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TOP STORIES

Top

National

Life quickly gets a lot harder for White House
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-21-showdown-analysis_N.htm
Less than 100 days into the new Congress, Capitol Hill's Democratic leaders have set in motion two constitutional confrontations with a White House unaccustomed to such challenges. A House Judiciary subcommittee authorized subpoenas Wednesday to force several of President Bush's closest aides to testify about the firings of federal prosecutors. The Senate Judiciary Committee will follow suit today, said that panel's chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The Senate and House have held a series of debates and votes on opposing Bush's plans to increase U.S. troop levels in Iraq. Another may come before week's end: House leaders are trying to pass a bill that ties continued funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to a September 2008 deadline for troop withdrawal. Bush is threatening a veto. Both moves raise constitutional questions about the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government and underscore how much the atmosphere in the nation's capital has changed since voters gave Democrats control of Congress.
RELATED: Bush’s Big-Picture Battle: Presidential Prerogatives
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/washington/22bush.html

More FBI scandal news in NATIONAL/GOVERNMENT

In Iraq, Fear Takes a Holiday
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102584.html
In relative terms, recent weeks in Baghdad have been quiet -- execution-style killings are down and nearly a month has passed since the last massive bombing, an explosion at a university that killed nearly 50 people. And so Zawra Park filled on Wednesday with residents picnicking on the patchy grass, and allowing themselves a bit of optimism. "I hope that this spring holiday will be accompanied by a spring security," said Ali Jasim, 40, a government employee who brought his children to the park from their home in Sadr City. "And I hope that Iraq will go back as it was." But the optimism of many parkgoers was wary.
RELATED: Holiday brings life back to park
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-holiday22mar22,1,2856283.story?coll=la-headlines-world

More Iraq war news in NATIONAL/GOVERNMENT, NATIONAL/FOREIGN POLICY, NATIONAL/MILITARY, COLORADO/GOVERNMENT

Prosecutor Says Bush Appointees Interfered With Tobacco Case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102713.html
The leader of the Justice Department team that prosecuted a landmark lawsuit against tobacco companies said yesterday that Bush administration political appointees repeatedly ordered her to take steps that weakened the government's racketeering case. Sharon Y. Eubanks said Bush loyalists in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's office began micromanaging the team's strategy in the final weeks of the 2005 trial, to the detriment of the government's claim that the industry had conspired to lie to U.S. smokers. She said a supervisor demanded that she and her trial team drop recommendations that tobacco executives be removed from their corporate positions as a possible penalty. He and two others instructed her to tell key witnesses to change their testimony. And they ordered Eubanks to read verbatim a closing argument they had rewritten for her, she said. "The political people were pushing the buttons and ordering us to say what we said," Eubanks said. "And because of that, we failed to zealously represent the interests of the American public."

Gore Challenges Congress on Climate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032100709.html
Environmental activist (and former vice president) Al Gore descended on Capitol Hill yesterday, telling two congressional panels that global climate change represents the most dangerous crisis in American history and that the measures needed to fix the problem -- such as an immediate freeze on new emissions from cars and power plants -- are far more drastic than anything currently on the table. Gore, whose documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" won an Academy Award last month, testified before both House and Senate committees in an appearance that drew international media attention and lines of would-be spectators trailing through congressional hallways.
RELATED: Gore turns up heat on Congress
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220135mar22,1,2904221.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
RELATED: Returning as the 'Goracle'
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gore22mar22,1,5302998.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Top

Colorado

McInnis not up for 2008 Senate run
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491117
Republican Scott McInnis dropped out of the 2008 U.S. Senate race Wednesday, leaving Republicans scrambling for a worthy challenger to Democrat Mark Udall in what is billed as the race for the only open Senate seat in the country. But the Colorado GOP isn't what it used to be. The bench is shallow, money is scarce, and even party regulars say the battles between conservatives and moderates show no sign of abating. To make matters worse, the party is suffering waning support nationally from a public tired of war and government scandals. That's not to say there aren't any decent candidates eyeing the seat that Sen. Wayne Allard will vacate - just not any mega-candidates like former Gov. Bill Owens, who has repeatedly said he isn't interested. "There is definitely an adjustment period going on," said Republican strategist Sean Tonner, president of Phaseline Strategies in Denver. "Our bench will be strong in another two years, but there is a slight gap right now. And there's a big gap on the funding side, and that makes it difficult to find viable candidates." Newly elected state GOP head Dick Wadhams, who was drafted to get the party back on track, said he isn't concerned about the party's chances in November 2008.
RELATED: McInnis out of running
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_5434715,00.html
RELATED: Former Rep. McInnis won't enter Senate race
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/mar/22/former-rep-mcinnis-wont-enter-senate-race/
RELATED: Schaffer eyed for 2008 Senate seat
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070322/NEWS01/703220350/1002
RELATED: McInnis out of Senate race; field wide open
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/22/3_22_1a_McInnis.html
RELATED: McInnis won't run for Senate
http://postindependent.com/article/20070322/VALLEYNEWS/103220038

Ethics law gets a do-over
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491116
The Capitol clash over Colorado's new ethics law ended Wednesday when Senate and House leaders agreed to set up an ethics panel and send the measure back to voters in 2008. The compromise came just hours after a coalition pushing the legislature to clarify Amendment 41 threatened to put a rewrite on the 2007 ballot that would have included a tax on professional lobbyists. And it came one day after the debut of a radio ad attacking Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald for putting up a "roadblock" against a House bill that sought to clarify the ethics law. Coloradans for Sensible Ethics was "pulling the ads off the air as soon as possible" after the compromise, spokesman Eric Sondermann said. The group also backed off plans to seek a 2007 vote. House and Senate leaders announced their compromise at an impromptu evening news conference attended by Republicans and Democrats. They vowed to pass Senate Bill 210, which sets up a five-member ethics panel that would hear alleged violations of Amendment 41. The legislature will ask the Colorado Supreme Court for guidance to help the ethics panel determine the gift ban's scope - including whether it affects inheritances, scholarships and gifts for rank-and-file government workers.
RELATED: Truce is reached to clarify ethics law
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5434228,00.html
RELATED: Ad takes aim at Senate president
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5434131,00.html
RELATED: Lawmakers address amendment on ethics
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20438&template=article.html

Property-tax freeze called "too hot" to pass
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491303
Top statehouse Democrats said Wednesday that it's unlikely Gov. Bill Ritter's plan to freeze property-tax rates to boost money for Colorado schools will pass this year. Sen. Abel Tapia, chairman of the Joint Budget Committee, said holding property rates steady is "too hot" politically for some of his fellow Democrats, while Republicans are calling the effort a tax increase. Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald said the governor's office focused on policy over politics in presenting the proposal - possibly imperiling the effort. "If you're going to do it, there is an education campaign that is huge," Fitz-Gerald said. No such effort was made, so now the proposal is facing trouble, she said.
RELATED: Ritter's property tax proposal in trouble
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5434700,00.html
RELATED: Dems weigh school taxes
http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070322_2.htm
RELATED: Attorney signs off on Ritter’s education fund plan
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20440&template=article.html

Letting parolees vote gets OK (Under the dome, 3/22)
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491305
After two hours of debate on constitutional law, the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday endorsed a proposal to let felons on parole vote. The provision was added to a broader election code cleanup earlier this month on the Senate floor. After opponents - including Republicans Attorney General John Suthers and Secretary of State Mike Coffman - raised questions about the constitutionality of such a provision, the bill was sent back to committee. On straight party-line vote of 4-3, the panel sent the bill back to the full Senate unchanged. A representative of Suthers' office, Solicitor General Dan Dominico, told lawmakers they don't have authority to give parolees voting rights. "This (parolee voting) portion redefines by legislation a constitutional phrase, and the legislature does not have that authority," he said. "Full rights of parolees return only when a full sentence is completed or after a pardon by the governor."
RELATED: Dems back parolee voting rights bill amid criticism
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/22/3_22_3b_Parolee_voting.html

COLORADO NEWS

Top

Election

Comment period opens for delegate selection to DNC
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491277
For those hoping to be a part of the action when the Democratic National Convention comes to town, the state Democratic Party has a plan - a draft plan at least. For the next 30 days the party will take public comment on how to select delegates for the convention. Anyone can review the 34-page selection plan at the party office and submit comments on the draft. As it stands, the state will send 71 delegates and nine alternates. The delegates and alternates will be selected through a caucus.

Group says no more fliers listing Colton's affiliation
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070322/NEWS01/703220344/1002
A local political committee that wrongly identified Glen Colton as a Green Party member on campaign fliers won't mail more claiming the affiliation. "We're going to double-check our sources and make sure any future mailers are exactly right on this issue," said Andrew Boucher, who's working on The Fort Collins Future Committee. The committee, headed by former Mayor Ray Martinez, paid for thousands of mailers that hit voters in City Council District 2 and District 4 this week. Two rounds of the fliers touted Wade Troxell, Colton's opponent in District 4, and District 2 candidate Matt Fries as the only Republicans in their races.

New ad supports council incumbents
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20443&template=article.html
Local heavyweights came out swinging Wednesday after a development family failed to cancel radio and television ads attacking two councilmen seeking re-election in the Colorado Springs city election. Four influential groups ran a $2,100 full-page ad in Wednesday’s Gazette. That “message from the business community” called Morley Family Development’s ads targeting Vice Mayor Larry Small and Councilman Randy Purvis “an abhorrent campaign” against “two of this community’s finest leaders.” The Morley spots accused Small and Purvis of voting to impose a tax for rainfall, a reference to the council’s adoption of a storm-water management fee last year without a vote of the people, among other things.

Candidates to address voters
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/25829
Candidates vying for Craig City Council seats will have a chance to jockey for Election Day position during a forum set for a week before the April 3 election.

Top

Effective and Ethical Government

Blizzard aid linked to Iraq war plan in defense bill
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1174569883/6
Whatever help Eastern Plains ranchers and farmers hope to get from the federal government to pay for blizzard losses this winter could well ride on whether House Democrats can get the votes this week for a $124 billion supplemental defense bill that includes a timetable for getting U.S. troops out of Iraq. While Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., has not committed to support the war plan, he has lobbied House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to include $4.3 billion in disaster aid in the legislation, money that would pay for USDA assistance programs to farmers and ranchers hurt by blizzards and drought conditions across the West. That is just one sweetener that the Democratic leadership has put in the legislation, which totaled $100 billion just two weeks ago. For example, along with the disaster aid, $3 billion has been added to help repair the Gulf Coast from damage by Hurricane Katrina. According to press reports, the bill also includes $500 million for wildfire prevention programs, $75 million in storage programs for peanut farmers and $25 million to help spinach growers with losses caused by the discovery of E. coli in some spinach brands.

Democrats flinch at eliminating tax cuts
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1174569883/10
House and Senate Democrats have criticized the Bush administration's program of tax cuts for years, especially in the face of the growing cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has topped $500 billion. This week, Democrats in both chambers are in control of the 2008 federal budget, but they are struggling over whether to let those tax cuts expire in the future - and run the risk of being blamed for raising taxes. Wednesday afternoon, the Senate voted 97-1 for an amendment to extend a number of the tax cuts beyond 2010. Only Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., voted against the measure. Anyone looking for the reason only had to listen to Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and a member of the Senate Budget Committee, who wasted no time this week in attacking the budget plan when Democrats passed it out of committee on a straight party-line vote.

Flat revenue projections limit JBC spending
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1174569883/1
The flat state revenue projections released earlier this week left the Joint Budget Committee with little choice Wednesday but to limit how much money it could spend on capital construction projects. As a result, at least two Southern Colorado projects won't see funding this year, but the planned expansion of the state penitentiary in Canon City will. "I'm happy with the budget," said Sen. Abel Tapia, D-Pueblo and JBC chairman. "We put a lot of really good things in the budget. We did a lot of prevention. We did a lot of the governor's package on recidivism, and up-front programs to keep people out of prison." Under changes the six-member JBC approved, the Legislature will only be able to afford the $36.9 million for the Colorado State Penitentiary II construction and the first 17 projects on the priority list created by the Capital Development Committee earlier this month. That means Pueblo Community College won't get the $2.7 million it asked for to renovate its learning center, though the school will receive the $130,620 it needs for roof and heating system repairs in its science annex.

Panel backs bill to monitor contracts for computer projects
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5434157,00.html
A Senate committee Wednesday backed a measure aimed at stepping up oversight of multimillion-dollar contracts for large-scale computer projects and state purchases. A similar bill was vetoed last year by Republican Gov. Bill Owens. Sen. Peter Groff, D-Denver, revived his bill after highway workers complained a new $39 million system at the Colorado Department of Transportation short- changed them overtime. "I think this bill will reduce waste and create transparency and create much-needed accountability in tracking these large projects," Groff said. Senate Bill 228 passed on a party-line vote. Democrats favored it; Republicans opposed it.

Romanoff bites back (On the side, 3/22)
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491306
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, took on the role of media critic in this week's installment of "Rep. Romanoff Reporting," his weekly newsletter to supporters. Lamenting that reporters didn't write about his news conference to detail accomplishments from the first half of the legislative session while they did publicize a similar event where the GOP pledged to quit playing nice, the speaker offered up a new axiom. "It may be time to update the old saw about what makes news. Forget 'man bites dog'; it's now 'elephant bites donkey."' Ouch.
RELATED: Roll Call, March 22
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5434156,00.html

Windsor names finalists for town manager
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103200113
The Windsor Town Board on Tuesday announced five candidates for the position vacated by Rod Wensing. Wensing left the position Dec. 31 to take an assistant city manager's job in Loveland.
RELATED: Town manager candidate hopes to keep rural lifestyle feel in Windsor
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103210102

Top

Civil Liberties and Equality

Aggravating subject
http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2007/03/21/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt
The recent local coverage of a perceived slew of assaults that have occurred in Boulder's downtown and University Hill districts this year has had some wondering what all the fuss is about. According to Julie Brooks, the public information officer with the Boulder Police Department, the number of assaults that have occurred this year is up “slightly” from 2006. “I don't necessarily see an increase in the number of assaults, [but] I say that anecdotally,” Brooks said. “Even back into last year, [the number of] assaults is up only slightly from (2005). It really isn't that much.”

ACLU wants stronger rules
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15310
The Boulder County chapter of the ACLU sent a letter to Longmont Public Library director Tony Brewer and city attorneys Tuesday asking for clearer policies and increased staff training. The letter said the library broke its own rules in February by allowing an immigration group hosting a meeting there to deny entrance to a man who hadn’t reserved a seat in advance.

Top

Immigration

Local action group to hold public meeting on immigration bill tonight
http://postindependent.com/article/20070322/VALLEYNEWS/103220036
A local community action group in the Roaring Fork Valley will host a public meeting tonight to drum up support for a bill that would allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition for college. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Glenwood Springs Community Center. The need to support the Dream Act - Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors - came up in a series of "listening" sessions in Glenwood Springs, Rifle, Basalt and Carbondale held by local college students who are also members of Congregations and Schools Empowered (CASE), said Mateos Alvarez, CASE coordinator in Glenwood Springs. "This is not amnesty. They're asking to be productive (students) and to earn their way through college."

Immigrants flocking to metro area
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5435105,00.html
One came to learn English, the other to earn better pay. Both have made Colorado their home. Sara Long, who was born in Quito, Ecuador, and Araceli Horan, of Durango, Mexico, illustrate a significant trend in a U.S. Census Bureau report released today. According to the agency, counties in the Denver metropolitan region gained the largest number of immigrants from 2000 to 2006, helping offset sizable departures from those same counties.Cause and effect? Larry Kallenberger, executive director of Colorado Counties Inc., doesn't think so.

Somali refugees study way of the law
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5434714,00.html
In his native country, halfway around the globe, Rusulo Rusulo learned at an early age that police were to be feared. "If you see the police, you zip your mouth," said the 26-year-old Somali-Bantu refugee. "You don't talk." Through his participation in the Denver Police Citizens' Academy, he's come to believe that interaction with U.S. police officers is quite different. Tonight, Rusulo and 10 fellow Somali-Bantu refugees will graduate from the three-month academy, with their awards presented by Manager of Safety Al LaCabe and Police Chief Gerry Whitman. The 11 Somalis were chosen by elders from the Somali-Bantu Community Development Council with the idea that they, in turn, could help their families and friends adjust to U.S. life.

Top

Marriage and Family Issues

Mom was married to other teen
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/mar/22/mom-was-married-to-other-teen/
Irene Marie Gomez married Benito Chavez-Perez in Boulder on July 7, 2000, when he was 18 and she was 31, according to court records. They separated less than a month later, on Aug. 1, 2000, and they divorced in March 2006. Gomez, now 38, is expected to make her first appearance in court Friday at the Boulder County Jail on possible charges of felony sexual assault on a child and misdemeanor sexual assault. Police discovered that the father of her 4-year-old son was 13 when the child was conceived, and their 1-year-old daughter was conceived when the father was 16, according to a warrant for her arrest. Gomez told police last fall that the father of her children, who is now 18, grabbed and pushed her. Officers taking down birth dates to complete a report discovered the age discrepancy and asked her to explain.

Top

Health Care and Public Safety

Kids’ health bill faces tough time
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20415&template=article.html
Despite being one of the priciest bills of the session, a proposal to offer health insurance to about 180,000 Colorado children who lack coverage got bipartisan support Wednesday in a Senate committee. Senate Bill 211 would raise the income limits for kids to receive coverage under the Medicaid and Children’s Basic Health Plan programs. It also would fund a team of state workers to find families eligible for those government-assistance programs and enroll them, and it creates a committee to determine how to reach all uninsured children. The proposal by Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, carries a $13.2 million price tag for next year and a $61.5 million bill for the 2008-09 fiscal year, however. Gov. Bill Ritter and legislative leaders have warned lawmakers to think twice about moving bills with big price tags, making it likely the proposal faces a rougher road when it heads next to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Massey going after insurance ‘rate branding’
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Top-Story.asp?ID=6463
A local state lawmaker is introducing legislation that he hopes would limit the influence health insurance companies have on premium costs for small business employees. State Rep. Tom Massey (R-Poncha Springs) is co-sponsoring a House bill with State Rep. Anne McGihon (D-Denver) tailored at curbing the current system of insurance “rate branding,” a method companies uses to determine insurance premium rates for small businesses. “When someone has a preexisting health issue, they (insurance companies) raise the rates for everybody,” said Massey. “This helps to prevent insurance companies from increasing that burden just because of an individual employee’s health issues.” McGihon states that leeway given to insurance companies regarding rates has created an unfair system for small businesses employees to work with.

Senator to kill bill altering auto policies
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5434158,00.html
A state senator whose auto insurance reform bill faced strong opposition from the industry said she will kill the legislation and introduce a revamped measure later this session. Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, said insurance officials had exaggerated the increased costs of Senate Bill 193, but she said she will scuttle the legislation and reintroduce a bill that will fix technical language problems while lowering the amount of medical coverage required by the measure. The insurance industry had warned that Tochtrop's bill mandating $50,000 in extra medical insurance coverage for motorists would tack on another $200 a year for a car policy. Tochtrop said the measure is necessary because hospitals and ambulance companies are having to eat millions of dollars in unpaid bills for uninsured motorists.

Under bill, drunk drivers would have to take alcohol test
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103210101
Drivers who aren't able to receive the alcohol test of their choice will have to take a test anyway, under a Greeley lawmaker's bill that passed a House committee Wednesday. State Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, wants a change to the state's expressed consent law, which allows drivers to choose whether they want a blood test or a breath test to determine whether they are under the influence of alcohol. Currently, if a driver wants a certain test but it's unavailable, all law enforcement can do is give them a ticket for failure to comply with an alcohol test. But Riesberg's law would allow the law enforcement officer to require the driver to take an alternate test if extraordinary circumstances require it.

Comment on health care in Colorado
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103210106
The Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform is holding a community meeting Saturday to gather public input. Commissioners Dr. Mark Wallace and Grant Jones are hosting the meeting. The commission was created in 2006 by the Colorado General Assembly to recommend health care reform that increases coverage and decreases costs for residents. The commission must make final recommendations by Nov. 30.

New drug court aims to ease crowding
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5490742
Denver officials today will tout a new version of drug court with hopes of unclogging the city's jails and getting treatment to addicts. The new program, expected to cost $1.2 million annually, will speed up the sentencing of drug defendants, which currently can take up to six weeks, said Larry Naves, the chief judge of Denver's district court. Details will be announced at a news conference today. Naves said that under the new program, which started March 9, sentencing for those defendants could take place within three to five days.

Weld jail gets federal grant to fund diversion program
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103210097
The $361,500 grant must be partially matched by Weld County. Its part amounts to 25 percent, or $90,375. The money will be given to the program each year for the next three years. The diversion project will identify mentally-handicapped inmates or those struggling with substance abuse and divert them into care that will help them overcome their illnesses.

St. Patrick's DUI arrests total 355
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5434129,00.html
In all, 355 DUI arrests were made over the St. Patrick's Day weekend by the Colorado State Patrol and 58 police and sheriff's departments in the state. The arrests came during the enforcement period that began at 6 p.m. Friday and ended at 3 a.m. Monday.

Farm aid for the disabled
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5492137
After a bleak winter, new shoots of wheat and alfalfa are greening up nicely on the 250 acres that Manzanola farmer Bert Nesselhuf, 64, maintains from his wheelchair. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about 14 years ago, Nesselhuf gradually lost his ability to independently tend the land his father once owned. Then in 2004, he heard from representatives of AgrAbility, a program that brings technological innovations designed to help farmers with disabilities. Today, Nesselhuf manages his farm from the wheelchair that rides inside a modified utility vehicle that can climb through sand, mud and dirt. "This'll take me anywhere I want to go," said Nesselhuf, perched on the wheelchair as he steered his Kawasaki Mule through the first weeks of its second season of work. "With the Mule, I can see whether the hay's ready to cut, water, fertilize, whether it needs a pesticide." The federal Farm Bill of 1990 funds AgrAbility, which is administered by the Colorado State University extension service, Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and Easter Seals Colorado. Such a mouthful of government administrators initially made the Nesselhufs wary.

2nd med school breaking ground
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491262
Construction on Colorado s second medical school - Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine - is set to begin this week. The school to be built in Parker is scheduled to start its first class of 150 students in the fall of 2008, administrators say. We re very excited, said Dr. Ronnie B. Martin, dean of the college. Martin said the $120 million school, which has been in the planning stages for nearly two years, is being funded by a donation from a private foundation headed by Yife Tien.

Well done
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/25830
The popularity and effectiveness of Moffat County's Wellness Wednesday program has increased dramatically in its brief, three-month history, senior outreach coordinator Cathy Vanatta said.

Bill would clear up rules for veterinary practices
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103210103
State veterinary laws are unclear on whether those sorts of things are allowed, and a cowboy lawmaker from way down south wants to clear it up. "The law says you can't change (an animal's) physical or mental state without vet supervision," said state Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh. "But training a horse is changing its mental state."

Some link pet deaths to food
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5434208,00.html
Pet owners across Colorado are reporting that the pet food at the center of an unprecedented international recall has killed 25 dogs and cats in the state so far and sickened at least 60 other pets. Almost all of those reports, however, have come from pet owners rather than veterinarians. And officials with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Denver - who compiled the numbers - have not yet confirmed if any of the deaths or illnesses reported to them were caused by the food.

Top

Crime and Penal Reform

Actor's dad dies in prison
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491325
Actor Woody Harrelson's father, Charles Harrelson, died in his cell at the nation's highest-security "Supermax" prison in Florence where he was confined for life after the murder of a federal judge, officials said Wednesday. Guards found Harrelson unresponsive March 15, prison spokesman Isidro Garcia said. Coroner Dorothy Twellman said he died in his sleep of a heart attack. Harrelson, 69, went to prisons after his conviction for murdering Judge John Wood in San Antonio in May 1979. Harrelson denied he did it. Prosecutors said drug dealers hired him for $250,000 so they could avoid facing "Maximum John." "He always said, 'Why would I do that when I could make $1 million in a week conning somebody?"' said Denver attorney Bob Tiernan, who visited Harrelson regularly.
RELATED: Father of 'Cheers' actor found dead in cell
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5434638,00.html

Judge bill moves to Senate floor
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Top-Story.asp?ID=6464
A bill that would allow for an additional district court judge has passed a legislative hurdle and will soon go to the Senate floor for consideration. HB 1054, which was recently passed in the House, was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Tuesday by a 5-3 vote. The bill originally called for an increase of 63 new court of appeals, district and county court judges, with support staff, across the state. However, that number was cut to 43 following an amendment to the bill prior to Tuesday’s vote. The increase in judges will occur over a four-year period. The Eleventh Judicial District, which includes Fremont, Chaffee, Park and Custer counties, still is slated to receive a new judge in spite of the amended bill.

Private money, public doubts
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5490724
A plan to partially fund a gang task force in the Denver district attorney's office with private donations was met with skepticism Wednesday from City Council members who worried about "selective prosecution." The concern came as the city's Finance Committee met to discuss spending about $225,000 this year for a four-person team focusing on gangs. As part of the deal, Mayor John Hickenlooper and District Attorney Mitch Morrissey have negotiated for a private source to donate as much as $150,000 of the $425,000 needed over the next 18 months. The mayor's administration has refused to name the source. Council members said they worried about the possible conflict of interest where the district attorney's office would have to prosecute someone that has given them money, or worse, that a prosecutor would decide not to pursue a case against a donor.
RELATED: Private prosecution funds face hard road
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5434072,00.html

Criminal cases up, arrests dip in GarCo
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/22/3_22_3b_GarCo_crime_stats.html
Slightly more criminal cases were investigated by the Garfield County Sheriff’s Department last year, but fewer arrests were made, according to Sheriff Lou Vallario. Sheriff’s deputies and investigators handled 3,734 cases last year, 2 percent more than in 2005, Vallario noted in his year-end report. However, arrests dropped by 4 percent, from 1,519 in 2005 to 1,467 last year. “Things like burglaries have a lower solvability than things like DUIs,” he said. “It’s not that we’re not doing as good a job with arrests. We just had a slight increase in some of those types of offenses but not as many arrests to keep pace.”
RELATED: County crime numbers close to those of '05
http://postindependent.com/article/20070322/VALLEYNEWS/103220035

Denver deputy groped, fondled her, teen testifies
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491278
A teenager told a Jefferson County jury Wednesday that a Denver sheriff's deputy groped and fondled her in his pickup when he gave her a ride to work.
RELATED: Girl, 15, testifies that deputy tried to fondle her in truck
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5434128,00.html

Lawyer pulls out of Wellman case
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491279
Before presiding over the trial of a man prosecutors call a sadistic torturer of women, a Denver judge had to rule Wednesday on allegations that one of the defendant's advisers is a psychic, and on an attorney's request to quit the case.
RELATED: Judge rules against delay in beating trial
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5435074,00.html

Top

Economy

Discount-gas debate refueled
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491302
The House rejected a Senate plan Wednesday to exempt rural towns from a bill that would let retailers sell gasoline below cost. The hard-line move to strip the amendment and adhere to the House version leaves the Senate with only two options - accept the measure or kill it. "As usual, we had it right in the House," said Rep. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, before representatives voted 63-1 to stick with the original proposal. It was the latest round in a long-running battle over allowing grocery stores and other big retailers to lure customers with below-cost gasoline after a judge ruled the discounts violated the 1937 Unfair Practices Act.
RELATED: Cheap gas bill still in the air
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103210099

Ex-exec warned about finances
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5490590
Qwest's former investor-relations director Lee Wolfe testified Wednesday that he believed he illegally sold more than $500,000 worth of company stock in early 2001, roughly the same time as former chief executive Joe Nacchio's alleged illegal insider trades. Wolfe, the first witness in Nacchio's criminal insider-trading trial, said he repeatedly told Nacchio of his concerns about Qwest's financial condition in late 2000 and early 2001. Under cross-examination, Wolfe acknowledged the reason he agreed to help the government was that he feared being prosecuted. He said he has been granted partial immunity for his testimony, meaning he can be charged only if he lies or if new evidence emerges.
RELATED: Anschutz: Out from the shadows
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5490586
RELATED: Analysts ponder Nacchio's smile
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5491034
RELATED: Web gamblers flock to invest in outcome
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5491033
RELATED: Former exec had 'crisis of conscience'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5434265,00.html
RELATED: Special section: Nacchio on Trial
http://cfapp2.rockymountainnews.com/business/nacchio/

"Best places" include Colorado
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5487716
Denver ranks in the top five cities in America for its "Urban Life" in a new Men's Journal survey of 50 "best places" to live.

Douglas County busting its seams
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5490743
From 2000 to 2006, Douglas County's population has grown 50 percent, from 175,766 to an estimated 263,621. Weld County ranked 48th among all U.S. counties, has grown 31 percent since 2000, to an estimated 236,857. Of the 87,855-person increase in population in Douglas County since 2000, about 76 percent resulted from people moving in. The rest resulted from births outpacing deaths. El Paso continues to be the state's most populous county with an estimated 576,884 residents, followed by Denver with 566,974 and Arapahoe with 537,197. The least populous is San Juan, with 578 residents, according to the census bureau. Long seen as a bedroom community for Denver commuters, Douglas County jobs have grown by nearly 21 percent since 2000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rest of the metro region has seen a net loss of jobs. In 2005, Money magazine touted Douglas County towns Parker and Castle Rock as the fastest- and second-fastest growing job markets among 1,300 cities.
RELATED: Weld 46th fastest growing county in United States
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103210105
RELATED: [Larimer] County growth rate slows
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070322/NEWS01/703220346/1002

The future of Basalt …by the numbers
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103220044
Basalt's population would soar some 142 percent over the next several years under even the stingiest of five land-use scenarios under consideration by town officials. If Basalt officials grant a handful of proposals by developers to expand the town's boundaries, population growth would be more like 176 percent, according to an analysis by a consultant for the town government.

Telluride $5.8 million from Valley Floor
http://montrosepress.com/articles/2007/03/21/local_news/2.txt
The town of Telluride is about $5.8 million away from purchasing the $50 million Valley Floor with the help of generous donors and massive fundraising efforts. Friday, Judge Charles Greenacre, who presided over the eminent domain trial, set May 21 as the final date for the town to have the sum deposited with the courts.

Wheat Ridge Cabela's gets final OK
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5491084
Outdoor retailer Cabela's said it will start construction on its Wheat Ridge store this summer, finally putting a solid timeline on a project that has been mired in the approval process.

Fruit trees blooming far too early, growers fear
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/22/3_22_1a_Fruit_trees.html
A stretch of warm weather that has led to early budding of fruit grown in the Grand Valley could prove troublesome, if freezing temperatures follow, local farmers said Wednesday.

Fee hike could cost cattle feeders
http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/mar/22/fee_hike_could_cost_cattle_feeders/?local_news
A proposed increase in fees related to beef sales will likely be the meaty topic at a local cattlemen’s meeting this week. The annual spring meeting of the Routt County Cattlemen’s Association is Friday at 1 p.m. on the second floor of the Routt County Courthouse Annex. C.J. Mucklow, president of the association and director of the Routt County Cooperative Extension Office, said the meeting will give ranchers and cattle feeders a chance to voice concerns — or express support — for a proposed increase in the federally mandated “beef check-off” fee.

Top

Worker's Rights and Corporate Accountability

Workers' comp under scope
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491326
For three years, doctors and injured workers have been lining up at the state Capitol to tell stories of botched medical care under a workers' compensation system they say emphasizes cost-cutting over treatment. Ronald Calvert of Aurora said he had to fight for 6 1/2 years to get the back surgery he needed for one ruptured and three bulging discs, after initially being told he had just a sore tailbone from a fall. And Dr. Joseph Ramos, now an emergency medicine doctor and surgical instructor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, tells of getting chewed out by a boss at a workers' comp clinic because Ramos referred a man with a torn anterior cruciate ligament to an orthopedic surgeon. At issue, they say, is the state's 16-year-old workers' compensation system, which gives workers little control over who treats their on-the-job injuries.

Top

Housing and Homelessness

Tax me? No, tax you!
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103220051
Pitkin County Assessor Tom Isaac doesn't want any surprises at tax time next year. That's why his department published a newspaper insert explaining the massive increase in 2007 property taxes and what it means to property owners. (The insert will run Friday in The Aspen Times.) Every two years, the county assessor evaluates some 14,000 area commercial and residential properties, and the numbers always go up. But this year's increase is unique, Isaac said. "It's extraordinary," Isaac said. "It's unprecedented in my 16 years here."

Top

Media

News employees offered buyouts
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5491035
The Rocky Mountain News on Wednesday offered voluntary buyouts to several dozen of its workers, a move aimed at trimming about 20 people - equivalent to 9 percent of its full-time newsroom staff. The buyout packages will be offered to all 50 News employees who have at least 10 years of service with the company and who will be 55 years of age or older as of April 2, according to a memo from News editor and publisher John Temple posted on the website poynter.org. The News has 220 full-time employees, Temple said. Workers taking the buyout will receive "attractive benefits, including voluntary separation pay and a health care subsidy," the memo reads.

Top

Education

Panel clears graduation bill
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5434133,00.html
School districts would be allowed to adopt guidelines for high school graduation as they and the community see fit under a bill unanimously approved by a Senate panel Wednesday. A coalition of educators and parents touted House Bill 1118, by Sen. Ron Tupa, D-Boulder, as a more middle-of-the-road approach than a Republican measure to require three years of math and science to graduate. Parents and educators complained that each year the legislature floats proposals that would create a "one-size-fits-all" precollegiate curriculum.

Regents could speed firings
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5434712,00.html
University of Colorado Regents are poised to adopt rules this morning that will sharply reduce the time it takes to fire a tenured professor. The new rules come as ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill continues to appeal his pending dismissal for violations that included plagiarism and fabricating facts in his scholarly work. He remains on leave but is drawing his $96,000 a year salary nine months after he was recommended for dismissal. The appeals process would be reduced to 100 days, although regents themselves would have no deadline to decide on the final appeal. The current process has no set time limit, university attorney Charles Sweet said. Regents voiced support for the rule change during a study session Wednesday. Regent Steve Bosley of Boulder said the plan could be a model for other universities.
RELATED: Regents vote on firing process
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/mar/22/regents-vote-on-firing-process/

UCSU tries to assert its power
http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2007/03/21/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt
One of the most controversial amendments in memory will be proposed at tonight's CU Student Union (UCSU) meeting. The student government will begin to debate the Fair and Equal Access Amendment, which requires CU's health center, recreation center and the student center to let fraternities rent rooms for the same price as official student groups. If passed, the amendment could lock UCSU and the CU-Boulder Chancellor in a battle over who really controls the student-funded centers.

State board sides with school district
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1174569883/4
Colorado’s state board of education, usually a supporter of charter schools, on Wednesday rejected by a 5-2 vote an arbiter’s order that Pueblo City Schools hand over $900,000 to Dolores Huerta Preparatory High for its building costs. State board members met via conference call Wednesday afternoon. Lawrence Hernandez, chief executive officer of the Cesar Chavez School Network, which includes the high school, said that his organization would appeal the decision to the Colorado Supreme Court on the grounds that the Pueblo district violated the constitutional rights of his school and students.

Meeting filled with attacks and praise for Valley Re-1 superintendent
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103220074
Praises and criticisms about the leadership of Superintendent Jo Barbie volleyed across a full room at Valley High School Wednesday night. The Valley Re-1 School Board moved its meeting from the administration center to the high school because of the 100-plus in the crowd. Interest focused on the renewal of Barbie's contract, which was discussed in executive session at the end of the meeting. A few people also questioned the recent disappearance of Ben Rainbolt, Valley High's popular principal. Audience members applauded after each speaker voiced comments, both in support and in challenge of Barbie's leadership. Her current three-year contract expires in June 2008.

‘Voluntary’ school fees on the table
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15312
City officials are discussing letting developers pay the St. Vrain Valley School District “voluntary” mitigation fees when proposed neighborhoods could push existing schools over capacity. Since 2001, Longmont had a law requiring the council to reject any new housing developments that would push schools to more than 125 percent capacity. On Tuesday night, the Longmont City Council changed that rule to give the school district more flexibility in meeting the capacity requirements. The benchmark was originally intended to ensure the school district had a voice in how fast the city developed. The school district and Longmont are separate governments.

Substitute shortage in county schools
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070321/NEWS/70321017
It’s 8 o’clock on a Monday morning, classes are about to start, and no one’s surprised that there aren’t enough substitute teachers at Minturn Middle School. It happens often, almost every day, said Symon Hayes, a master teacher at Minturn. Teachers there and at most other schools in the district know that in the mad scramble for substitutes, some schools are going to miss out. There’s always a shortage.
RELATED: Interested in substitute teaching?
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070321/NEWS/70321018

City teachers offered early retirement incentives
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1174569883/13
Pueblo City Schools teachers will have an opportunity to save some of their younger teachers a lot of anxiety and get a valuable bonus in the process. The Board of Education approved early retirement incentives at a special meeting Wednesday night, pending legal review. Under the plan, teachers who file retirement papers by April 9 and leave no earlier than April 30 and no later than Aug. 31 will receive $400 a month toward health insurance costs for a year.

Hayden superintendent resigns
http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/mar/22/hayden_superintendent_resigns/?local_news
The Hayden administrative team generated most of the buzz at Wednesday’s monthly School Board meeting. Minutes after Rhonda Sweetser was hired as the Hayden Valley Elementary School principal and Gina Zabel was hired as the middle school principal, Superintendent Mike Luppes turned in his resignation letter to the board effective June 30. But the board granted Luppes’ request for a supplemental contract for the 2007-08 school year, which would enable Luppes to take advantage of Public Employees Retirement Association benefit where he would receive retirement payments from PERA while also being on the district payroll.

Special prosecutor still up in air in rape case
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5434070,00.html
It was unclear Wednesday whether a special prosecutor would be appointed to look at an alleged sexual assault in the summer of 2000 involving a University of Colorado football recruit. A woman who said she was raped after a high school graduation party had asked that Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers recuse her office from the case. The woman, according to her attorney, did not trust Chambers' office to re-evaluate the case.

Platte Canyon High shooting report due
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5490751
The results of the state's investigation into last fall's Platte Canyon High School shooting are scheduled to be released to the public on Tuesday, Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said Wednesday.

Top

Religion

3 others accuse ex-priest during trial
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070322/NEWS01/703220345/1002
Three male accusers testified against former Fort Collins priest Timothy Evans on Wednesday during the trial's second day. Evans faces multiple felony counts in Larimer County for sexual assault on a child and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. One of the accusers who took the stand was 16 in 1996 when he said Evans molested him. The accuser described a meeting he thought was intended to discuss self-esteem and religious issues with Evans at the priest's office at the Spirit of Christ Parish in Arvada. The prosecution witness described lying on Evan's office floor per the priest's instruction for what he thought was a therapy session.

Top

Energy Policy

PUC asked to probe "clean-coal" plant
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5490587
A pair of environmental activists asked state regulators Wednesday to investigate Xcel Energy's plans for a $1 billion "clean coal" power plant in Colorado. The complaint asks the Colorado Public Utilities Commission to ensure that Xcel complies with a state law requiring disclosure about the power plant's cost, feasibility and impact on ratepayers, and whether it can be built without competitive bidding. Xcel has proposed an integrated gasification combined-cycle plant, known as IGCC, that would convert coal to a cleaner-burning gas and allow for capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide, a contributor to global warming. The complainants, Leslie Glustrom of Boulder and Nancy LaPlaca of Denver, say they're concerned that the plant's advanced environmental technology would still allow too much carbon pollution.

Panel moves to create clean energy authority
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1174569883/9
Though two Southern Colorado lawmakers were apprehensive at first at what a Denver senator wanted to do with their measure to help build power lines in remote areas of the state, it all worked out for the best in the end. That's because the Senate's Veterans & Military Affairs Committee approved their bill Wednesday to create an authority to help build the high-voltage transmission lines needed to bring electricity generated from new renewable energy plants to the state's power grid. On a 4-1 vote, the committee approved HB1150, though it was greatly revised from the version introduced by Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, and Sen. Ken Kester, R-Las Animas, in January. But that only happened after more than two months of negotiations with Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, who wanted to expand the new authority to include more than just power created by wind farms.
RELATED: Lawmakers lay out ambitious plan to fund renewable energy
http://summitdaily.com/article/20070321/NEWS/103210090

Oil, gas firms split on energy bill
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/energy/article/0,2777,DRMN_23914_5434266,00.html
Oil and gas companies are split over their positions on Gov. Bill Ritter's push to reform the way the state's $13 billion energy industry is regulated. The Colorado Petroleum Association is against the Ritter administration-backed House Bill 1341, which changes the size and composition of the board of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Independent producers such as EnCana, Nobel and other members of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association also have reversed their initial neutral position. They now say they have concerns about the bill and several other energy-related legislative proposals.

SMPA delays vote on extending contract
http://telluridegateway.com/articles/2007/03/22/news/news01.txt
The San Miguel Power Authority decided yesterday not to extend its decades-long contract with its parent power provider — at least, not until next month. The decision to delay a vote came after more than a dozen residents urged the San Miguel board not to extend the contract with Tri-State Generation and Transmission, a massive company that provides power to rural electric co-ops across four states. Residents at yesterday’s monthly San Miguel Power meeting said they opposed Tri-State’s approach to generating power. They said the company is interested only in building coal-fired power plants instead of investing in renewable energy sources, like wind farms or solar fields. "We want to see something better,” said Telluride resident Skip Edwards at the 10 a.m. meeting in Ridgway. “We’re willing to take the risk with you.”

County Commissioners approve natural gas facility
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/103210098
The Board of Weld County Commissioners approved a natural gas processing facility near the Colorado/Wyoming border Wednesday that will be part of a nation-wide pipeline. The company applying for the development plan, Rockies Express Pipeline, plans on building a $35 million facility just off U.S. 85 four miles south of the Wyoming border. Company officials told the board that the facility could raise $2.2 million in property tax revenues for the county.

Top

Transportation and Infrastructure

DIA's delays spook fliers
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5490588
Travelers have been avoiding connections through Denver International Airport since the December snowstorms that temporarily paralyzed air travel, according to Frontier Airlines chief executive Jeff Potter. "Until probably two to three weeks ago, we actually saw a decrease in bookings on the connect side of our business," Potter said Wednesday during a presentation at a JPMorgan Aviation and Transportation Conference in New York. "It appears that there was a 'book-away."' Frontier lost $13.2 million in revenue in December as a result of the blizzards, but the carryover effect extended into January and February, Potter said.

Top

Environment and Conservation

Citizens air wishes for national parks
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5491280
More mountain biking, better visitors' centers and the preservation of starlit skies over the Grand Canyon were some of the suggestions on how to improve national parks offered Wednesday night. The federal government is holding 19 "listening sessions" across the country to learn what people see as the future for their parks. The sessions are in preparation for the National Park Service's centennial celebration in 2016. The Denver area's session drew more than 140 people to a Sheraton hotel meeting room, where parks employees scribbled suggestions on butcher paper and promised to consider them as part of President Bush's $3 billion National Park Centennial Initiative.
RELATED: Entrance fees, better naming top public input on parks
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/22/3_22_1b_Parks_Listening_Session.html

NOAA to track carbon in air
http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_5488125
Tracking carbon dioxide release and absorption will improve understanding of its impact, he said, noting that one-third of the economy is weather and climate sensitive ranging from agriculture to transportation to insurance and real estate. Pieter Tans, chief scientist at NOAA's Earth System Research Lab in Boulder, noted that once carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, it can remain there for thousands of years. That means carbon dioxide emissions must be reduced to mitigate climate change, he said. While carbon dioxide is a natural part of the air, it has been increasing sharply since the beginning of industrialization. It is produced in large amounts by burning fossil fuels, such as in manufacturing plants, motor vehicles and generating electricity. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, representing the leading climate scientists, reported in February that global warming has begun, is very likely caused by human activities and will be unstoppable for centuries. Tans said the new system, called CarbonTracker, currently samples the air at 20 places in the United States and 60 worldwide, with a goal of expanding that to "hundreds, maybe thousands" of sampling points.
RELATED: Boulder team creates carbon dioxide tracker
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5434130,00.html

Mr. Ralston goes to Washington
http://blogs.denverpost.com/washington/2007/03/21/mr-ralston-goes-to-washington/
Utah public lands have not been kind to Aron Ralston. Four years ago, the Aspen man cut off his arm to save his life when an 800-pound boulder pinned him for five days to a canyon wall in southern Utah. So it might seem surprising that the 31-year-old Coloradan took on a new role this week, coming to Washington D.C. to advocate a bill that would protect the very same Utah wilderness where he nearly bled to death. But for Ralston, it’s all part of a calling, even though Utah’s own congressional delegation is opposed to the legislation, which would designate more than nine million acres of the state’s public land as official wilderness closed to oil and gas drilling and off road vehicle use.

Water crisis meeting today
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/NEWS/70322002
Gov. Bill Ritter and other state officials are scheduled to attend a water crisis meeting today in Wiggins. The town hall meeting will be 5-7 p.m. at the Wiggins Event Center at Wiggins High School, 4th and Chapman streets. Ritter will be joined by don Elliman, state director of economic development, Harris Sherman, director of natural resources, Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray and Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, to hear about a water crisis in northeast Colorado, the ramifications of that crisis and ideas for the future.

Udall wants full study on Aurora contract
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1174569883/3
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., is asking the Bureau of Reclamation to prepare a full environmental impact statement on a proposal by Aurora for a long-term lease to store and exchange water in Lake Pueblo. The bureau is preparing an environmental assessment - probably by the end of the week - on Aurora’s proposal to lease 10,000 acre-feet of excess capacity space in Lake Pueblo and to exchange up to 10,000 acre-feet annually to Twin Lakes in a paper trade. The length of the contract would be 40 years. Udall said the environmental assessment is less comprehensive than the EIS. The EIS is needed because of the controversies involved and to assure those who have concerns about the proposal, Udall said.

Deal might help clean up creek, widen water supply
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20441&template=article.html
Colorado Springs Utilities inked a deal Wednesday with a five-county water district that officials hope leads to a grander effort to clean up Fountain Creek and tap Arkansas Valley water supplies. The agreement is with the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District, which covers Pueblo, Prowers, Otero, Crowley and Bent counties. “It’s a step in the right direction,” Springs Utilities water manager Gary Bostrom said of the deal approved by the Colorado Springs City Council last month and the district this week. “We’re certainly wanting to see this step lead to future steps with the overall agreement.”
RELATED: Colorado Springs, Lower Ark ink Fountain deal
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1174569883/12

Forest Service looks at ski area land as a summer use
http://summitdaily.com/article/20070321/NEWS/103210096
A late start to winter in New England and high demand for summer recreation has spurred the U.S. Forest Service to think about streamlining the review and approval process for off-snow base-area developments like alpine slides and zip lines.

Hick's green dream on beam
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5435106,00.html
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's plan to plant a million trees in 20 years is taking root. After next month, the Tree by Tree initiative will be 993,000 seedlings shy of the mayor's goal. Denver and 37 other cities, towns and organizations in the metro area will kick off Hickenlooper's ambitious initiative April 19 with "7,000 trees in 7 Days," a weeklong tree-planting event.

Loveland granary preservation effort short of funds
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070322/NEWS01/703220348/1002
Local residents determined to preserve the historic Loveland Feed & Grain plan to regroup and refocus their efforts to save the building. The board of directors of Novo Restorations Inc. is $160,000 short of the $200,000 it needs to match a grant from the State Historical Fund to acquire the building, said Erin McLaughlin, who has led the charge for preserving the granary.

Tracking lions: Study aims to keep big cats away from people
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/mar/22/tracking-lions/
It may be time for officials to break out the rubber buckshot and set the hounds loose in an effort to push Boulder County's mountain lions deeper into the wilderness. The Colorado Division of Wildlife is proposing the use of the aggressive tactics, known to wildlife experts as "aversive conditioning techniques," as part of a 10-year effort to gather information on the big cats and devise ways to lower their comfort level around people.
RELATED: DOW plans to track cougars
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15314

Top

Opinion

The White House spin
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/03/21/opinion/op1.txt
Historians point to President Nixon’s China trip as an escape from the Watergate scandal and to change the news coming out of Washington. There is similar opinion that President Clinton, awash in his own scandal involving a White House intern, ordered an air strike on an alleged munitions factory in Khartoum that was later revealed as a manufacturer of medicines. The story provided President Clinton with a dose of front-page relief, and became a storyline in a movie, ‘Wag the Dog.’ Lately, there’s conjecture how the Pentagon dumped the news about the 9/11 conspirator in an attempt to get the Gonzales flap off the front page. The methods, while amusing, just don’t seem to work.
RELATED: Drop effort to limit Rove, Miers hearing
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5489068

No speech 4 U: Public-school case poses troubling questions
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/mar/22/no-speech-4-u/
The wit and wisdom of unfurling a banner espousing "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" is, perhaps, most evident to those still too young to vote. But the adults charged with running public schools should see such a banner as a harmless prank, not grist for a federal case.

Riesberg: The Colorado Promise: a new energy economy
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070322/READERS/103220078/-1/TRIBEDIT
Part of "The Colorado Promise" (the promise of creating a better Colorado for our children and grandchildren and creating a new direction for the promise of a brighter tomorrow) focused on the creation of a New Energy Economy. As Gov. Bill Ritter said in his inaugural speech, "People all across Colorado are excited about the possibility of creating jobs, adding economic value to the state and establishing Colorado as a national leader in renewable energy." In October 2006, I signed a pledge to help Colorado put its technological and natural advantages to work to create a new energy future. By investing in renewable energy sources -- such as solar, wind and biofuels -- and in energy efficiency measures, we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil, reinvigorate our economy, create good, new jobs, protect consumers and safeguard our environment. A diverse coalition of interests -- Rocky Mountain Farmer's Union, Colorado Corn Growers, Colorado AFL-CIO, Colorado Building and Construction Trades Council and Environment Colorado -- came together around a unifying conviction: to make Colorado's new energy future a reality.

Ritter should sign open records bill
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070322/OPINION01/703220328/1014/CUSTOMERSERVICE02
Gov. Ritter has an opportunity to right some wrongs regarding access to public records by signing a bill that has reached his desk. Senate Bill 45 would reduce the amount that government entities in Colorado can charge for accessing copies of public records from $1.25 a page - the highest charge in the nation - to a more reasonable 25 cents per page. The bill received enormous support among state lawmakers; it passed unanimously in the Senate and by a 61-3 vote in the House. Fort Collins lawmakers Steve Johnson, Randy Fischer, Bob Bacon and John Kefalas all voted in favor of the legislation. Current Colorado law has created a prohibitive atmosphere that may have prevented some residents from gaining access because they can't afford copying charges.

Halt the yo-yo trend in severance tax revenues
http://www.gjsentinel.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2007/03/22/3_22_07_severance_edit.html
It is fundamentally counterintuitive that, as natural gas drilling in Colorado continues to increase — it’s estimated to rise 7 percent this year over 2006’s record pace — revenue from the state severance tax on energy production is expected to drop 40 percent. However, the culprit isn’t the severance tax rate itself, but a property tax credit that allows energy producers to credit more than 85 percent of their property tax payments from the previous year against the current year’s severance taxes. The result is to give Colorado a net severance tax rate in some years of about 2 percent, even though the actual effective tax rate is on the order of 5 percent. Either figure is considerably less than the severance tax rates charged to energy companies in neighboring states such as Wyoming and New Mexico.

Kamau: A tale of two Africas
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5489475
Fifty years ago, Britain granted Ghana her independence. We celebrated that occasion last week in Denver, looking back at the past 50 years of Ghana's existence and wondering what the next 50 years might hold in store for Ghana and Africa.

Building homes for a creaky generation
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/editorials/article/0,2777,DRMN_23964_5433689,00.html
You can tell a lot about certain classes of people by what other people try to sell them. The home builders have contemplated the now-retiring baby boomers and, although they put it more gently, the home builders have seen walkers, wheelchairs and general decrepitude. If not now, eventually. And they are designing houses that will allow creaky boomers to stay in them. There is something called "universal design" that calls for homes to be designed to take into account age and physical disability.

NATIONAL NEWS

Top

Election

Edwards Sets Announcement On Campaign
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032200019.html
Former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) and his wife, Elizabeth, have scheduled a news conference for noon today in their home state of North Carolina, in what aides described as a major development in his 2008 presidential bid. Advisers declined to discuss the details of the hastily arranged announcement ahead of time. "He's talking tomorrow," said Jonathan Prince, Edwards's deputy campaign manager, last night. "Listen to what he says tomorrow." The appearance comes on the heels of a last-minute decision by Edwards this week to cancel an event in Iowa to accompany his wife to a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Elizabeth Edwards was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of her husband's unsuccessful 2004 campaign as the Democratic vice presidential nominee. She subsequently underwent extensive treatment. Her husband has repeatedly said he would put his wife's well-being first; he announced that he would mount a second bid for the presidency after she was given a clean bill of health.
RELATED: Edwards Plans Announcement With His Wife
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/politics/22edwards.html?ref=washington

Stumble over gay issue dogs Obama
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220144mar22,1,2969757.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Chicago lawyer Coco Soodek has given $2,300 to Sen. Barack Obama's presidential primary campaign, the most allowed under federal law. But in recent days, she has questioned her contribution, just as she has questioned the candidate's commitment to gays and lesbians. "His inability to make strong, declarative sentences in support of our issues is disheartening and sometimes makes me question my donation," she said this week. "I hope he shows a little bit more moral courage for his friends."
RELATED: Obama defends votes in favor of Iraq funding
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/03/22/obama_defends_votes_in_favor_of_iraq_funding/

Kennedy-McCain partnership falters
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/03/22/kennedy_mccain_partnership_falters/
Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John McCain have all but abandoned plans to cosponsor a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year, as McCain faces tough questions from conservatives on the presidential campaign trail about his support for immigrants' rights.

Man Behind the Clinton Clip Worked for Obama's Net Strategists
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102109.html
The creator of a controversial YouTube clip that attacked Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was an employee of the Internet strategy firm on the payroll of the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). "I made the 'Vote Different' ad because I wanted to express my feelings about the Democratic primary, and because I wanted to show that an individual citizen can affect the process," Phil de Vellis wrote on the liberal blog Huffington Post. De Vellis resigned from Blue State Digital, an Internet strategy firm, once his identity became known. The Obama campaign had previously insisted that no one affiliated with the campaign had anything to do with the ad, a position that spokesman Bill Burton reiterated last night. "The Obama campaign and its employees had no knowledge and had nothing to do with the creation of the ad," Burton said. The firm is under contract with Obama's campaign. Joe Rospars, a founding partner of Blue State Digital, is on leave from the company and serves as new-media director for Obama. In a statement by Blue State Digital managing partner Thomas Gensemer, the company sought to distance itself from de Vellis, saying he made the video on his own time and without management's knowledge.
RELATED: Web video maker unmasked
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220173mar22,1,3952799.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
RELATED: Blog Exposes Creator of Ad Portraying Clinton as Big Brother
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/politics/22hillary.html

Louisiana Opening Offers Chance to Recast a Shaky Relationship With Washington
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/22louisiana.html
Since Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana has been a needy ward of Washington, though rarely a cooperative or cheerful one. With Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco’s political exit this week, the dysfunctional relationship, so vital to the battered state but so marginal to the capital, could shift sharply. Ms. Blanco, her standing shredded by post-Katrina failures, announced Tuesday that she would not run for re-election, becoming the highest-profile victim to date of the storm’s political fallout. Enter — possibly — John B. Breaux, the former senator whom many Democrats all over the state are suggesting as the governor’s possible successor.

New Hampshire: Reversal in Phone-Jamming Case
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/22brfs-PHONES.html
A federal appeals court reversed the conviction and sentence of a former Republican National Committee official accused in a phone-jamming plot on Election Day 2002. The man, James Tobin, was convicted in 2005 of helping to arrange more than 800 hang-up calls that jammed get-out-the-vote phone lines set up by the state Democratic Party and the Manchester firefighters’ union. Mr. Tobin was sentenced to 10 months in jail for telephone harassment. But the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, in Boston, ruled that the statute under which Mr. Tobin was convicted “is not a close fit” for what he did and questioned whether the government showed that he intended to harass.

Top

Effective and Ethical Government

Senate Democrats Float War Bill Similar to That in House
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102005.html
Senate Democrats unveiled an emergency spending bill that would continue funding the conflict in Iraq while requiring U.S. troop withdrawals to begin this summer, a proposal that tracks closely with one the House will vote on tomorrow. The Senate Appropriations Committee is expected to approve $122 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan today, along with language that would set a March 31, 2008, goal for ending most combat operations in Iraq. Despite differences between the House and Senate versions, including over the timetable for withdrawing troops, and despite repeated White House veto threats, both packages represent a significant stiffening of Democratic resolve to stop the war next year.
RELATED: Debate Over Iraq Pullout Aside, Bush Needs a War Spending Bill
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102004.html
RELATED: Democrats' Iraq war stance politically risky
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-warvote22mar22,1,2120478.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

John Murtha, Hero of the War Protesters
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102111.html
Gruff, jowly John Murtha wouldn't seem to be a Code Pink kinda guy, what with his appetite for pork and his pro-gun, antiabortion Marine hero bona fides. But there the congressman was, in a Rayburn House Office Building hallway, gallantly protecting some war protesters from the group who had been tossed out of a hearing room and threatened with arrest. "He said 'I know these people,' he gave me his hand and said we wouldn't be arrested," said Medea Benjamin, a San Francisco human rights activist who was doing her earnest best Tuesday to end the war when her lobbying methods provoked the displeasure of the U.S. Capitol Police. Code Pink ladies on one side; uniforms on the other. In the middle, the impressive bulk of 74-year-old Murtha. He called the sergeant at arms and didn't leave until he was assured the women would be released, Benjamin said.

House Panel Authorizes Subpoenas Of Officials
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032100200.html
A House panel authorized subpoenas yesterday for top White House and Justice Department aides, including White House counselor Karl Rove, setting up a constitutional clash with the Bush administration over the U.S. attorneys investigation. With the Senate Judiciary Committee poised to authorize a similar batch of subpoenas today, the House Judiciary subcommittee on commercial and administrative law also issued a broad-based subpoena for documents and e-mails related to the prosecutor firings from Rove, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten, former White House counsel Harriet E. Miers and a trio of other aides.
RELATED: Bush faces battle over aides' testimony
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220146mar22,1,3756191.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
RELATED: House panel ignores Bush's subpoena warning
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-usattys22mar22,1,6375738.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
RELATED: Bush vows fight as subpoenas authorized
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/03/22/bush_vows_fight_as_subpoenas_authorized/
RELATED: Some ousted attorneys were in upper tier
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-21-court-record-analysis_N.htm

Democrats Plan to Restore Budget Discipline
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102018.html
Over the past decade, budget discipline on Capitol Hill collapsed under the desire for tax cuts and the pressure of war spending, analysts say. Now, the new Democratic majority says it is ready to put congressional budget-making back on track and, in the process, reduce the budget deficit. The Senate is debating a plan to balance the budget by 2012, allow modest increases in some programs and require, for the first time in years, that revenue lost to tax cuts be made up elsewhere. House leaders announced a similar plan yesterday.

Schwarzenegger's cause gets $500,000 after he signed law
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-me-arnold22mar22,1,2534192.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
AT&T has given $500,000 to one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's pet causes, six months after the governor signed a law lifting barriers to the company's bid to sell pay television service in California. The money went to After-School All-Stars, a tax-exempt group founded by Schwarzenegger in the early 1990s to provide tutoring, recreation and other programs to poor children. The organization's board includes some of Schwarzenegger's closest friends and aides, including Bonnie Reiss, a former senior aide in his administration, and Paul Wachter, his financial advisor.

In Utah, an Opponent of the ‘Culture of Obedience’
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/22rocky.html?ref=us
Rocky Anderson may not be the most liberal mayor in America. But here in the most conservative state, he might as well be. Just being himself is enough to galvanize, divide or enrage people who have followed his career as Salt Lake City’s mayor, and who are now watching him become, in the twilight of his final term, a national spokesman for the excoriation and impeachment of President Bush.

City agrees to ban patronage
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220169mar22,1,5853348.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Mayor Richard Daley's administration agreed Wednesday to a settlement that would end court oversight of City Hall hiring and pay millions of dollars to people who lost out because they didn't have the right political connections. Daley had long sought to end the decades-old federal consent decrees that ban politics from most city personnel decisions, even after aides in his office were convicted last year of rigging hiring to favor pro-Daley political workers. A court-appointed monitor will continue to help regulate city hiring for two more years. But after June 1, the city's inspector general--appointed by the mayor--will investigate complaints of politically based hiring, firing and promotions, according to the settlement announced in federal court.

Top

Foreign Policy

Iran role reported in schism of Iraq militia
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220156mar22,1,4214944.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
The Shiite militia known as the Mahdi Army is breaking into splinter groups, with as many as 3,000 gunmen now financed directly by Iran and no longer loyal to the firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr, adding a potentially even more deadly element to Iraq's violent mix. Two senior militia commanders told The Associated Press that hundreds of these fighters have crossed into Iran for training by the elite Quds Force, a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard thought to have trained Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and Muslim fighters in Bosnia and Afghanistan. The breakup is an ominous development at a time when U.S. and Iraqi forces are working to defeat religious-based militias and secure Iraq under government control. While Sadr's forces have fought the coalition repeatedly, including pitched battles in 2004, they have mostly stayed in the background during the latest offensive.
RELATED: U.S. military frees Iraqi cleric's aide
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-aide22mar22,1,843059.story?coll=la-headlines-world
RELATED: Iraqi official says talks with [Sunni] insurgents underway, U.N. chief to visit
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-22-un-leader-baghdad_N.htm

Inspector General Details Failures of Iraq Reconstruction
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102418.html
The U.S. government was unprepared for the extensive nation-building required after it invaded Iraq, and at each juncture where it could have adjusted its efforts, it failed even to understand the problems it faced, according to the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. In a stinging, wide-ranging assessment of U.S. reconstruction efforts, Stuart W. Bowen Jr. said that in the days after the invasion, the Defense Department had no strategy for restoring either government institutions or infrastructure. And in the years since, other agencies joined the effort without an overall plan and without a structure in place to organize and execute a task of such magnitude.
RELATED: Report calls for unity on postwar rebuilding
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-reconstruct22mar22,1,7369178.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
RELATED: Looters pillaging Iraq's vast `sea of antiquities'
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220214mar22,1,2117787.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed

Afghan Prisoners Freed to Secure Italian's Release
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102783.html
Italy's deputy foreign affairs minister confirmed Wednesday that the Afghan government released five Taliban prisoners to win the freedom of a reporter who had been kidnapped in lawless Helmand province. Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who writes for Italy's La Repubblica newspaper, was freed Monday after two weeks in captivity. He had been seized in Helmand province with his Afghan driver, who was beheaded, and his interpreter, whose whereabouts are unknown. The Afghan government called the swap "an exceptional case," but the deal was sharply criticized.
RELATED: Afghan forces kill 21 Taliban militants
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-03-22-afghan-violence_N.htm

Pakistani Opposition Seizes on Controversy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102153.html
Thousands of lawyers and political activists in cities across Pakistan staged peaceful rallies Wednesday as they continued their nearly two-week-old campaign against President Pervez Musharraf's decision to suspend the nation's chief justice. In Islamabad, the capital, demonstrators converged on the Supreme Court building, chanting, "Go, Musharraf, go!" and calling the president "Bush's dog." Although there had been violent clashes between demonstrators and police at rallies last week, officers in riot gear largely avoided confrontations in Islamabad on Wednesday, and only minor scuffles were reported elsewhere in the country.

Iranian leader issues threat
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/03/22/iranian_leader_issues_threat/
Iran's supreme leader struck a defiant tone yesterday against any possible new UN Security Council sanctions against his country's nuclear program, threatening to "use any means necessary" to strike back.

U.S. to trim Palestinian fund request
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-palfunds22mar22,1,7044866.story?coll=la-headlines-world
An $86-million budget request to bolster Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' security forces will be slashed by more than a third because of concerns about how the money would be spent, officials said Wednesday. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a congressional subcommittee that she would submit a new plan soon, cutting out funds that she feared would have reached the "wrong hands." A State Department official said later that Rice would request about $50 million, trimming about $36 million. Most of the cuts would affect the training and equipping of Abbas' security forces, he said.
RELATED: Muslim pioneer pushes Israel to negotiate
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-03-21-raleb-majadele_N.htm

Darfur's less-known victims
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-darfur22mar22,1,3381704.story?coll=la-headlines-world
Arabs are increasingly caught up in violence in the Sudanese region. Forced into camps, they can't follow traditions.

Heavy Fighting in Mogadishu Leads to Mutilation of Troops
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032100249.html
Somali civilians and masked insurgents burned the bodies of four soldiers, kicked them, pelted them with rocks and dragged the bloodied and half-naked corpses through Mogadishu on Wednesday, witnesses said. It was one of the most violent days since Somalia's Ethiopian-backed transitional government ousted a relatively popular Islamic movement in December. At least 16 people were killed in several hours of heavy fighting in the Somali capital, including at least four government troops and two Ethiopian soldiers, the witnesses said. Several dozen civilians were wounded.

Nepal's reinvention, at warp speed
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-nepal22mar22,1,6679254.story?coll=la-headlines-world
Everything is up for grabs politically as Maoist rebels and their former enemies seek to govern.

N. Korea Agrees To Extension of Six-Party Talks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032100434.html
After two days of holding up six-nation talks aimed at dismantling the nuclear program of North Korea, the communist state's delegation agreed to a request by China to stay another day for "substantive discussions," diplomats said Wednesday night. The extension deal came in a brief meeting of all the top envoys to the talks, after a long day in which negotiators who had hoped to discuss a schedule for shutting down the nuclear program appeared to lose patience with the slow progress.
RELATED: South Korea to resume aid to North
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-03-21-korea-aid_N.htm

Merkel urges EU unity on US antimissile shield plan
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/03/22/merkel_urges_eu_unity_on_us_antimissile_shield_plan/
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, trying to counter the increasingly anti-American attitude of her coalition partners, the Social Democrats, has called on the European Union to find a common position over American plans to deploy part of an antimissile defense shield in Eastern Europe.

Chirac Gives Tepid Backing to Sarkozy in French Presidential Race
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101047.html
French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday endorsed his ruling party's candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, to replace him in elections less than five weeks away. Chirac's long-delayed announcement last week that he would not seek reelection and his tepid backing of Sarkozy so close to the April 22 vote underscored the animosity between the two that has accompanied Sarkozy's rise as the party nominee. Chirac said that it was "totally natural that I give him my vote and support," because Sarkozy had won the nomination of the Union for a Popular Movement party. But the announcement on national television appeared perfunctory and showed little warmth.

Canada's Extradition Laws Help Make Vancouver a Grifter's Haven
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102326.html
Vancouver prefers to revel in politically correct politics, a squeaky-clean environmental image, and a laid-back mood fostered by persistent melancholy rain. But it also is a haven for some of the most wanted fugitives in the world and for con men working scams in the shadow of the law.

Colombian official seeks U.S. papers on Chiquita
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220149mar22,1,4935842.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Colombia's attorney general said Wednesday that he has formally sought information from the U.S. Justice Department as part of a preliminary investigation into Chiquita Brands International. The Ohio-based fruit giant admitted last week in U.S. federal court to paying more than $1.7 million to a right-wing group that has massacred scores of civilians.

Mexican president's humble but elusive kin
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-calderon22mar22,1,3646175.story?coll=la-headlines-world
As many as half the citizens of the home state of Mexican President Felipe Calderon are believed to be working in the United States. So it was no great surprise when Calderon revealed recently that among Michoacan's migrants were some of his own kin. What's odd is that apparently no one here in Calderon's hometown, not even his family, seems to know who they are.

Top

Immigration

Illegal Worker, Troubled Citizen and Stolen Name
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/22raids.html?ref=washington
As the authorities have aggressively prosecuted employers for hiring undocumented workers, companies are examining applicants more carefully, and fake documents no longer pass inspection as easily as they did. Illegal immigrants have turned increasingly to bona fide documents, stolen or bought by traffickers from actual Americans. With scrutiny tightening, illegal immigrants “invest more effort and money into getting better documents,” said Julie L. Myers, the top official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “More and more, that includes taking on the identities of U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.”

Top

Health Care and Public Safety

Report Says Corps Miscalculated on Levees
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101963.html
The design and construction of the New Orleans hurricane levee system was flawed because the Army Corps of Engineers ignored warnings about the power of potential storms and made critical engineering miscalculations, according to a long-awaited investigative report from a team of Louisiana engineers and scientists. The "Team Louisiana" report echoed many of the findings of previous engineering inquiries but offered them in sometimes sterner terms, while highlighting some of the political forces that affected the flood system's formation.
RELATED: Census shows Katrina's effects on populations
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2007-03-22-new-orleans-census_N.htm

New York mayor seeks aid for 9/11 responders
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bloomberg22mar22,1,7492137.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Wednesday urged a Senate panel to reopen the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund for sick ground zero responders and said the city needed $150 million each year to continue to treat them. Thousands of the 50,000 rescue and recovery workers are being monitored and treated for serious respiratory illnesses at special clinics in New York City, Long Island and New Jersey.
RELATED: Bloomberg Seeks U.S. Aid for Treatment of 9/11 Illnesses
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/nyregion/22bloomberg.html

Inefficiencies Curb U.S. Aid to the Hungry, Report Finds
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/world/22food.html
The United States provides more than half the food aid that feeds hungry people around the world, but its programs are plagued by inefficiencies that have sharply reduced the amount of food being provided and have slowed deliveries, the Government Accountability Office reported to Congress on Wednesday.

Report: Even the insured have trouble paying bills
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/insurance/2007-03-21-insure-usat_N.htm
The study comes as higher annual deductible policies — those at $1,000 or more for individuals or $2,000 for families — are being touted by some policymakers, insurers and employers as one way to control rising health care spending in the USA. Most insured people have lower annual deductibles, according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation. Even with lower deductibles, some families are having trouble.

FDA Moves to Try to Reduce Conflicts of Interest on Boards
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102068.html
The Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that it plans to make extensive changes in how it selects medical experts to serve on its advisory panels after years of complaints that many of them have financial ties to the companies whose products they evaluate.
RELATED: FDA to tighten conflict-of-interest rules
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-fda22mar22,0,507305.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Study: Heart disease major threat to firefighters
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220159mar22,1,5394595.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Firefighters face a far greater risk of dying of heart problems while battling a blaze than was thought, according to a large U.S. study that offers more evidence of their need to stay in shape. The risk of a heart-related death while putting out a fire was up to 100 times higher than the risk during down time, Harvard researchers found, even though fighting fires accounts for only a small percentage of these workers' time.

Top

Crime and Penal Reform

A Habeas Corpus Appeal Veers to Capital Issues
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/washington/22scotus.html
A Missouri prosecutor’s final words to the jury strayed far over the boundary of proper argument, or so a federal appeals court ruled in overturning the death sentence of a man convicted of the execution-style murder-for-hire of a federal drug witness. The prosecutor, George Westfall, had told the jurors that they were like soldiers on a battlefield of the war on drugs. “It’s your duty” to sentence the defendant, William Weaver, to death, Mr. Westfall said, in order to send a message to “all the dope peddlers and the murderers in the world.” He told the jury that “you’ve got to look beyond William Weaver” because “it’s not personal; it’s business.” These statements, and others, were “improperly inflammatory” and violated the constitutional requirement for capital sentencing to be “an individualized decision-making process,” according to a ruling last year by a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which granted Mr. Weaver’s petition for habeas corpus.

Georgia Murder Case’s Cost Saps Public Defense System
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/22atlanta.html?ref=us
A high-profile multiple-murder case has drained the budget of Georgia’s public defender system and brought all but a handful of its 72 capital cases to a standstill.

Officer gets felony charge in attack
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bartender22mar22,1,3494439.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
While an off-duty police officer was pummeling the petite bartender with his fists and feet in an attack caught on video, she said he kept shouting, "Nobody tells me what to do!" Karolina Obrycka, who suffered injuries to her head, arms and ribs, told investigators she stopped serving alcohol to Anthony Abbate because he was drunk, fighting with other patrons and trying to buy rounds of drinks without any money. In the video from Jessie's Short Stop Inn Tavern, shown on television around the nation, the 250-pound Abbate can be seen assaulting the 115-pound bartender. Prosecutors charged Abbate, a 38-year-old tactical officer, with felony aggravated battery late Tuesday — a week after Chicago police officials had quietly filed a misdemeanor battery charge. He remained in custody Wednesday.

Top

Economy

Fed Hints That Rate Hike Is Unlikely
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032100205.html
The Federal Reserve left interest rates alone yesterday -- surprising nobody. But the central bank did tweak the language of a statement it put out to suggest that it isn't likely to raise rates anytime soon, producing a giddy reaction on Wall Street, which had been pining for good news. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 159.42 points, to close at 12,447.52, completing the blue chips' best three-day rally in more than two years. So far this year, the Dow is down slightly, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock index and the Nasdaq composite yesterday moved into positive territory.
RELATED: Investors Rally Behind the Fed, Sending Dow to a Triple-Digit Gain
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101968.html
RELATED: Fed holds rates steady, but what next?
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/fed/2007-03-21-fed-unchanged_N.htm

After Sell-Off, Chinese Stocks Back at a Record
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/business/worldbusiness/22sinostox.html?ref=business
After a huge sell-off here just a few weeks ago that helped set off a drop in global financial markets, China’s stock market has rebounded and rose to a record Wednesday. Many investors say the sell-off on Feb. 27, when the Shanghai composite index plunged 8.8 percent, was simply a temporary setback in a galloping bull market. After that drop, which pushed the index down to 2,771.79, share prices plunged around the world, including a 416-point drop in the Dow Jones industrial average in New York. But instead of retreating from the volatile market, investors in China have seen the setback as temporary and eagerly opened new stock accounts, rushed to sign up to purchase mutual funds and aggressively bid up the shares of Chinese companies.

Morgan Stanley Net Jumps; Appeal on Lawsuit Is Won
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/business/22wall.html?ref=business
It was a good day for John J. Mack. Not only did Morgan Stanley report quarterly earnings yesterday that exceeded expectations and outpaced the results of its competitors, the firm also won an appeal of a $1.57 billion jury verdict against it, stemming from a lawsuit brought by Ronald O. Perelman. For Mr. Mack, who is approaching his two-year anniversary as chief executive, the news of robust trading-driven growth in earnings and a major victory in the legal arena sends a message to the marketplace that Morgan Stanley under his watch is a starkly different firm.

Motorola slashes outlook, replaces CFO
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2007-03-21-motorola-outlook_N.htm
Motorola (MOT) replaced its chief financial officer Wednesday in a shake up of top management as it slashed its first-quarter sales forecast, blaming weaker-than-expected revenue from its cell-phone unit. Still reeling from sales and profit problems that emerged in the fourth quarter, the company said it now expects to report a first-quarter loss because of what Chairman and CEO Ed Zander called an "unacceptable" performance by its mobile device business.

Top

Housing and Homelessness

For Some Subprime Borrowers, Few Good Choices
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/business/22workout.html?ref=business
As problems with subprime mortgages have escalated, officials on Wall Street as well as in Washington have urged lenders and the government to step in and cushion the blow to troubled borrowers and find ways to enable them to remain in their homes. That may not be possible in many cases.

Top

Media

Marketers Have Eyes on the ‘Third Screen’
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/business/media/22adco.html?ref=business
OLD media lagged behind in the race to go online, in part because the prospects for advertising — traditionally the major revenue source for newspapers, magazines and television — seemed unclear on the Internet. Then, online advertising took off, and the old media are still playing catch-up. Now, with the next iteration of the Internet, the mobile Web, spreading around the world, publishers and other content providers are trying to avoid coming in late on another advertising bonanza.

Combined Sirius-XM would let consumers order just the channels they want
http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2007-03-21-sirius-xm-a-la-carte_N.htm
Satellite radio customers will get the option to pay a lower price for just the channels they want if the industry's two big providers are allowed to merge, Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) said Wednesday in a securities filing of its bid to buy XM Satellite Radio Holdings (XMSR). The statement comes as Sirius and XM seek to assuage regulatory concerns that their deal, to be paid for with stock valued at $4.7 billion when it was announced Feb. 19, will create a monopoly that would harm consumers. The Sirius filing said the deal would generate cost savings from efficiencies that could allow the company to offer "a la carte" programming at a price below the current $12.95 a month subscription fee. An a la carte option would allow customers to pay for only the channels they want to receive. Combined, Sirius and XM currently offer more than 300 channels of programming. But some of those stations are identical and many more feature similar formats and genres.

Top

Education

Bill Would Protect Against Cuts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102309.html
Virginia Sens. John W. Warner and James Webb introduced legislation yesterday to protect the state's schools from Bush administration threats to withhold millions of dollars in aid in a clash over federal testing rules. The bipartisan measure addresses a controversy that has swelled in Virginia over testing requirements for students with limited English skills. School systems in Fairfax, Arlington and Loudoun counties have begun in recent months to push back against what they call unrealistic mandates of the federal No Child Left Behind law. They plan to defy a federal directive to give thousands of students who are beginning to learn English reading tests that cover the same grade-level material as exams taken by students who are native speakers.

Teachers at California State Vote to Authorize a Walkout
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/22strike.html
Faculty members at California State University, the nation’s largest four-year university system, overwhelmingly authorized a strike Wednesday after nearly two years in which they and the administration failed to negotiate a contract succeeding one that expired in July 2005.

Expelled students awarded $69,000
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220163mar22,1,3494046.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Three students expelled for making a movie in which evil teddy bears attack a teacher will share $69,000 in a settlement of their civil rights lawsuit. The board of the Charles A. Beard Memorial School Corp. voted 5-2 on Tuesday to approve settlement of the lawsuit, which stemmed from the school's response to a movie called "The Teddy Bear Master." The expulsions will be erased from the record. Two of the students still must write letters of apology to a teacher named in the movie and his wife.

Top

Science and Technology

Brain Injury Said to Affect Moral Choices
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/science/22brain.html?ref=science
Damage to an area of the brain behind the forehead, inches behind the eyes, transforms the way people make moral judgments in life-or-death situations, scientists reported yesterday. In a new study, people with this rare injury expressed increased willingness to kill or harm another person if doing so would save others’ lives.

Top

Military

Substandard Conditions at VA Centers Noted
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102583.html
A review by the Department of Veterans Affairs of 1,400 hospitals and other veterans care facilities released yesterday has turned up more than 1,000 reports of substandard conditions -- from leaky roofs and peeling paint to bug and bat infestations -- as well as a smaller number of potential threats to patient safety, such as suicide risks in psychiatric wards. The investigation, ordered March 7 by VA Secretary Jim Nicholson, found problems such as rugs loaded with bacteria from patient "accidents," ceiling and floor tiles with asbestos that needs to be removed, as well as exposed pipes and other fixtures from which mental patients could hang themselves.
RELATED: VA review: Hospitals beset by problems
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-21-va-review_N.htm

Pentagon Is Probing Veterans Home
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101470.html
Reports of a rising death rate and rooms spattered with blood, urine and feces at the Armed Forces Retirement Home prompted the Pentagon yesterday to begin investigating conditions at the veterans facility in Northwest Washington. The Government Accountability Office warned the Pentagon this week that residents of the home "may be at risk" in light of allegations of severe health-care problems. Residents have been admitted to Walter Reed Army Medical Center with "the most serious type of pressure sores" and, in one case, with maggots in a wound, according to a GAO letter sent to the Defense Department.

Iraq murder leads to soldier's guilty plea
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-21-guilty-plea_N.htm
A Fort Campbell soldier pleaded guilty Wednesday to being an accessory to the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the slaying of her family. Pfc. Bryan Howard, 20, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice by lying to his superior officers about the attack last year in Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad. It was one of the most shocking atrocities committed by U.S. troops in the Iraq war. Howard could get up to 15 years in prison at a sentencing hearing that began Wednesday afternoon. Five soldiers were charged in the rape of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the killings of her, her parents and her younger sister. Two of the soldiers previously pleaded guilty and said Howard's role was minimal.

Reported military sex assaults up 24%
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703220157mar22,1,4608161.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Reports of sexual assaults in the military increased by about 24 percent last year and more than twice as many offenders were punished. There were nearly 3,000 sex-assault reports filed in 2006, compared with almost 2,400 in 2005, a Pentagon report said Wednesday. Action was taken against 780 people, including courts-martial and discharges.

Marine vehicle shows contract pitfalls
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/03/22/marine_vehicle_shows_contract_pitfalls/
When General Dynamics won the contract in 1996 for the Marine Corps' new amphibious vehicle, it boasted that its "breakthrough" design would allow it to deliver 17 combat-ready Marines over the waves at 20 knots, hit the beach, and then sprint into battle at up to 45 miles per hour. But $2 billion and a decade later, the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle isn't reliable enough for service -- and may never see combat. In recent water performance tests, a prototype accelerated only after the driver took his hands off the wheel, according to a December report that deemed the vehicle "unsafe for combat." The Pentagon, however, appears ready to give General Dynamics another chance.

Top

Religion

Episcopal Bishops in U.S. Defy Anglican Communion
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032102511.html
The nation's Episcopal bishops have rejected a key demand from the larger Anglican Communion, saying a plan to place discontented U.S. parishes under international leadership could do permanent harm to the American church. The rejection increases the likelihood that Anglican leaders will seek in the coming months to demote or expel the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church from the 77 million-member, worldwide family of churches descended from the Church of England.
RELATED: Episcopal-Anglican rift deepens
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-me-episcopal22mar22,1,1257025.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
RELATED: Episcopal Church Rejects Demand for a 2nd Leadership
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/us/22episcopal.html?ref=us

Mennonites leaving Mo. over photo rule
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-21-mennonites_N.htm
The grocer, the butcher, a cabinet maker and several other members of the town's Mennonite community are said to be planning to move to Arkansas over a Missouri requirement that all drivers be photographed if they want a license. The Mennonites — a plain-living sect whose members are similar to the Amish, but usually more worldly — say the 2004 law conflicts with the Biblical prohibition against the making of "graven images." "We want to respect our government. We're not trying to fight them. But we still have our beliefs," said Ervin Kropf, a bearded, overall-wearing grocer whose market draws customers from miles around for the fresh milk, brown eggs and spices supplied by his fellow Mennonites.

Top

Energy Policy

Oil Prices Rise Above $60 a Barrel
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032200323.html
Oil prices climbed above $60 a barrel in Asian trading Thursday after the U.S. government reported a greater-than-expected drop in gasoline stockpiles.

Firm stops mining at site of Sago disaster
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-21-sago-coal_N.htm
International Coal Group has stopped taking coal from the West Virginia mine where 12 men where died last year after an underground explosion. The Sago Mine was idled Monday, ICG spokesman Ira Gamm said Wednesday. He said the move was a "business decision" unrelated to the January 2006 accident. Gamm blamed weak coal prices and unproductive mining. "There are no other factors," he said. "We were mining more rock than we were coal."

Top

Transportation and Infrastructure

Jet passengers may not get to chat on cellphones after all
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2007-03-21-fcc-usat_N.htm
The once-highflying idea of letting passengers use their wireless phones on airplanes is about to be grounded. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is recommending the FCC drop its tentative plan to lift its ban on in-flight cellphone use, three agency officials say. They asked to remain anonymous because the proposal is still being considered. Most of the agency's five commissioners support the recommendation, the FCC officials say.

Top

Opinion

Editor’s note: the New York Times has converted to a subscription-based editorial section. We are no longer clipping their op-ed columnists.

Congress’s Challenge on Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/opinion/22thu1.html
The House of Representatives now has a chance to lead the nation toward a wiser, more responsible Iraq policy. It is scheduled to vote this week on whether to impose benchmarks for much-needed political progress on the Iraqi government — and link them to the continued presence of American combat forces. The bill also seeks to lessen the intolerable strains on American forces, requiring President Bush to certify that units are fit for battle before sending any troops to Iraq. Both of these requirements are long overdue. The House should vote yes, by an overwhelming, bipartisan margin.

Froomkin: Indications of Obfuscation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/03/21/BL2007032101203.html
Among the many lessons of the Scooter Libby trial is this one: That when the White House issues squirrelly statements under fire, the most cynical interpretations may well be the closest to the truth. So there's really no longer any excuse for letting President Bush get away with carefully parsed denials, hairsplitting and non-answers. In that spririt, my takeaway from Bush's comments yesterday on the firing of eight U.S. attorneys is that the president may well be aware that his critics are correct -- and that at least some of the prosecutors were ousted because top White House officials felt they had not performed their duties with sufficient loyalty to the Republican Party.
RELATED: Political Spectacle
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101974.html
RELATED: Let Rove testify
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-subpoenas22mar22,0,3403447.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail
RELATED: Let in the light
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/03/22/let_in_the_light/

Untie the Hand
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101979.html
PRESIDENT BUSH has few allies left in the stem cell debate. The mainstream of his party deserted him last year when the Republican-controlled Congress went on record opposing Mr. Bush's position on the issue. And just this week, even the president's chief of medical research criticized the administration's harmful restrictions on federal funds before a Senate subcommittee. With popular stem cell legislation all but assured to pass this year in the Democratic Congress, perhaps Mr. Bush should reconsider his position.

Morrison: The $1 federal budget
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-morrison22mar22,0,7941515.column?coll=la-opinion-center
I WAS WORKING on my taxes at the time, so I was probably already hysterical, but something on the 1040 form got me giggling: the $3 checkoff for the presidential election campaign fund. People are waging billion-dollar presidential campaigns, and I can check off a box to set aside $3 to "even the playing field"? How can that not be hilarious? In 2004, George Bush and John Kerry turned down my crummy $3 so they could bust the cap in spendthrift free-for-all primaries. Now Hillary Rodham Clinton's doing the same in the primary and general election, and Barack Obama may follow suit.
RELATED: The Much-Needed Return of Pay-Go
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/opinion/22thu2.html

D.C. Voting: A GOP Issue
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101787.html
Having personally written to President Bush and Congress numerous times over the years urging them to support voting rights for the citizens of our nation's capital, I was disheartened to learn that the Republican leadership is working to defeat legislation that would add a voting member from the District of Columbia and a voting member from Utah to the House of Representatives, and that the president is thinking about vetoing the bill. As a fellow Republican, I beseech them to reconsider.

Bookman: Slavery an integral part of nation's shared ancestry
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/bookman/stories/2007/03/22/0322edbookman.html
Nations, like families, have little secrets that everybody knows but nobody talks about. For the American family — if such a thing exists — that secret has always been slavery. Even now, the quiet consequences of slavery dog our conscience and degrade our public debate. And sometimes, it intrudes in ways we never would have anticipated.

Rashid: Musharraf at the Exit
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032101786.html
In the rapidly unfolding crisis in Pakistan, no matter what happens to President Pervez Musharraf -- whether he survives politically or not -- he is a lame duck. He is unable to rein in Talibanization in Pakistan or guide the country toward a more democratic future.

Chapman: Smile! You're on YouTube
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0703220084mar22,0,5074907.column?coll=chi-newsopinioncommentary-hed
A recent online poll by The Nation, a leftist magazine, asked readers to name her "greatest weakness." Among the choices it offered, besides her refusal to apologize for supporting the Iraq war resolution, were "her rigid, poll-driven style" and "her tendency to stomp all over her critics." Much of the support she has comes from people who wish her husband could serve a third term. But weak nostalgia is a poor campaign theme. And Clinton fails one of the most basic tests: personality. This is someone who would be in our living rooms every night for at least four years. Looking back on recent elections, the candidate who wins is usually the more likeable--Bush over Gore, Clinton over Dole, Bush over Dukakis, Reagan over Carter. Polls indicate that the aversion to Clinton is less about her politics than about her as a person, and overcoming that sentiment will not be easy. As the campaign proceeds, some people will be hoping for her to succeed. But I'm betting a lot more will be rooting for the blonde with the sledgehammer.

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