In Brief - January 17th, 2008

I hope that people have been reminded by the recent snow and ice on the roadways to drive defensively and thoughtfully.

In my home state of Michigan, we see this stuff all the time, but in the Pacific Northwest lowlands, it's quite unusual. Be careful out there.

In the Pacific Northwest

• Governor Gregoire delivered her 2008 State of the State Address to the Legislature on the 15th. Focusing her message on the healthy state economy, the strength of Washington exports, and the ability of Washington's people to rise to the challenge presented by the floods, the Governor said that she "put our state back on track toward a safe, prosperous, healthy future." Our executive director followed the speech live, and if you missed that post, take a look at his observations.
  
• The Oregon Health Care Summit is in session today. Participants will discuss how the state can give health care to the 1 in 6 Oregonians that do not currently have it. The end result will be a report with recommendations, completed by October 1st.
• Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is hit with another delay, and the stock price suffered as a result of the news.
  

Across the Nation

• The White House has revealed that they may have accidentally illegally recycled tape backups that contained emails and information from the run-up to the Iraq occupation and the Valerie Plame leak case.
  
• Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is giving general support to bipartisan calls for a short-term economic stimulus package, but he's light on the actions he specifically will/will not be in favor of taking.
  
• Apple held its biannual Macworld conference in San Francisco, CA this week. During CEO Steve Jobs' keynote, he made a number of announcements about new products. Here's a brief recap of what Apple unveiled:
  
• MacBook Air - An ultra thin laptop computer
  
• iPhone and iPod Touch software updates
• iTunes movie rentals
  
• Time Capsule - A wireless backup solution for Macs and Windows machines
  
• Apple TV, take 2

Around the World

• The virtual civil war taking place in Kenya continues on as violence and tension remain high after their recent election. The European Union wants to freeze aid to Kenya until the unrest calms.
• 2 animal rights and anti-whaling activists were turned over to Australian officials after they boarded a Japanese ship they accused of illegal whaling.
  
• British Airways Flight BA038 ran into trouble at London's Heathrow Airport earlier today, crash landing short of the runway. The pilot heroically glided the Boeing 777 aircraft down to the ground after losing all power, according to an airport worker. Thirteen people were hospitalized but there were no fatalities, fortunately.

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