Bloglander

Massive earthquake hits Japan, sends out shockwaves — An 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck the northeast coast of Japan early this morning, causing a tsunami and destruction on the mainland. Waves from the tsunami have begun to reach the the west coast of the U.S. and people are starting to be evacuated from Washington, Oregon and California. (BBC)

MLK bomb-finders identified — The three men who reported the bomb to police during the MLK Day parade have been identified and claim that they were fired after the incident. The men, Mark Steiner, Brandon Klaus and Sherman Welpton, claim to have been disciplined for their actions, but a Labor Ready manager denied their claims. (SR) 

Tuition hikes — Students at the University of Idaho, in and out of state, might be paying more next year. University officials proposed an 8.4 percent increase for in-staters, eight percent for out-of-state, and 15 percent for grad students. (KXLY)

Wisconsin labor unions defeated — After a month of protests, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed his budget repair bill into law Friday morning, stripping many public employees (excluding policeman and firefights) of collective bargaining rights (AP)