Local News:
▪  In today's Seattle P-I -- Credit crunch takes toll on construction -- The tower cranes piercing Seattle's skyline won't vanish because of the banking crisis, say local developers, architects and commercial banks. But economic woes may cut the number of new cranes.
▪  In today's Seattle DJC -- Port of Seattle might cancel airport rental car facility -- Until the credit markets calm down, the port may use general airport funds to help construct the $382 million facility. If market conditions don't improve by next March, the port might cancel the project.
▪  In today's Daily News -- More Longview Fibre layoffs coming next week -- The plant will lay off about 90 hourly employees by next week. These layoffs are in addition to the company’s plan to lay off 300 salaried and union employees by 2010. “This is unexpected,” said Roger Fisher, president of AWPPW Local 153, which represents roughly 870 workers at the plant.
▪  In today's Everett Herald -- Snohomish County Solid Waste director placed on leave -- The union representing solid waste workers (County and City Employees, AFSCME Local 109) accuses Sam Chandler of making false statements regarding use of county vehicles.
▪  In today's Daily World -- Weyerhaeuser mulling its mill options -- Weyco says its considering other options for the Cosmopolis Pulp Mill after Evergreen Pulp Co. missed a scheduled meeting.
▪  In today's Yakima H-R -- Weighing in on workers -- The Yakama Tribal Council plans to establish a guest-worker program that would require licenses or permits for nontribal citizens and non-U.S. citizens working on reservation lands, which are composed of many orchards, hop fields and vineyards that lure a large migrant work force each year.
▪  In today's Oregonian -- Halsey mill owners, union OK new 6-year contract -- Former Pope & Talbot employees (USW Local 1189) will get raises of 12% retroactive to June.

Presidential Race 2008:
▪  In today's NY Times -- The real scandal (Herbert column) -- The Republican Party never gets tired of spraying its poison across the American political landscape. First, Republican congresswoman Michele Bachmann says the press should start investigating members of Congress to determine which ones are “pro-America or anti-America.” But the real threat to democracy is the nonstop campaign by the GOP and its supporters to disenfranchise American citizens who have every right to cast a ballot. We saw this in 2000. We saw it in 2004. And we’re seeing it again now.
▪  At AFL-CIO Now -- My Vote, My Right working to ensure votes count in key states -- To help ensure that every vote is counted, the My Vote, My Right program, which is led by the AFL-CIO, is educating citizens about their voting rights and helping to prevent violations of those rights. Members of AFL-CIO unions and labor groups are participating in the program in a coalition of civil rights organizations, faith groups, local lawyers and other community allies in nine key states.
▪  At the Huffington Post -- McCain supporters heckle early voters; call them "cheaters" -- A steady line of voters hoping to cast ballots early, which is allowed in North Carolina, had come from a nearby Obama rally. Nearly all the voters were black. A group of loud and angry protesters shouted and mocked the voters as they walked in. Nearly all were white. (See the video.)
▪  From Reuters -- Obama to leave campaign trail to visit ailing grandmother -- The health of his  grandmother in Hawaii has deteriorated recently. In the meantime, Obama says: "In the final days of campaigns, the say-anything, do-anything politics too often takes over...We've seen it before. We're seeing again today -- ugly phone calls, misleading mail and TV ads, careless, outrageous statements -- all aimed at keeping us from working together, all aimed at stopping change."

Employee Free Choice Act:
▪  At AFL-CIO Now -- Heartland lockout: Another reason for Employee Free Choice Act -- For more than two years, some 50 workers at Heartland, represented by AFSCME, have been seeking a fair contract with decent pay and benefits. After they unconditionally ended a yearlong strike in June, management at Heartland, a nonprofit mental health counseling facility, locked them out. The AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka says the lockout is “a classic example of what’s wrong with America’s labor laws.” He noted that under the Employee Free Choice Act, employers would face mandatory arbitration if they did not bargain seriously with workers’ unions.

National news:
▪  In today's LA Times -- An eroding model for health insurance -- Working Americans once could rely on employer-based benefits. But more people are being forced into the individual market, where coverage is costly, bare-bones and precarious.
▪  In today's Wash. Post -- Economic stimulus gains traction -- An effort to boost the economy with a massive injection of public funds gains momentum as the Fed chairman tentatively endorses the idea of a new stimulus package and the Bush administration softens its opposition.
▪  In today's San Diego U-T -- Tentative agreement in UC labor dispute -- A 5-year deal for 11,500 patient-care workers would include annual raises averaging 4%, according to AFSCME.