I have sometimes toyed with the idea of a minimalist news site, one that only tells you the news that you really need to know, and only updates you when there is actual new news. But since most people I know are habitual news trawlers, I don’t think it would be for anyone but me, and since I would have to do significant news checking to make the site, it would mean I was reading more news than my minimum daily allowance. Instead of that, here are a few sites that allow you to skip a lot of cruft if you wish to.

Regional Public Information Network
All of the Puget Sound area government organizations that tell you when some urgent event needs your attention, all in one place.

Newseum’s Front Pages
The Newseum collects just the front page from papers arount the world, a quick way to see what the top one or two stories are in any given area, with the nice option of visually averaging out how important a story is globally. Takes some poking around to get the region you want.

Wikipedia Main Page
Wikipedia gives you links to articles related to what’s in the news, an assortment of randomly selected information, today’s holidays and anniversaries and links to a more exhaustive list of same.