1. "LEAN Management" is all the rage these days, as Jay Inslee and Gov. Chris Gregoire can tell you. Wondering what this new-fangled craze is all about? The Vancouver Columbian explains it all for you.

2. The Seattle Times' "Truth Needle" says claims by Democratic 1st District Congressional candidate Suzan DelBene that her Republican opponent John Koster has taken radical positions on women's right to choose that could ban some forms of birth control "mostly false."

We think the Times' assessment is mostly false. Koster has supported an amendment to the US Constitution that would ban the destruction of a fertilized egg "from the moment of conception."

We think, however, the Times' assessment is mostly false.

DelBene's statement is patently true: Koster has supported an amendment to the US Constitution that would ban the destruction of a fertilized egg "from the moment of conception."

An amendment of that magnitude would require the government to ban both IUDs (which can prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg) and Plan B, emergency contraception, which can have the same effect. Just because Koster now says he doens't believe in banning birth control doesn't mean his policies wouldn't have precisely that effect.  

3. Attorneys hired by the Port of Seattle have concluded that Port of Seattle CEO Tay Yoshitani's lucrative position on the board of freight logistics company Expeditors International does not present a conflict of interest with his position as head of the Port, the Seattle Times reports. Between the two positions, Yoshitani makes around $600,000 a year. 

4. The Tacoma News Tribune reports on Eatonville Democratic state senate candidate Bruce Lachney's ads claiming that incumbent state Sen. Randi Becker (R-Eatonville)—whom Lachney is challenging—"let down" students by proposing a four-day school week.

The reality, the TNT says, is a little more nuanced: While Becker did sponsor a bill that would give school districts the ability to pedition the state school board for more flexibility, including four-day school weeks, the bill would have slightly expanded an earlier bill giving the option to petition for four-day weeks from five school districts to 25.