Gov. Chris Gregoire has approved a tax break for the state’s newspaper industry, The Associated Press reports.

The new law gives newspaper publishers a 40 percent cut in the state’s main business tax. The discounted rate mirrors breaks given in years past to The Boeing Co. and the timber industry.

Newspapers across the country have resorted to layoffs and other cost-cutting moves to deal with a wounded business model and a recession-fueled drop in advertising.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its final edition earlier this year and was converted to an Internet-only publication with a much-reduced staff.

To celebrate Arbor Day, Earth Day and Parks Appreciation Day, the Sumner Forestry Commission is inviting the public to help plant 28 trees Saturday at the Sumner Cemetery.

The sycamores and blue ash are already in their holes but help is needed to fill the holes and stake them. Bring gloves but tools will be provided.

The cemetery is located at 12324 Valley Ave. E.

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Six inches of spring snow shut down Northwest Trek Wildlife Park in Eatonville Sunday.

The park is expected to reopen Monday, said spokeswoman Sheelah Medved.

The snow that accumulated by Sunday morning prevented the operation of trams at the park, resulting in the closure, Medved said.

• We're looking at the local impact of the Alaskan volcano. For one thing, a number of Alaska Airlines flights have been canceled because of the present of an ash plume in the Anchorage area.

• If you're a Pierce Transit rider, you're going to be noticing some improvements soon. Pierce Transit is installing a $35 million communications system that will give passengers much more information.

• With a budget shortfall of as much as $15 million to deal with, Puyallup School District officials are considering some radical measures to help close the gap.

• Massive concrete noise barriers could make life a little more liveable along I-5 in Fife, but at what price to many of the businesses also located there?

• Local charities are bracing for heavy demand as they prepare Thanksgiving meals for the needy.

• Redlight cameras are coming to rural intersections around Pierce County, and the sheriff's department is wondering why it's not in line to receive the revenue.

• Remember that much-anticipated $3.2 billion state budget deficit? That one that was much discussed during the recent campaign for governor? Well, it's grown to $5.1 billion.

• The 81st Brigade Combat Team, composed largely of Guardsmen from Washington state, is back on duty in the Iraq war zone. But unlike its first deployment several years ago, the situation is relatively calm, almost as if peace might break out.

• Soldiers with memory problems stemming from traumatic brain injuries have a new resource at Madigan Army Medical Center.

• It was a difficult, dangerous process, but dive teams managed to recover a car from the Green River Tuesday and found the body of a missing toddler inside. Another child, 13, remains missing after the car plunged into the river last week.

• The City of Tacoma plans to break into its piggy bank to deal with its budget problems during the next two years.

• It could be weeks, if not months, before investigators announce what they think caused a fire that killed three sisters in a Graham home.

• Bernadette Vohs is the Graham dog breeder whose cost the county more than $100,000 in boarding fees after animal control confiscated her dogs during a criminal investigation last year. She pleaded guilty in that case in a deal that allowed her to escape jail time if she stayed out of trouble and stayed out of the dog-selling business. Well, apparently she's done neither..

• A Fort Lewis Stryker brigade soldier received the Distinguished Service Cross Thursday for extraordinary bravery in combat in Iraq. The medal is the nation's second-highest decoration for gallantry.

• Investigators know how Vong Lam died – from a gunshot wound. What they don't know is who killed him and why. Lam's body was found in a remote area of Fort Lewis last week.

• More details are emerging about the fire that killed three young sisters in their father's Graham-area home early Sunday.

• A Fort Lewis Stryker brigade soldiers will receive the Distinguished Service Cross in a ceremony this week. The medal is the nation's second-highest decoration for gallantry.

• The parents of a Muslim Fort Lewis soldier were shocked, then pleased, when former Secretary of State Colin Powell mentioned their son's sacrifice Sunday during a television appearance.

• There's no evidence of arson in the fire that killed three young sisters in Graham over the weekend, but the cause of the blaze still eludes investigators.

• The state is thinking about borrowing from proceeds due from its lawsuit against the tobacco industry as a source of cash to balance an anticipated $3.2 billion budget shortfall.