Federal mine investigators say a Northwest miner died by electrocution because the company that employed him failed to have proper safety procedures in place. The tragedy happened at a gravel pit last September near Pullman, Wash. Most Northwest mine accidents happen above ground.

2012 was off to a good start, according to the Oregon Employment Department.
State economist, Nick Beleiciks, says more people are working in manufacturing, education, health services and the financial industry.

2012 was off to a good start, according to the Oregon Employment Department.
State economist, Nick Beleiciks, says more people are working in manufacturing, education, health services and the financial industry.

Nick Beleiciks: "The monthly job gains was really large. It's the largest we've seen in the last year. 54-hundred jobs in January. The last time we had a one month gain like that was last January. So that was a nice surprise."

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington lawmakers are hurtling toward a deadline to adjourn next Thursday. Majority Democrats still have to agree on a plan to re-balance the state budget. Tuesday, Senate Democrats unveiled a blueprint that includes a controversial move: paying a couple of bills a day late.

Something that only comes around once every four years and doesn't involve either politics or Olympic competition deserves its own mention:

Wednesday is Feb. 29.

Leap day, that is.

Our friend Linton Weeks has put together a handy list of 24 things you could do with the extra 24 hours. (And yes, we know that some of you have already started your day; but, hey, we're an East Coast-based blog.)

Americans who turn up in the emergency room to get dental care aren't lost, they're probably just running out of options.

According to a new report from the Pew Center on the States, more than 800,000 visits to the ER in 2009 were for toothaches and other avoidable dental ailments.

Virtually everyone expected Tuesday's big political news to come blowing out of Michigan, the big industrial state, where Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum were vying to win that state's GOP presidential primary.

But little Maine managed a national political bombshell of its own with the surprising news that Sen. Olympia Snowe, the 65-year old, three-term moderate Republican senator, won't seek re-election.

From a statement she issued, it appears Washington's partisan bickering just got kind of old for the senator.

Another Tuesday, another critical day for the 2012 Republican presidential contenders.

This time the locations are Michigan, where most polls close at 8 p.m. ET, and Arizona, where voting ends at 9 p.m. ET. The story political junkies are watching closest: Will former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a Michigan native, hold off a strong challenge there from former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum?

Also on the ballots, of course: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas.

When he returned from Afghanistan and saw his partner waiting to welcome him home, "four years of pent-up emotion and secret love" just seemed to naturally lead to "what felt like an eternity kiss," Marine Sgt. Brandon Morgan told NPR this afternoon.