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Rounding up legislative bills, business taxes and stolen trees

caption: Monica Nickelsburg, Bill Radke, Jonathan Martin and Melissa Santos
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Monica Nickelsburg, Bill Radke, Jonathan Martin and Melissa Santos
kuow photo/sarah leibovitz

Bill Radke reviews the week's news with GeekWire's civic editor Monica Nickelsburg, Crosscut staff reporter Melissa Santos, and Seattle Times investigations editor Jonathan Martin.

This week, two Seattle area tech giants and President Trump are caught up in a war over war. Amazon is suing the U.S. government over giving a $10 billion pentagon cloud contract to Microsoft. They've requested President Trump, among other federal officials, be deposed.

How likely is that to happen? And tech companies aren't the only groups duking it out.

Two separate business taxes have been proposed in Washington state. One is making it's way through the state legislature, the other has just been announced by Seattle city councilmember Kshama Sawant. Which has a better chance of becoming law?

Also, we're holding a legislature round up! Each panelist has a few bills they've been keeping an eye on. They range from legalizing sports betting, to stronger data privacy, to banning natural hair discrimination. The question is, will any of them pass into law?

Additionally, two companies are having pretty bad weeks. Boeing reported their first annual loss in more than two decades. How big an impact could this have on the US economy? And McClatchy, America's second-largest newspaper chain, has declared bankruptcy. Is this a sign of the end of print journalism?

Finally, we get to end on some good news. Two bonsai trees that were stolen from the Pacific Bonsai Museum in Federal Way have been returned to their home. But why steal two bonsai if you're just going to return them the next day?

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