Richland responded, "Immigration reform."

National news:

►  At Huffington Post -- College for all? Experts say not necessarily -- The notion that a four-year degree is essential for real success is being challenged by a growing number of economists, policy analysts and academics. They say more Americans should consider other options such as technical training or two-year schools, which have been embraced in Europe for decades. 

►  In today's NY Times -- CEOs from far and wide band against financial bill provision -- Businesses far from Wall Street have intensified their efforts to kill an overshadowed provision of the Senate financial regulation bill giving shareholders more ammunition to shake up corporate boards.

►  At AFL-CIO Now -- 1,000 nurses rally for safe staffing -- Some 1,000 registered nurses from around the country rallied on Capitol Hill yesterday to show their strong support for legislation to establish minimum nurse-to-patient ratios for all hospitals in the country. The bill is modeled after a California state law that sets minimum ratios there. 

►  At Huffington Post -- Napolitano urged to cut Homeland Security ties with Arizona police -- The AFL-CIO, the nation's largest union organization, and one of its biggest civil rights groups have demanded that Homeland Security cut programmatic ties with law enforcement officials in Arizona. "The enforcement of Arizona's law fundamentally depends on the use of federal government resources for the implementation of its racial profiling regime," they wrote. "Unless DHS terminates all 287(g) program agreements in Arizona, the federal government will be complicit in the racial profiling that lies at the heart of the Arizona law. Such a result would place the DHS at odds with this Administration's stated views on SBI070, and at odds with basic American values of tolerance and non-discrimination."