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• "Thanks to this vote by our employees, the future of Boeing in the Puget Sound region has never looked brighter," Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner said. "We're proud to say that together, we'll build the world's next great airplane -- the 777X and its new wing -- right here. This will put our workforce on the cutting edge of composite technology, while sustaining thousands of local jobs for years to come."
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• WASHINGTON (AP) -- An unusual alliance of tea party enthusiasts and liberal leaders in Congress is pursuing major changes in the country's mandatory sentencing laws amid growing concerns about both the fairness of the sentences and the expense of running federal prisons.
• The congressional push comes as President Barack Obama and his Cabinet draw attention to the issue of mandatory sentences, particularly for nonviolent drug offenders.
• Supporters say mandatory minimum sentences are outdated, arguing that they lump all offenders into one category and rob judges of the ability to use their own discretion. They also cite the high costs of the policies: The Justice Department spends some $6.4 billion, about a quarter of its budget, on prisons each year, and that number is growing steadily.
• "People are coming here for different reasons, but there is a real opportunity," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., one of the Senate's leading proponents of sentencing reform.
• The push is being led by the Senate, where Durbin has partnered with tea party stalwarts like Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, on legislation that would give judges more flexibility to determine prison sentences in many drug cases. At the same time, a right-left coalition is pressing for changes in the House.
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• OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Legal counsel for a California hospital and the family of a 13-year-old girl declared brain dead after sleep apnea surgery began discussing the possibility of moving her to another facility, after a judge laid out the conditions

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