In the Media

Word spread Monday, May 16, that not only was Lynden's Tim Feenstra a co-leader at the 85th Washington Open Invitational, he shared the top of the leaderboard with PGA Tour professional Andres Gonzales.

So, the news prompted some of his family members, including his parents, to make the drive down to watch Feenstra play.

And they all carried scorecards - marking down every stroke of Feenstra's record-tying record.

On Saturday, May 21, members of Bellingham Senior Activity Center will join students from Western Washington University to debate proposed changes to Medicare and Social Security.

The debate will be at the center, 315 Halleck St., from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and is being held as part of Older Americans Month.

Top officials in Washington state started preparing Monday for a potential government shutdown in July as lawmakers stalled in their bid to reach a budget compromise.

Gov. Chris Gregoire said she has started holding talks with cabinet and financial management leaders about what would happen if there's no spending plan by the time a new budget cycle begins in July. She's seen little progress in budget negotiations in the Legislature and can't recall a time that things have been so bogged down.

It’s do-or-die week in the Washington Legislature. A budget deal will have to come together over the next several days if lawmakers are to finish business within the 30-day special session.

House and Senate budget writers say they're making good progress toward a final agreement. Differences still remain on some spending levels.

In a study of “inattention blindness,’’ researchers at Western Washington University found that only 25 percent of people talking on a cellphone noticed a researcher cycling by — even though he was dressed as a clown, with a purple suit and a red nose, and riding a unicycle.

Two free seminars that begin this week aim to take the mystery out of estate planning.

The seminars are open to the public. They run 4:30 to 6:45 p.m. on two Tuesdays, May 17 and 24, at the Squalicum Boathouse, 2600 Harbor Loop.

The seminars will provide an overview of how to best address estate planning goals, as well as the tax benefits and consequences of specific estate planning methods.

Western Washington University, Bellingham Technical College, Whatcom Community College and the Northwest Washington Estate Planning Council are hosting the seminars.

Western Washington University head volleyball coach Diane Flick was named to USA Volleyball's Puget Sound Region's inaugural Hall of Fame class.

Flick has directed Western's volleyball team the past 12 seasons and is the co-founder of Washington Volleyball Academy.

When Michael Young took over as president, the University of Utah was a bit player at parlaying inventions into products.

As he departs for the top job at the University of Washington, Young's old school is a star.

A recent national survey ranked Utah tops in the nation at spinning off new businesses, ahead of such perennial powerhouses as MIT and Stanford University. Officials from scores of other universities and a few nations have flocked to Salt Lake City for pointers on harnessing scientific discovery as an economic driver.

One thing's clear about the state's prepaid college-tuition program: Anyone who bought in before this year's deadline likely got a heck of a deal.

The state Legislature last week passed a law giving the state's five public universities and The Evergreen State College permission to set their own undergraduate tuition for the next four years. The governor has said she'll sign the measure.

For all the money, time, and effort it takes to earn a bachelor's degree, people often wonder: Is the investment worth it?

The answer for the student is a clear "yes" when it comes to the advantage in lifetime earnings, according to a new study released today by the American Institutes for Research, a not-for-profit behavioral and social-science research organization in Washington, and Nexus Research and Policy Center, a non-profit institution based in San Francisco that promotes access to higher education and policies to improve proprietary schools.