Seattle TimesBy Lornet TurnbullDecember 10, 2011As his son moved through high school, Xiaohong Mu began researching the immigration policies of Western countries where he believed his boy would get the best education.The owner of a petroleum-engineering firm in the southwest Chinese city of Chengdu, Mu considered Australia and Canada before settling on the United States.America, he… Read more »

Seattle TimesBy Lance DickieDecember 8, 2011The Cutter Polar Star is being prepared for reactivation. It is one of the nation's two Polar Class icebreakers.Dramatic climate change in the Arctic is rapidly diminishing the polar ice cover, exposing serious environmental, economic and security issues across the top of the world.Ecological upheaval is producing a long coveted Northwest… Read more »

Bellingham HeraldBy Jared PabenDecember 7, 2011In other news, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, has been appointed to a U.S. House-U.S. Senate conference committee to hammer out differences on a 2012 defense authorization bill, which sets policies and spending for the Department of Defense. Larson is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.“As a conferee on the defense… Read more »

Everett HeraldBy Michelle DunlopDecember 7, 2011SEATTLE -- Boeing Co. Machinists have ratified a four-year contract extension with the jet maker, with about 74 percent of members voting Wednesday in favor of a deal that ensures the 737 MAX will be built in Renton."As a result of this vote, we have the strongest commitment to the future of aerospace jobs in Washington state that we've… Read more »

Seattle Timesby Brier DudleyDecember 5, 2011Washington state's getting into the venture capital business.The state's underwriting a new venture capital fund affiliated with the University of Washington, to provide early stage funding for startups based on research from the UW and other state schools.Called the W Fund, it's one of three business credit initiatives being funded with a $19.7… Read more »

Whidbey CrosswindBy Kathy ReedDecember 2, 2011Dakota Creek Industries, an Anacortes-based shipbuilder, has been awarded a $74.1 million contract to build the Navy’s new Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research Vessel.The announcement was made in mid-October and was immediately hailed as good news by U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen.“The announcement … is good news for the… Read more »

PublicolaDecember 1, 20113. After taking second place in last year’s D.C. stand-up comedy contest for politicos, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA, 2), was back at DC Improv last night, going up against the likes of U.S. Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA).“I’m sorry to report, it wasn’t to be this year,” Larsen aide Bryan Thomas told us shortly after the show, blaming the… Read more »

Everett HeraldBy Michelle Dunlop, Herald writerNovember 30, 2011A potential union strike averted. Production work on Boeing's 737 MAX secured. An ugly labor lawsuit likely resolved.Any one of those alone would be considered a huge feat.But the Boeing Co. and the Machinists union tentatively accomplished all three with a landmark agreement announced Wednesday. The deal hinges on a Dec. 7… Read more »

ClimateWireJoel Kirkland, E&E reporterNovember 29, 2011BEIJING -- When Energy Secretary Steven Chu visits China's capital, he spends days with his counterpart Wan Gang, China's minister of science and technology, as they shuttle from meeting to meeting and listen to each other's speeches.Both top scientists in their countries, the men often appear more excited than anyone else in the… Read more »

Everett HeraldBy Gale FiegeNovember 26, 2011DARRINGTON -- Earlier this month, Rick Larsen took a ride up Suiattle River Road into an area of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest that relatively few people have seen since the summer of 2003.The 2nd District congressman asked Darrington District Ranger Peter Forbes to point out where the road needs to be repaired as well as some of… Read more »