Cost savings and environmental benefits spur Sea-Tac to make changes

• USA Today

Sea-Tac's former exec is accused of improperly influencing a contract at LAX

• Seattle Times

The Port of Seattle warily eyes the new port in Prince Rupert, B.C.

• Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Biggest penalty in the Northwest: $7.2 million fine for dumping waste oil at sea

• Oregonian (Portland)

Costs rise on Port of Seattle projects

• Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Why governance reform for local transit would not work

A governor's commission suggests fixing our transportation problems by changing the governing board to a directly elected body, as in Portland. A skeptic says such a reform would be slow, reduce accountability, and probably make our transportation planning worse.

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211 cruise ship visits to Seattle this year

• KING-TV

Sound-area planners are just starting to figure out how to deal with a sea level rise

• Seattle Post-Intelligencer

West Coast ports will get competition from Mexico

• Los Angeles Times

Scientists cite species decline, ailing health of Puget Sound

• Olympian (Olympia)

Maybe it's not so easy keeping factories in Seattle

I'm a big fan of the Puget Sound Business Journal, which this week has a story about four high profile factories that might leave Seattle. A lot of media attention has followed efforts to keep Korry Electronics, which was looking at the Port of Seattle's Interbay site. (I refuse to call it North Bay.)

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Port of Seattle commissioner Pat Davis: 'bungling, back-dealing, and questionable behavior'

• Seattle Weekly

Negative views toward the U.S. intensify in Europe and Canada

• Financial Times (London)

Many think the ports of Seattle and Tacoma should merge — for survival — but Tacomans demur

• Seattle Times

West Coast ports worry about declining traffic

• Los Angeles Times

Olympia's feared watchdog: Brian Sonntag

He's got even more authority now, thanks to a voter-approved initiative that provides for evaluations of public-agency performance. The state auditor is effecting change inside institutions like the Port of Seattle.

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Port of Seattle announces new division to oversee capital projects

• Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Our economy's secret sauce: the weak dollar

The Northwest economy continues to surge, while the rest of the country struggles, and it's tempting to think it's because of all the smart folks out here, cooking up new companies. Doubtless that's partly true. But a bigger factor is the weak dollar. Washington state, for instance, leads the nation in exports as a share of state output. Those exports are booming because of the weak dollar, which translates into bargain prices offshore. Michael Parks, editor of the invaluable Marple's Pacific Northwest Letter, tallies up the figures for Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska, and finds the export totals hitting new all-time highs for the fourth consecutive year. Total exports last year for the region ($92.5 billion) were up 20 percent over 2006, about twice the national increase.

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Moratorium or not, the Port of Seattle is poised to build a $413 million rental-car facility

• Seattle Times

Obama and Clinton shift the debate to free trade

Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ended their televised Austin, Texas, debate last week on a high note. But, since then, their campaigns have been outrightly confrontational. The tone is likely to carry over into their Cleveland, Ohio, debate late this week and into March 4 voting in Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island. Clinton, facing elimination from the race, has adopted an angry campaign persona and Obama is not turning the other cheek. Ironically, the hottest debate has been over an issue where both candidates have been trimming and grandstanding: the North American Free Trade Agreement and international trade (see below).

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