Washington State Ferries news:

►  From AP -- Gregoire, unions may have a deal -- After months of "tough" negotiations, a tentative agreement in the next ferry workers contract has been reached, saving the state $10 million annually, Gov. Chris Gregoire and a union leader said Friday. Details were sparse on the agreement, but Gregoire and labor representative Tim Saffle of the Masters, Mates and Pilots union said they hope to have the contract ratified by ferry workers in the next month.

►  In the Kitsap Sun -- Gregoire, WSF unions announce deal to save money -- "These are the largest sacrifices in the history of the Washington State Ferries," Gov. Chris Gregoire said, praising the unions for participating in budget cuts to an extent unseen elsewhere in the nation. But even with the $30 million in new savings, Gregoire said she still expects some ferry runs to be cut.

►  In the (Everett) Herald -- Seeking scapegoats, state lawmakers target ferry unions -- Once again, workers are being painted as the culprits. No excuses are being made for whatever mismanagement within our ferry system might have occurred, but it is dishonest to suggest that those rare incidents (profiled on KING-TV) are the norm, or that workers are to blame. Such inflammatory declarations may sell newspapers and TV advertising space, but they do not pass the sniff test of truth. They are little more than attempts to scapegoat working men and women.

The disconnect at the Department of Corrections:

►  At SeattlePI.com -- Cuts to inmate programs concern state prison official -- Though he believes public safety won't take a hit if the governor's budget passes, Department of Corrections secretary Eldon Vail expressed worry about cuts to prison drug treatment and basic education.

►  Last week -- Correctional employees picket in 'Fight for Safety' -- Correctional employees represented by the Teamsters, their families and their supporters took their fight for safety into their communities last week for an informational picketing action at 11 locations across the state to demand that the Department of Corrections, the governor and the State Legislature take immediate steps to improve staff safety at the DOC. Correctional employees at the action also said that it is incumbent on the Washington State Legislature to pass meaningful legislation this session that will improve safety conditions for staff in Washington State prisons. They cited several bills as critical to improving staff safety, including a proposal that would mandate a prohibition of mandatory overtime for nurses at the DOC and a bill that would provide interest arbitration for Correctional Employees. Read more of this March 3 posting.

►  From AP -- Prison officials knew Scherf was a threat -- Shortly after he arrived at the Monroe prison complex a decade ago, Byron Scherf was the focus of corrections department warnings that read like terrible prophecy. The rapist is charged with the strangling of corrections officer Jayme Biendl.

Local news:

►  In today's Seattle Times -- Agreement reached to stop burning coal at Centralia plant -- The state has reached a deal to get TransAlta to shut down the first of two coal-fired burners in 2020. The second will stop burning coal in 2025. In exchange, during intervening years, the company can sell coal power in-state under long-term contracts. Currently, the plant employs 300 people who earn an average of $88,000 a year. As a natural-gas facility, it will employ far fewer workers. But labor groups backed the deal because of the 15-year phaseout and the company's financial contribution.

►  In the Kitsap Sun -- Looming federal cuts bring unease -- Members of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3937 in Silverdale are worried Republican U.S. House-approved budget cuts lead to the temporary shutdown of local Social Security offices, and a furloughing of employees for up to one month. (Learn more here.)

►  At SeattlePI.com -- Union: Seattle School Board missed warning signs in scandal -- Two Seattle school board members were warned in late 2008 that a contractor hired by Silas Potter was unlicensed, paying below-market wages and not following safety rules on construction sites at two elementary schools, according to e-mails between the school board and union officials.

►  In today's Tri-City Herald -- Pasco farm worker housing awaiting licenses -- Although the remodel of two former downtown Pasco motels appears complete, Sea Mar Farmworker and Community Housing Development has yet to open the doors to farm workers and their families.

Boeing news:

►  In the (Everett) Herald -- Boeing starts hiring for heavier production -- Boeing expects to begin assembly on the first tanker in 2014. But engineering and planning already are under way both in Washington state and at Boeing's location in Wichita, where defense applications will be installed. You can search for tanker-related jobs at Boeing's web site here.

►  In the Seattle Times -- Rival knocks Boeing's "low-ball" tanker bid -- Airbus says there's a high risk that Boeing will lose money if there are any setbacks in developing and building the 179 tankers under the fixed-price contract, and are calling for "vigilant oversight" by the Pentagon. Boeing insists that its bid is financially sound and based on improved efficiency at its Everett plant. 

►  In the PS Business Journal -- Boeing 737 replacement plans begin to take shape -- As the executive creating the successor to the best-selling 737, Mike Bair is weighing billion-dollar decisions ranging from which material to use for the new plane's skin, to whether its passengers will get a meal. He says lessons from 787 snafus will help him steer the creation of a 737 replacement.

The War on Public Employees:

►  In today's NY Times -- Talks to resolve Wisconsin battle falter -- Senator Fred Risser, one of 14 Democrats who left Wisconsin last month to prevent the Republican-dominated Senate from approving the collective bargaining measure, said it now seemed conceivable that he and his fellow Democrats would return to Wisconsin, at some point in the future, without a negotiated compromise.

►  In today's Huffington Post -- Wisconsin Democrats propose border meeting with Gov. Scott Walker -- The Democratic state Senate leader has written a letter to Gov. Walker asking him to hold a meeting to resolve differences on his controversial budget at a neutral site along the Wisconsin-Illinois border.

►  At AFL-CIO Now -- New poll: Wisconsin voters like teachers, but not Gov. Walker -- Yet another poll -- this one from a conservative think tank -- in Wisconsin shows the public is strongly opposed to Gov. Scott Walker's attacks on public employees' freedom to bargain for good middle-class jobs.

►  In Sunday's Washington Post -- Wisconsin fight isn't about union benefits, it's about labor's influence (guest column by Yale and UC-Berkeley political science professors) -- In moments of candor, critics of unions reveal that their agenda transcends budget concerns. House Speaker John Boehner, for instance, decried an economic rescue package for states last year as a "payoff to union bosses and liberal special interests." But the goal of union opponents is not to exorcise "special interests" from American politics. It is to protect the special interests that represent corporate America and Wall Street from any serious challenge.

National news:

►  In today's NY Times -- Degrees and dollars (Paul Krugman column) -- If we want a society of broadly shared prosperity, education isn't the answer -- we'll have to go about building that society directly. We need to restore the bargaining power that labor has lost over the last 30 years, so that ordinary workers as well as superstars have the power to bargain for good wages. We need to guarantee the essentials, above all health care, to every citizen. What we can't do is get where we need to go just by giving workers college degrees, which may be no more than tickets to jobs that don't exist or don't pay middle-class wages.

►  At Huffington Post -- An overblown 'crisis' for state pension funds -- Many will need to make adjustments, but none are insurmountable. And to the extent that any face problems, they are long-term issues. Hence: No immediate crisis in state pensions. "They have time to make adjustments," said Keith Brainard, research director for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. "The idea of imminent insolvency is a gross distortion."

►  In today's Washington Post -- Parties clash over voting laws that would affect college students, others -- New Hampshire's new Republican state House speaker is pretty clear about what he thinks of college kids and how they vote. They're "foolish," Speaker William O'Brien said in a recent speech to a tea party group. "Voting as a liberal. That's what kids do," he added. Now, New Hampshire House Republicans are pushing for new laws that would prohibit many college students from voting in the state -- and effectively keep some from voting at all.