The Washington Post

• Despite stimulus finds, states cut more jobs
  Western Washington University in Bellingham is bracing for 400 layoffs of staff members and adjunct faculty. The college is the largest employer in its county. "There was all the talk at the time about how the stimulus package wasn't big enough, and that is true here," said faculty union president Bill Lyne. "It's barely letting us keep our noses above water."

• Architects: WWU waterfront should appeal to broad community
  A new waterfront campus for Western Washington University should feel like a part of the larger community.
  
  That was a key message Tuesday, May 12, from architects working to plan that campus, presenting their ideas at a forum in the university's Academic Instructional Center.
  
  "We want this to feel open but secure, different, but open to the community," Bellingham architect Dave Christensen said.
  

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• WWU professor's grad school work helps release innocent man convicted of 1993 murder
  Thaddeus "TJ" Jimenez swore he was playing Nintendo that day in 1993 when a neighborhood boy in Chicago was gunned down, but police didn't believe him. Neither did prosecutors, or judges, despite substantial evidence he didn't do it. But Western Washington University journalism professor Carolyn Nielsen did, and an article she wrote as a Northwestern University graduate student about Jimenez's plight is being heralded as part of the inspiration for his release from prison on May 1.
  

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• $375,000 awarded to WWU service program
  Western Washington University's Students in Service program will receive $375,000 in grants, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington. Students in Service is a part-time AmeriCorps program that encourages university students to enroll as part-time AmeriCorps members and join in community service.

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  WWU wins GNAC all-sports team title
  Western Washington University, which won GNAC titles in men's and women's soccer, men's basketball and men's golf, is the 2008-09 Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Sports Team Champion. It is the first all-sports title for the Vikings and athletic director Lynda Goodrich since 2004-05 when they won the fourth of four consecutive all-sports championships.

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• Viking men's basketball signs pair of prep standouts
  Two high school senior guards, Jarrell Banks from Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines and Richard Woodworth from Newport High School in Bellevue, have signed national letters of intent to play men's basketball at Western Washington University.
  

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• 17 WWU athletes named to GNAC Academic All-Star teams
  Four Western Washington University student-athletes were named for the third straight year, two for the second consecutive season and 17 in all to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track and Field Academic all-star team announced Thursday, May 7.

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• More sports this week: Two more WWU track records fall; Tomisch earns GNAC honor

Bellevue Reporter

• Sisters help mom battle brain cancer
  Each year, 220,000 Americans are diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Treatment options are limited and life expectancy is only one to two years.
  
  Still, Bellevue-resident Gina Weigum stays optimistic about her mother's health. Her mother, Teresa Lafreniere was diagnosed with Glioblistoma Multiforme, an aggressive type of brain cancer, in December 2007.
  
  Following her husband's death in a car accident, Lafreniere wanted to spend more time with her family. She retired after 42 years at Western Washington University as an Assistant to the Dean and moved into a home across the street from her daughter.

CNN

• Death Cab for Cutie moved by music
  Death Cab for Cutie, the Grammy-nominated indie band that shot to the top of the Billboard charts with its latest album, "Narrow Stairs," has come a long way since its basement-recording beginnings in Bellingham, Washington.
  
  Together for more than 10 years and formed while its members attended Western Washington University, the band has six studio albums behind them, their songs have graced popular TV and film soundtracks, and their sell-out tours have brought the musicians all over the globe. (this interview is also available on video on CNN.com; click here to view)

The Gourmet

• Q&A with David Kessler
  As FDA commissioner under presidents Bush and Clinton, Dr. David Kessler led the charge to regulate the tobacco industry; the landmark multibillion-dollar settlement between Big Tobacco and 46 states was largely a product of his efforts. Now he is taking on Big Food.
  
  "For the first set of research that I published with my colleagues Jeff Grimm at Western Washington University and Diane [Figlewicz] Latteman at the University of Washington, we titled it 'Deconstructing the vanilla milkshake;' We wanted to know, what drives consumption? Is it sugar? Fat? Flavor? And we found that sugar is the main driver. And then fat adds synergistically: If you add fat on top of sugar, animals will work harder for it."