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TOP STORIES

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National

Senate to look at improper FBI spying
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-27-senate-fbi-spying_N.htm
A Senate panel wants to know if the Patriot Act needs to be revised to keep the FBI from illegally or improperly gathering telephone, e-mail and financial records of Americans and foreigners while pursuing terrorists. FBI Director Robert Mueller was to testify Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was the panel's second hearing into a report earlier this month by the Justice Department inspector general that revealed abuses in the FBI's use of documents called national security letters to gather data. The committee plans to hear April 17 from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is struggling to keep his job amid criticism of the NSL abuses and the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

More DOJ scandal news in NATIONAL/GOVERNMENT

Ordinary Customers Flagged as Terrorists
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602088.html
Private businesses such as rental and mortgage companies and car dealers are checking the names of customers against a list of suspected terrorists and drug traffickers made publicly available by the Treasury Department, sometimes denying services to ordinary people whose names are similar to those on the list. The Office of Foreign Asset Control's list of "specially designated nationals" has long been used by banks and other financial institutions to block financial transactions of drug dealers and other criminals. But an executive order issued by President Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has expanded the list and its consequences in unforeseen ways. Businesses have used it to screen applicants for home and car loans, apartments and even exercise equipment, according to interviews and a report by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area to be issued today. "The way in which the list is being used goes far beyond contexts in which it has a link to national security," said Shirin Sinnar, the report's author. "The government is effectively conscripting private businesses into the war on terrorism but doing so without making sure that businesses don't trample on individual rights."

Arab Ministers Agree To Revive Initiative For Mideast Peace
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601805.html
Arab foreign ministers agreed to relaunch a five-year-old peace initiative with Israel, including establishment of a working group to begin negotiations on the plan, according to reports from Riyadh, the Saudi capital. "The initiative includes a mechanism to promote it and gain its acceptance and especially registering it officially at the United Nations," Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told reporters. "That's what's going to happen, so that it becomes a basis and a major reference point for peace in the Middle East." Under the plan, Arab nations would recognize Israel if it gave up land occupied after the 1967 Middle East war and granted Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes lost six decades ago when Israel declared it was a state. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, traveling this week in the Middle East, has pushed Arabs to back the long-dormant plan as the basis for negotiations, not a take-it-or-leave-it proposition.
RELATED: Rice: Israeli, Palestinian Leaders Will Meet Every 2 Weeks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/27/AR2007032700421.html
RELATED: Thousands of Settlers Return to West Bank Town
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/world/middleeast/27settlers.html?ref=world

More Middle East policy news in NATIONAL/GOVERNMENT, NATIONAL/FOREIGN POLICY

9 Officers Blamed in Tillman Death, but No Coverup Found
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600731.html
A Pentagon investigation found yesterday that four senior Army officers -- including a three-star general now in charge of the military's most elite man-hunting units -- committed "critical errors" in judgment in handling the "friendly fire" death of Cpl. Pat Tillman, a former pro football star. A separate Army probe found no criminal wrongdoing in Tillman's death on April 22, 2004, in a barrage of fire from fellow Rangers on a craggy mountainside near Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. The report by the Pentagon inspector general recommended that four Army generals and five lower-ranking officers face "corrective action" for serious violations, including making false and misleading statements about what they knew about the Tillman fratricide, as well as inaccuracies in recommending Tillman, 27, for a Silver Star, the Army's third-highest combat award.
RELATED: Army lied about Tillman's death, report says
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tillman27mar27,1,4751107.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Top

Colorado

Mr. Gibbs goes to Washington
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527884
A Colorado bill designed to reduce the impact of oil and gas drilling on wildlife could serve as a model for federal law, state Rep. Dan Gibbs will tell a House committee today. Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, is scheduled to appear at a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on how a surge in oil and gas drilling in the West is affecting the environment. Gibbs' bill, which passed the state House on Monday, would require Colorado's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to consult the Colorado Division of Wildlife on the effects of drilling on such things as animal habitats and mating. Concerns about the effects of drilling have united hunting and wildlife interests, who were previous political foes.

More energy policy news in NATIONAL/ENERGY, COLORADO/ENERGY

Lawmakers unveil a record $17.8 billion state budget plan
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5445003,00.html
The Colorado legislature unveiled a record $17.8 billion spending plan for next fiscal year, but said that the state still must pinch pennies as needs and wants continue to outpace a slight bump in state revenue. This week, the Senate will take up the "long bill," the state budget for next year. The spending plan reflects a $1.3 billion, or 7.9 percent, jump in revenue. If the plan is approved, the biggest winners would include health care, public schools, higher education, renewable energy, prisons and mental health needs. Under the plan, spending would increase $185 million for public education, $52 million for health care, $52 million for higher education and $51 million for prisons. The budget also calls for opening three driver's license offices in Larimer, Jefferson and Adams counties to ease long lines and a backlog.
RELATED: Budget plan totals $17.8B
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070327_1.htm
RELATED: Lawmakers want to raise state budget $1.25 billion
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527137
RELATED: JBC submits $17.8 billion budget
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175004391/5

Supreme Court tightens rules in whistle-blower lawsuits
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CO_SCOTUS_WHISTLE_BLOWER_COOL-?SITE=COCAN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
The Supreme Court made it harder Tuesday for whistle-blowers to share in the proceeds from fraud lawsuits against government contractors. The court ruled 6-2 that James Stone, an 81-year-old retired engineer, may not collect a penny for his role in exposing fraud at the now-closed Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant northwest of Denver. Writing for the court, Justice Antonin Scalia said Stone was not an original source of the information that resulted in Rockwell International, now part of aerospace giant Boeing Co., being ordered to pay the government nearly $4.2 million for fraud connected with environmental cleanup at the Rocky Flats plant. Rockwell must pay the entire penalty anyway. The only question before the court was whether Stone would get his cut.

'Massive protests' planned
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5444632,00.html
Plans were unveiled Monday for four days of "massive protests" during the 2008 Democratic National Convention, including a four-day "festival of democracy" that may be held in Civic Center. But even as plans were laid for protests, concerns were raised about police spying on lawful dissent. The Recreate 68 Alliance, which includes several groups involved in the annual Columbus Day protests in Denver, said it would work to bring thousands of activists here during the August 2008 gathering. "You'll see large mass actions similar to the immigration rallies" last spring, predicted Glenn Spagnuolo, of the All Nations Alliance. Spagnuolo said activists had just begun meeting to plan their actions.
RELATED: Group hopes to re-create '68: Spagnuolo, others plan to protest at Democratic National Convention in 2008
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/mar/27/group-hopes-to-re-create68/

COLORADO NEWS

Top

Election

CNN pundit to head Tancredo's exploratory campaign
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_5445400,00.html
CNN commentator Bay Buchanan said Monday she will temporarily oversee the presidential campaign of Colorado Republican Rep. Tom Tancredo and has resigned from the cable network. Buchanan said her title will be senior adviser to Tancredo's exploratory committee, but she will function as campaign manager until someone is appointed to that job. Tancredo said last week he had not yet decided whether to run. "I'm certainly encouraging it," Buchanan said. She said she expects Tancredo to formally announce his plans in the next week or so. Tancredo, an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration, has described himself as an alternative for GOP voters unhappy with other Republicans. He has staked out conservative positions on social issues, opposing abortion rights, gay marriage and federal financing of embryonic stem cell research. Tancredo has conceded he is an underdog, but Buchanan said his campaign was a serious bid for the presidency and not merely an attempt to force the hands of better- known GOP candidates on immigration.
RELATED: Buchanan's sister to advise Tancredo
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5526678

Breckenridge defends cliffhanger tax election
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527129
Someone smelled a rat when a local fire department won a tax-increase election by a single vote even though a bunch of the names of those casting ballots didn't match voter rolls. Instead, the problem appears to have been only bad penmanship and sloppy transcriptions by an election judge. Skeptical about the close mill-levy election last May that resulted in an extra $900,000 in taxes annually for the Red, White and Blue Fire Protection District, a Breckenridge resident discovered numerous errors in the poll book filled out by an election judge. More than two dozen of the 255 voters' names were misspelled - including that of the fire chief's father - and two absentee voters were logged as having returned their marked ballots a day before they were actually mailed. "This is so unbelievable it almost borders on humorous," said James Parrot, a Denver attorney hired to look into the records by the district resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of recriminations.

District attorney ready to speak out
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/25888
Fighting for her political future, 14th Judicial District Attorney Bonnie Roesink said Sunday she intends to make herself available to the public and defend her prosecutorial record. "I'm here now, I'm talking," said Roesink, who's the focus of Craig resident Kathy Oberwitte's recall petition. "I'm going to try and let people know I do want my job, I do want to finish my term. ... I am proud of my record. I think I've done a very good job. "(Voters) are welcome to call with questions. I invite them to call me or come and see me at any time." Roesink addressed an array of topics Sunday concerning her tenure as district attorney and what she hopes to accomplish with continued service. She listed a 40 percent reduction in Moffat County felonies from 2005 to 2006, continued progress toward a drug court and a tough, yet even-handed, approach to prosecuting cases as highlights thus far. Oberwitte and circulators in Moffat, Routt and Grand counties allege Roesink has lead an office that lacks consistent prosecution and has been soft on crime.

The spin cycle has just begun
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070327/NEWS/70327003
The 2007 Aspen mayoral campaign is moving full steam ahead, and already the campaign styles of the three candidates are beginning to diverge. Thus far it appears Tim Semrau has a slight technological edge over Mick Ireland, who is focusing on traditional campaign literature.

City Council race expands by three
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070327/NEWS/70327001
The field for Aspen City Council mushroomed from two to five candidates Monday when Planning and Zoning commissioners Steve Skadron and LJ Erspamer and Aspen resident Michael O’Sullivan announced their intentions to run. The three latest entrants have picked up their petitions but still must collect at least 25 signatures, which the city clerk must validate, to enter the race officially. The trio joins developer Dwayne Romero and TV talk show host Andrew Kole in the run for City Council, which has two open seats.

‘Grow and be prosperous'
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/25889
Sunset Meadows hosted a number of visitors, City Council members and political hopefuls Monday afternoon as the lone scheduled forum for Craig City Council candidates took place.

No hats in the ring yet for council seats
http://postindependent.com/article/20070326/VALLEYNEWS/103260020
With a majority of Glenwood Springs City Council seats up for election this fall, the incumbents are decidedly undecided about whether they will run again. Four of council's seven seats are up for grabs this fall, and none of those seats' current occupants has decided whether to seek re-election.

Turnout strong for council vote
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070327_2.htm
With only a week remaining in Durango's City Council election, voter turnout appears strong with 1,579 of 6,932 ballots already cast, according to the City Clerk's Office.

Contractors support city’s TABOR override question
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/27/3_27_8b_TABOR_question.html
Western Colorado contractors came out Monday in support of a ballot measure asking Grand Junction voters to give up some of their tax refunds to hasten the payoff of the Riverside Parkway debt.

Top

Effective and Ethical Government

'Heavy-handed lobbying'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5444742,00.html
A lawmaker says a fellow Republican warned her she'd be a target in future elections if she supported a construction-defects bill the home builders industry opposes. Rep. Debbie Stafford, of Aurora, won't say which colleague reminded her that the industry has given money to her and other Republicans in previous elections. But the admonition from a lawmaker came amid what Stafford called the "most heavy-handed lobbying" she's felt in her seven years in the legislature. "I'm enraged beyond measure," she said Monday. "I'm not going to be blackmailed into kowtowing to anybody just because I've gotten a campaign contribution from them in the past. "My vote is not for sale." Stafford voted for the bill in committee last week. She said she doesn't care how that might affect her political future. She is term-limited next year, but has been asked to consider running for the state Senate. Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D- Denver, said he was concerned when Stafford relayed what had been said to her.

"Voodoo" politics (On the side, 3/27)
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527309
A discussion on House Bill 1036, which restricts the government's ability to acquire water rights through eminent domain, brought to mind the old Cole Porter hit "You Do Something to Me." "Water law in Colorado is pretty similar to voodoo," Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver, remarked during the Democratic caucus Monday. "Actually, a lot of people understand voodoo," Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, responded.

I SAID BILLS - NOT PILLS (Roll Call, March 27)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5444794,00.html
Rep. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, runs a housekeeping business. The other day she alarmed one of her workers when she said that she hadn't been to return her call because she had been "on the floor" all day. The worker thought Jahn had become ill.

Allard loses his communication director
http://blogs.denverpost.com/washington/2007/03/26/allard-loses-his-communication-director/
Sen. Wayne Allard’s communications director is leaving. Laura Condeluci said Monday that she’s going to work as communications director for Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn. Allard, a Republican, announced in January that he’s retiring next year at the end of his second term. Condeluci joined Allard’s staff in July 2006. Steve Wymer, Allard’s press secretary, will handle media issues after Condeluci leaves.

Former treasurer’s hearing delayed
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5443669,00.html
Former Jefferson County Treasurer Mark Paschall’s arraignment Monday was postponed until April 30 because transcripts from the grand jury that indicted him are not ready. Paschall, a Republican whose bid for a second term was rejected by voters in last summer’s GOP primary, is charged with attempted theft and seeking to profit from his tenure in office for allegedly trying to solicit a kickback from a bonus he offered his former top aide. If convicted, Paschall could face up to three years in prison. Under Colorado law, sentences for both felony offenses must run concurrently, said a spokeswoman for the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office.

Olathe mayor resigns
http://montrosepress.com/articles/2007/03/27/breaking_news/bn1.txt
Olathe Mayor Wayne Blair resigned Monday night following a meeting that included two executive sessions regarding personnel matters. "You know, some things have happened and when you're on a board you may vote 'no,' but if the board votes 'yes' then you see that those things are done," Blair said. "So we've gone in the direction that I haven't always agreed with, but I've supported the board because I'm appointed to that board." Blair's resignation follows that of parks director Don Perkins, who left within the past two weeks. Perkins attended Monday's meeting and made a blistering speech directed at board members' performance in the past year.

'Government out of control'
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070327/NEWS/103270044
Aspen City Council members took a beating Monday night as residents from across the political spectrum criticized the state of development in the city.

Top

Civil Liberties and Equality

Library board admits mistakes
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/27/3_27_1b_library.html
“To be certain that the failure to post those notices in the Central Library does not jeopardize the decisions made at those meetings, we plan to ratify those decisions at our regular meeting on March 29, 2007,” according to the letter. Although re-ratifying decisions was not described in the letter as a “mistake,” the board does admit to not posting meeting notices at the central library, where the meetings are held. “This represents a training problem,” according to the letter. “Bottom line is, OK, we assumed some of the meetings were posted. I think that was one of the mistakes,” said Bob Delavan, president of the Board of Trustees. “Even though the postings were sent out, there was an employee that couldn’t find the meeting board (at the central library).” It was Hugenberg who first began asking questions about the board’s meeting practices. His inquiries were sparked by a controversial display at the central library at 530 Grand Ave. The display has since been removed.

Top

Immigration

League plans to host immigration forum
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070327/NEWS/103270096
The Larimer County League of Women Voters will host a public forum on immigration April 23 in Fort Collins. "Civil Rights and Wrongs: the Immigration Debate" is the topic. The event will start at 7 p.m. at the Harmony Public Library, Harmony Road at Shields Street , Fort Collins. The moderator is Wendy Norris, an investigative journalist who has written about immigration issues and whose column, "Unbossed," appears in the Rocky Mountain Chronicle. She also is the managing editor of ColoradoConfidential.com and runs a national blog, Unbossed.com. Steven Shulman, Sylvia Martinez, Kim Salinas and Ernest Giron will join Norris on the panel.

Top

Health Care and Public Safety

Stricken ex-Flats engineer finally wins appeal for help
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445408,00.html
A 48-year-old former Rocky Flats engineer battling a normally fatal brain cancer learned Monday that he has won his four- year quest for help from a federal program for sick nuclear weapons workers. The program has come under heavy criticism by members of Congress for first delaying and then denying help to tens of thousands of sick atomic bomb makers. Many workers have been unable to prove that their illnesses were caused by radiation or toxic chemicals on the job because records are missing or inaccurate. Harry Charles Wolf, who has a 6-inch scar on his head, stepped forward to become a spokesman for the sick workers. He told a public hearing on the program in May that he routinely supervised demolition of one of the world's most dangerous buildings at Rocky Flats.

Test track trying to steer through Senate roadblocks
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175004391/6
It may be the premier railroad testing complex in the nation, but the Transportation Technology Center Inc., just east of Pueblo, keeps getting derailed in Congress whenever supporters try to have it included in the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium - an exclusive group of universities and test centers that provide anti-terror training.

Alzheimer's in West set to soar Aging boomers moving in droves
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527126
The Alzheimer's Association predicts the Mountain West will be the epicenter of the nation's growth in the mind-destroying disease this decade. Colorado and Alaska tied for first, with projected 47 percent increases in Alzheimer's, according to information the association released recently. Wyoming ranks fourth out of the 50 states in increases between 2000 and 2010, with a projected 43 percent increase in Alzheimer's.

Smokers' last gasp?
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5445438,00.html
A year from now, the smoking lounges at Denver International Airport might be the only public place in Colorado where smokers can light up. Under two bills on track to become law, casino patrons would no longer be allowed to smoke, and neither could customers of cigar bars and certain taverns. On Monday, the Senate gave final approval to House Bill 1269, which outlaws smoking at casinos in Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek. The Senate amended the bill to give the gaming operations a year before going smoke-free to allow owners to build outdoor patios and adjust their business plans. A separate measure by Sen. Betty Boyd, D-Lakewood, will eliminate most other exemptions in the statewide smoking ban passed last year.
RELATED: Senate OKs casino-smoke ban
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527305

Insurance for former foster kids
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5444796,00.html
Foster children in Colorado with medical problems are in for a rude shock when they turn 18. No longer wards of the state, most of them suddenly find themselves without health insurance and on their own with huge medical bills. "I was homeless and got really sick in a shelter," said Stephanie Wooten, a 20-year-old former foster child who appeared at a house committee hearing Monday. "I had an ear infection and upper respiratory infection. Two months later I got a bill for $2,000." Wooten and several other former foster kids appeared before the House Health and Human Services Committee to support a bill that would allow former foster children to receive Medicaid until they turn 21. Many of the onetime foster children are part of a group organized by Mile High United Way that is trying to help them make the transition to independence.

Bill would allow hidden addresses
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5444630,00.html
When he worked in law enforcement, Steve King saw many domestic violence and stalking victims uproot their lives and move away to protect themselves and their children. Now King, a Republican state representative from Grand Junction, has teamed with House Speaker Andrew Romanoff to propose a way to let victims conceal their addresses so they don't have to flee. In a proposal set to be considered by lawmakers today, victims of actual or threatened domestic violence, sexual offenses and stalking could apply to the secretary of state for a fake address that will appear on all public and state records. Only the secretary of state would have a record of the real address.

Fireworks bill passes Senate
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070327_8.htm
Counties will have some say about fireworks sales under a bill that passed the state Senate. Currently, cities can have fireworks restrictions tighter than state law, but counties have no such authority. On Friday, senators voted 23-11 to let counties also have that power.

Devices test offenders' sobriety
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527136
Recovering alcoholic Cris Daniel hasn't touched a drop of liquor in over four months - and he can prove it. Daniel, like hundreds of other Coloradans, is being screened by a high-tech ankle bracelet that continuously "sniffs" for alcohol in his system. The anklet - known as SCRAM, for Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor - analyzes the wearer's sweat droplets and transmits information to a computer watched by probation officers and other officials. Since SCRAM was introduced in 2003, more than 2,000 offenders in Colorado have been monitored, the manufacturer says.

Tanning-bed restrictions killed in vote
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5444797,00.html
A Senate bill that would have required a parental OK for teens to use tanning salons got burned in the House on Monday as a dozen Democrats helped Republicans kill it on final vote. "It's just the dumbest bill of the year," said House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, when asked why Senate Bill 23 died 38-27 with no debate.
RELATED: House foes fricassee teen tanning limits
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527306

Top

Crime and Penal Reform

AG goes on offense vs. Web abuse
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527113
Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales visited Denver on Monday to campaign for improved child safety against online sexual predators. Gonzales met with law enforcement leaders and high school students to ramp up the government's Project Safe Childhood initiative. He barred reporters from asking questions, declining to discuss the firing of eight U.S. attorneys that Democrats see as a politically motivated purge. Instead, the group at the U.S. attorney's office downtown previewed ads designed to persuade teens to "Think Before You Post" private information on the Internet.

Gun bill ignites rights battle
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5444740,00.html
A bill to make concealed-handgun permits issued by other states worthless to Colorado residents won first-round approval Monday in the House. But several Republicans blasted it as an attempt to erode citizens' right to bear arms. House sponsor Rep. Alice Madden, D-Boulder, said that Senate Bill 34 is needed to plug a dangerous loophole that allows mentally ill or violent offenders - who are barred from obtaining Colorado concealed-handgun permits - to simply get an out-of-state permit to legally carry a gun. She cited "disturbing" committee testimony by a Colorado man who said he could not obtain a concealed-handgun permit in this state, so he got a Florida permit and used it to take a concealed handgun into a college classroom.
RELATED: Weapons permit laws in flux
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/NEWS01/703270342/1002

Court rejects medical-testimony standard
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527125
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday that the testimony of doctors and other medical experts may be admitted at trial even though the experts can't testify that their conclusions are based on a "reasonable degree of medical certainty," the gold standard in the past. In its unanimous opinion, the high court said that the "reasonable medical certainty" standard is outdated. Rarely can anything be stated with absolute certainty, the court said.

Fiske appeals sentence in Hale death
http://montrosepress.com/articles/2007/03/27/breaking_news/bn2.txt
Hale was 36 when he died in Buckley Park in late July 2005 after a reported altercation with Fiske and Hernandez. During the incident, Fiske placed Hale in a chokehold to, he said, pull him off Hernandez. Hale collapsed and the other men, along with two who were deemed to be witnesses, left the park. According to court testimony, they thought Hale was alive when they left. But Hale died of cerebral anoxia and Fiske and Hernandez were arrested after Fiske voluntarily spoke to police. Additional testimony and reports revealed Hernandez had become upset upon seeing Hale enter a local bar. According to that information, Hernandez said Hale tried to "molest" him and suggested following the older man to "rough him up." Fiske, who apparently did not know Hernandez well, agreed to go along and, according to court arguments, suggested robbing Hale. The contents of Hale's wallet were found strewn around his body in the park; then-District Attorney Tom Raynes said in court the men had taken $8. Fiske and Hernandez were both charged with first-degree murder and robbery. Though Hale's family members said his death was a hate crime because he was gay, the DA did not charge it as such.

Officer's fatal crash reviewed
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445405,00.html
It's not uncommon for officers approaching the scene of an emergency to unclasp their seat belts so they don't become tangled with their utility belts that hold guns and radios. That may have been the case with officer Doug Byrne, who swerved to miss another car and was launched across a median to his death, Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates said Monday.
RELATED: Officer's career marked by service, sacrifice, peers say
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445409,00.html
RELATED: Aurora officer was "true hero"
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527028

Death penalty ‘not off the table’ in I-70 homicide
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/27/3_27_1A_Strawmatt_death_penalty.html
Mesa County District Attorney Pete Hautzinger said Monday he has not ruled out the use of the death penalty in the case of a Westminster man suspected of killing two 19-year-old Mesa State College students on Interstate 70 last week.

Shootings alarm cops
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445407,00.html
Two masked men exchanged a glance and a nod before opening fire on a group of college students who had turned over their wallets and cell phones, a man who was with the victims said Monday. The cold-blooded manner of the gunmen alarmed police, who said they may have shot three other men in less than a week, sometimes without robbing them. The three wounded college students, who remained hospitalized Monday, gave Denver police descriptions of the suspects that matched those in three previous predawn shootings. "Someone knows who's doing this, and they need to come forward," said Denver police spokeswoman Virginia Quiñones.

6 cops assigned to patrol problem areas downtown
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445437,00.html
Downtown Denver can be downright scary. Though crime has decreased slightly in recent years, the city's urban core still attracts drug dealers, aggressive panhandlers, drunks and other lawbreakers. The illegal activity, long the source of business owners' complaints, is getting a dose of blue. Two weeks ago, the police department deployed six officers to patrol the area on foot, increasing the existing law enforcement presence of patrol cars, the downtown motorcycle unit and the mounted horse patrol. It's the first time in many years that police have had a dedicated foot patrol downtown.
RELATED: More police added to foot patrols in downtown core
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527124

Pueblo police officer receives deferred sentence in DWAI case
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175004391/11
A Pueblo police officer has returned to duty after pleading guilty in Pueblo District Court to driving while ability impaired. Officer Brian Thurston, 29, a three-year veteran of the force, received a deferred sentence in the case. Thurston was off-duty the night of Feb. 10 when cited for DWAI and speed exhibition after fellow officers stopped him driving a Ford Mustang in Downtown. He appeared to be racing another car and was squealing his tires, according to reports.

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Economy

Monopoly bill covers rural Colorado
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070327_3.htm
Rural retailers will once again be covered by a change to the state's monopoly law. Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, had won approval of an exemption for rural counties from the bill, which would make it harder for retailers to prove their competitors are trying to drive them out of business by selling their products below cost. But House sponsors insisted that the bill should apply to the whole state. On Friday, the Senate gave in and voted 25-9 to send the bill to Gov. Bill Ritter. The bill got started after a City Market in Montrose - in Isgar's district - lost a court case for selling its gas for less than it paid.

She raised red flag often, ex-CFO Szeliga testifies
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5444968,00.html
Former Qwest Chief Financial Officer Robin Szeliga warned Joe Nacchio repeatedly in late 2000 and early 2001 that the company would have trouble meeting its 2001 revenue projections, Szeliga testified at the CEO's insider-trading trial Monday. The warnings started in September 2000 and included "a lengthy argument" that lasted until almost 3 a.m. one day in June 2001, she said. But it wasn't until Sept. 10, 2001 - more than a year after Szeliga first raised a red flag - that Nacchio lowered the guidance to Wall Street, from the earlier range of $21.3 to $21.7 billion to a new target of $20.5 billion. In the meantime, prosecutors say, Nacchio was selling his stock at a pace faster than ever before, grossing nearly $101 million between January and May 2001.
RELATED: Defense objects to testimony, wants mistrial
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5444969,00.html
RELATED: Nacchio deaf to aides' warnings
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5526800
RELATED: Early witness spurs request for mistrial
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5526799
RELATED: Special coverage: Nacchio on trial
http://cfapp2.rockymountainnews.com/business/nacchio/

Janus CEO earned $10.7 million in 2006
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/money/article/0,2777,DRMN_23908_5444594,00.html
Gary Black received compensation of $10.7 million in 2006, his first year as chief executive of Denver-based mutual fund company Janus Capital Group. Black, who joined Janus in April 2004 as president and chief investment officer and took on the CEO job in January 2006, was paid a salary of $800,000 and received $8.6 million under a nonequity incentive plan, according to the company's proxy filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The latter and bigger piece of his pay included a $3.8 million bonus and $4 million from a one-time fund performance award granted when he arrived at the company.

'06 compensation for United's Tilton: $40 million
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/airlines/article/0,2777,DRMN_23912_5444587,00.html
United Airlines CEO Glenn Tilton received a compensation package last year worth an estimated $40 million in salary, stock awards and perks such as a car and driver, according to documents filed with federal regulators. Tilton, who navigated the company through a contentious three-year bankruptcy, received $687,083 salary in 2006, a proxy statement filed Monday shows. Most of his compensation - roughly $38 million - came in the form of stock options and awards, which vest over a four-year period and could be worth more or less depending on the share price at the time they are exercised.
RELATED: United paid CEO $23.8 million last year
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5526817

Town interviewed VF juror alternate
http://telluridegateway.com/articles/2007/03/27/news/news01.txt
Just after the trial to value the Valley Floor ended with an utter defeat for Telluride, town lawyers collected a stinging story from one of the alternates on the jury. In an affidavit, the alternate juror, Maxine Eisele, said her fellow jurors had been biased against Telluride’s case, and had wanted to punish the town for pursuing the land through an eminent-domain taking. After a two-week trial last month, the jury valued the land at $50 million — the exact sum its owners had sought. Eisele signed the two-page affidavit immediately after the trial, but it has not been publicly discussed or disclosed until now.

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Housing and Homelessness

February new-home sales rebound
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5526798
New-home sales dipped drastically across much of the country in February, except in the West, where sales rebounded from the previous month, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Sales of new single-family homes fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 848,000 in February, down 3.9 percent from 882,000 in January and the slowest annual pace since June 2000. Economists had forecast an annual sales rate of about 1 million units in February. New-home sales in the West bucked the downward trend, rising 24.6 percent month-over-month. That followed a 25.8 percent month-over-month drop in January. The 14-state West region includes Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico.

Housing costs force some to streets
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070326/NEWS/70323024
It is not her resume detailing 20 years of experience in clerical work, the way she talks about her overweight cat as though he were her child, or even the way she looks that makes employers deem Dawn Rothschild undesirable as an employee. It’s the fact that she’s homeless. Home sweet home, for now, is a 1994 Ford Ranger pickup truck with an extended cab, Rothschild said. “I know what the perception is, and that’s just not me,” Rothschild said. “I lost my job, haven’t been able to get a new one and I lost my apartment. I didn’t waste all my money on bad habits.” There are many homeless — loosely defined as anybody who lives in a car, a tent, on the street or living temporarily in other people’s homes — who have substance abuse problems or mental health disorders, said Tsu Wolin-Brown, community caseworker for The Salvation Army. There are more, however, whose problems are strictly financial and are aggravated by the high price of housing in Eagle County, Wollin-Browin said.

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Media

EchoStar to FCC: Reject Liberty-DirecTV deal
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5444552,00.html
Liberty Media's proposed purchase of a majority stake in satellite-TV provider DirecTV raises "serious public interest concerns" and should receive close scrutiny, rival EchoStar warned. EchoStar, operator of the Dish Network, on Friday told the Federal Communications Commission to reject Liberty Media's proposed $11 billion asset swap for News Corp.'s 39 percent DirecTV stake unless there are safeguards to "ensure that consumers and the programming market are not adversely affected."

Southern Colorado Press Club names media award recipients
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175004391/14
James Amos of The Pueblo Chieftain reporting staff was one of numerous award winners at the annual Southern Colorado Press Club Sheepdip awards dinner held Saturday at Colorado State University-Pueblo. Amos won the feature writing "Woolley" for “A Night In The E.R.” An article told from the perspective of patients, EMT personnel, physicians and nurses while giving the readers a time line to follow the events.

Vehix.com ad created by Denver agency
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5444585,00.html
The agents could be moving through Any Airport USA as they hand off the newspaper that conceals the key to the locker that holds the briefcase with the secret document inside. Music pulses and suspense builds until the last agent retrieves the case and reveals the treasure, the new J.D. Power automotive ratings. Then he heads out the door marked 617, thus revealing another mini-mystery in the 30-second Vehix.com spot by Denver- based Morey Evans Advertising - the blue circle around the number gives away the agent's location as Denver International Airport. The national spot, airing in 63 markets with 29 million households, was indeed filmed in Denver, as was the second installment, which tracks the briefcase and the agent through a snowy downtown.

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Education

Committee approves makeover for school report cards
http://summitdaily.com/article/20070326/NEWS/103260078
A House committee approved a measure on Monday that would revise the school report cards sent home to parents on the quality of public schools. The House Education Committee approved the plan (House Bill 1345), which supporters said would make it easier for parents to understand School Accountability Reports and ensure greater access by making them available online. It now goes to the House Appropriations Committee. "It has been my longtime goal to make the School Accountability Reports more useful and meaningful to both parents and teachers. I want to shed more light on school performance," said Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs.

More time needed to assess Hope
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527138
The quality of Hope Co-op Online Learning Academy's academic program cannot be assessed from one year of CSAP data, education analysts said Monday. Officials at the fast-growing online school said last month that students had shown "dramatic improvement" in math and science scores on Colorado Student Assessment Program tests after enrolling at Hope. However, a recent analysis by the Colorado Children's Campaign reached the opposite conclusion, saying that Hope student performance declined.

Regents shorten dismissal process
http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2007/03/26/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt
The CU Board of Regents last week shortened the time it takes to fire a tenured professor. The new changes will tighten dismissal proceedings to fewer than six months. Some have criticized the “dismissal-for-cause” process for allegedly dragging on too long. Critics cite the case of tenured CU ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill, who has been subject to a dismissal-for-cause proceeding since last June, as an example of a process that needs to be condensed.

CMC conducts resident survey about campus
http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/mar/27/coming_door_near_you/?local_news
Community needs are important to Colorado Mountain College administrators, which is why Steamboat Springs residents will be surveyed about their perception of the local community college. CMC staff and volunteers will be going door-to-door in Steamboat to ask residents about the college and to listen to suggestions for the future. The surveyors will be walking through neighborhoods from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. April 4. “I’d like to get feedback from the community on what they’d like to see at our campus,” said CMC Alpine Campus Dean Kerry Hart.

New Boulder school boss was there all the time
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445603,00.html
One of the highest performing school districts in the state searched the nation for its next superintendent, then decided on one of its own, former Boulder High School Principal Chris King. "He's open and approachable and invested in our Boulder community," Boulder Valley School District board President Helayne Jones said in explaining why King was right for the job. The seven-member board announced King's selection last week.

More PSD grads going to college; many stay within city
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/NEWS01/703270339/1002
Four out of five Poudre School District graduates go on to attend college, and many of them are staying close to home to do it. That's the news the Poudre School District Board of Education heard Monday night regarding the district's five-year post-secondary attendance records.

St. Vrain growth may slow
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/mar/27/st-vrain-growth-may-slow/
The St. Vrain Valley School District is predicting enrollment growth will slow slightly, though fast-growing Erie and parts of Longmont are expected to continue to pump up student numbers. The district is projecting about 540 more students — 23,817 altogether — for the next school year, based on building permits, birth rates, current enrollment and other data. That projected 2.3 percent growth rate is down from this year's 2.8 percent increase. The projections will be presented to the school board at its Wednesday meeting.

Expulsion policy reviewed
http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/mar/27/expulsion_policy_reviewed/?local_news
The number of students expelled in the Steamboat Springs School District is minimal, but the School Board has deemed the issue important enough to re-examine the district’s policy on suspension and expulsion. The School Board would like to make it easier for an expelled student to earn his or her way back into the traditional school setting than the current policy states. The current policy allows expulsion for a semester but no longer than a year, mirroring state statute 22-33-105.

Boy's mom: Discipline 'broke spirit'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445406,00.html
The nightmares for DeUndre Williams have all been the same for the past week. The 7-year-old finds himself inside his Denver school and his teacher is using tape to cover his mouth. "I don't want to do anything no more," the now quiet boy said. The dreams stem from an encounter DeUndre had last Thursday with his second-grade teacher at Oakland Elementary School who used tape to discipline him and another boy. "There's enough bullies in school for a parent to be worried about than what the teacher is doing to your child," said DeUndre's mother, Gina. She agreed to talk if the Rocky Mountain News withheld her last name. She has a different last name than her child.

Slain student's kin back officers' actions
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445604,00.html
The family of Platte Canyon High School student Emily Keyes said late Monday that law enforcement officers and the campus administration "did all of the right things" as they dealt with the hostage-taking that ended in Emily's death. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation prepared a report about the Sept. 27 incident and the response by Park County sheriff's deputies to the standoff with a gunman, who held seven hostages, including the 16-year- old Keyes, inside a classroom. Duane Morrison, 53, also sexually assaulted some of the hostages. He shot and killed himself after shooting Keyes.

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Military

‘I’d rather it be me over there’
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070326/NEWS/70326019
Bethany Tharp is outnumbered. On Friday, the lone female in her seven-member household was seated at a picnic table at Two Rivers Park in West Glenwood, the males in her family surrounding her. All six of them. There’s her husband, Army Staff Sgt. Trent Tharp, who’s home on leave from Iraq for two weeks to see their 3-month-old son Grayson for the first time. And don’t forget 13-year-old Taylor, 12-year-old Shea, 9-year-old Kobe and 6-year-old Breccen. “It’s very hectic with five boys,” Bethany Tharp said. “It takes a lot to be a military wife and raise your family alone.” Trent Tharp is well aware how much his family misses him when he’s deployed overseas. This is his second tour of duty in Iraq — the first was in 2004.

GJ woman admits Iraq story false
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/27/3_27_1A_False_Iraq_story.html
A Grand Junction woman “honestly believed” she had been in Iraq, where she recounted in vivid detail an attack that she said left her with a brain injury and her driver dead. Amorita Randall’s story was one of several in The New York Times Magazine’s March 18 edition, “The Women’s War.” Randall’s story, at least as far as the Iraq part goes, is untrue, the magazine acknowledged on Sunday and Randall, 27, said on her MySpace page. “I guess that my memories of Iraq are not real and that the medal I was given was in error,” Randall wrote. “I’m sorry if I offended anyone. I honestly believed that I was in Iraq.” Randall did serve with the Seabees in the Navy and was raped twice once in Gulfport, Miss., and once in Guam — according to the story and according to her fiancé, Gregory Lund.

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Religion

Priest guilty of sexually assaulting youth
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445404,00.html
A jury in Larimer County on Monday convicted former Catholic priest Timothy Evans of sexual assault on a child. Evans, 44, is the first priest to be convicted in Colorado since sweeping allegations of abuse by the clergy surfaced nationwide in 2002, leading to broad reforms within the church. The jury found Evans guilty of pinning a 17-year-old boy while wrestling with him on his bed in the church rectory then caressing him under his boxer shorts. They found him guilty on one other occasion of grabbing the boy's buttocks with both hands for 20 seconds while hugging him goodbye. The jury was handed the case late Friday afternoon and recessed for the weekend. It reached its decision after about two hours and 20 minutes of deliberation Monday.
RELATED: Ex-priest guilty of sex assault
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527030
RELATED: Evans faces at least 10 years in prison
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/NEWS01/703270335/1002
RELATED: Parishioners await impact on church
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/NEWS01/703270338/1002

Cleric accused (Briefing, March 27)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445411,00.html
A Lakewood minister has been accused of sexually assaulting two children 10 years ago while they attended a day care his wife ran in their home. Stephen J. Heese, 52, was charged Feb. 14 in connection with the case and is scheduled to appear in court in Jefferson County today on four felony charges. The alleged victims, a 16-year- old girl and a 19-year-old boy, are siblings. The pair contacted police last year, saying they were assaulted between 1992 and 1994. Heese, pastor of The Church in South Denver, denies the allegations. His church is supporting him, said Ray Brown, a church elder.Heese is free on $25,000 bail.
RELATED: Lakewood preacher faces child sex-assault charges
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527114

Parish votes to secede
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5444795,00.html
The governing board of one of Colorado's largest Episcopal parishes voted Monday to secede from the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado and from the national church as well. At the same time, the Rev. Don Armstrong took back control of the 2,000-member Grace and St. Stephen's parish in Colorado Springs, which he lost in December, when Bishop Rob O'Neill launched an investigation into what the diocese called "misapplied funds."
RELATED: Parish panel votes to exit state diocese
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5527029

A 'TOP 50' RABBI (EXTRA!, March 27)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5445436,00.html
22 Rank of Boulder-based Rabbi Zalman Schacter-Shalomi in the April 2 issue of Newsweek, which lists the top 50 rabbis in America. Schacter-Shalomi said he's excited that by being one of the top 50 rabbis, Jewish Renewal may find a wider audience: "I think Jewish Renewal is the upcoming way for American Jews to become involved in religion and spirituality. You often find people interested in one or the other, but very seldom do you find both religion and spirituality combined."

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Energy Policy

Senate approves bill making gas-production records public
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070327_5.htm
The state Senate on Monday gave final approval to a bill requiring the release of more information about oil and gas production. Royalty owners complain that they don't know if they're getting their fair share from oil and gas companies, because they can't check the companies' production information. And last summer, the state auditor said the state lacks controls to make sure it's getting fair payments on severance taxes. The bill, House Bill 1142, guided through the Senate by Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, lets the Department of Revenue look at companies' private documents. It lets members of the public see copies of oil and gas companies' land-value records.

Wells closer to nuclear blast site
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/27/3_27_3a_Rulison_gas_well.html
Natural-gas drilling is edging closer to a possibly radioactive area around the Project Rulison nuclear blast site, a resident said Monday. The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission continued a request Monday from Noble Energy for 40-acre surface spacing and 10-acre down hole, or underground, spacing that could see a well drilled within three-quarters of a mile of the blast site, said Commission Director Brian Macke. Project Rulison was an 8,426-foot-deep underground explosion of a 43-kiloton nuclear bomb in 1969 meant to free gas reserves. After the blast, the Energy Department burned 455 million cubic feet of gas and found no radioactivity above background levels.

Trio posing rare challenge in election
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5526681
A trio of renewable-energy advocates are challenging incumbent directors for election to the board of the state's largest electric cooperative. The challengers hope to change Intermountain Rural Electric Association's high-profile opposition to renewable-energy mandates. "We think we need to be looking forward instead of backward," said Jake Meffley, one of the candidates. "We'd prefer IREA to be leading the way on renewable energy and energy efficiency, yet it seems to be leading in the opposite direction." Meffley is running against director Sid Hanks of Strasburg, who has served for 20 years on the IREA board. "I want to provide our customers with the best possible service at the lowest possible cost," said Hanks, a retired large-animal veterinarian. "I don't have anything against renewables - they have their place - but they shouldn't be mandated." Another of the challengers, Mike Kempe, said he seeks more member input in board meetings and an easier way for members to contact directors.

Mulberry Corridor's future look is about alternative energy
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/NEWS01/703270353/1002
Good things are coming to the Mulberry Corridor, local property owners say. The stretch of Mulberry Street - also known as Colorado Highway 14 - between Interstate 25 and Lemay Avenue is ripe for development in the coming years, with some projects already making their way through governmental planning processes. The key to making it all come together is tapping into the right energy, as in alternative fuels and financing, said participants in a Monday evening open house sponsored by the Mulberry Corridor Owners Association.

For 8th week in row, prices at pump rise
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/energy/article/0,2777,DRMN_23914_5444597,00.html
Colorado's pump prices on Monday rose for the eighth week in a row, with nervous motorists bracing for more increases in the coming weeks. The average statewide price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas hit $2.573, according to AAA Colorado, 3 cents above last week's level and nearly 30 cents higher than a month ago. Prices for higher grades are 20 cents to 30 cents a gallon above the regular unleaded price. And the rally could be gaining strength.

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Transportation and Infrastructure

Gov. Ritter completes 30-member panel on transportation; summit April 5
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5444799,00.html
Gov. Bill Ritter on Monday named 27 members to a transportation panel that will study how to fix and build Colorado's roads in the face of dwindling gas tax revenues. He also unveiled the agenda for his "Bridges to the 21st Century" statewide transportation summit next week. It is set for April 5 at the Brown Palace. Ritter last month appointed the three co-chairs of the panel: Doug Aden, Colorado Transportation Commission chairman; Cary Kennedy, Colorado treasurer; Bob Tointon, president, Phelps-Tointon Inc. Monday, he named the remaining members as well as a technical advisory committee.

‘River of revenue’ to be discussed on Wednesday
http://summitdaily.com/article/20070326/NEWS/70326011
Silverthorne town officials are inviting the business community to attend its annual breakfast on Wednesday in hopes of explaining the impacts Interstate 70 has on the town. To do so, the town invited Russell George, executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation to speak on the subject and answer questions from attendees. Silverthorne Town Manager Kevin Batchelder — who calls I-70 a “river of revenue” — said a main goal of the town is to get more visitors passing through Summit County to stop in Silverthorne, whether at the Factory Stores or more north toward Kremmling.

A wait on the wings
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5526797
The new Airbus A380 double-decker super-jumbo jet could land at Denver International Airport should an airline choose to fly it here, airport officials say. Airbus and German airline Lufthansa have been eager to show off the plane, which can seat 550 passengers. They debuted it this month by landing in New York, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles. The tour will end Wednesday in Munich, Germany. Denver was not on the U.S. itinerary, but before the jets could land on a regular basis, the airport would require improvements on the airfield and in the concourse at a cost of $13.8 million.

Top

Environment and Conservation

Water group takes fight to state
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070327/NEWS/103260106
A group representing farmers along the South Platte River will meet with state officials today to ram home the point that the shutdown of irrigation wells along the river is paramount to a crisis. The Water Users Defense committee, which represents farm families and organizations reliant on more than 1,000 wells along the river, is calling on Gov. Bill Ritter and the Colorado legislature to fix what it calls a "broken system." Arnold Good, who farms between Fort Morgan and Brush, in the heart of Morgan County, is chairman of the group. The group, he said, formed last October when the Central Colorado Water Conservancy District board decided to cut its water replacement plan from 440 wells to about 200 in an attempt to get that plan through the court.
RELATED: Well trial resumes in Weld court
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070327/NEWS/103260105

Lower Ark ponders lawsuit over Aurora deal
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175004391/1
The Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District is contemplating a lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation following the final environmental assessment on a proposed 40-year contract that allows Aurora to store and exchange water in the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. “I am personally very disappointed that the Bureau of Reclamation made this decision,” Lower Ark President John Singletary said Monday. Singletary is in Washington, D.C., talking the members of Colorado’s congressional delegation this week. At least two congressmen, U.S. Reps. John Salazar and Mark Udall, both Democrats, opposed Reclamation’s release of the environmental assessment last week.
RELATED: Aurora Bureau's next step: contract
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175004391/2

River district urges planning for drier future
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/27/3_27_1b_river_roundtable.html
A call on the Colorado River could be decades away, but with less water forecast to flow in the river in the coming years, cities and towns on the Western Slope should plan for water shortages anyway — especially if they have junior water rights. That was the message Colorado River Water Conservation District General Manager Eric Kuhn gave the Colorado River Roundtable on Monday as the river district prepares to kick off a study of how much water regional energy development will need, and the Legislature considers a potential water availability study on the Western Slope.

Water board funds area projects
http://postindependent.com/article/20070327/VALLEYNEWS/103270037
The Colorado Water Conservation Board awarded more than $4 million in grants for 15 water-related projects across the state this month, including a study of water demands on the Roaring Fork River. The CWCB has allocated $40 million over four years for water projects.

Group seeks to protect Uncompahgre River
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/03/27/3_28_3a_River_savers.html
After more than 300 willow and cottonwood trees were stripped from the banks of the Uncompahgre River to make room for the River Landing shopping mall last fall, a local group has been working with the city to see that it doesn’t happen again. A lack of continuity has marked development along the section of the Uncompahgre River that runs through Ouray, Montrose and Delta counties, said Elizabeth Roscoe, a board member of Friends of the River Uncompahgre. She said she would like to see a master plan for the river developed in Montrose County and in coordination with the other counties.

Forest Service eyes rafting operations
http://summitdaily.com/article/20070326/NEWS/103260081
Although he says it's still a bit too early to be thinking about runoff levels, Frisco raft guide Chris "Campy" Campton is getting excited about the possibility of offering a two-hour run on Tenmile Creek, from Officers Gulch downstream to Dillon Reservoir. "It's a hoot," he said of the swift stretch of whitewater. Working closely with Frisco officials, Campton hopes to offer the trip on weekdays this spring, ending with a happy hour appetizer at the Island Grill. For now, he's still waiting for Forest Service approval for the new run, and the agency is still in the process of taking public comment through April 16. According to a Forest Service press release, the run would be approved under a temporary permit that would limit the operation to four boats and one kayak launch per day.

State officials to discuss limiting fish consumption at Horsetooth Reservoir
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070326/NEWS/70326014
State officials will host a public meeting to discuss recommendations to limit the consumption of certain fish caught at Horsetooth Reservoir. The state health department issued the advisory in January after elevated mercury levels were detected in fish collected at the reservoir. The meeting will be 6:30 p.m. March 28 at the Fort Collins City Hall, 300 Laporte Ave. More information on other fish advisories can be found at http://www.cdphe.state.co.us.

Sand crops up in another stream
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070326/NEWS/70326030
Between Loveland Pass and Keystone, there are numerous places along U.S. Highway 6 where traction sand has covered broad swaths of national forest, ultimately ending up in the north fork of the Snake River. That stretch is one of the cleanest Snake River tributaries, with no history of being damaged by mining activity. “Fine sand completely smothers the stream,” said Ken Neubecker, vice president of Colorado Trout Unlimited. “And that’s where the bugs live. You’re basically knocking the bottom out of the food chain.”

Easements protect river
http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070327_1.htm
After living on her Mancos farm for 42 years, Marilyn Colyer is happy the land she has grown to love will stay the way it is today - forever. The property, which is bisected by the Mancos River, will remain a home for deer, turkeys, hawks, frogs and the countless number of other wildlife that make their homes in the property’s 105 acres of canyons, pastures and riparian habitat. “That makes me feel pretty good,” Colyer said. Colyer is one several landowners along the Mancos River who have given up the right to develop their land and entered into conservation easements with the Montezuma Land Conservancy.

Erie landfill to receive multi-year makeover
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15411
The Front Range Landfill will begin a years-long transformation within weeks, officials with the company say. Landscaping will begin on the Erie landfill in April, said Tom Miller, a vice president with Republic Services, which owns the facility. The 52 acres along the southern edge of the landfill is permanently closed and covered, Miller said.

Panel backs $4M open space deal
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15413
The county would pay $4.75 million to buy 429 acres of vacant backcountry property west of Boulder under a proposal the county Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee endorsed last week. The property, now owned by Tom and Karen Benjamin, is adjacent to the northwest portion of the county’s Betasso Preserve. Fourmile Creek runs through the proposed open space acquisition. The property includes parts of the Arkansas Ridge and Arkansas Mountain, which the county staff calls “significant parts of the mountain vista from the eastern portion of Boulder County.”

Top

Opinion

Littwin: Gonzales in town, but he's not in an answering mood
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_86_5445004,00.html
Questions. Like you, I have questions. And, as it happened, Alberto Gonzales, the man with many of the answers, was in town. How lucky could I get? So, I rushed over to the U.S. attorney's office, where the attorney general was leading a roundtable discussion on the sexual exploitation of children on the Internet. I had notebook and tape recorder in hand, ready to fire away - once I got past the bomb-sniffing dog, anyway. Actually, I knew better. I had already learned that the notebook and tape recorder were not needed. The attorney general, we had been informed, would not be taking any questions - not on child exploitation, not on fired U.S. attorneys, not on bomb-sniffing dogs, not on anything else.
RELATED: Focus should remain on reasons for firings
http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=opin&article_path=/opinion/opin070327_1.htm

Abramoff scandal just won't go away
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5527995
Former Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles' guilty plea to obstruction of justice last week marked another disgraceful chapter in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal. It also served as a reminder of how poorly the Interior Department and thus the West have been served during the Bush administration's six years in office. Griles became the highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted in connection with Abramoff - a still-unraveling scandal that has tentacles all over Washington. The former No. 2 at Interior, previously a coal-industry lobbyist, pleaded guilty to lying to a Senate committee about his relationship with Abramoff, the disgraced former lobbyist now serving time for fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion.

Campos: Confess your hypocrisy
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23972_5444663,00.html
Al Gore told a Senate committee last week that we're facing a planetary crisis because we're putting too much carbon into the atmosphere. Sen. James Inhofe responded by inviting Gore to pledge to use no more energy than the average American. It's been reported the Gore family mansion uses more electricity in a month than the typical American family uses in a year. Furthermore, Gore often flies in a private jet, which any serious environmentalist must concede is one of the most inefficient uses of energy imaginable. Gore refused Inhofe's invitation, and pointed out that he and his wife live what he calls a "carbon-neutral" lifestyle, by "purchasing verifiable reductions in CO2 elsewhere." That Inhofe is an aggressively ignorant demagogue (he claims global warming is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people") who was trying to embarrass Gore with a cheap publicity stunt shouldn't obscure the fact that the distinguished gentleman from Oklahoma has a point.

Going after graffiti
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/editorials/article/0,2777,DRMN_23964_5444660,00.html
Though Denver city workers removed record-setting levels of graffiti last year - more than 3 million square feet, a 23 percent increase over 2005 - spray-painted vandalism continues to blight the city. Graffiti is a serious public nuisance. Once a single tag defaces a wall or a fence, it can attract a multitude of others. And the mere presence of graffiti in a neighborhood can invite additional crimes against people and property. A task force convened last year of office-holders, city workers, police, neighborhood associations and other residents has met for several months to consider and recommend changes in city ordinances that would crack down on taggers.

Warning for pet-food makers
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5528005
People love their pets. They pamper them, talk to them and frequently consider them part of the family. That bond with our pets explains why the recent poisoning deaths of at least 15 cats and one dog and the sickening of untold numbers of others from eating tainted pet food has resonated throughout the country. Investigators are scrambling to pinpoint how and why pets began suffering kidney failure after eating pet food brands containing a protein filler made by Menu Foods of Canada. Assuredly, regulators will look to ascribe blame, and perhaps they'll propose rules to guard against such tragedies in the future. But in the end, market forces may deliver the biggest punishment to Menu Foods.

NATIONAL NEWS

Top

Election

Edwards gains support as he remains in the race
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-26-poll-edwards_N.htm
Americans by 2-to-1 support the decision by former North Carolina senator John Edwards to stay in the Democratic presidential race even though his wife, Elizabeth, has been diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer. However, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds that more than a third of those surveyed believe that Edwards eventually will be forced to withdraw from the campaign because of her illness. The telephone poll of 1,007 adults was taken Friday through Sunday, just after John and Elizabeth Edwards held a news conference Thursday in Chapel Hill, N.C., to reveal her diagnosis and discuss the decision to stay in the presidential race.

Iowa's Vilsack endorses Hillary Clinton for 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600742.html
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, who dropped his brief presidential bid last month, endorsed Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's candidacy for the White House on Monday. "This is the person to be the next president of the United States," Vilsack said at a news conference with Clinton. "She is tried, she is tested and she is ready." Vilsack said the endorsement was in part a result of the former first lady's fund-raising efforts on his behalf during his first campaign for governor in 1998. "In politics, loyalty is a commodity that is rare," Vilsack said.
RELATED: Clinton promises universal health care if elected
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-26-clinton-healthcare_N.htm
RELATED: Mindful of Past, Clinton Cultivates the Military
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/us/politics/27brass.html?ref=washington

Obama appearance draws crowd, money
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/03/26/0327natobama.html
About 600 contributors turned out Monday evening for Barack Obama's first Atlanta visit as a Democratic presidential candidate. Organizers said they expected to raise more than $500,000, the most for a Democratic presidential contender in Atlanta since a fund-raiser for John Kerry after he won the party's nomination in 2004. "There were a lot more people in that room than some of us thought there would be," Atlanta attorney Mark Tripp said after a $2,300-per-person VIP reception at the Hyatt Regency hotel, which was followed by a $500-per-head rally. The event was closed to the press, but Kirk Dornbush, one of the organizers of the event, said Obama assured the audience at the rally that he wasn't there just to raise money.

Breaux Waits For Ruling on La. Candidacy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602024.html
Former senator John Breaux (D-La.) will run for governor this November -- assuming the state's top cop lets him. State Rep. Eric LaFleur (D) has asked state Attorney General Charles Foti (D) to issue a ruling on whether Breaux meets the residency requirements to run for governor. Breaux could not ask for the opinion on his own because he is not an elected official. To be a gubernatorial candidate under the state's constitution an individual must have been a "citizen" of Louisiana for the past five years. Breaux is registered to vote in Maryland, which Republicans believe disqualifies him as a candidate. Democrats are seeking to clarify what citizenship in a state means, arguing that Breaux owns property in the state, on which he pays taxes.

Top

Effective and Ethical Government

Republicans Soften Stance on Pullout Language
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601923.html
Unwilling to do the White House's heavy lifting on Iraq, Senate Republicans are prepared to step aside to allow language requiring troop withdrawals to reach President Bush, forcing him to face down Democratic adversaries with his veto pen. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) announced the shift in strategy yesterday, as the chamber took up a $122 billion war spending package that includes a target date of March 31, 2008, for ending most U.S. combat operations in Iraq. The provision, along with a similar House effort, represents the Democrats' boldest challenge on the war, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown with Bush over an otherwise popular bill to keep vital military funds flowing.
RELATED: Democrat Proposes Making Withdrawal Date Secret
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602034.html
RELATED: Republicans to Rely on President Bush’s Veto to Block Troop Withdrawal Plan
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/washington/27cong.html?ref=washington

'Billboard King' Reid Looks to Leave Mark on Senate War Funding Measure
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602025.html
In a (quite) large sign that protecting U.S. troops isn't the only thing on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's mind these days, the Nevada Democrat inserted an item into the Senate's Iraq war funding bill -- safeguarding billboards. Senate debate began yesterday on the bill, which provides $122 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; sets a goal of March 31, 2008, for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq; and -- if Reid has his way -- allows thousands of billboards destroyed by bad weather to be rebuilt.

Democrats' budget relies on empty reserves
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-budget27mar27,1,2795346.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Democrats are pushing a budget through Congress that appears to make room for more spending for some of their favorite domestic programs — without cutting defense, raising taxes or deepening the deficit. It sounds too good to be true. Republicans say it is. The House and Senate versions of the budget depend on "reserve funds" to pay for additional spending for such programs as children's healthcare and farm aid. With the reserve funds, Congress can avoid the hard choices that drawing up any budget, whether it's for a household or the federal government, usually entails. There's only one catch: The reserve funds are empty. If Congress wants to fill them, it will have to do what it has tried to avoid: cut from defense or domestic programs, raise taxes or borrow the money and drive up the deficit.

Aide to Gonzales Won't Testify
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600935.html
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales's senior counselor yesterday refused to testify in the Senate about her involvement in the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Monica M. Goodling, who has taken an indefinite leave of absence, said in a sworn affidavit to the Senate Judiciary Committee that she will "decline to answer any and all questions" about the firings because she faces "a perilous environment in which to testify." Goodling, who was also Justice's liaison to the White House, and her lawyers alleged that Democratic lawmakers have already concluded that improper motives were at play in Justice's dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys last year. Goodling also pointed to indications that Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty blames her and others for not fully briefing him, leading to inaccurate testimony to Congress.
RELATED: GOP Groups Told to Keep Bush Officials' E-Mails
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601979.html
RELATED: Gonzales aide to invoke Fifth Amendment
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-26-fired-prosecutors_N.htm
RELATED: Poll backs subpoenas of Bush aides
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-26-poll-bush-aides_N.htm

Capitol Police Arrest Webb Aide on Gun Charges
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601101.html
An aide to Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) was charged this morning with trying to carry a loaded pistol into the Russell Senate Office building, Capitol Police said. The gun was discovered as the staffer passed through an x-ray machine at the C Street entrance at about 10:30 a.m., said Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, spokeswoman for the Capitol Police. He also had with him two fully loaded magazines, police said. He was arrested and charged with carrying a pistol without a license, as well as being in possession of an unregistered firearm and unregistered ammunition. In a prepared statement, Webb's office identified the man as Phillip Thompson, and said he is a former Marine.
RELATED: Senator’s Aide Held on Gun Charge
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/washington/27webb.html

Smithsonian Taps Scientist As Acting Secretary
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601883.html
Samper replaces Lawrence M. Small, who resigned Saturday morning after a stormy tenure that culminated in congressional questioning about his $2 million in personal expenses over the past six years. In reaching out to Samper, who has been with the Smithsonian in Washington for four years, the Board of Regents skipped over two levels of bureaucrats who outrank him. However, Roger W. Sant, chair of the regent's executive committee, also heads the board of the Museum of Natural History -- a position in which he worked closely with Samper.
RELATED: Smithsonian's Small Quits in Wake of Inquiry
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600643.html
RELATED: Smithsonian head resigns under fire
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-smithsonian27mar27,1,6451669.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

Top

Civil Liberties and Equality

Australian's Guilty Plea Is First at Guantanamo
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602439.html
Australian David M. Hicks pleaded guilty to one charge of material support for terrorism during a brief military hearing Monday night, becoming the first Guantanamo prisoner to officially accept criminal responsibility for aiding terrorists since the detention facility opened more than five years ago. The plea during the first day of hearings under the Military Commissions Act of 2006 marks a victory for the Bush administration, which is now likely to secure a conviction in the first case it pursues under Congress's new rules. Col. Ralph H. Kohlmann, the military commission's presiding officer, has not accepted the plea but is expected to do so in hearings this week. Military commission officials here said Kohlmann and lawyers for both sides will work out details of Hicks's plea. Then a full military commissions jury panel will meet to decide on a sentence. Hicks faces a possible life term, but prosecutors said in recent days that they probably will not seek a term longer than 20 years.
RELATED: Plea of Guilty From Detainee in Guantánamo
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/washington/27gitmo.html

State apologizes for role in slavery
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703270068mar27,1,540339.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Maryland lawmakers approved an apology Monday for the state's role in the slave trade, expressing "profound regret" that it once "trafficked in human flesh." Maryland follows Virginia in issuing a formal apology.

Top

Foreign Policy

Khalilzad warns Iraqis of lagging U.S. support
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-envoy26mar26,1,2929940.story?coll=la-headlines-world
Outgoing U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad warned Iraqi leaders today that they risked losing the support of an impatient U.S. population if they don't "step up and take the tough decisions necessary for success." He also said that U.S. and Iraqi officials had opened talks with representatives of some Sunni Arab insurgent groups in hopes of forging a united front against Al Qaeda in Iraq. Khalilzad, who is President Bush's nominee to represent the U.S. at the United Nations, leaves Iraq this week after 21 months. He will be replaced within days by Ryan Crocker, who most recently served as the American ambassador to Pakistan.

An Enclave of Normalcy in Fearful Baghdad
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602196.html
In front of a blue metal gate, women in black abayas clutch food ration cards and exhibit a confidence rarely felt in the Iraqi capital. They will feed their families tonight. Several yards away, men sit behind wooden desks poring over hundreds of colorful folders, one each for Shiite families forced to flee their homes. Every family will be given a new life. This busy office in the heart of the vast Shiite slum of Sadr City is not an arm of the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Nor is it a relief agency. It is the domain of the 33-year-old Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Here, Sadr doles out aid to his neediest followers, from cradle to grave, filling a void in a desperately uncertain country. "We get no help from Maliki. Only Sayyid Moqtada helps us," said Saleh al-Ghathbawi, a tall, balding clerk in a blue tracksuit, using the honorific that signifies Sadr's descent from the prophet Muhammad.

Proposed Iraqi Law Would Restore Jobs For Baath Members
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602176.html
Iraq's prime minister and president have approved a draft law allowing many former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party to return to their government jobs, and it could be voted on this week, officials said Monday. The legislation, seen by the United States as crucial to pacifying Iraq, will go to parliament as soon as it is reviewed by cabinet officials, said Ahmed Shames, a spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the U.S.-led occupation authority stripped thousands of members of Hussein's ruling Baath Party, most of them Sunni Arabs, of their government jobs. The law has been a target of criticism by the minority Sunnis, whose most aggrieved elements have fought a bloody insurgency against the Shiite-led Iraqi government and U.S. forces.
RELATED: Iraqis Announce New Steps Aimed at Reconciling Sunnis and Shiites
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/world/middleeast/27iraq.html?ref=world
RELATED: Insurgents report a split with Al Qaeda in Iraq
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-insurgents27mar27,1,6678163.story?coll=la-headlines-world

Iran strikes softer tone on British captives' fate
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703260504mar27,1,6181030.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Iran said Monday that it was questioning 15 British sailors and marines to determine if their alleged entry into Iranian waters was "intentional or unintentional" before deciding what to do with them, a sign it could be seeking a way out of the standoff. The two countries continued to disagree about where the military personnel were seized Friday, with Britain insisting they were in Iraqi waters after searching a civilian cargo vessel and Tehran saying it had proof they were in Iranian territory. Britain's Defense Ministry said they were seized in the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway flowing into the Persian Gulf that marks the border between Iran and Iraq. But the dividing line in the waterway, known in Iran as the Arvand River, has long been disputed.
RELATED: Iran: British sailors being treated humanely
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-03-27-iran-uk-sailors_N.htm
RELATED: Stalemate persists over seized Britons
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/03/27/stalemate_persists_over_seized_britons/

RELATED: U.S. launches huge show of force in Persian Gulf
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-03-27-us-persian-gulf_N.htm
RELATED: U.S. Long Worried That Iran Supplied Weapons in Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/world/middleeast/27weapons.html?ref=world

Russia, China prod Iran to heed the UN
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703260501mar27,1,5001379.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
The presidents of Russia and China on Monday called on Iran to fulfill the UN Security Council's demands over its disputed nuclear program, indicating impatience from Iran's two closest allies over its continued defiance. The joint call from Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao came a day after Iran announced it was partially suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency in response to the latest Security Council sanctions. The U.S. said Iran's move was a "step in the wrong direction."

Apathy Marks Constitutional Vote in Egypt
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601656.html
Magdi Riyadh entered the sun-washed schoolyard at the Talaat Harb High School at noon Monday to vote on amendments to Egypt's constitution that the government has called a step toward democratic reform. Opponents have derided the measures as a charade aimed at fortifying the state's already unassailable authority and repressing the country's powerful Islamic opposition. For an hour, no one else came. In the end, his name was registered elsewhere, and he didn't vote. Neither did Samar Ahmed, tending her stationery store down the street, past lonely posters calling the referendum a vote "for the sake of Egypt's future." She had no idea what the amendments were about. Nor did Hassan Shafei, running a store for auto parts.
RELATED: Few Egyptians vote on amendments
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-referendum27mar27,1,7614034.story?coll=la-headlines-world

Aid to Darfur Is Imperiled, Officials Say
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/world/africa/27darfur.html
It was supposed to be a top United Nations official’s first visit to a camp for Darfur residents chased from their homes by the grim conflict here, but it did not begin or end well.

Bank Blocks Plan to Release Frozen Funds to North Korea
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/world/asia/27korea.html
A largely foreign-owned North Korean bank has emerged as a major obstacle to a deal that would allow six-party negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program to move forward. The agreement between the United States and North Korea for the release of $25 million frozen for 18 months in accounts in a Macao bank has been rejected by the North Korean bank, Daedong Credit Bank, the largest single account holder. In two letters sent to the Monetary Authority of Macao, the bank has said that it will take legal action if any of its frozen funds are moved in accordance with the agreement reached between American and North Korean nuclear disarmament negotiators. The bank is based in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

Japan leader offers fresh apology
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703260502mar27,1,5394596.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Japan's nationalist prime minister Monday offered his clearest apology yet to women who suffered in the country's World War II military brothels, but he did not bow to international pressure to acknowledge that the military forced thousands into sexual slavery. Shinzo Abe's apology came three weeks after he set off a furor by saying there was no evidence showing the women were coerced, backtracking from a previous government admission that the Japanese military forced women to work at brothels for its troops.

N. Ireland Foes Reach Accord
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600343.html
Two men who represent both extremes in Northern Ireland's deep sectarian divide sat down together for the first time on Monday, and their once-unthinkable meeting produced a landmark deal to form a local government in which Protestants and Catholics will share power. Northern Ireland was transfixed by televised images of Ian Paisley, the province's most outspoken Protestant political leader, and Gerry Adams, a Catholic and reputed former commander in the Irish Republican Army, sitting side by side reading statements pledging mutual cooperation. For four decades, Paisley has called Adams a "terrorist" and referred to Pope John Paul II as the "antichrist," while Catholics have publicly accused Paisley of inciting violence against them.
RELATED: N. Ireland gets historic agreement
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/03/27/n_ireland_gets_historic_agreement/

Separatists Slip in Quebec Vote
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602119.html
Voters in Quebec on Monday refused to endorse another campaign for independence from Canada for the French-speaking province. Only about 28 percent of voters cast ballots in the provincial National Assembly election for the once-powerful Parti Quebecois, which had called for a third attempt to pass a referendum on Quebec sovereignty, according to results with nearly all votes counted. But voters also took away the majority rule of the Liberal Party government. The ballot results will require the Liberals and a surging middle-of-the-road party, Action Democratique du Quebec, to negotiate an alliance to govern in the province's parliament. The Liberals won about 33 percent of the vote, barely ahead of the ADQ, which won about 31 percent.
RELATED: Liberal Party wins minority governing mandate in Quebec
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-03-27-quebec_N.htm

Top

Immigration

Report finds flaws in tracking of deportees
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-26-deportee-tracking_N.htm
Teams assigned to make sure foreigners ordered out of the USA actually leave are grappling with a backlog of more than 600,000 cases and can't accurately account for the fugitives' whereabouts, the government reported Monday. The report by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general found that the effectiveness of teams assigned to find the fugitives was hampered by "insufficient detention capacity, limitations of an immigration database and inadequate working space." Even though more than $204 million was allocated for 52 fugitive operations teams since 2003, a backlog of 623,292 cases existed as of August of 2006, the report said.

Top

Reproductive Choice

Liberal Mexican Catholic group announces support for legalized abortion
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexabortion27mar27,1,179748.story?coll=la-headlines-world
A liberal Latin American Roman Catholic group published a paid ad defending abortion in national Mexican newspapers today, a day after several thousand people summoned by Mexico's Catholic Church protested against a proposal to legalize the procedure. "The decision to interrupt a pregnancy is a serious ethical dilemma," the non-governmental organization, Catholics for the Right to Choose, wrote in the ad. "Women who resort to this option don't do it with joy in their hearts; they do it as a last resort after considering all of the consequences, and they make the decision responsibly, according to their conscience." Mexico's largest leftist party, the Democratic Revolution Party, supported by smaller opposition forces, has proposed a law both in the Mexico City legislature and in the national Congress that would legalize abortion in the first three months of pregnancy.

Top

Health Care and Public Safety

IG Criticizes Work On Wireless Network For Law Enforcement
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602052.html
The federal government has spent $195 million on a long-promised wireless radio network for the nation's law enforcement agencies that is at "high risk of failure," the Justice Department's inspector general reported yesterday. Inspector General Glenn A. Fine blamed delays, funding shortfalls and infighting among the Justice, Homeland Security and Treasury departments, whose 81,000 agents are expected to use the $5 billion system when it is completed by 2021.

Heart Attack Study Casts Doubt On Routine Use of Angioplasty
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600700.html
Propping open clogged arteries with a tiny wire-mesh tube called a stent is no better at reducing the risk of heart attack or death in patients with stable heart disease than treatment with medications, according to a large new study that challenges routine use of a procedure that rapidly became standard medical practice. The study of more than 2,000 patients found that those who underwent the expensive procedure, known as angioplasty, in non-emergency situations were no less likely to suffer a heart attack or die than those who took only aspirin and other medicines to lower blood pressure and cholesterol and prevent clots, along with adopting lifestyle changes.
RELATED: Angioplasty no better than drugs, study says
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/03/27/angioplasty_no_better_than_drugs_study_says/

House passes animal fighting bill
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-03-26-animal-fighting_N.htm
The House passed legislation Monday clamping down on animal fighting, agreeing to tougher penalties that would make it a felony to transport animals across state lines for fighting. The bill passed 368 to 39 following floor debate in which no member spoke out against it. That was a sharp contrast to a contentious Judiciary Committee meeting last month, in which some anti-abortion lawmakers argued that the legislation elevated the lives of chickens over unborn babies.

N.Y. lab conducting more pet food tests
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-27-pet-food-tests_N.htm
The laboratory that identified the poison believed to be responsible for the death of pets around the country has started testing individual components of the tainted pet food to determine which ingredient was contaminated, officials said Monday. Scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory on Friday identified aminopterin as the likely culprit in a poisoning scare that prompted the recall of 95 brands of "cuts and gravy" style dog and cat food.

Top

Crime and Penal Reform

Juvenile justice on trial in Texas: Thousands of youths could be set free
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0703260781mar27,1,1719988.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
The sentences of many of the 4,700 delinquent youths being held in Texas juvenile prisons might have been arbitrarily and unfairly extended by prison authorities and thousands of youths could be freed in a matter of weeks as part of a sweeping overhaul of the scandal-plagued system, officials say. Jay Kimbrough, a special master appointed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to investigate the system after allegations surfaced that some prison officials were coercing imprisoned youths for sex, said he would assemble a committee to review the sentence of every youth in the system.

Va. nixes bills to expand death penalty
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-26-virginia-death-penalty_N.htm
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced Monday he had vetoed five bills that would have expanded the crimes punishable by death in Virginia, the state second only to Texas in executions. "While the nature of the offenses targeted by this legislation are very serious, I do not believe that further expansion of the death penalty is necessary to protect human life or provide for public safety needs," the Democratic governor said in a statement. Kaine vetoed bills that would have automatically made capital crimes of killing judges or witnesses to influence a judicial outcome, and arranging murder-for-hire. Another bill would have extended eligibility for the death penalty to those who plan or arrange for others to carry out a killing.

Supreme Court to review child pornography law
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-porn27mar27,1,2803456.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to consider reviving part of a new federal law that makes it a crime to send computer messages that offer child pornography, even when no pornography exists. Last year, a federal appeals court in Atlanta struck down the provision on free-speech grounds and said it reached too far. The judges said the law could be read to make it illegal for a grandparent to send a message that said, "Good pics of kids in bed," when he was referring to innocent photos of his grandchildren in their pajamas. But Justice Department lawyers called that example far-fetched, and said it should not stand in the way of a needed measure to combat trafficking in child pornography.

Nagin: Guard still needed in N.O.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-26-nagin-guard_N.htm
Mayor Ray Nagin said Monday that he wants the National Guard and state police to stay in New Orleans through the end of the summer to help fight crime, though he'll need a fresh commitment from Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Nagin wants Blanco to keep the 60 state troopers and 300 National Guardsmen in the city past the June 30 deadline to help the depleted police department patrol the streets of hurricane- and crime-devastated New Orleans.

Top

Economy

Justices Revisit Manufacturer's Right to Set Retail Price of Goods
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601582.html
For nearly 100 years, the Supreme Court has held that manufacturers cannot dictate a minimum retail price for their goods. But the current justices seemed divided yesterday about whether the time has come for a change. The justices held a lively session -- at times more like a debate -- on whether the 1911 ruling that economists and lawyers refer to as the Dr. Miles decision is a relic of a U.S. economy that no longer exists, or is an important protection that has saved consumers billions of dollars. A California women's accessories company, backed by the Federal Trade Commission and the Bush administration, is challenging Dr. Miles's holding that agreements between companies and retailers that goods will not be sold below a certain price constitute a per se-- that is, automatic -- violation of antitrust laws.
RELATED: White House prods justices into retail arena
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-scotus27mar27,1,4485517.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
RELATED: Justices Hear Arguments About Pacts on Pricing
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/business/27bizcourt.html

Reagan Budget Head Stockman Is Charged With Fraud
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600518.html
David A. Stockman, a chief architect of President Ronald Reagan's economic revolution turned Wall Street money man, was indicted Monday on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud and obstruction of justice. Stockman, 60, who faces the prospect of three decades in prison, is accused of defrauding investors and banks during his stewardship of Collins & Aikman, a large Southfield, Mich., auto-parts maker that descended into bankruptcy in 2005.

Citigroup to Cut at Least 10,000 in an Overhaul
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/business/27bank.html?ref=business
Under pressure from investors, its chairman and chief executive, Charles O. Prince III, will either layoff or reassign more than 26,000 jobs as part of a broad effort to cut costs and streamline the bank’s unwieldy global operations. Citigroup is planning to shed 10,000 to 12,000 jobs this year, according to people briefed on the situation. Some 14,000 additional positions will be lost to attrition or relocated from high-cost locations — including London, Hong Kong and New York, where the company is based — to less expensive areas like India, Buffalo, Cincinnati and northern New Jersey. Roughly 8 percent of the company’s 327,000 employees, fanned out across the globe, could be affected.

Intel to Build Advanced Chip-Making Plant in China
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/technology/27chip.html?ref=business
Intel has already labeled it “Fab 68,” the $2.5 billion chip-manufacturing plant that is set to become the company’s first major production site in Asia. There are only seven other Intel wafer fabrication facilities like it in the world, mostly in the western United States. But after negotiating with the Chinese government and also getting United States government approval to produce sophisticated equipment here, Intel said it was simply time to move some production of 300-millimeter wafers to China. “China is our fastest-growing major market, and we believe it’s critical that we invest in markets that will provide for future growth to better serve our customers,” Paul S. Otellini, the president and chief executive of Intel, said in a statement.

Kodak quits Better Business Bureau over customer complaints
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2007-03-26-kodak-better-business_N.htm
Eastman Kodak (EK), the company famed for generations of priceless photos, has resigned from the national Council of Better Business Bureaus after the consumer protection group started expulsion proceedings against the firm, the council announced Monday. The alleged offense? Refusing to provide information about the resolution of consumer complaints relayed to Kodak by the regional Better Business Bureau that covers the firm's Rochester, N.Y., headquarters.

Top

Worker's Rights and Corporate Accountability

GOP May Have to Swallow Tough Labor Terms for Trade Deals
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601646.html
As the Bush administration this week pursues a breakthrough with Democratic leaders aimed at gaining congressional approval for new trade agreements, the fate of the deals appears to hinge on whether Republicans are willing to accept tough labor conditions that they assert could boost the power of unions in the United States. The Bush administration needs congressional blessings for recent trade deals with Peru, Colombia and Panama, as well as another pact still being hammered out with South Korea. The administration is also seeking the extension of the president's fast-track authority -- the right to negotiate trade deals, then submit them to Congress for a simple up-or-down vote without amendments. That power expires at the end of June. Democrats assert that recent pacts such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement have encouraged the shift of factory work to poor countries where labor is cheap because laborers are exploited. These agreements have mandated only that American Trade partners enforce their own laws, even if those laws are weak. House leaders have demanded that new deals include the core principles of the International Labor Organization, a U.N. body in Switzerland that seeks to improve the lot of workers.

Stock Bonuses at American Anger Pilots
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/business/27air.html?ref=business
It may look like chicken feed in this era of mammoth executive pay packages, but a combined $21 million in stock payouts to five top executives at American Airlines is looming large in labor talks with pilots still angry about pay concessions made four years ago.

Top

Housing and Homelessness

Drop in Sales Of New Homes Clouds Revival
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032600466.html
Sales of new homes plummeted in February for the second consecutive month, an unexpected drop that dashed hopes of an imminent recovery in the housing market. The Commerce Department reported yesterday that sales of new single-family houses dropped 3.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 848,000. Although the monthly decline was significant, even more telling was that it represented an 18.3 percent plunge from the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 1.04 million in February 2006. The median sales price was also down from the year before, to $250,000 last month, compared with $250,800. The median is the point where half the houses sell for more and half for less.

Lennar scraps outlook as quarterly profit falls
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/27/AR2007032700630.html
Lennar Corp.(LEN.N), the No. 3 U.S. home builder, said on Tuesday quarterly profit tumbled a further-than-expected 70 percent, reflecting the downward spiral of the U.S. housing market. The company does not expect to achieve its 2007 earnings goal and did not set a new target. It said the subprime lending crisis exacerbated housing market weakness. "Until we see prices stabilize... we will not be able to project the timing or the scope of margin recovery," Stuart Miller, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Cities set limits on serving food to homeless people
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-26-homeless-laws_N.htm
Cities are cracking down on charities that feed the homeless, adopting rules that restrict food giveaways to certain locations, require charities to get permits or limit the number of free meals they can provide. Orlando, Dallas, Las Vegas and Wilmington, N.C., began enforcing such laws last year. Some are being challenged. Last November, a federal judge blocked the Las Vegas law banning food giveaways to the poor in city parks.

Top

Military

Marines Call 1,800 From Ready Reserve
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601580.html
The Marine Corps is recalling 1,800 reservists to active duty, citing a shortage of volunteers to fill some jobs in Iraq. Members of the branch's Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) will receive letters this week about plans to mobilize them involuntarily for a year, said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Riehl of Marine manpower and reserve affairs.

Chopper pilot heads back to a riskier Iraq
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-blackhawk27mar27,1,7894548.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
A Black Hawk pilot waits to return to Iraq, where 8 U.S. helicopters have gone down this year. He doesn't dwell on the risks, but his family can't help it.

Top

Religion

For Some Black Pastors, Accepting Gay Members Means Losing Others
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/us/27churches.html?ref=us
When the Rev. Dennis Meredith of Tabernacle Baptist Church here began preaching acceptance of gay men and lesbians a few years ago, he attracted some gay people who were on the brink of suicide and some who had left the Baptist faith of their childhoods but wanted badly to return. At the same time, Tabernacle Baptist, an African-American congregation, lost many of its most loyal, generous parishioners, who could not accept a message that contradicted what they saw as the Bible’s condemnation of same-sex relations. Over the last three years, Tabernacle’s Sunday attendance shrank to 800, from 1,100.

Jewish seminary to admit gays
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-briefs27.1mar27,1,5048801.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
The major seminary and flagship institution of Conservative Judaism said in New York that it would start accepting openly gay and lesbian students, after scholars who interpret Jewish law for the movement voted to allow it.

Faith and work collide in Minneapolis
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-somali27mar27,1,5477731.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
"GET OVER IT," urged the posting on an online bulletin board, "you are in America act like an American!!" The anger was directed at Somalian immigrants who have roiled this city by declaring certain jobs offensive to their Muslim faith. Many Somalian cabdrivers — who dominate the airport taxi business — refuse to transport passengers carrying alcohol. Some Somalian cashiers will not handle pork products; instead, they've begun asking customers to scan their own bacon. To the immigrants, it's a question of religious freedom — and protecting themselves from sin. "This is not something we are choosing to do. It's part of our religion," said cabdriver King Osman, 37. "It's forbidden to carry drink. Forbidden!" This attitude has outraged many longtime Minnesotans. The widespread response: This is America, and you're free to practice your faith. You're not free to inconvenience others because of those beliefs.

Top

Energy Policy

Bush, Auto CEOs Meet on Alternative-Fuel Access
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601786.html
Detroit's automakers yesterday urged President Bush to help improve consumer access to ethanol and biodiesel fuels in an effort to reduce the nation's consumption of gasoline. After a meeting with Bush at the White House, chief executives G. Richard Wagoner Jr. of General Motors, Alan R. Mulally of Ford and Tom LaSorda of Chrysler said few pumps at U.S. service stations deliver alternative fuels. "We are willing to lead the way, but we need government and fuel providers to increase infrastructure before we can make a meaningful impact," the executives said in a joint statement. The auto executives, who met with Bush in November, said that by 2012 they plan to have doubled production of flex-fuel vehicles that run on an ethanol-gasoline blend called E85. The executives also were committed to increasing production of vehicles that are powered by other biofuels.
RELATED: Bush, automakers pump flex-fuel
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-03-26-bush-flexfuel_N.htm

Average gas price jumps three cents from last week
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2007-03-26-gas-prices_N.htm
After a short nap, the seasonal increase in gasoline prices seems to have awakened refreshed. The average for a gallon of unleaded regular was $2.61, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Monday. That's up 3.3 cents in a week and is 11.2 cents more than a year ago, says EIA, the statistics arm of the Energy Department.
RELATED: Crude oil prices near $63 a barrel on latest Iran tensions
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2007-03-26-oil-mon_N.htm

Tough Days to Be a French Oilman
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/business/worldbusiness/27total.html?ref=business
Christophe de Margerie, the new chief executive of Total, France’s largest corporation and one of the world’s big energy companies, was formally placed under investigation last week on suspicion of paying bribes to win a huge gas project in Iran. It was an ignominious moment for Mr. de Margerie, an heir to the Taittinger Champagne empire and a man of aristocratic lineage. The mustachioed 55-year-old executive (Le Monde likened his appearance to that of a head waiter at a big Parisian brasserie) spent a night in jail before being taken to the Palace of Justice for a long day of questioning.

Top

Environment and Conservation

Heat Invades Cool Heights Over Arizona Desert
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/us/27warming.html?ref=us
High above the desert floor, this little alpine town has long served as a natural air-conditioned retreat for people in Tucson, one of the so-called sky islands of southern Arizona. When it is 105 degrees in the city, it is at least 20 degrees cooler up here near the 9,157-foot summit of Mount Lemmon. But for the past 10 years or so, things have been unraveling. Winter snows melt away earlier, longtime residents say, making for an erratic season at the nearby ski resort, the most southern in the nation. Legions of predatory insects have taken to the forest that mantles the upper mountain, killing trees weakened by record heat. And in 2003, a fire burned for a month, destroying much of the town and scarring more than 87,000 acres. The next year, another fire swept over 32,000 acres. "Nature is confused,” said Debbie Fagan, who moved here 25 years ago after crossing the country in pursuit of the perfect place to live. “We used to have four seasons. Now we have two. I love this place dearly, and this is very hard for me to watch.”

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.

Dionne: An Antiwar Tide on The Rise
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601578.html
Within three weeks, the United States could face a constitutional crisis over President Bush's war policy in Iraq. The president and his allies seem to want this fight. Yet insisting upon a confrontation will be another mistake in a long line of bad judgments about a conflict that grows more unpopular by the day. Last week's narrow House vote imposing an August 2008 deadline for the withdrawal of American troops was hugely significant, even if the bill stands no chance of passing in the Senate this week in its current form. The vote was a test of the resolve of the new House Democratic leadership and its ability to pull together an ideologically diverse membership behind a plan pointing the United States out of Iraq.

Robinson: The Multipolar Presidency
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601579.html
Coherence has never been the strong suit of George W. Bush's rhetoric. His line about how sometimes you have to "catapult the propaganda," my favorite Bushism of all time, may be one of the most off-the-wall presidential utterances ever. But the Decider's policies, however unfortunate, at least used to be pretty much of a piece. Not any more. Increasingly, the president seems pushed and pulled in contradictory directions, not so much by the Democratic majority on Capitol Hill but by his own Cabinet members and other appointees. The president comes out every once in a while to make a show of steely resolve, as he did last week in support of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. But then he retreats and leaves the decidin' to others.
RELATED: Froomkin: Who's Scripting Gonzales?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/03/26/BL2007032600680.html
RELATED: Time for Answers
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/opinion/27tue1.html

The Police and the Spy Unit
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/opinion/27tue2.html
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s city attorneys are fighting the release of police surveillance records related to the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City by arguing that the public might misinterpret them or the news media will “fixate upon and sensationalize” them. Those are the risks we take in a democracy.

Intolerable Darfur
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601687.html
EUROPEAN UNION leaders spoke out strongly on Darfur at a summit in Berlin on Sunday. "The situation," said British Prime Minister Tony Blair, "is intolerable. . . . The actions of the Sudanese government are completely unacceptable." "The suffering is unbearable," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "I want to state frankly that we have to consider stronger sanctions." It took less than 24 hours for the backing down to start.

Paisley, Adams together at last
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/03/27/paisley_adams_together_at_last/
THE POLITICAL conflict in Northern Ireland, grounded on opposing interpretations of history, does not yield itself to easy resolution, and it is usually reasonable to be wary of the latest supposed breakthrough. But the decision of the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein to work together on one controversial local issue suggests that they are ready to form a coalition government. For the Democratic Unionists, the connection with Britain is a sacred bond, and the Irish Republican Army is a gang of murderers. Sinn Fein regards the British as alien occupiers and believes the IRA was right to seek reunification with the rest of Ireland. The 1998 Good Friday agreement, under which the government is to be formed, was written for more moderate parties. But Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams and the DUP's Ian Paisley were sitting side by side yesterday -- a first -- because each had discovered the delights of political power.
RELATED: Letting Go of an Ancient Quarrel
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/opinion/27tue3.html

Greenway: Tribute to a uniter of Europe
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/03/27/tribute_to_a_uniter_of_europe/
IT WAS appropriate that the European Union's 50th birthday party took place in Germany, the source of so much destruction in the 20th century, and now, arguably, the most amenable to the sublimation of self in favor of a European identity. But the real beginning of Europe's U-turn away from malignant nationalism toward peaceful, economic cooperation began in France after the last of Europe's great civil wars in 1945.

Birnbaum: Lobbying Is Lucrative. Sometimes Very, Very Lucrative.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032602027.html
Lobbyists, as they say, make the big bucks. That's why so many lawmakers, congressional staffers and political appointees move downtown when they leave government. So just how lucrative is it? Well, pretty lucrative. According to new data from the Center for Responsive Politics, 22 clients paid $1 million or more in lobby fees to individual lobbying firms last year. Three of the biggest payments went to the usual suspects: Patton Boggs, Hogan & Hartson and DLA Piper -- all major law firms. But two of the top five recipients were small shops you have probably never heard of: Canfield & Associates and New Frontiers Communications Consulting.

Cohen: Obama's Back Story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/26/AR2007032601583.html
This tendency to manipulate facts may bear watching in Obama. (After all, we hardly know him.) But while his book is a warning flag, it is also an astounding display of a supple, first-class mind -- not merely a bright fellow, but an insightful one, and the single best piece of writing by a politician since John F. Kennedy's "Profiles in Courage." JFK, of course, is the politician to whom Obama is most often compared -- the wit, the physical grace, the eloquence, the youth. That's understandable, but superficial. The politician who really understood that life should unwind like a movie -- the arc, the reveal, the back story, etc. -- was Ronald Reagan. He always starred in his own movie and so, it seems, does Obama.

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