TACOMA — Gov. Chris Gregoire is looking for ways to link with private contractors to design and build expensive new road and bridge projects, probably using tolls to help pay for them.
Projects could include widening Interstate 90 over Snoqualmie Pass, a new Columbia River bridge at Vancouver and a replacement span across Lake Washington.

OLYMPIA — Leaders in the state House on Monday quickly moved a measure to restrict demonstrations at funeral services, especially those for military personnel.
The bill — one of the first measures passed this session by the House — sailed through 89-5, with four representatives excused.
Rep. Dan Roach, R-Bonney Lake, sponsored the bill and said the measure would protect more than just military families.
"Everyone has the right to mourn a loved one without a person in their face protesting," Roach said on the floor.
The measure — if approved by the Senate — would require protesters to remain 500 feet or more from funeral processions, the gravesite and the funeral home or building where a funeral service is taking place.

Those attending the Media Access Workshop last Saturday talk to journalists about how to interest the media in their stories. Several journalists participated in a panel discussion, including, from left, Chris B. Bennett, co-publisher/editor, of The Seattle Medium; Lornet Turnbull reporter, The Seattle Times; and Phyllis Fletcher, reporter, KUOW Radio. The Seattle Association of Black Journalists sponsored the workshop.

OLYMPIA — The First Amendment rights of high school and college journalists are up for debate in Washington state, as lawmakers consider whether young scribes should have the same free-press rights as their professional colleagues.
Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, has introduced a bill that would ensure student journalists aren't censored and would not allow public schools or universities to discipline or fire a student media adviser for refusing to censor students.
"I don't think you lose your freedom of speech rights just because you're young," Upthegrove said. "The right of free press is more important than the fear of inappropriate content."

Washington, D.C., February 1, 2007 – Dr. Claud Anderson, president of the Harvest Institute Freedmen Federation (HIFF) announced that it has filed a Complaint in the United States Federal Court of Claims in Washington, D.C. against the United States Department of Interior and its Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) seeking legal redress and civil and property rights for the descendants of Black Indians and Black Freedmen. HIFF discussed background and details of the Complaint at a noon press conference. Dr. Anderson said, "The Complaint is based upon treaties of 1865 and 1866 that were negotiated after the Civil War, between the United States government and slave-holding Indian tribes who had fought on the side of the Southern Confederacy during the Civil War."

CAREER OPPORTUNITY in Digital Video Recording. The newly developed North Portland Multi Media Center at The Skanner Foundation is seeking trainees. Must be 18 or over. Exciting opportunity for the right individuals. Families and minorities encouraged to apply. APPLICATION DEADLINE February 16.

Luke Visconti, keynote speaker for the Skanner's 21st annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, said the key to a thriving economy is the inclusion of people of color into corporate America. Businesses that establish a high level of racial diversity tend to be more successful than companies who do not, he said. In his rousing speech, Visconti called upon policy makers to be more inclusive of differences, more attentive to Iraqi civilian deaths and to quickly rebuild New Orleans.

Instead of selling cookies or setting up for camp, the Girl Scouts in troops 60 and 1501 are visiting the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville — Oregon's only prison for women. Most of the girls are visiting their mothers; others visit aunts, sisters or grandmothers.

WASHINGTON — For all those historians and political naysayers, Sen. Barack Obama's allies like to point out that Abraham Lincoln served just two years in the House before becoming president.
It's a comparison certain to be repeated as Obama, with slightly more than two years in the Senate, continues to align himself with the Civil War president. The senator's expected campaign kickoff is scheduled for Feb. 10 in Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, Ill. — where both men served in the state Legislature.
Obama filed paperwork for a presidential exploratory committee Tuesday, which allows him to raise money and organize a campaign structure before his formal announcement. He also talked about his plans in a video on his Web site.
If elected, he would be an obvious subject for the history books — the first Black president.

Hundreds of people braved the unusually cold weather on Jan. 15 to participate in the 25th annual Martin Luther King Day Rally and March at Franklin High School. The event is one of the largest and longest continually running King celebrations in the country.