In Brief - April 25, 2008

Around the Northwest

• Under the Puget Sound Regional Council's Vision 2040 plan, the urban areas of Seattle and Bellevue could grow by 300,000 people.
• Legendary mountaineer Ed Viesturs, of Bainbridge Island, is off on a trek to the Canadian Arctic to study climate change and its effects on the natvie Inuit community.
• A new report shows that commercial fishing off of the West Coast is more dangerous than fishing in Alaskan waters.
• Idaho potato growers are hoping for a resurgence of their product, as food prices continue to increase.
  

Around the Nation

• The FAA intentionally covered up errors by air traffic controllers.
• Words like Islamo-fascism and jihadists have now fallen out of favor with the Bush Administration.
• The first round of tax rebates from the economic stimulus package passed by Congress will be released next week.
  

Around the World

• China has agreed to meet with envoys of the Dalai Lama.
• Airline passengers in Europe will have facial recognition scans beginning this summer.
• Japan has increased inspections of U.S. beef after finding spinal columns, which have been designated high-risk materials for spreading mad cow disease, in a shipment from California.

This Day in History

• 1792 - The guillotine was first used for capital punishment in France. Ironically, La Marseillaise (the French National Anthem) was also composed on this day.
• 1898 - The United States declares war on Spain, in the aftermath of the explosion of the USS Maine in Havana harbor.
  
• Today is Arbor Day in the United States. Go plant a tree.