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National

4 Years After Hussein's Fall, Regret in Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040801058.html
"We got rid of a tyrant and tyranny. But we were surprised that after one thief had left, another 40 replaced him," said Jubouri, who is a Shiite Muslim. "Now, we regret that Saddam Hussein is gone, no matter how much we hated him." His faith in the United States has also vanished, he said. But he still has a passion for one thing uniquely American: the Harley-Davidson. On the wall of his cluttered office, next to medals he won as a champion weightlifter, hangs a tapestry emblazoned with an American flag, a bald eagle, a Harley and the words: "Born in the USA." On most days, however, he cannot afford to buy gas for his own Harley, a 1982 Fat Boy. His country today is politically fractured and struggling to find direction. He has seen four Iraqi governments since the fall of Hussein. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have died. At least 3,260 U.S. soldiers have been killed. But the numbers that most directly affect Jubouri are these: Seven of his relatives and friends have been killed, kidnapped or driven from their homes. He gets four hours of electricity a day, if he's lucky. The cost of cooking gas and fuel have soared, but his income is a quarter of what he used to earn.
RELATED: Rally Marks Anniversary of Baghdad's Fall
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040900062.html
RELATED: Iraqis Protest U.S. Occupation of Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/world/middleeast/09cnd-iraq.html?hp

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

With rise in desertions, Army cracks down
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/09/with_rise_in_desertions_army_cracks_down/
Army prosecutions of desertion and other unauthorized absences have risen sharply in the last four years, resulting in thousands more negative discharges and prison time for both junior soldiers and combat-tested veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Army records show. The increase in prosecutions is meant to serve as a deterrent to a growing number of soldiers who are ambivalent about heading -- or heading back -- to Iraq and might be looking for a way out, several Army lawyers said. Using courts-martial for these violations, which before 2002 were treated mostly as unpunished nuisances, is a sign that active-duty forces are being stretched to their limits, said military lawyers and mental health specialists.

RELATEDL: Recruiting can lead to payouts
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-07-cash-for-recruits_N.htm

Counselor To Gonzales Announces Resignation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040600512.html
The senior counselor to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales submitted her resignation yesterday, becoming the third high-ranking Justice Department aide to quit in the aftermath of the firings of eight U.S. attorneys. The departure of Monica M. Goodling, 33, comes two weeks after she first refused to answer questions from Congress about the firings, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Goodling's resignation also comes amid signs of sinking morale in some U.S. attorney's offices. In Minneapolis, three top managers staged a revolt Thursday, choosing to demote themselves rather than work for the newly confirmed U.S. attorney there, who is a former Gonzales aide, officials said. The department was so alarmed that it sent a Washington-based Justice official to Minneapolis this week to try to talk the three out of their plans, officials said.
RELATED: Attorney Inquiry Touches a Pillar of New Mexico
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/washington/08domenici.html

More DOJ scandal news in NATIONAL/ELECTION

GOP-issued laptops now a White House headache
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-na-laptops9apr09,0,4563806.story?coll=la-home-headlines
When Karl Rove and his top deputies arrived at the White House in 2001, the Republican National Committee provided them with laptop computers and other communication devices to be used alongside their government-issued equipment. The back-channel e-mail and paging system, paid for and maintained by the RNC, was designed to avoid charges that had vexed the Clinton White House — that federal resources were being used inappropriately for political campaign purposes. Now, that dual computer system is creating new embarrassment and legal headaches for the White House, the Republican Party and Rove's once-vaunted White House operation. Democrats say evidence suggests the RNC e-mail system was used for political and government policy matters in violation of federal record preservation and disclosure rules.

Top

Colorado

Ranchers and Army Are at Odds in Old West
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/us/09hearing.html?ref=washington
Mack Louden worries that his 30,000-acre ranch sits in the cross hairs of the Army’s plans to expand its Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site at Fort Carson, and he, along with other Colorado ranchers, are increasingly upset about the idea. “Where we live, how we live, it’s all going to die a slow death if the Army gets our land,” said Mr. Louden, a fourth-generation rancher from Las Animas County, along the southern edge of the state. He and other ranchers are to testify on Monday before a committee of state lawmakers in support of a bill that seeks to keep the Army from acquiring nearly a half-million acres it says it needs to train soldiers in the nuances of modern warfare. Colorado law grants the federal government permission to condemn land for some purposes, like building courthouses and post offices. And the Defense Department lifted a moratorium this year on land acquisitions to allow the Piñon Canyon expansion.
RELATED: Ranchers protest proposed Army training site expansion
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5472642,00.html
RELATED: Ranchers seek state shield
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5624166

U.S., China Got Climate Warnings Toned Down
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040600291.html
Some sections of a grim scientific assessment of the impact of global warming on human, animal and plant life issued in Brussels yesterday were softened at the insistence of officials from China and the United States, participants in the negotiations said. In particular, U.S. negotiators managed to eliminate language in one section that called for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, said Patricia Romero Lankao, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., who was one of the report's lead authors. In the course of negotiations over the report by the second working group of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, U.S. officials challenged the wording of a section suggesting that policymakers need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because countries will not be able to respond to climate change simply by using adaptive measures such as levees and dikes.
RELATED: Climate report cites risks for Colorado
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5469993,00.html
RELATED: West gets dire global warming warning
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5617476

More climate change news in NATIONAL/ENVIRONMENT, COLORADO/ENVIRONMENT

Bills would provide business oversight
http://www.gazette.com/articles/bill_21036___article.html/bills_naturopathic.html
Five professions that could be licensed for the first time in Colorado if bills continue to advance: athletic trainers, landscape architects, mortgage brokers, naturopathic doctors and plumbing contractors. It isn’t just professions that are being targeted by new regulations this year. Previously unregulated activities have at least been part of the debate. One unsuccessful bill would have required teens who use tanning beds to get permission slips from parents or doctors, and a measure still making its way through the Senate would require motorcycle riders under age 18 to wear a helmet designed to certain specifications. Some occupations, like luxury limousine operators and moving company workers, find themselves coming under more scrutiny, such as stricter background criminal checks or qualifications for their licenses. Others, like audiologists and wholesale food manufacturers, are likely to see their regulations continue beyond the date they were set to expire. Rep. Jeanne Labuda, D-Denver, said she sponsored the naturopathic doctors bill after reading about the case of Brian O’Connell, a Wheat Ridge naturopath practitioner who received an online degree and was charged with 14 counts after one of his patients died. She doubts all professions need regulation but said she likes to look at the bills on a case-to-case basis. But Republican leaders have resisted many of the measures, saying that they block people from operating a business and put government limits on jobs that, even if performed poorly, would hurt no one.

Labor girds for '08 convention
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5470108,00.html
Nationally, private sector union membership has fallen to about 7.4 percent, down from 7.8 percent at the end of 2005. While the public and private sectors combined have a higher percentage of workers in unions, Colorado lags the national average. There were 165,000 union members in Colorado last year. Shaiken, who specializes in labor issues, said growing income disparity has created the economic conditions that led to unions in the first place. Still, unions have become "somewhere between less visible and invisible in terms of the attention they receive." All that has changed recently in Colorado where labor issues have moved to center stage. Turmoil within the state's AFL-CIO organization, Gov. Bill Ritter's surprise veto of a pro-union bill and the convention controversy are among the issues making headlines. Several key union leaders in Washington, including Teamsters leader James Hoffa Jr., declined to elaborate this week on what they hope to get by leaning on Democrats ahead of the convention here. A spokesman for Hoffa, for instance, said the union head had "said his piece" when he hassled Ritter about Colorado labor issues at a Washington social event last weekend.

More DNC news in COLORADO/ELECTION

COLORADO NEWS

Top

Election

No place all red on Dean's map
http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_5618688
The chairmanship of a national political party is the ultimate insider's job. Chairmen are generally male and white, and move comfortably amid the ranks of Washington's lawyers, lobbyists and political consultants, from which they are often drawn. The duties are those of a political mechanic: to raise money, mediate disputes, stage a national convention and otherwise tune the party machinery. It's the chairman's job to spin the media (grossly inflating the party's prospects in the next election) and serve as cheerleader. All of which makes Dean an unlikely man to chair the Democratic National Committee. And, to some extent, it explains why the Democrats chose Denver for the 2008 convention. Colorado is an unconventional choice. But then, Dean is an unconventional leader.

Education foundations angling to raise severance tax
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/07/4_7_1a_ballot_measures.html
If two Front Range education foundations have their way, voters will decide in November whether Colorado’s severance tax should be raised and more of those dollars should flow to school construction. The four ballot titles, filed Thursday with Colorado Legislative Council, would eliminate a tax credit for energy producers and, to varying degrees, devote portions of the revenues to local communities, school construction and legislative projects. Under each of the constitutional amendments, filed by representatives of the Donnell-Kay Foundation and the Colorado Children’s Campaign, producers could no longer claim an “ad valorem” property tax credit on their severance tax payments. The credit, which allows an energy producer to claim 87.5 percent of its prior year’s property tax payment against its severance tax burden, can virtually eliminate a producer’s severance tax burdens. Tony Lewis, executive director of the Donnell-Kay Foundation, said his organization put forth the four ballot titles because of the state’s growing education construction needs and the state’s relatively low tax rate.

City ballot plan would extend DA term limit
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_5472641,00.html
Denver's district attorney would be one of a few in Colorado who can serve three terms if a city ballot issue passes in the May election. The measure, put on the ballot by the City Council, would allow the district attorney to serve three terms instead of the state limit of two. Currently, the district attorney is the only elected city official limited to two terms; other positions have three. The measure is designed to bring the top prosecutor in line with term limits for the mayor, council, auditor and clerk and recorder. Council President Michael Hancock backed the change to bring uniformity to the city offices and because experience and "stable leadership" in the district attorney's office are important for "consistency in law enforcement." The measure was approved unanimously by the City Council on March 5 with no one speaking in opposition. District attorneys in the state were limited to two terms under rules imposed in 2004. In 1994, voters approved limiting state officials to two four- year terms. The measure didn't mention district attorneys, and it wasn't clear whether they were included.

Angry woman aims for recall of Routt DA
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5472754,00.html
A woman bitter about the way her brother's killer was handled in court is preparing to hand in petitions today for the recall of the Routt County district attorney. Kathy Oberwitte, of Craig, launched the recall after she clashed with DA Bonnie Roesink over a case involving her brother, who died in February 2006 in a car crash on U.S. 40. Oberwitte plans to be in Denver this morning to present the petitions to the Secretary of State's Office. Only one DA in the state's history has been successfully recalled. Colleen Truden, of Glenwood Springs, was voted out of office in December 2005. Oberwitte is not sure if she has the 3,802 qualified signatures required to force an election in the 14th Judicial District, which includes Grand, Routt and Moffat counties.

Candidates agree on BEST course of action
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070409/NEWS/104090067
Aspen mayoral candidates Mick Ireland, Tim Semrau and Torre may find a lot to disagree about in the coming weeks, but they agree on one thing, at least: All three have joined a new alliance urging voters to pass Ballot Measure 1 on May 8.
RELATED: Election 2007: And then there were 12
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070407/NEWS/104070060

City may put tax extension on ballot
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15649
When city voters approved an open space tax in 2000, they said they’d be willing to pay it for 20 years. Longmont officials now want to know if voters would be willing to pay that same tax past 2020 if the city were to use the revenue to fund trails and parks and other accessible open space projects. City officials are considering putting the issue before voters in November but want more public input before the Longmont City Council decides whether to place it on the ballot.

FOUNTAIN VOTERS GUIDE
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20991&template=article.html
Here are the thumbnail biographies for the seven candidates running for City Council seats in the April 17 special election in Fountain.

THE 1931 ELECTION (EXTRA!, April 7)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470524,00.html
Denver voters faced epic lines in November when election software failed, but Extra! is perplexed by the 1931 mayoral election: Because of a provision in the City Charter, people could cast votes for first, second and third choices among candidates (there were a total of seven). Mayor Ben Stapleton, lost to George D. Begole primarily because Stapleton and his aides campaigned for first-choice votes only.

Top

Effective and Ethical Government

Sen. Salazar criticizes Bush for being 'a divider'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5469988,00.html
U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Denver, criticized President Bush on Friday, saying that he had worsened "the extreme partisan divide" on Iraq by questioning Democrats' support for the troops. "I am deeply concerned about the extreme political polarization over the future of Iraq and the funding for the war effort," Salazar wrote in a letter sent a day earlier to Bush. "I was very troubled by your statements about Democrats in Congress and your view that they do not support our troops." In a speech this week, Bush said that congressional Democrats are engaging in actions that "undercut the troops." "I am afraid your statements will further build the extreme partisan divide over this fundamental issue of war and peace," Salazar said in the letter. At a news conference at his Denver headquarters, Salazar called Bush "a divider of our country, not a uniter." Responding to a reporter's question, Salazar said that Bush is "playing a dangerous game of chicken" with Congress in vowing to veto any legislation that would set a timeline for troop withdrawal.
RELATED: Text of Salazar letter to President Bush
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5469004,00.html
RELATED: Salazar: Don't cut off war funding
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5468766,00.html
RELATED: Salazar urges Bush to cooperate
http://origin.denverpost.com/politics/ci_5609905
RELATED: Salazar: President playing dangerous game in Iraq
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175925600/4

Colo. to lose $200M to war
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/09/colo-to-lose-200m-to-war/
The cost of the Iraq war is filtering down to state and local budgets, forcing cuts in transportation funding, Medicaid, education and other federally subsidized programs, according to analysts and lawmakers. Just how big that impact has been is unclear. What state lawmakers do say is that the $456 billion already spent or appropriated for the war could have gone a long way toward helping them balance their own budgets. In Colorado, lawmakers expect to lose about $200 million in federal funding for the next fiscal year, forcing the state to cut back on programs that receive federal money. "These are funds that we aren't going to receive. Low Energy Assistance Program, $9.8 million, gone. Head Start, $3.7 million, gone. Child Care and Development Block Grant, $1.1 million. Community Development Block Grant, $13.5 million. Special Ed, $8.8 million," House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder, said during a debate Thursday over a state resolution opposing the escalation of the war in Iraq. "Also, we're not going to get the Criminal Alien Assistance Program to house criminal aliens, $5 million that was promised and now isn't coming," Madden said. "This is why it's important to take a stand. The more money that's spent over there means our citizens in this state aren't going to get services they need."

Musgrave to listen to people on streets
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/NEWS01/704070359/1002/NEWS17
After narrowly winning last fall's U.S. congressional election, Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave appears to be working hard to shore up support from voters. Musgrave has announced she will spend next week trying to "reconnect" with constituents back home with a series of meet-and-greet events. "The most effective public servants aren't those who are quick to speak but those who commit to listening, and I want to do a better job listening to my constituents," Musgrave said in a prepared statement. "So, I'm going to change my approach and do things like hit the streets and just walk around town and seek input from folks." Included in Musgrave's schedule are meetings with local businesses, students and officials as well as "Marilyn on Main Street," in which Musgrave will spend time walking the streets of Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland and Estes Park talking to residents. Musgrave said in a news release that she is trying to do a better job listening to constituents, but a political observer from Colorado State University said the congresswoman likely is trying to rebound from criticisms alleging she was inaccessible during last fall's election.

More monies for state buildings still possible
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176128680/5
Still smarting from yet another failed attempt last week to get more money for state buildings, some members of the Legislature's Capital Development Committee are giving it one last attempt. Rep. Jim Riesberg, D-Greeley, and others on the six-member panel that he chairs, are engaged in some last-minute discussions with the governor's office. Riesberg said he's confident the CDC will be able to wrestle a little more money out of the state's $17.8 billion budget to use for state buildings, but won't say just how much. The only real questions yet to be answered are, from where that money would come, whatever the amount.

Lobbyist put on leave over calls
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5469991,00.html
A lobbyist who will be investigated by a state legislative ethics committee over controversial phone calls to voters has been put on leave by the high-powered group he works for. William Mutch is director of Colorado Concern, a consortium of top business executives statewide. Mike Feeley, the attorney for Colorado Concern, said Friday that Mutch will remain on leave until the issue is resolved. Mutch is not commenting. Two House members filed ethics complaints over the calls, which made deceptive claims about a home builders defects bill. The lawmakers initially described the calls as automated calls, but e-mails between Mutch and the Virginia company that handled the calls indicate that pollsters surveyed Colorado voters.

The shorter lines at the DMV come with a price
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070408/NEWS/104070144/-1/NEWS
The good news is the lines at the Division of Motor Vehicles will soon be shorter. The bad news is your pretty Colorado columbine license plate is about to cost you a lot more. A northern Colorado lawmaker wants local residents to have shorter DMV lines, and he plans to pay for new employees and new office locations by raising the price of driver's licenses and license plates. Licenses would cost $21, up from $15.60, and special plates would cost $50 instead of $25.

Montrose City Council elects David White as mayor
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/07/4_7_Montrose_mayor.html
The Montrose City Council elected council member David White as the city’s new mayor Thursday night. Council member Carlos Guara was chosen as mayor pro-tem. White has been a council member since 2005 and has been mayor pro-tem since April 2006. Guara was mayor from 2001 to 2002.

From Lay Creek to Washington
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/26070
Sometimes lost in the high-speed drive on U.S. 40 west from Craig, is a small historical site marking the homestead of a Moffat County man who made it big in the political world. Edwin C. Johnson went from homesteading in Northwest Colorado, to becoming a major influence on the political scene in Colorado for decades. From serving Moffat and Routt counties to being named lieutenant governor, Johnson went on to hold three terms as Colorado governor, and 18 years in the U.S. Senate. The site of the Johnson homestead is about 20 miles west of Craig, between Lay and Maybell. Its remote location had made it a target for vandals in the early 1980s, even with the original wooden building being replaced by the present-day block structure. Moffat County commissioners noted the site's historical importance at Tuesday's meeting and recommended ensuring it remain an oasis for the traveling public.

Top

Civil Liberties and Equality

New slant on Middle East
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15652
The second annual Middle East Series organized by the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center begins Monday and will highlight current issues related to Iraq, Iran and Israel. “We wanted to give a perspective on the Middle East that we don’t think is normally covered,” said Carolyn Bninski of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center. “We try to cover the viewpoints of people from the Middle East in regard to U.S. foreign policy and also try to cover viewpoints that would lead to peaceful solutions of conflict.” The series will feature three lectures and a film screening followed by discussion. The topics will include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and U.S. foreign policy toward Iraq and Iran.

Precedent undermines free-speech argument
http://www.gazette.com/articles/parade_21034___article.html/protesters_police.html
On St. Patrick’s Day, Elizabeth Fineron was on a mission: to get arrested. After being dragged by police out of the way of a downtown Colorado Springs parade on March 18, which left her with two large road-rash welts, the 65-year-old told several officers to arrest her. After poking one in the shoulder three times, she got her wish. She wanted to be arrested like six other war protesters forcibly removed from the parade because, she said later, “It was the only way I could go to court.” Tuesday, another wish will be granted when the seven protesters are arraigned in Colorado Springs Municipal Court. Each faces a misdemeanor citation of failing to desist or disperse. Fineron said that will be a venue for her and the others to air claims that police used excessive force and that their freedom of speech rights were violated when parade organizers forbade them from marching. They face a difficult legal struggle, at least with regard to the freedom of speech claims. In a 1995 case, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the rights of private parade organizers to exclude anyone. That case involved the Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade keeping out gays and lesbians, said Richard Collins, a professor of First Amendment law at the University of Colorado School of Law.

Librarian chronicles suffragist’s story
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=21011&template=article.html
Women from across the nation marched on the White House in 1919, demanding the right to vote. Colorado Springs resident Caroline Spencer supervised a fire where protesters burned copies of every speech in which President Woodrow Wilson referred to democracy. Spencer was a leading voice in the struggle for women’s suffrage and her efforts made Colorado Springs a national hub for radical feminism. The 1919 protest was Spencer’s second in Washington, D.C. It would lead to her second arrest for demanding equality. She was one of 168 women who served jail time for their activism. Spencer’s story and those of other Colorado Springs feminists are recorded on 96 rolls of microfilm, stored in a drawer in a remote corner of the downtown branch of the Pikes Peak Library District.

Latinos want to get more involved in city museums
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070409/NEWS/104080141
As part of the Greeley Museums' effort to reach out to Latinos in Greeley and Weld, a Latino Advisory Committee was created and will have a booth at the Cinco De Mayo Fiesta to talk with people about its plans for the city museums. "We at the museum have realized that we have are lacking in involvement of many parts of the Latino Community," said organizer Georgia Wier, folklorist for the city of Greeley Museums and the Colorado Council on the Arts. "We want for all parts of the Latino community as well as everybody else in town to enjoy the exhibits the museum offers and for them to be useful."

Top

Immigration

Democrats, White House at odds early on immigration reform
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070407/NEWS/104060152
The pressures of the presidential campaign trail demonstrated recently why Democrats want to take up immigration reform sooner rather than later. Potential GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich made headlines with a statement equating bilingual education to learning the "language of living in the ghetto." On Monday, immigration hardliner Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., announced his presidential bid on an Iowa talk radio show, saying undocumented immigrants are putting "enormous strains on your social service system, on your educational system, on your prisons, on hospitals and health care." Priscilla Falcon, a Hispanic Studies professor at the University of Northern Colorado, called the statements of Gingrich and Tancredo "a lot of public posturing" in advance of renewed debate in Congress. "They know right now that this is it. There won't be another immigration reform for quite some time."

Immigrant rights sector loses its zeal
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/09/4_9_1a_Illegal_Immigration.html
One year after 4,000 immigrant-rights advocates took to the streets of Grand Junction to protest a series of immigration bills moving through Congress, the local immigrant-rights movement has stalled. “We’re just frozen,” Karen Sherman Perez said during a recent meeting of Western Colorado Justice for Immigrants. “All these new ideas come up, but nothing has changed.” As Sherman Perez spoke, the dozen movement leaders gathered at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Wednesday night nodded in the community hall’s dim light. Jesus Seda, another local organizer, said that attendance at biweekly meetings has fallen off.

Inmates train horses to protect America's borders
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176012000/4
Eight prisoners will be "sprung" from captivity at the East Canon Prison Complex Monday to take up new lives working with law enforcement. The prisoners are actually wild mustangs who have been at the prison complex since their capture on public lands. The free-range horses once roamed unclaimed and neglected. While at the prison complex during the last six months, they received proper food, care and training - all provided by inmates working for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and Colorado Correctional Industries Wild Horse Inmate Program. The mustangs have been transformed into proper saddle horses with well-kept coats, manes and hooves. No longer are they wild animals but they still have free spirits. The highly trained mustangs are ready to go to work with the U.S. Border Patrol agents under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security, helping comb 308 miles of mountainous, rugged Canadian border lands in Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Arrest made after van halted on I-70
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5472668,00.html
Immigration officials responded Sunday after the Colorado State Patrol pulled over a van carrying suspected illegal immigrants on Interstate 70 in Mesa County. State Patrol spokesman Gilbert Mares said a trooper stopped a 1998 Ford van with Arizona plates at 10:44 a.m. on a traffic violation. "The trooper noticed the van was weaving on the roadway," Mares said. "He noticed that it looked like it was overloaded." Mares said there were seven people in the vehicle. He said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents responded to the scene and made an arrest. He did not have any other details and a regional ICE spokesman could not be reached.

Top

Health Care and Public Safety

Cold War, hellish consequences
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470027,00.html
Harold Hinton is dying. He is slowly suffocating from incurable lung disease that the government acknowledges is linked to his work making nuclear bomb fuel during the Cold War. Hinton, of Cortez, is eligible for medical care through a federal program designed to compensate ill nuclear weapons workers who weren't fully warned by the government of the dangers they faced. His physician said Hinton needed around-the-clock nursing care at his home in southwestern Colorado, but a government worker reduced the doctor's orders to eight hours a day. Hinton is not alone, says the president of a Denver-based company that provides nursing care to Hinton and about 60 other former nuclear weapons workers across the country.

Individual insurance should be required
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/08/4_8_1a_Club_20_health_care.html
Every Coloradan should be required to have health insurance, a Club 20 task force said Saturday during the Western Slope lobbying group’s spring meeting at Two Rivers Convention Center. The task force is one of 30 that will be evaluated by a statewide commission that will forward recommendations to Gov. Bill Ritter. The universal-care proposal sets a tier of basic care for insurance and calls on the state to examine the basic coverages needed and their costs. It would allow people to purchase health-care policies for more care, as they can afford. The hope, task force members said, is to reduce costs by increasing the number of people who carry insurance. “Right now, those that pay, pay for those that don’t,” said Robert Ladenberger, chief executive officer of St. Mary’s Hospital. Health-care costs are increasing at double-digit rates, said Dr. Mike Pramenko of Grand Junction, while the state budget can rise at a maximum of 6 percent annually. That creates a squeeze on state health-care costs. The idea of universal health care sounds extreme, but such a system exists with the emergency rooms in the state’s hospitals, Pramenko said.

Hospital fights to balance healing, safety
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5618687
The state's psychiatric hospital in Pueblo, while it strives to meet mandates to release more of the "criminally insane" in its custody, also faces a wave of escapes and questions about its security standards. Six patients have escaped from the Colorado Mental Health Institute over the past seven months, two of whom remain at large. At least one state legislator is calling for a review of the hospital's operations in light of a legal settlement requiring quicker release of its patients, some of whom have committed killings and other violent acts but have been deemed not guilty by reason of insanity. Others say the hospital isn't moving fast enough to release those no longer deemed insane because they've completed their treatment plan.

Residents reach out to ravaged town
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070408/NEWS01/704080348/1002/NEWS17
In a tornado-torn town near the Colorado-Kansas border, two Fort Collins residents were among the first to reach the people of Holly. A tornado with winds up to 199 mph swept through Holly on March 28, killing one woman and destroying homes, buildings, parks and much more. "Once Gov. Ritter sent out his disaster proclamation, the Colorado Volunteer Center Network was put into action," said Theresa Gomez, director of public relations for the United Way of Larimer County. "Our volunteer center is a member of that network."

Cut-rate generic drugs on way
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5472755,00.html
Come next year, one of the hottest cards in a Coloradan's wallet may be the Generic Drug Card - passport to inexpensive prescriptions for high blood pressure, asthma, arthritis and the rest. State lawmakers and Gov. Bill Ritter made cheaper prescriptions their first order of business this legislative session. Ritter early on signed an executive order allowing Colorado to join a multistate pool to get steeper discounts on prescriptions for the 500,000 state residents whose low income qualifies them for Medicaid. Then, both chambers passed Senate Bill 1, which Ritter signed Feb. 5. It directs a state agency to negotiate discounts on generic drugs for the 398,000 Coloradans who don't have health insurance and whose income is less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level.

Hospices help shared grief
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5624284
Doctors said Brenden Yeater wouldn't survive his birth. He did. They said, with his severe brain damage, he wouldn't live 24 hours. But as the hours after his birth last October stretched into days, and then weeks, doctors stopped making predictions. Brenden managed to live for five months until he died April 1. Generations ago, a birth with such a devastating condition would have shocked parents and doctors. Since the 1970s, however, prenatal tests have given parents and health-care providers warning and time to prepare for the birth of babies who face life-threatening conditions. Today, there are support systems like the University of Colorado's Fetal Concerns program to help these parents cope. These hospice programs help parents deal with grief and create care plans and even rituals for seriously ill babies.

Ear infections: Germs' warfare
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5618693
Studies show an increasing number of bacterial infections don't respond to antibiotics. In 1996, for example, the antibiotic erythromycin fought off Staphylococcus aureus - which causes skin and other infections - 71 percent of the time. By 2001, the drug was effective in just 46 percent of cases. And when it comes to prescribing antibiotics, ear infections - known as otitis media - have been the main event. "Ear infections account for at least one-quarter of all antibiotics prescribed in the United States," said Patricia Yoon, a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist at The Children's Hospital in Denver. "That's a staggering proportion. The impact of otitis media on antibiotic resistance is huge," Yoon said. And so, as this year's ear infection season winds down, local doctors say they're growing reluctant to prescribe antibiotics.

MCR stays busy in first two months
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070408/NEWS01/704080355/1002/NEWS17
Business has been steady at Medical Center of the Rockies since it opened nearly eight weeks ago, just as it's been at other area hospitals. The number of patients staying overnight at the 136-bed hospital has ranged from 50 to 58 a day since opening Feb. 14, said George Hayes, president and chief executive officer. The figures are in line with the hospital's budget, which forecast an average daily census of 65 patients during its first year.

Pandemic would cause bed, equipment shortage in ICUs
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175925600/15
If a pandemic flu hits, Pueblo would have trouble keeping up with equipment needs, officials say. Health professionals said there is a limited number of intensive care unit space and respirators at local hospitals in the event of an outbreak. The findings were revealed at a meeting Thursday between 14 physicians and health-care workers from the local hospitals who met to discuss issues and concerns related to a potential pandemic flu, according to Sarah Bruestle, public information officer for the Pueblo City-County Health Department.

Police station is evacuated
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470725,00.html
Six Denver officers and four suspects may have been contaminated by methamphetamine chemicals late Friday, which forced the evacuation of the Park Hill police station. Denver firefighters and the Police Department unit that deals with methamphetamine responded to the District 6 station at East Colfax Avenue and Washington Street about 9 p.m. after the six officers reported they were feeling some discomfort, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. The officers and the suspects were expected to be decontaminated late Friday. Firefighters also were determining if there were any toxins inside the station, Jackson said.

City, woman may settle injury suit
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5469989,00.html
A Denver woman injured in an accident with a policeman who ran a red light is poised to get a $100,000 settlement from the city. Mary Jo Haynes was a passenger in a truck driven by her daughter when officer Vincent Lombardi ran a red light in his patrol car and crashed into them in 2003, according to court documents.

RMYC seeks construction help
http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/apr/09/rmyc_seeks_construction_help/?local_news
Traditionally, the young adults who opt for a summer of hard manual labor with the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps give back to the country through conservation work in Colorado’s backcountry. There has been one change this summer, and RMYC development director Sheila Wright couldn’t be more excited. At the end of May, the RMYC is sending a crew of young men and women to Bay St. Louis, Miss., to join in the national effort to rebuild areas of Mississippi and Louisiana still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Top

Crime and Penal Reform

Penry, King say they want multiple DUIs classified as felonies
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/08/4_8_8a_Club_20_DUI_laws.html
Drunken drivers need stiffer consequences for repeat offenses, according to two state legislators on hand Saturday for the Club 20 spring meeting at Two Rivers Convention Center. Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, and Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, said a man suspected of killing two Mesa State College students after he slammed into their car at 120 mph on Interstate 70 last month should not have been out of jail after allegedly being intoxicated and leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase in February. “The obvious notion is this guy shouldn’t be on the street; the system failed us,” Penry said.

Hispanic leaders tackle growing gang problems
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5469995,00.html
Fourteen years after Denver's Summer of Violence, the city's Hispanic community leaders are working for a Summer of Peace. Four out of five of Denver's 14,000 gang members are Hispanic, according to one estimate from the Gang Rescue and Support Project. Two Hispanic teens, Gilbert Garcia and Dominic Gonzales, have died in gang violence this year. Nearly 100 Hispanic community leaders and young people gathered Friday at Escuela Tlatelolco to talk about the city's gang problem and how to fix it. Organizer Cisco Gallardo said he was overwhelmed by the number of attendees. He had planned for about 20. "Our No. 1 enemy is apathy," Gallardo said. "We have to find a way to win."

Aurora's top cop seeks diversity
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5623923
A ballot measure to overhaul the Civil Service Commission failed, but that isn't stopping Police Chief Dan Oates from trying to make changes anyway. Wanting to diversify the ranks to better reflect the community, Oates is proposing ways to get more minorities into the police force, and other rule changes as well. He wants to waive the 60 college-credit requirement for officers, keep applications open longer and offer bonus points to applicants who can speak a second language such as Spanish, Russian or Korean.

Tour of sorrow prompted by gun violence
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470061,00.html
Mourners from Washington Park United Church of Christ took a tour of sorrow through the Denver area Friday with Santistevan and other family members who have lost loved ones to gun violence in the past year. At each stop, they linked the modern killings to Jesus' suffering. They bemoaned a culture where violence is often "victorious." Friday's gloomy and cold weather reflected the somber mood of both the gun protesters and grieving family members. "Too often, we want to skip over the pain," said the Rev. Allyson Sawtell, a church member who led the vigil. "We've got to be with these families who are suffering. I'm hoping it helps people put a face to the violence and the pain." The traveling protest, now in its 13th year, began with the most notorious gun death of 2007, the drive-by shooting of Denver Bronco Darrent Williams on New Year's Day.

No death sentence in prison murder
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5469994,00.html
An inmate convicted of the gruesome murder of his cellmate will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury Friday couldn't reach unanimous agreement on a death sentence. William Sablan, 42, will be sentenced to life with no chance of parole on April 18. It was the first federal death penalty case in Denver since the trial of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh a decade ago. It also was the first federal death penalty case involving a crime committed in Colorado in decades, said Jeff Dorschner, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver. "Justice is clearly served in this case," said U.S. Attorney Troy Eid. "Mr. Sablan will spend the rest of his life behind bars. He is a menace to society, and I don't say that lightly."
RELATED: Jury spares prison killer's life
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5618697

Police still searching in Nelson murder case
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070407/NEWS/104060147
Weld District Court records released Friday show police are still serving search warrants in the investigation into the murder of a police officer's wife two months ago.

Same crime, different treatment? Critics: Women in sex cases get more leeway
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/09/same-crime-different-treatment/
A Louisville woman accused of sexually assaulting a boy was allowed to leave the Boulder County Jail after posting the same amount of bail as someone accused of possessing marijuana. Irene Marie Gomez, 38, was arrested last month on suspicion of a fourth-class felony charge of sexual assault on a child and aggravated misdemeanor sexual assault after Louisville police say she had two children with a boy. If convicted, Gomez could face up to six years in prison. She was released from the Boulder County Jail the same day she was booked on a $2,500 bond. Former Denver prosecutor Karen Steinhauser said the criminal-justice system treats female sex offenders differently than male offenders, just as society does.

Record felony cases in '06, continuing trend
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470521,00.html
Prosecutors across Colorado filed a record number of criminal cases last year, continuing a six-year trend that has resulted in a 30 percent hike in felony cases statewide. In fiscal year 2006, the state's 22 district attorneys pursued felony charges in a total of 46,501 cases, up from 35,770 in fiscal year 2000, according Colorado Judicial Department statistics. Views differ on what is driving the trend. Doug Wilson, Colorado's chief public defender, attributes the rise to several factors, including an upswing in drug cases and a recent tendency for prosecutors to file felony escape charges against offenders who stray from halfway houses.

Fear of media may prevent prosecution
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070406/NEWS/70406006
The fading from memory of the Kobe Bryant case may have something to do with more sexual assaults being prosecuted in Eagle County this year compared to past years.
RELATED: More sex assaults going to trial
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070406/NEWS/70406007

Cross-deputization beefs up Towaoc law
http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070407_1.htm
The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs and Colorado's U.S. district attorney's office are teaming up to cross-deputize area law enforcement officers beginning next month. Mountain Ute Tribe still need to agree to conditions regarding agency collaboration, a second step in the process. Eid said he is drafting a memorandum of agreement and hopes to have it complete in several weeks. The training is part of U.S. District Attorney Troy Eid’s hope for a more secure community on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation in Towaoc. Two-day BIA training courses could begin next month, with subsequent sessions in June and September, Eid said Wednesday.

Media interest surprises Lyons
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/09/media-interest-surprises-lyons/
For all the talk Lyons generated last week of a possible clampdown on sex offenders in this bucolic town of 1,600, town leaders and law enforcement officials say the reality is that the need for such an ordinance is far from clear.

Man avoids prison for charging officers
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/07/man-avoids-prison-for-charging-officers/
A Broomfield man who charged at police with a butcher knife has been sentenced to three years in a Community Corrections facility.

Officer beaten with pool cue
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/07/officer-beaten-with-pool-cue/
A Boulder police officer was hit at least four times over the head with a pool cue while trying to break up a fight in a downtown alley early Friday, the latest in a string of injuries resulting from street violence.

Police: Graffiti incidents have gone down
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15633
Graffiti victims, police and city cleanup crews are gearing up for another season of tagging with the arrival of warmer weather. The aggressive anti-graffiti program the city launched last summer put pressure on victimized residents to remove graffiti on their property within 10 days. City police, parks and code-enforcement officials, for their part, say they’ve stepped up vigilance and the quick removal of graffiti in public places.

Controversy over curfew: Police want safety; teens want freedom
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/08/controversy-over-curfew/
Lafayette's curfew is at least one hour earlier than those in Boulder, Louisville and Longmont — places many teens hang out with friends or go for their after-school jobs. The youth curfew in Lafayette is similar to the law in neighboring Erie, but Lafayette police appear to enforce the rule more heavily.

Top

Economy

Busy weekend for Nacchio's team
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5473212,00.html
Motions from Joe Nacchio's attorneys are still coming in a flurry, even as the criminal case nears completion. Attorneys for the former Qwest CEO on Sunday moved to rebut or strike testimony by two investment analysts whose view of the company changed when they found out how much it was relying on one-time deals to make its targets in the first half of 2001. Defense attorneys argued the analysts - Drake Johnstone of Davenport & Co. and Prashant Khemka of Goldman Sachs - provided their opinions to prosecutors in prohibition of a judge's order. Nacchio faces 42 counts of insider trading in connection with selling $100.8 million of stock during the first five months of 2001. His trial is entering the fourth week, with the defense expected to complete its case as soon as today.
RELATED: Nottingham getting stern with Stern
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5623573
RELATED: Will Nacchio tell his side? Lawyers mum
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5618696
RELATED: Prosecution's promises not all delivered
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5614468
RELATED: Joe Nacchio on trial
http://www.denverpost.com/nacchio

Space forum begins today
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5472622,00.html
The 23rd annual National Space Symposium kicks off today in Colorado Springs, featuring movers and shakers from industry, government and the military.
RELATED: 7,000 meet to talk about space
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=21035&template=article.html
RELATED: Financial stakes at upcoming Space Symposium can be out of this world
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=21025&template=article.html

More value in ag than meets plate
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/08/4_8_1a_Club_20_main.html
Gold might not be hidden under the hills of western Colorado, but its equivalent might be there in the sagebrush flats and rolling ranchland. Pastures and grazing territory, as well, could be the staples that hold together Western Slope agriculture and knit back together a populace split by geographic and cultural divides, speakers told Club 20 on Saturday. “We’re in a bubble of incredible opulence,” Dr. Richard Knight, a conservation biologist at Colorado State University, said during the spring meeting of the western Colorado lobbying and promotional organization at Two Rivers Convention Center in Grand Junction. “We have severed the covenant that bound rural and urban people together.”

Growing Erie seeks advice on its economic-development strategy
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15654
The town has asked a northern Colorado business group to vet its commercial development strategies. The Upstate Colorado Economic Development group will review Erie’s plans for commercial growth and offer advice over the next six months, Mayor Andrew Moore said.

Top

Worker's Rights and Corporate Accountability

Jump-starting jobs? Think local, retrain
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5623571
Educating and retraining workers, incubating new local business and repealing a tax on manufactured aircraft. Members of the Economic Development Council of Colorado gathered here last week to discuss these and other key issues that will affect the state's leading industries in the coming year. While Colorado supports alternative energy of all kinds - from fuel cells to wind turbines, solar panels to fuel-making algae - it must also find a way to fund public education and train the kinds of workers required to develop it. Although Colorado's funding of grades K through 12 is about average among states, it ranks near the bottom on public funding for higher education, said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.

Top

Housing and Homelessness

Cheaper housing coming soon, town says
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070408/NEWS/104060117
Justina Carter said she likes that the town of Vail is trying to create more employee housing. Too bad she won't be around to see the benefits of it, she added. Carter, an Australian who's in Vail for her eighth winter, will be moving to New Hampshire after this season. Housing was a big factor in her decision to leave Vail, she said. "Rent these days is out of control," said Carter, who works at Billabong in Vail Village. Sensing a lack of housing for workers in Vail, the Town Council on Tuesday passed new rules that will require developers to provide more affordable housing in town.

Top

Media

Post cartoonist wins national prize
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5618534
Denver Post editorial cartoonist Mike Keefe has been awarded the top prize in the 2007 John Fischetti Editorial Cartoon Competition. Keefe's cartoon, published Jan. 28, 2006, and depicting President Bush at the signing of the U.S. Constitution, was among 216 entries by 72 cartoonists.

Delivery of free newspapers to be cut back
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5623572
The entity that manages the business functions of The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News has decided to scale back its use of so-called third-party subscriptions, a move that will cut costs and lower paid circulation for both papers. The Denver Newspaper Agency, which oversees printing, circulation and other business functions for The Post and the News, will later this month begin reducing its use of third-party subscriptions, which are unsolicited deliveries of papers typically paid for by advertisers. Examples can include papers given away at hotels or ones that occasionally land on the doorsteps of people who are not on the newspapers' subscriber lists. The decision will reduce total paid circulation for both papers.

Top

Education

Poorest pay more school taxes
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5624285
Colorado pays a growing share of the cost to educate students in wealthier school districts, while homeowners in poorer areas pay higher property-tax bills to cover the basic operating costs of their schools, an analysis of spending shows. The problem is caused by competing constitutional mandates and legal requirements to limit taxes and increase school spending. "Just about every new dollar available at the state level that could have been used to impact K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grade) has been used to replace a dollar lost at the local level," Democratic State Treasurer Cary Kennedy said. "This is why we have struggled for years to fund education adequately in Colorado." Over the past 14 years, tax limits on local school districts have shifted an ever-increasing share of school costs onto the state budget.

Sex ed bill forces schools to re-examine curriculums
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070408/NEWS/104070148/-1/NEWS
Some area school districts will re-examine their sex education curriculums now that a bill that requires birth control information is headed for passage. One local health teacher said the legislation a "very good thing -- it's needed," while a Greeley lawmaker called it an infringement on local control. Most Weld County school districts emphasize abstinence in their sex-ed units, and that won't change under the HB1292. But the measure, which passed the House Feb. 28 and cleared the Senate last week, requires districts to provide information about the benefits and possible side effects of birth control, including emergency contraception. State Rep. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, the bill's main sponsor, said schools would still be able to teach abstinence and choose how to focus curriculum.

CSAP math scores drop as students age
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=21014&template=article.html
If math scores on Colorado standardized tests were stock prices, Wall Street would panic. Scores steadily plummet from the time students begin taking Colorado Student Assessment Program tests in third grade until they finish, eight years later, as sophomores. It’s a statewide trend seen in highperforming and struggling districts alike. As a new round of CSAP testing finishes this month, educators can’t point to a single cause for the decline. Some guess that students grow weary of math as they get older and decide that it is irrelevant. Others fault the test itself, saying it covers concepts not all students have learned.
RELATED: Improving math class exponentially
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=21013&template=article.html

Expert says schools not geared toward effective use of technology
http://postindependent.com/article/20070408/VALLEYNEWS/104080045
The American revolution was shrouded in a complex mythology and inaccuracies created by the turkey-eating American culture. That was the message on one British Web site that the keynote speaker, Alan November, found during Saturday's Making Learning Irresistible workshop in a Technology in Education Conference at Roaring Fork High School. November was making a point about teaching students to be excellent researchers, illustrating how information from another country can contrast with the versions taught in American schools. He said the humor in such an exercise could be a good motivator for students. Students could even debate with British students using software to speak over the Internet.

The right left out at CWA? Conference organizers say panels seek political diversity
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/08/the-right-left-out-at-cwa/
University of Colorado student Justin Yarusso doesn't want organizers to recruit a 50-50 split of liberal and conservative panelists for the Conference on World Affairs. That would be affirmative action — something the chairman of the school's College Republicans said he is "obviously opposed to." Still, the conservative group expects that the campus's political balance will tip further left this week with the arrival of the 59th annual conference, an event Yarusso says he and other College Republicans neither oppose nor endorse. "It's something that we've always just kind of stayed away from," said Yarusso, a junior who has attended a few panels during his time at CU. With liberal bigwigs giving several of the major addresses, and panels such as "Oil: War Is a Crude Business," "Gay Rights: We the People Means Everyone" and "The Imperial Presidency," some say the conference leans too far left. But organizers and fans say there's no need for conservatives to hibernate this week: There are a variety of panels to choose from, and the political ones are rounded out with experts from different ideological backgrounds.

Impasse in Jeffco teacher talks
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5468843,00.html
Jefferson County Public Schools and the teachers union declared impasse Friday in contract negotiations. At issue is a provision that gives appeal rights to non-tenured teachers who are dismissed. The provision is in the current contract, which expires Aug. 31, between the district and the Jefferson County Education Association. The district wants it removed, both sides said in separate prepared statements. The next step is fact finding by a mutually agreed upon party, both sides said.
RELATED: Jeffco schools, teachers at impasse
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5610080

Report: PSD graduates need less remedial help in college
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/NEWS01/704070360/1002/NEWS17
Fewer Poudre School District graduates required remedial classes during their first year of college than their statewide peers, according to a report released Friday. Of the 812 members of PSD's class of 2005 who went to Colorado public colleges and universities in the fall of 2005, 25 percent were not prepared for college-level work in reading, writing or math, according to the annual remediation report released by the Colorado Department of Higher Education.

ELL students struggle with language barrier in tests
http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/apr/08/ell_students_struggle_language_barrier_tests/?local_news
Lupe Macias always is up for a challenge, so it should come as no surprise that the Hayden junior, less than one year after moving to the United States from Ecuador, sat down with a pencil and a limited understanding of English to take the ACT test last spring. “It didn’t go very well,” Macias admitted. “I didn’t even know what it was. I just took it because everyone else did.” Although the ACT, a standardized test used for college entrance, is optional, tests such as the Colorado Student Assessment Program or the Colorado English Language Assessment are not. Students of all ages take tests in English each year, despite their inability to read and understand English or their limited knowledge of the language.

Interest is scarce for seat on 9-R board
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070409_2.htm
Durango School District 9-R has received no applications for a vacant seat on the Board of Education. As of Friday, no one had applied to replace Mike Matheson, who resigned in March. Under state law, the board has until May 11 to appoint a replacement for Matheson. The appointee would serve through the Nov. 6 election. If the appointee wanted to remain on the board, he or she would have to run for election. Matheson's successor will represent 5,358 residents and wield one of seven votes on the board.

Cortez tech school wants to join Mesa State College
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/09/4_9_1a_Tech_school.html
If San Juan Basin Technical College has its way, it will become part of Mesa State College. Randy Hubbs, director of marketing for the technical school, said the board recently voted to pursue a relationship with Mesa State College that would allow their students to transfer credits to the four-year university. “Our board said that we would like to pursue an agreement with Mesa State that would end up providing academic and vocational programs here in our five-county service area,” he said.

Uniform policy for city schools to see changes
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176128680/3
Pueblo City Schools students will have a wider range of uniform options next year, part of an effort to avoid last-minute shopping crises and financial strain on families that move during the school year. After hearing a number of complaints about unavailability of some clothes last fall, Superintendent John Covington asked staff members to come up with a new uniform policy. Built into that would be some flexibility so that youngsters who change schools during the year would not have to purchase new clothes. Committee members included Columbian Principal Karen Ortiz and counselor Carmen Perez and Irving Principal Jeanette Garcia. There was not unanimous enthusiasm for the change and middle schools did not join in a consensus developed by elementary school representatives but Covington ordered them included in the new policy.

UPDATE DISTRICT 11 SCHOOL BOUNDARIES
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=21040&template=article.html
At stake: Colorado Springs School District 11 approved new boundaries for 16 elementary schools last October because the district is opening two new elementary schools this fall. One of the changes will affect students in the Pulpit Rock neighborhood, which is south and west of Dublin and Academy boulevards. Currently, students attend Lincoln Elementary School, 2727 N. Cascade Ave., but next year they’ll attend Fremont Elementary School, 5110 El Camino Drive. Update: A group of parents in the Pulpit Rock neighborhood wants to stay in the Lincoln Elementary enrollment area and has given the board a petition signed by parents asking the board to change the boundary in their neighborhood back.

Cherry Creek schools to roll back start time
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5623927
The adolescent brain, researchers agree, needs to sleep in, but an effort by Cherry Creek officials to accommodate drowsy middle schoolers by starting classes later in the morning will be rolled back next school year to accommodate parents' scheduling preferences. School district officials call it a compromise. As of fall 2007, middle schools will start at 8:25 a.m., which is 10 minutes earlier for four of the nine middle schools. All middle schools will dismiss students at 3:35 p.m., which is five to 20 minutes earlier for most schools. The changes, which sound slight, will subtract 29 hours from instruction time next year.

Third time's a charm?
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/26060
Steamboat Springs High School graduate Steve Swanson is patiently waiting for his first space mission aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Library makes up with old friends
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5473301,00.html
The Denver Public Library is mending tattered relationships with old and influential friends. In 2002, the library's Friends Foundation, a high-profile charity with well-connected members, scaled down its involvement with the institution after a rift with former Librarian Rick Ashton. The foundation continued to manage the library's endowment, now close to $5 million, but it handed over fundraising and other activities to library staff. Five years later, the library and the foundation are putting their differences behind and turning a new chapter on their relationship.

Beef jerky, DVDs and phone cards
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070408/NEWS/70406027
Schools are targets in Afghanistan, and so are the teachers. Many of the people can’t read or write, and the Taliban likes it that way, said James Van Beek, an Eagle County resident who’s currently training police officers in Afghanistan. Coaking the masses in ignorance is one way the Taliban holds power, he said. Van Beek, now a private contractor who used to work for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Department, is hoping people back home can help out with donations of school supplies, among other things, because so much has been destroyed, and simple things like notepads and pencils can be expensive and hard to find.

DeVincentis issues apology for e-mails
http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/apr/08/devincentis_issues_apology_emails/?local_news
Steamboat Springs School Board Member John DeVincentis apologized Saturday morning for a series of e-mails he sent in 2004 and 2005. But he stopped short of resigning even as a growing chorus of past and present community officials asked him to do so.

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Military

Army weapons depot subject of probe
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175925600/12
Allegations from a former worker at the Blue Grass Army Depot reportedly have triggered a federal grand jury probe. The employee claimed he was punished for complaining about lax monitoring of the base’s VX nerve agent stockpile. Blue Grass, near Richmond, Ky., has about 523 tons of VX and sarin nerve agent and mustard agent and, like the Pueblo Chemical Depot, plans to destroy those weapons through water neutralization under the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program. Lt. Col. John Riley, commander of the Pueblo depot, was in charge of the stockpile at Blue Grass several years ago but had moved to another assignment before the current controversy developed. According to a group called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the Department of Justice Environmental Crimes Section has asked Blue Grass officials for documents relating to weapons deterioration, environmental or technical investigations and worker safety.

Paperwork snafu
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15646
He recently moved to Colorado, but he has no plans to visit the mountains. Not now; maybe never. It would be too painful, Jonathan “Chase” Gean said. From the Front Range, the view of the Rockies reminds him too much of Afghanistan, where Gean, a sergeant with the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division, was shot in August. The bullet paralyzed the 26-year-old Kansas native from the waist down. He keeps the bullet, which surgeons removed from his back, in a plastic cup. He plans to frame it. “I can’t go out to the mountains,” Gean said from his north Longmont apartment, where he lives with his fiancee and a new puppy, Ben, named after an Army buddy he credits with saving his life. “I like to look at them from this far away, but I can’t go into them.” Because of a paperwork snafu, he also hasn’t been able to get his Army discharge papers and is still listed as an active-duty soldier, even though he received a 100 percent disability rating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in August. Without discharge papers, he receives soldier’s pay, which is a lot less than he would receive from the Department of Veterans Affairs, he said.

Events to aid hurt Marine's family
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/08/4_8_3a_Marine_benefit.html
Lance Cpl. Bryan Chambers of Delta is improving slowly as he undergoes surgery after surgery at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and his family’s expenses are piling up.

5 questions for Brig. Gen. Michael Edwards
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5473161,00.html
They don't call them "weekend warriors" any more. With a war going on and other pressing needs, Colorado National Guard members are being called up more often than at any time since World War II. On May 1, the troops will be overseen by a new commander, although the ceremonial changing of the guard took place last month. Major Gen. Mason Whitney has served as adjutant general of Colorado since being appointed as head of the Colorado Department of Veterans and Military Affairs by former Gov. Bill Owens in 2000. Whitney, who is retiring, will be succeeded by Brig. Gen. Michael Edwards, below, who was nominated to the post by Gov. Bill Ritter.

Duty calls again for 'Nam vet
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470180,00.html
From up in the sky - where clouds lounge, cars look like ants moving toward sugar and downtown buildings offer up a strange LEGO geometry - the 56-year-old freak with the 2 0/15 vision, the sinewy- lean 168-pound frame and the marrow-deep patriotism is doing what he does best. He's in control. "Being part of the solution is just the way Mike is, the way Mike has to be," says Susie Silva. The Mike she is talking about is her husband of 24 years, the father of her three children and - this is where our story really takes off - a soon-to-be chief warrant officer 4 flying Black Hawk helicopters over the volatile desert battleground that is Iraq. And the reason Mike Silva - the pride of Trinidad, copter pilot for CBS 4 News, a guy who flew Hueys in Vietnam and retired from the National Guard 14 years ago - has returned to the military? Because he wanted to. "I still believe in duty, honor and country," says Silva, who joined the Army at 18 and apparently never really left. "I'm no Pollyanna, but this is the greatest country in the world."

Cheyenne to Peterson switch will be costly
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/08/cheyenne-to-peterson-switch-will-be-costly/
Moving air and space surveillance missions from Cheyenne Mountain will cost more than $50 million, according to a draft of a government analysis obtained by The Gazette. The draft report said no estimates are available on how much it will cost to fortify the new location at Peterson Air Force Base. Nor has it been determined how the move will affect national security, the Government Accountability Office report said. At issue is relocation of the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center's primary occupants — North American Aerospace Defense Command and Northern Command — from the 1960s granite bunker to the headquarters at Peterson. There, the commands are housed aboveground about 100 yards from the base's boundary.

Carson getting new commander in September
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20968&template=article.html
Fort Carson will get a new commanding general in September, the Pentagon said Friday. Brig. Gen. Mark A. Graham will command Division West and Fort Carson when he arrives in a few weeks. He takes over from Maj. Gen. Robert W. Mixon Jr., who has commanded Fort Carson for two years. Graham is now the deputy commander of U.S. Army North at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where he helps direct the Army’s response to terrorist attacks and natural disasters. That mission falls under U.S. Northern Command in Colorado Springs.

Memorial set in stone
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470519,00.html
Dan Dietz sees irony in the death of his Navy SEAL son and those opposed to erecting a statute in his honor July 4 in a Littleton park. "This was Danny's third tour over there. The first time he was over there, he lost a friend and when he came back, he was mad. And he said, 'Boy, Dad, I'd better not run across any of those anti-Americans. You know they're not doing us any good,' " Dan Dietz said Friday. "And I said, 'Wait a minute, Danny. During Vietnam I fought for those rights and now you're fighting for those rights.'
RELATED: Parents defend statue, dissent
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5611948

Words of gratitude for those who serve
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=21027&template=article.html
Anthony Geanopulos can’t walk past strangers without handing them a small glossy card adorned with a yellow ribbon. If the stranger happens to be in the Army, Air Force or other service branch, he’s thrilled. “Every military person I give it to — what a reaction I get,” he said. “I got chills now just thinking of it.” He asks the others he meets to hand out the cards to veterans and those in uniform. “You’ll enjoy doing it,” the Colorado Springs resident assures those he encounters, often giving them a half-dozen or more cards to pass along. The business-card-size notes offer a thank you to troops — active-duty and retired — for their service.

Quiet courage marked Pueblan's style of heroism
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5469992,00.html
Raymond Gerald Murphy, a Korean War hero and one of four Medal of Honor recipients whose deeds earned Pueblo the nickname "Home of Heroes," died Friday in his hometown at the age of 77.
RELATED: Actions as Marine in 1953 brought Medal of Honor
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5614659
RELATED: Gentle hero, Raymond ‘Jerry’ Murphy dead at 77
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175925600/1
RELATED: Murphy's refusal to leave his men led to medal
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175925600/2

Top

Religion

War over Springs church escalates
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5469987,00.html
The Rev. Donald Armstrong on Friday filed a claim for Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish, escalating the battle with Episcopal Bishop Rob O'Neill over control of the Colorado Springs church. Attorney J. Gregory Walta, representing Armstrong's leadership, filed a complaint in El Paso County District Court, asking a judge to declare that parish property at 601 N. Tejon St. belongs to the local church and not the Episcopal diocese. The church property is insured for $17 million, said Armstrong spokesman Alan Crippen. In December, Armstrong was banned by O'Neill from the parish while the diocese investigated allegations of what the bishop called "financial wrongdoing" by Armstrong. Last month, Armstrong and a majority of the parish's governing board voted to secede from the Episcopal Church. A day later, on March 27, O'Neill wrote to parishioners, outlining some of the allegations against Armstrong. The letter cited an investigation by a church attorney that alleged theft and misuse of hundreds of thousands of dollars of parish funds during a 10-year period.
RELATED: Springs parishioners file complaint against diocese (Briefing, 4/7)
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5619052

Activities connect religious stories to modern faith
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470179,00.html
Six-year-old Lizbeth Garcia's favorite part of an early Easter meal at the Denver Rescue Mission's Lawrence Street Shelter on Friday? The slice of apple pie topped with extra whipped cream. But the gift of an Easter basket was her favorite part of the day. She squealed as she discovered candy inside the colorful plastic eggs stuffed inside the basket, along with toys and a plush pink Easter bunny. "I love candy," she said in Spanish as her mother, Carla Garcia, 28, smiled. Several families with children participated in the mission's Easter celebration on Good Friday.

Faith and activism mix in Old Town
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/NEWS01/704070361/1002/NEWS17
Enduring freezing temperatures and spitting snow, about 150 people took part Friday in a solemn procession around Old Town that was political as well as devotional. The annual Way of the Cross ceremony recalled the suffering and death of Jesus Christ but also brought attention to persistent social issues, including domestic violence, poverty, discrimination and substance abuse.

Local woman brings Easter to Holly
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15648
Becky Williamson and her family will share Easter dinner today with about 1,000 people, most of whom she doesn’t even know.

Missing sunrise can't darken Easter joy
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5473172,00.html
Easter celebrations went on Sunday, even if the spring weather didn't. For thousands of Colorado worshippers who awoke to raw, swirling fogs of snow and a pasting of ice, there was some scrambling for a "Plan B" to cover that festive brunch or family reunion. Perhaps most affected by the weather were scores of Easter sunrise services. For Christians, watching the sun rise symbolizes Easter's meaning, when Jesus Christ rose from the tomb to be "light of the world."
RELATED: For Stations of the Cross, worshippers fill biblical roles
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470181,00.html
RELATED: Holding nothing back in praising Jesus-amen
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5470421,00.html
RELATED: Boulder church uses graffiti in telling of Easter story
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5472439,00.html
RELATED: Easter feels like Xmas in Colo.
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5623023
RELATED: Egging on the C&E flock
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5618692

Easter on the road
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5623925
As thousands brave the cold to celebrate the holiday in churches across the state, a handful of truckers prove worship is about spirit, not setting.

Top

Energy Policy

Group files ballot proposals to get rid of oil, gas tax credit
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5472643,00.html
A Denver-based education group wants voters this November to eliminate an oil-and-gas tax credit and instead use the money for other needs, including public school buildings. In addition, communities impacted by the industry would get more money to offset the costs of drilling in their areas, such as the strain put on roads and health care. Late Thursday, the Donnell- Kay Foundation filed four ballot proposals with the state but expects only one to make it to the ballot. "Hopefully, people will rally behind one of the proposals," foundation director Tony Lewis said. All four proposals eliminate the credit but call for splitting the money in different ways, including for higher education and capital construction. In addition, one proposal calls for increasing the tax on oil and gas to 8 percent from 5.7 percent.

Regulators see more dubious oil, gas deals
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5469960,00.html
An oil and gas boom has triggered a wave of dubious investment deals hitting Colorado. State regulators recently have cracked down on several companies pitching oil and gas ventures to investors, and they are investigating a dozen more. Colorado Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph said it seems a lot of people want to be the next Jed Clampett, the character on the 1960s television show The Beverly Hillbillies who strikes oil, gets rich overnight and moves his Ozark-farm family to California. Opportunists hoping to cash in on the sector's surge also have reached out to prospective investors. Most of the cases involve cold calls to Coloradans.

Seeking more friends
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/26049
The Friends of Northwest Colorado, a volunteer group comprised of Moffat County residents, has secured at least 100 endorsements from area residents supporting its alternative proposal to the Bureau of Land Management's resource management plan. On Wednesday, the group released its response to the BLM draft plan, titled "A Conservation Vision for the Little Snake Resource Area." The publication calls on the BLM to incorporate more protective provisions to the management plan. "We're just a group of simple people trying to remind the BLM that we're here, we're thinking and we'd like our public lands used wisely," Friends member Jane Yazzie said. A campaign to secure endorsements is on-going, Yazzie said. The Friends of Northwest Colorado will submit the endorsements to the BLM at the end of the management plan public comment period May 16. The BLM released the management plan in February. If implemented, the resource plan would be the governing document for 1.3 million acres in the Little Snake Resource Area. The Friends group said the BLM plan opens 93 percent of the Little Snake area to oil and gas drilling, including the 81,000-acre Vermillion Basin.

Gas companies cut emissions
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/09/4_9_1a_air_pollution_control.html
Two major gas companies operating in Western Garfield County are being lauded by an air-quality-conservation group after taking steps to reduce air emissions that result from natural gas development. EnCana Oil and Gas and Bill Barrett Corp. cut methane and volatile organic compound, or VOC, emissions by designing or installing specialized equipment and changing other equipment. VOCs include cancer-causing benzene, toluene and other hazardous compounds that are byproducts of natural gas. EnCana Air Quality Specialist Scott Mason said the company joined the Environmental Protection Agency’s voluntary Natural Gas STAR program about a year and a half ago. The program encourages the gas and oil industries to adopt cost-effective technologies and practices that improve operational efficiency and reduce methane emissions.

The newest cash crop: Ethanol
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5614452
Yuma County farmer Byron Weathers anticipates an unusual event this year: making money on his corn crop. Like many of his corn-growing colleagues who have suffered through lean years, Weathers plans to plant more of the grain this spring to take advantage of historically high prices. Colorado farmers will increase their corn acreage this year by a projected 25 percent to 1.25 million acres, the second-highest total since the 1930s, agriculture officials reported last week. Nationally, corn planting is expected to grow 15 percent to 90.5 million acres, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Sunflowers could be energy crop
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/08/4_8_1a_Club_20_Biodiesel.html
A sunflower biodiesel plant in Dove Creek could be pumping out 5 million gallons of fuel by this time next year. San Juan Biodiesel is moving ahead with plans to produce the fuel and related products from sunflowers, a crop that appears well-suited to the arid West’s lower elevations, Jeff Berman told Club 20 at its spring meeting Saturday at Two Rivers Convention Center. Biodiesel derived from sunflower seeds has potential on its own as a fuel and as an additive to regular diesel, said Berman, general manager of the company. It has greater lubricating qualities than diesel, especially the low-sulfur variety, he said. The company now is in discussions with three lenders and plans to begin construction soon, he said. The plant will draw from about 100,000 acres within 200 miles, he said.

County hires Oklahoma company to inventory, value oil and gas equipment
http://postindependent.com/article/20070409/VALLEYNEWS/104090019
Due to the tremendous growth in gas production in the Piceance Basin, Garfield County has hired Visual Lease Services (VLS) of Oklahoma to assist in inventorying and valuing all oil and gas equipment in the county.

Raton rejects more funding for power plant
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176012000/6
The City Commission has rejected a request for additional funding for the remodeling of the Lamar power plant that supplies the city’s power. Raton is one of seven members of the Arkansas River Power Authority, and the only one to disapprove of the $18 million increase. Raton Public Service General Manager Glenn Fisher said he and the commission are looking at the contract they signed with the ARPA to determine if ARPA has the power to pass that cost on to Raton without their approval.

Windmills draw lukewarm response
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070408/NEWS/70406026
Kay Beckman greeted the prospect with a chuckle — going to the golf course to see an art installation of windmills? And where is the golf course, she wanted to know. Beckman and her husband, Irv, of Pittsburgh, were waiting for the in-town bus to bring them to Vail Village. “I'm not going to do anything else but ski,” Irv Beckman said. And maybe some shopping, he said. Even if the Beckmans weren’t enthusiastic about seeing the windmills, town of Vail officials say the exhibit has been successful. Vail spent $94,500 to install Denver artist Patrick Marold’s temporary exhibition of 2,700 glowing windmills. A light in each of the windmills glows when the wind spins the rotor.

Top

Transportation and Infrastructure

State panel addresses ‘quiet crisis’
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070407_2.htm
Hey buddy, can you spare $163 billion? If so, Gov. Bill Ritter wants to talk to you. Ritter kicked off his blue-ribbon transportation panel Thursday with a summit meeting in Denver that attracted more than 500 people. "It isn't good enough to have another meeting to talk again about this important issue," said Russ George, director of the Colorado Department of Transportation. "This one is designed to have a finish line." Ritter picked George to lead a statewide conversation about how to pay for highways. The 31-person group plans to meet around the state this year, including a tentative June 19 meeting somewhere on the Western Slope. Colorado's roads are starting to crumble, and planners say that by 2030, the state will be $163 billion short of what it needs to maintain the current system and expand for population growth.

California crash ties up RTD rail plans
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5473170,00.html
The desperate and tragic act of one despondent person in Southern California changed the course of the metro area's planned rapid transit system. In November 2004, when voters approved FasTracks, railroads serving the Denver area were generally open to talks about letting the Regional Transportation District use their tracks for commuter lines. That changed less than three months later, when a commuter train smashed into an SUV parked on railroad tracks in Glendale, Calif. What happened there caused railroads nationwide to ban light- rail trains from routes used by heavy freights. In Colorado, one railroad also is demanding that it be shielded from lawsuits arising from accidents involving RTD trains using its tracks. On Wednesday, the state House Judiciary Committee will consider a bill that would do just that. The legislature got involved because state law currently doesn't allow RTD to pay damages on behalf of railroads.

Club 20: Fine truckers more if they skip chains
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/07/4_7_Club_20_chain_law.html
Truckers who fail to chain up before tackling Vail Pass should pay more than minimal fines, Club 20 said Friday. In doing so, the Western Slope lobbying and promotional organization gave support to a measure that would quintuple the current fine for truckers ignoring requirements that they chain up for the mountains. House Bill 1229 by Rep. Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, would set the fine at $500 for failing to chain up and $1,000 for blocking a lane of traffic. By some estimates, said Gibbs and Jerry Groswald of Winter Park, a Club 20 director, a wintertime closure of Interstate 70 can cost $1 million an hour.

Tunnel crack is no easy repair
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5620083
A crack in concrete above the main Glenwood Canyon tunnel on Interstate 70 is growing wider and worse than expected and will force multimillion-dollar repairs while the tunnel is closed all summer. And it has turned into a major headache for the cadre of engineers and highway officials charged with fixing it. "This one is tough," said Colorado Department of Transportation engineer Joe Elsen, who worked on construction of the much-lauded Glenwood Canyon roadway for 11 years and is now back as the program engineer for the crack repair.
RELATED: Tunnel vision: The work begins
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070407/NEWS/70407002

Which transportation plan is best for Weld County?
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070408/NEWS/104070149/-1/NEWS
Thanks to the condition of roads in northern Colorado, your taxes might go up in the near future. But take solace in the fact that you can still decide how those dollars are spent. Officials are busy deciding between two proposals for a regional transportation authority, which would impose a half or one percent sales tax. One is a Weld County-only proposal that would include all communities in Weld as well as unincorporated parts of the county. The authority would work on improving transportation among all the communities in Weld through road and transit improvement projects.

Talk of new road concerns Erie residents
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/08/talk-of-new-road-concerns-erie-residents/
A pitched battle over economic health, quality of life and promises broken or never made is taking shape in Erie. And at the heart of the struggle is a tranquil stretch of grass less than a football field in length. The verdant strip, separating Bonanza Drive from Vista Parkway, is cited by neighbors who live in Erie Airpark as the crucial divide that preserves the quiet, rural lifestyle they've come to cherish. They're opposed to talk of a road connection, which emerged last month as the town tries to woo development.

Ride the Rockies denied use of Rio Grande trail near Aspen
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070409/NEWS/70409001
Some 2,000 cyclists could roll down the Rio Grande trail near Aspen in June if Ride the Rockies planner have their way, but some voices in the community say “no.” Event planners hoped to use the Rio Grande trail but that idea ran into opposition last week when they met with officials from Pitkin County and the city of Aspen. Ride the Rockies is a 422-mile loop ride (not a race) starting and ending in Frisco, with stops in Steamboat Springs, Craig, Rifle, Glenwood Springs, Aspen and Leadville. The last time the ride came through Aspen was 1986.

Load limits to be lifted on Rio Blanco roads
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/08/4_8_8B_Rio_Blanco_road.html
Weight restrictions imposed last month on two Rio Blanco County roads to protect them from damage from heavy, energy-industry trucks during the spring thaw are to be lifted Wednesday, a county road and bridge superintendent said.

Top

Environment and Conservation

CSU’s Gray calls ex-VP Gore ‘a gross alarmist’
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070407/CSUZONE01/70407002/1002/NEWS17
A top hurricane forecaster called Al Gore “a gross alarmist” Friday for making an Oscar-winning documentary about global warming. “He’s one of these guys that preaches the end of the world type of things. I think he’s doing a great disservice and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Dr. William Gray said in an interview with The Associated Press at the National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans, where he delivered the closing speech. A spokeswoman said Gore was on a flight from Washington, D.C., to Nashville Friday; he did not immediately respond to Gray’s comments. Gray, an emeritus professor at the atmospheric science department at Colorado State University, has long railed against the theory that heat-trapping gases generated by human activity are causing the world to warm. Over the past 24 years, Gray, 77, has become known as America’s most reliable hurricane forecaster; recently, his mentee, Philip Klotzbach, has begun doing the bulk of the forecasting work. Gray’s statements came the same day the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change approved a report that concludes the world will face dire consequences to food and water supplies, along with increased flooding and other dramatic weather events, unless nations adapt to climate change.

Ritter expected to decide on Roadless rule
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/08/4_8_1b_Roadless.html
Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to decide this week whether to modify or accept former Gov. Bill Owens’ roadless petition as it is. The petition outlines the Colorado Roadless Area Review Task Force’s recommendations on how the federal government should manage the state’s more than 4 million acres of national forest roadless areas. Owens submitted the petition with the task force’s recommendations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture last year, but the agency allowed Ritter to make his own recommendations after he took office in January. Ritter spokesman Evan Dreyer said the governor is considering what to do and likely will make a decision this week.

Parable about buzzards illustrates how people can ‘get off the branch’
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/08/4_8_8a_Club_20_Limerick.html
Respect and reciprocity between the Western Slope and the Front Range could help ease friction in Colorado on issues such as water use, says a western United States historian. Patty Limerick, faculty director for The Center for the American West at the University of Colorado, jokingly suggested during her keynote address Saturday at Club 20’s spring meeting that Colorado’s borders were given to us by benign extraterrestrials who wanted to challenge our ingenuity. “To put a rectangle down on this very variegated landscape, that’s quite an act,” Limerick said. “That’s a very odd arrangement of both nature and human society.” Her keynote speech was on building bridges between the Western Slope and Front Range, and she said the state’s borders are not the only seemingly arbitrary distinctions in Colorado.

Aurora deal: Technical issues linger
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176128680/2
Colorado courts, rather than a federal contract, would be a better way to deal with water transfers from the Lower Arkansas Valley to Aurora, a key water official maintains. Joe Kelley, La Junta water supervisor, said the concerns of downstream communities are not adequately addressed in a finding of no significant impact issued last month by the Bureau of Reclamation in its environmental assessment of a contract with Aurora. Aurora, a city of 300,000 east of Denver, is proposing a 40-year contract to store and exchange water in a paper trade from Lake Pueblo in order to pump it out of the Arkansas Valley.
RELATED: Lower Ark takes time on lawsuit
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176012000/1

Water project raises qualms
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=news&article_path=/news/07/news070407_4.htm
A proposal to transport water from the Green River basin of Utah and Wyoming for urban and rural users on the Front Range, including Colorado Springs and Pueblo, drew some skepticism Friday at the Southwestern Water Conservation District's 25th annual water seminar. The all-day event attracted about 130 participants to the DoubleTree Hotel, including about 40 Fort Lewis College students involved with Engineers Without Borders, a national program created in 2000 to design and construct water, sanitation and shelter projects in developing nations. The reaction arose after Aaron Million described how his thesis at Colorado State University - a comparative economic study of the Colorado and Green river basins - turned into a request to the federal Bureau of Reclamation for a project permit.

Black Canyon water negotiations to be complex, confidential
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/09/4_9_1a_Black_Canyon.html
Negotiations in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park water rights dispute could continue right up to a June 29 deadline. That’s the date the federal government and the state have been given to reach a resolution, according to a Gunnison attorney involved in the case. The two sides are attempting to reach a new agreement about how much water should be allowed to flow in the Gunnison River through Black Canyon.

'Wild and scenic' for Blue River?
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070407/NEWS/104070079
Local anglers and boaters no doubt already appreciate the wild and scenic qualities associated with the Blue River north of Green Mountain Reservoir, as well as the magnificent canyon country of the Upper Colorado. But significant sections of those streams are getting a whole new level of recognition through a formal study conducted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). A new report identifies parts of the Blue and Colorado as eligible for wild and scenic river status, based on "outstanding remarkable values and the free-flowing nature of the rivers.

Fountain task force to meet in Pueblo April 19
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176012000/8
The progress of a committee trying to make Fountain Creek an amenity rather than a liability will be reviewed at a meeting in Pueblo later this month. The Fountain Creek Vision Task Force will meet from 6 to 9 p.m. April 19 at El Pueblo History Museum, 301 N. Union Ave. The task force began meeting last September following a call for a Fountain Creek Crown Jewel Project by U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar. The group was seeking a way to deal with increased flows, sewage spills and general contamination on Fountain Creek.
RELATED: Fountain Creek a puzzle waiting to be solved
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1175925600/6

World traveler finds 'socially progressive' job organizing Grand Valley Citizens Alliance
http://postindependent.com/article/20070409/VALLEYNEWS/104090014
Patrick Barker has come the long way around from his hometown of Ravenswood, W.Va. to Glenwood Springs. Since coming here in November 2005, Barker has represented Western Colorado Congress, "a grass-roots community action group" that advocates for social, economic and environmental concerns.

Officials gear up for busy fire season
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5472934,00.html
Warm weather in late winter and early spring increased the risk of wildfire in Colorado, and if a developing La Niña event in the Pacific becomes intense, the summer fire season could be a difficult one for Colorado, forecasters said. In 2006, 4,515 wildland fires broke out in Colorado, scorching more than 214,000 acres. Fire officials and fire departments across the state are readying for the upcoming season, and the annual Colorado Mitigation and Wildfire Conference, Friday through Sunday in Pueblo, is expected to help fill in some of the blanks.

Youths lead green charge
http://www2.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/apr/09/youths_lead_green_charge/?local_news
Four active and motivated Strawberry Park Elementary School students believe their school can be a community leader in environmentally-friendly initiatives, so much so, they delivered a presentation to the Steamboat Springs School Board on April 2 outlining their vision for their school — and town. Strawberry Park Student Council President Peter White, vice president Kelly Borgerding, secretary Kestral Johnston and treasurer Grant Verploeg read letters from other Strawberry Park students passionate about making changes in Steamboat Springs School District schools that would positively benefit the environment.

State wildlife agencies receive $15 million
http://montrosepress.com/articles/2007/04/09/local_news/4.txt
Colorado sport fish and wildlife agencies will receive about $15 million of the $600 million distributed by the U.S. Department of the Interior for conservation efforts, hunter education and shooting ranges. The finances come from excise taxes on the manufacturers of hunting and fishing goods, as well as motorboat fuel.

Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Awards GMUG biologist
http://montrosepress.com/articles/2007/04/09/local_news/5.txt
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has awarded its 2007 Elk Country Achievement Award for individual accomplishment to Forest Service Biologist Craig Grother. The award cited Grother’s, “long-standing commitment to excellence in elk management and habitat enhancement.” Mr. Grother works as a zoned wildlife biologist on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests (GMUG) on the Norwood and Ouray Ranger Districts. Over the past 18 years Craig has developed approximately 51 partnership agreements, valued at over $360,000 to improve wildlife habitat on the Forest - many of which were with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Gunnison plans to adopt permanent regulations to protect sage grouse
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/09/4_9_3a_Sage_grouse.html
When the federal government decided not to put the Gunnison sage grouse on the endangered species list last April, Gunnison County decided to take action. Gunnison County commissioners adopted temporary regulations last year to protect the birds’ habitat from development, but those rules ended March 1, said Jim Cochran, Gunnison sage grouse conservation coordinator for the county. Now the county is working on adopting permanent regulations. Cochran, a rancher and wildlife biologist, was hired two years ago by the county because Gunnison has the largest population of the birds in the world, about 5,200 in 2006, he said. The new regulations will cover everything from driveways to subdivisions, he said, but the county hopes to find “middle ground” when there is a conflict of interests.

Vail aims to keep a lid on bear woes
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5623924
Every Vail resident will be required to shell out $170 or more for bear-proof trash cans under one of the strictest wildlife-protection ordinances in the state. A winter after a highly publicized incident in which a black bear sow was destroyed for breaking into homes, leaving two cubs orphaned, town officials approved the law, which carries penalties ranging from a fine of $999 to 180 days in jail.

Soon to be homeless: City hopes to relocate prairie dogs off butte
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/09/soon-to-be-homeless/
Prairie dogs that live on the Valmont Butte site in Boulder are going to be in need of new homes — and the city of Boulder is hoping volunteers will offer to take the burrowing critters. Valmont Butte was for decades the home of industrial operations that left behind radium-226, lead, uranium and arsenic in two tailing ponds, which were covered with a dirt cap. Prairie dogs moved on top of that cap and burrowed in.

Coalition hopes commissioners will form historic preservation board
http://postindependent.com/article/20070409/VALLEYNEWS/104090018
History buffs from across the county have banded together to make sure sites that figure in Garfield County's past are preserved.

Top

Opinion

Littwin: Nostalgic for pre-Rove GOP
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_86_5469957,00.html
If you're seriously interested in who wins the Republican presidential nomination - in other words, if you're not backing Tom Tancredo - you have to ask yourself this question: What the hell is going on? Yes, it's early, but we're already deep into the political season, and the consensus is that nobody can win the Republican nomination - except that somebody has to.

Brown: Tancredo follows in Colorado footsteps
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5603952
Since 1983, four Coloradans - now including Tom Tancredo - have run for president. It's a disappointing record.
RELATED: Campaign $tratosphere
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5603975

Stem-cell bills on Senate track
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5623567
The U.S. Senate is set to take up legislation this week that would lift restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research. It is a continuation of efforts that ended in the Oval Office last year when President Bush vetoed a bill passed by the Republican-dominated House and Senate that would have allowed funding for new stem-cell lines. We hope the current stem-cell efforts will make it into law.

Closure needed in Pat Tillman case
http://www.gazette.com/onset?id=20989&template=article.html
Friendly fire killed Pat Tillman almost three years ago in Afghanistan, but his death continues to haunt us. Maybe it’s because his story was so compelling — a star athlete relinquishing the wealth of life as an NFL football player for the brutality and danger of fighting on the front lines — that Tillman continues to be the focus of so much attention. Or perhaps it’s because his story feeds doubts about the veracity and trustworthiness of our government, which have developed due the way we embarked on the war in Iraq. But whatever the reason, the Tillman case refuses to rest peacefully.

Buchanan: Looking beyond Referendum C
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5603959
Passage of Referendum C in 2005 was a wonderful victory for fiscal sanity in Colorado, but it is only temporary. The 2007-08 budget that the legislature has been debating is the third of the five budgets lawmakers will write under Ref C, with only two more to follow. The state's resources still are extremely limited compared to future needs. So it is time to start talking about the post-Ref C world. Government budgets should reflect a society's most important values. That's why Colorado's budget priorities should align with the core values of opportunity and self-sufficiency. The Bell Policy Center's "Blueprint for Opportunity," published last August, makes 38 recommendations to help Colorado families move up the economic ladder toward financial stability. Some require action by the business community, but most fall into the realm of state government.

Ewegen: State budget limit can be changed
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5611280
Legislators, state officials and leaders of Colorado's cash- starved higher-education community are poring over an obscure memo from the Office of Legal Services with the intensity that tabloid television reserves for the moldering remains of Anna Nicole Whatzhername. The Oct. 12, 1993, memo is headed: "Discussion of aspects of the state general fund appropriations limit ... and a 'significant restructuring' of the method by which elementary, secondary, or postsecondary education is financed." Simply put, this legal analysis may offer Colorado a way out of the fiscal trap that is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into new highway construction while our battered higher-education system remains mired in mediocrity.

Carman: A crash course in world's horrors
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5618694
We're seated comfortably in the lap of luxury, a classroom in the sumptuous, high-tech Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver and we're talking mass murder. Faces of the accused flash across a screen on the wall. Everyone is taking notes. The crime is genocide and the details are so horrific that just reading the Human Rights Watch report is traumatic. The eight young students in the room have read every word. They can't wait to get to work. They are "externs," assisting the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, prosecuting leaders accused in the notorious 1994 genocide. This is no mock anything. It's life and death.

Quillen: Here's your voucher
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5603972
Merrifield supports public education, and obviously sees charter schools and vouchers as a threat. Many other supporters of public schools see it the same way, but they could be wrong. Giving parents options with vouchers could be the best thing that ever happened to public schools. As it is, school administrators and teachers have to step very carefully to avoid offense. The result is sanitized history, bland literature and incomplete science. As the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche put it, "In large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad." When you try to please everybody, you get white bread and bland casseroles, instead of pungent cuisine. But imagine that you sat at the complaint desk of a public high school where vouchers were freely available, and you dealt with parents: "Mrs. Rosary, I understand you're upset because your daughter, in our European history class, was taught that the church was quite corrupt in late medieval times, and you do not want her exposed to that information. We're not going to change the teacher or the curriculum. So here's your voucher. You can take it down the street to a school that will keep your daughter in blissful ignorance."

Reuteman: Phone call probe stings business association
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/business_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_82_5470520,00.html
I'm guessing most of you never heard of Colorado Concern before this week, when its executive director was fingered by the legislative ethics probe of a deceptive phone campaign to voters. The low-profile group has no Web site or office of its own, yet its membership includes 100 of the most powerful, influential - and most civic-minded - business executives in Denver. It's fair to say that many of them were shocked to find that the pro-business lobbying group they belonged to is linked to political dirty tricks.

Clausing: Genteel attitudes give way to "gotcha"
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5618535
They just can't seem to help themselves. Maybe they grow restless as the four-month session drags on and they're no longer able to easily shrug off the daily lobbying pressures and the underlying partisan politics. Last week it all came to a head again, prompting a personal-privilege speech by House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. "Too often we get caught up in politics and our focus is taken away from the policy we are here to create," he said to the House chamber Thursday, quoting an earlier statement from Republican Minority Leader Mike May. "But there is too much at stake for our state and the people we serve to allow partisanship to stand in the way of us working together to build a brighter future." The speech came on the heels of complaints by three House members over aggressive lobbying on a construction-defects bill, the release by a conservative blog of a hostile e-mail the Democratic House education committee chairman - who is undergoing cancer treatment - wrote about charter school proponents, and the continuing partisan debate on an issue over which the legislature has no control: the Iraq war. "This is not the first time - and it probably will not be the last - that outside interests have attempted to poison our proceedings. But whether they succeed is entirely up to us," Romanoff said.

Haley: End of the trail for state GOP group
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5623566
The Trailhead Group, the organization Republicans had hoped would help propel them back into power last fall, has closed up shop. Founded in 2005 by former Gov. Bill Owens, Bruce Benson and Pete Coors, Trailhead was created to counter the "Democrat millionaires," as they're known in GOP circles, who provided millions to 527 campaign groups in 2004 to help their party win control of the Colorado statehouse. Trailhead raised $5.2 million last year, but was criticized privately by some Republicans for spreading the money too thin and targeting the wrong races. GOP insiders say they're considering their next moves, but the idea is to create new groups that will draw in other wealthy GOP donors. Meanwhile, Trailhead's former director, Alan Philp, has landed a gig with GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign in Boston. His official title is "idea factory director," which means he will coordinate policy and issues.

Funding schools
http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=opin&article_path=/opinion/opin070408_1.htm
Stabilizing school mill levies makes good sense, and we support the legislature's efforts.

Energy-tax revenue must follow impacts
http://www.gjsentinel.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2007/04/08/4_8_07_impacts_edit1.html
Even to those accustomed to arguing that the impacts from energy development on local governments are sizeable, the numbers contained in a Colorado Department of Local Affairs report are eye-popping. Mesa County anticipates $2.5 billion in direct and indirect costs related to the energy industry over the next two decades, everything from roads and bridges to law enforcement and social services. That’s the greatest amount for any county in Colorado. Statewide, the overall impacts from the industry are projected to be $23.5 billion in the next 20 years. One can quibble, of course, with the actual numbers in the report. Economic projections of any kind that look that far into the future are notoriously unreliable. Furthermore, the impact estimates were put together by local government officials who gave their best guess as to what their costs would be. There was apparently not a single, uniform method for making the projections. As a result, there are some anomalies: Is Eagle county really likely to incur roughly five times the cost in dealing with energy impacts in coming years that are anticipated in Garfield County — which is already dotted with drill rigs, hundreds of wells and related facilities?

State care for senior veterans
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5623569
Atrocious conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the continuing flow of war casualties have Americans justifiably concerned about the care of those who've fought for their country. News of problems at a Veterans Administration hospital in Los Angeles, including a botched surgery, and of substandard conditions at some other VA facilities have only increased public nervousness. But there was encouraging news last week for Colorado veterans with the announcement that the VA has begun land purchases for a new hospital near the University of Colorado's Fitzsimons medical campus in Aurora. For a time, funding questions and disagreements between CU and the VA had slowed plans for the new hospital. Slated to open in 2011, the facility will replace the VA's half-century-old hospital in east Denver.

Spady: Work for real education reform
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5603961
The new education reform report called "Tough Choices or Tough Times" is the first national report of its kind in recent years to truly address and challenge the deeply entrenched and systemic factory-model nature of our educational system. Our traditional time-defined paradigm of "school" has become so legalized, institutionalized, internalized and continuously reinforced that it is ingrained in our culture and way of thinking. That's why virtually all other major educational reform reports or initiatives have either reinforced this outdated and counter-productive paradigm or simply tried to apply Band-Aids to it. Since most Americans love the image of the school they attended, they can't imagine anything else and don't want to see it changed. That's a key reason why real educational change proceeds at a snail's pace, gets blocked or never really materializes. So, Colorado leaders like House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who've expressed serious interest in "Tough Choices," can expect the forces of inertia to find fault with report and prevent real change - no matter the urgency of education problems, or the merits of new ideas.

Smith: Follow science not theology when caring for kids
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070408/COLUMNS/104060060
Coming to Summit County in May is a vaccination that will help us protect children from cancer. The vaccination is already available and endorsed by 57 westernized countries around the world. It is not endorsed by the U.S. government where abstinence is taught as a priority.

'Yes' on Denver 1A
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/editorials/article/0,2777,DRMN_23964_5469708,00.html
For two decades we've fought the good fight for term limits on public officials. We continue to believe they're the right public policy, too, with more benefits than liabilities. So why are we endorsing Denver Referred Question 1A, which would allow the Denver district attorney to serve three terms instead of the present limit of two? Because every other office in Denver - including the mayor and city council - is allowed three terms, thanks to voters' decision seven years ago extending the limit from two to three. The district attorney wasn't included at the time in part because there was lingering debate whether term limits even applied to that office, although no such doubt exists today.

What were Wal-Mart officials thinking?
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5611282
We can't imagine what Wal-Mart executives were thinking when they authorized company security personnel to report on activist shareholders. Once the maneuver was exposed, Wal-Mart was quick to apologize, a wise decision but one that doesn't begin to address the depth of the firm's questionable efforts to monitor its employees, critics, consultants and reporters covering the company. The activities came to light after a veteran security staffer was fired for "unauthorized" recording of phone calls to and from a New York Times reporter and intercepting pager messages. In an interview after his dismissal, Bruce Gabbard gave The Wall Street Journal details of Wal-Mart's wide-ranging spy operations. Among other things, he revealed that last year the company dispatched a long-haired employee with a wireless microphone to infiltrate a group critical of Wal-Mart to see if the group would be disruptive.

They're your trees
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/editorials/article/0,2777,DRMN_23964_5472953,00.html
Trees are good. Trees are green (soon, anyway). We like trees, and we approve of Mayor John Hickenlooper's plan to add a million of them to Denver's urban canopy. But we neither like nor approve of a proposed city ordinance that would require all owners of residential property to like the trees in their own front yards so much that they couldn't cut one down without permission of the city forester. As the City Forester's Office says on its Web site, Denvergov.org/forestry, the ordinance would offer "a consistent approach to protecting trees, by extending many of the protections granted to public right-of-way trees to trees in front yards in all residential lots."

Johnson: No winners in matter of jail-cell slaying
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_86_5469963,00.html
Who killed Frank Ortega? In the end, they pinned it on Encarnacion Grijalvaa, a gimpy, bald, leather-faced old man who shared a Denver County Jail cell with the 56-year-old former Army Ranger, paratrooper and Green Beret the day two Octobers ago that Frank Ortega was found next to his bunk, bleeding to death. In the end, not even the judge, who reluctantly but ultimately sentenced the 64- year-old Grijalvaa to prison on a vastly reduced criminally negligent homicide charge, truly believed he did it.

NATIONAL NEWS

Top

Election

Clinton, McCain lose front-runner label
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-prez9apr09,1,3240395.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
After months of intensive campaigning, record fundraising and unusually high voter interest, the 2008 presidential campaign has lost its early front-runners on both sides, throwing the races wide open. Far from clarifying things, last week's tally of first-quarter fundraising totals dispelled the air of inevitability that the putative favorites — Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona — spent years trying to create. But enough doubts surround each of the other leading candidates to prevent any from breaking loose and emerging as the one to beat. And enough questions remain about the contours of the race — including which states will vote on which dates and whether anyone else jumps in — that the only certainty appears to be many more months of grind-it-out campaigning. "A year ago, there was a clear Clinton scenario, a clear McCain scenario" for winning their respective party nominations, said Stuart Rothenberg, publisher of a nonpartisan campaign newsletter in Washington. "The question was whether someone would challenge them. Now it's clear other candidates have caught the public's attention, caught donors' attention. The result is a pair of races that are both very, very competitive."

Obama has plan to house veterans
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/09/obama_has_plan_to_house_veterans/
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama today planned to unveil a housing program for veterans aimed at keeping them off the streets when their service is completed. The Illinois senator said he would introduce legislation that he calls Homes for Heroes, which would establish grant and voucher programs to encourage development of affordable housing targeted for veterans. "Veterans are far more likely to be homeless than nonveterans and part of it is because we're not providing services to them as they transition out of the service," Obama said in an interview Friday before a campaign rally. "Part of it is because there is just not enough affordable housing."

Governor of N.M. visits N. Korea
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/04/09/governor_of_nm_visits_n_korea/
The four-day trip, which has been endorsed by the Bush administration, comes days before a crucial deadline in a recent nuclear disarmament accord. But Richardson, a Democratic candidate for president, said he had no intention of negotiating nuclear matters. "It could be the signal of an improved relationship," Richardson said of the discussions to secure US servicemen remains. "The North Koreans always consider protocol very important. They like to be considered a major power in the region," he said on the flight to Pyongyang.

White House Looked Past Alarms on Kerik
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701398.html
When former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani urged President Bush to make Bernard B. Kerik the next secretary of homeland security, White House aides knew Kerik as the take-charge top cop from Sept. 11, 2001. But it did not take them long to compile an extensive dossier of damaging information about the would-be Cabinet officer. They learned about questionable financial deals, an ethics violation, allegations of mismanagement and a top deputy prosecuted for corruption. Most disturbing, according to people close to the process, was Kerik's friendship with a businessman who was linked to organized crime. The businessman had told federal authorities that Kerik received gifts, including $165,000 in apartment renovations, from a New Jersey family with alleged Mafia ties. Alarmed about the raft of allegations, several White House aides tried to raise red flags. But the normal investigation process was short-circuited, the sources said. Bush's top lawyer, Alberto R. Gonzales, took charge of the vetting, repeatedly grilling Kerik about the issues that had been raised. In the end, despite the concerns, the White House moved forward with his nomination -- only to have it collapse a week later.
RELATED: Giuliani Says Nation at War Requires Him
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/07/us/politics/07rudy.html

McCain to Stake Bid On Need to Win in Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040602202.html
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will launch a high-profile effort next week to convince Americans that the Iraq war is winnable, embracing the unpopular conflict with renewed vigor as he attempts to reignite his stalling bid for the presidency. With the Virginia Military Institute as a backdrop, McCain plans to argue in a speech on Wednesday that victory in Iraq is essential to American security and that President Bush's war machine is finally getting on track after four years, aides and advisers said. McCain's rosy assessment of safety on Iraq's streets after his recent visit to a Baghdad marketplace was mocked by many, prompting him to tell a television reporter that he "misspoke" and now regrets the comments. But, in the interview to be broadcast tomorrow, the senator sticks by his defense of the overall war effort, predicting that failure in Iraq would be "catastrophic."
RELATED: McCain Says He Erred on Iraq Security
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/07/washington/07mccain.html

Four States Report Romney Never Got Hunting Licenses
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701089.html
Officials in the four states where Mitt Romney has lived say the Republican presidential contender, who calls himself a lifelong hunter, never took out a license. Romney says that is because he seldom has hunted where he needed one. Questions about his hunting activities trailed Romney last week after he remarked at a campaign stop that he has been a hunter nearly all his life. The next day, his campaign said Romney had gone hunting just twice -- once as a teenager in Idaho and last year with GOP donors in Georgia. That was wrong, Romney said a day later. He said he had hunted rabbits and other small animals for many years, mainly in Utah. Hunting certain small game there does not require a license.

Gingrich joins call for Gonzales to step down
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-usattys9apr09,1,1710079.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Gingrich, who is believed to be considering a run for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, is the latest prominent Republican to speak out against the attorney general, and Democrats said the remarks were evidence of waning support within Gonzales' party. "This is another important voice who believes that the attorney general should step down for the good of the country and the good of the department," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), a Judiciary Committee member who has led the investigation of the dismissals, said in a statement. "We hope both the attorney general and the president heed Speaker Gingrich's message." Gingrich, who served 11 terms in Congress and is now a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, defended Bush's right to replace the federal prosecutors, who are presidential appointees. But he said the administration and Gonzales had bungled the explanation of the moves and should be held accountable.
RELATED: Gingrich is back offering new ideas for either political party
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-apgingrich6apr06,1,6222754.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
RELATED: Gingrich Faults Gonzales for Attorneys ‘Mess’
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/washington/09attorneys.html?ref=washington

GOP candidates face litmus test: tax cuts
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-goptax9apr09,1,5329459.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
Sen. John McCain, whose tensions with social conservatives have become a drag on his presidential campaign, is finding himself at war with another vocal element of the Republican Party's base: economic conservatives who favor tax cuts. McCain's votes against President Bush's tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 infuriated them. He is being pressed to explain why he broke with an element of the Bush agenda that most of them consider an unqualified success. In one exchange last month, McCain criticized a prominent anti-tax group called the Club for Growth, saying he wasn't sure what he and the group had in common. In response, the group demanded that McCain apologize for his tax votes, and it added in an Internet video, "We're not sure what we have in common either." McCain is planning an address next week on his economic ideas.

Whatever the Postmarks Say, The Checks Are Made Out to Franken
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701034.html
He's good enough, he's smart enough, and, gosh darn it, he can raise the money. Al Franken, that is. Franken, comedian-turned-Senate candidate, piled up $1.3 million in contributions over the first three months of the year -- wowing neutral observers and proving that he is serious about his race in Minnesota against freshman Sen. Norm Coleman (R). Franken collected $300,000 more than Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), a top target for Republicans in 2008, and came within $400,000 of Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.). He blew away the $580,000 Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) raised in the first quarter of 2005 to win the Senate race last year. "Some have reported/opined that Democrats are 'nervous' about the prospect of an Al Franken candidacy," read a memo distributed by his campaign. "Perhaps a better term would be 'really, really excited.' "

Top

Effective and Ethical Government

Bush's approval rating sits below 40%
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-08-bush-approval-rating_N.htm
President Bush is reaching levels of consistency that no White House would want. Bush's job-approval rating in a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Monday through Thursday is 38%. His standing has stayed below 40% for seven consecutive months. Since the advent of modern polling, only two presidents have suffered longer strings of such low ratings. One was Harry Truman, whose popularity sank during the final 26 months of his tenure as the Korean War stalemated. The other was Richard Nixon during the 13 months leading up to his resignation amid the Watergate scandal.

Schumer Urges Bush to Adopt New Strategy in Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800898.html
For the second straight weekend, top Senate Democrats shrank away from core principles they had set out in the Iraq war debate, signaling yesterday that they are prepared to drop a timetable mandating the withdrawal of U.S. troops from war funding legislation, should President Bush veto the bill. Although Democrats expect to have to negotiate with the White House, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) made clear on "Fox News Sunday" that they would portray a veto as Bush denying funds to the military. Schumer added that the president must change his Iraq strategy, because "70 percent of the American people feel it's misguided. If a change in strategy means not supporting the troops, then 70 percent of the American people don't support the troops." The president's supporters argued that continued debate over the spending bill would delay funding and threaten troop safety and readiness.
RELATED: Levin: Senate will keep paying for Iraq
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-08-levin-iraq_N.htm
RELATED: Politics Collide With Iraq Realities
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701368.html
RELATED: Iraq insider lists US failures in 500 pages
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/04/09/iraq_insider_lists_us_failures_in_500_pages/

Six Weeks In, Top Spy Struggles To Find a Deputy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601876.html
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell has been unable to find a deputy acceptable to the White House during his first six weeks in office. Several candidates approached by McConnell either turned down the job or were rejected by the White House, according to current and former administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to discuss the matter.

Lieberman Panel Mixes Democrats And Republicans
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800784.html
In a seating arrangement reminiscent of boy-girl, boy-girl, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph I. Lieberman, the Democratic-turned-independent senator from Connecticut, has mixed things up on the committee dais. The new seating chart, introduced at a "Threat of Islamic Radicalization to the Homeland" hearing on March 14, alternates Democrats and Republicans on the dais at the head of the room, instead of placing members of the two parties at opposite ends of the horseshoe, as is customary. A statement from the committee on the "novel dais seating" credits newbie Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) with suggesting the change. "In the last election, the voters said they were sick of the partisanship that produces gridlock," Lieberman and Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the panel's ranking Republican, said in their statement. "So, as a start, instead of sitting on opposite sides of the room like a house divided, we want the American people to see us sitting side by side as our Committee members work together to make our nation more secure and our government more efficient." One Hill staffer has a different explanation: "It's because Lieberman can't decide what side he's on anymore."

Top

Civil Liberties and Equality

Prisoner hunger strikes resume: Guantanamo protest defies force-feedings
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0704080448apr09,1,1588920.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
A long-term hunger strike has broken out at the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with more than a dozen prisoners subjecting themselves to daily force-feeding to protest their treatment, military officials and lawyers for the detainees said. Lawyers for several hunger strikers said their clients' actions were driven by harsh conditions in a new maximum-security complex. About 160 of the roughly 385 Guantanamo detainees have been moved to the complex since December. Thirteen detainees are now on hunger strikes, the largest number to endure the force-feeding regimen on an extended basis since early 2006, when the military broke a long-running strike with a new policy of strapping prisoners into restraint chairs while they are fed by plastic tubes inserted through their nostrils.

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Foreign Policy

New secretary-general is still finding his footing at the U.N.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-ban9apr09,1,5386906.story?coll=la-headlines-world
UNITED NATIONS — In his first three months as secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon has learned the hard way why those who have held the post called it "the world's most impossible job." On his recent trip to the Middle East, he was stonewalled by the Iranian foreign minister, snubbed by the Palestinian finance minister, misaddressed by the prime ministers of Israel and Lebanon, and shaken by a mortar shell's near-miss in Baghdad. Back home, a mutiny against his first major reform left him similarly shaken and humbled.

Pelosi Defends Diplomatic Trip to Syria
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601307.html
Bush this week assailed Pelosi for making the trip to Damascus, saying it sent mixed messages to the Syrian government, which his administration considers to be a state supporter of terrorism. "There is nothing funny about the impact her trip to Syria has had," said National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe, who is with Bush in Texas. "On the contrary, these visits have convinced the Assad regime that its actions in support of terrorists have no consequences." Lawmakers frequently travel to the Middle East, and several Republicans were in the region at the same time as Pelosi. But as House speaker, Pelosi received the most attention.

Hoyer Meets Top Official of Group Egypt Has Outlawed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701086.html
The No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. House met a leading member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, an outlawed but tolerated opposition group, during a recent visit to the country, the Islamic fundamentalist group and U.S. officials said Saturday. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) met with the Muslim Brotherhood's parliament leader, Mohammad Saad al-Katatni, twice on Thursday, once at the parliament building and then at the home of the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, said Brotherhood spokesman Hamdi Hassan.

Sadr Blames 'Evil' U.S. for Violence
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800183.html
Calling the United States the "great evil," radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Sunday accused U.S. forces of dividing Iraq by stoking violence. He also urged his Mahdi Army militiamen and Iraqi security forces to stop fighting each other in Diwaniyah, a southern city where clashes erupted late last week. The influential cleric's verbal assault came as the U.S. military announced that 10 American soldiers were killed over the weekend, including six who died Sunday in attacks north and south of Baghdad. At least 69 Iraqis were also killed or found dead across Iraq.
RELATED: 10 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq9apr09,1,2970165.story?coll=la-headlines-world
RELATED: Patterns of War Shift Amid U.S. Force Buildup
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/world/middleeast/09surge.html?ref=washington

Iran Calls Britons' Alleged Mistreatment a 'Lie'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701135.html
An Iranian official said Saturday that allegations of mistreatment from a British naval team seized last month in the Persian Gulf were unfounded and stage-managed. "The mistreatment of the sailors is a lie," said Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Iran's presidential press adviser, according to Agence France-Presse. "By dictating certain statements made by the freed troops, the British authorities are seeking to improve their situation and diminish the pressure of British public opinion." The 15 sailors and marines were captured by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in what they insist were Iraqi waters. Iran, which contends that the crew had crossed into Iranian waters, released the group Wednesday in a gesture President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called a gift to the British people. The crew began two weeks of compassionate leave Saturday.
RELATED: Iran Looks for Missing Ex-F.B.I. Agent
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/world/middleeast/09iran.html

Canada suffers brunt as 7 NATO troops killed in Afghan bombings
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0704080352apr09,1,7164075.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Roadside bombs in southern Afghanistan on Sunday left seven NATO soldiers dead, the alliance said, as its forces continued an anti-Taliban offensive in the world's most fertile opium-producing region. Six troops died and one was injured when a bomb struck their vehicle, the alliance said in a statement. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper confirmed they were Canadian troops, Canadian Press reported.

As protests grow and support weakens for Pakistan's president, the U.S. faces possible loss of crucial ally
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0704080389apr09,1,3292860.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
For 27 years, Anwar Khan Afridi served in the Pakistani army. But the retired colonel now plans to mail his eight medals back to the government. He also wants to return his army pension of two plots of land and $313 a month. "I will no longer write anything using the name 'colonel,'" said Afridi, 58, holding his military decorations as he joined 4,000 other protesters outside Pakistan's Supreme Court last week. "I will return these medals." The target of Afridi's angry gesture is his own commander in chief, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a crucial if troublesome U.S. ally in the war on terror who is facing the most serious challenge to his eight-year rule. Since seizing power in 1999, Musharraf has survived two assassination attempts by Islamic extremists, increasing criticism of his cozy relationship with the United States and many calls by opponents to step down or give up his role as army chief. But Musharraf now risks losing support even within the military after suspending the country's chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry -- a move many saw as an attempt to clear away a potential obstacle to his maintaining power.

Captors Name Detainees Sought in Swap for Israeli
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701128.html
After months of deadlock, the captors of an Israeli soldier handed over the names of Palestinian detainees they want freed in an exchange, a senior Palestinian official said Saturday. Palestinian Information Minister Mustafa Barghouti did not say how many names were on the captors' list, which he said was forwarded to Israel by Egyptian mediators. Israel TV's Channel 2 said the list includes 1,000 names, among them that of uprising leader Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five consecutive life terms for his role in deadly shooting attacks. The information minister and the senior prisoner are distant relatives. Barghouti said the next move was up to Israel.

In Beirut, a Crisis Settles Into a Routine
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040801004.html
On the 124th day of Lebanon's deepest crisis since its civil war ended in 1990, lawmakers from across the divide gathered in the parliament. There was no session; the speaker has refused to call one, in a test of wills between the government and its opposition. So in the entryway, each side's representatives approached a podium and reiterated their demands, a little ritually. The rest of the lawmakers then spent the morning in a scene that approached the surreal, given the stakes: Across a marble floor, they kissed the cheeks of their avowed enemies, shared cigarettes, exchanged jokes and engaged in the kind of small talk that prompts chuckles.

Bishops warn of uprising if Mugabe remains
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2007/04/09/bishops_warn_of_uprising_if_mugabe_remains/
In an Easter message pinned to church bulletin boards around the country, Zimbabwe's Roman Catholic bishops called on President Robert Mugabe to leave office or face "open revolt" from those suffering under his government.

U.S. Allowed N. Korea Arms Sale
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701365.html
The United States did not act to prevent a recent shipment of arms from North Korea to Ethiopia, even though sketchy intelligence indicated the delivery might violate a U.N. Security Council resolution restricting North Korean arms sales, Bush administration officials said yesterday. The decision to let the shipment proceed was made by relatively low-level staffers, with little internal debate, and it was unknown to top policymakers involved in the campaign to punish Pyongyang for its test of a nuclear weapon last October, officials said. The January arms delivery occurred as Ethiopia was fighting Islamic militias in Somalia, aiding U.S. policies of combating religious extremists in the Horn of Africa. Intelligence reports indicated that the shipment included spare parts, including tank parts, officials said. Nevertheless, the cargo was not inspected, making it difficult to know whether it violated the U.N. resolution. The value of the shipment is also unclear.

Genocide Court Ruled for Serbia Without Seeing Full War Archive
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/world/europe/09archives.html?ref=world
In the spring of 2003, during the trial of Slobodan Milosevic, hundreds of documents arrived at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague marked “Defense. State Secret. Strictly Confidential.” The cache contained minutes of wartime meetings of Yugoslavia’s political and military leaders, and promised the best inside view of Serbia’s role in the Bosnian war of 1992-1995. But there was a catch. Serbia, the heir to Yugoslavia, obtained the tribunal’s permission to keep parts of the archives out of the public eye. Citing national security, its lawyers blacked out many sensitive — those who have seen them say incriminating — pages. Judges and lawyers at the war crimes tribunal could see the censored material, but it was barred from the tribunal’s public records. Now, lawyers and others who were involved in Serbia’s bid for secrecy say that, at the time, Belgrade made its true objective clear: to keep the full military archives from the International Court of Justice, where Bosnia was suing Serbia for genocide.

Catching up in medical diplomacy
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-medwar9apr09,1,5546815.story?coll=la-headlines-world
Dressed in sweaty surgical scrubs and grappling with a screaming 6-year-old girl as he pulled her abscessed tooth, dentist Jason Vogt didn't look the part of a diplomat. But the U.S. military reservist from Lincoln, Neb., was helping Uncle Sam score points in a high-stakes goodwill campaign playing out across Latin America in poor towns like this one. The objective: challenging the socialist campaigns of Cuba's Fidel Castro and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and winning over people such as Lucrecia Guerra, the mother of the child whose tooth Vogt had just pulled. The daylong walk to bring her daughter in for treatment was worth it, she said.

Mexican Drug Cartels Leave a Bloody Trail on YouTube
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040801005.html
Bloody bodies -- slumped at steering wheels, stacked in pickup trucks, crumpled on sidewalks -- clog nearly every frame of the music video that shook Mexico's criminal underworld. Posted on YouTube and countless Mexican Web sites last year, the video opens with blaring horns and accordions. Valentin Elizalde, a singer known as the "Golden Rooster," croons over images of an open-mouthed shooting victim. "I'm singing this song to all my enemies," he belts out. Elizalde's narcocorrido, or drug trafficker's ballad, sparked what is believed to be an unprecedented cyberspace drug war. Chat rooms filled with accusations that he was promoting the Sinaloa cartel and mocking its rival, the Gulf cartel. Drug lords flooded the Internet with images of beheadings, execution-style shootings and torture. Within months, Elizalde was dead, shot 20 times after a November concert. His enemies exacted their final revenge by posting a video of his autopsy, the camera panning from Elizalde's personalized cowboy boots to his bloodied naked body.

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Immigration

President Renewing Efforts on Immigration
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040801260.html
President Bush will relaunch his push for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws today in Arizona, with a fresh speech on the border and a new congressional leadership that is friendlier to his views, but with the same dynamics that scuttled his last attempt: a cooperative Senate but bipartisan opposition in the House. In contrast to her approach to other controversial issues, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has told the White House that she cannot pass a bill with Democratic votes alone, nor will she seek to enforce party discipline on the issue. Bush will have to produce at least 70 Republican votes before she considers a vote on comprehensive immigration legislation, a task that may be very difficult for a president saddled with low approval ratings.
RELATED: Bush giving 'guest workers' another shot
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-08-bush-guest-workers_N.htm

U.S. sued over detention of immigrants
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0704080408apr09,1,7753901.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed
Hutto represents a shift in federal policy on how non-Mexican suspected illegal immigrants are dealt with. As recently as 2005, U.S. authorities released more than 100,000 arrested immigrants after they were scheduled for a court hearing. Because the vast majority never showed up for their hearings -- which can occur as long as two months after arrest -- the U.S. seeks to detain arrested immigrants until their day in court. Whole families are now detained, and the federal government is trying to keep them intact at places like Hutto. As before, suspected illegal immigrants from Mexico are routinely removed without formal hearings because it's easier to return them across the border. In contrast to the catch-and-release policy, "we have moved more into a catch-and-detain stance," said Richard Rocha, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the Homeland Security Department. But some of those arrested say detention was a nightmare.

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Reproductive Choice

States refraining from abstinence-only sex education
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/09/states_refraining_from_abstinence_only_sex_education/
In an emerging revolt against abstinence-only sex education, states are turning down millions of dollars in federal grants, unwilling to accept White House dictates that the money be used for classes focused almost exclusively on teaching chastity. In Ohio, Governor Ted Strickland said that regardless of the state's sluggish economic picture, he simply did not see the point in taking part in the controversial State Abstinence Education Grant program anymore. Five other states -- Connecticut, Rhode Island, Montana, New Jersey, and Wisconsin -- have dropped out of the program or plan to do by the end of the year. The program is managed by a unit of the US Department of Heath and Human Service. Strickland, like most of the other governors who are pulling the plug on the funding, said in pulling out of the program last month that it has too many restrictions and rules to be practical.

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Marriage and Family Issues

Disney's Theme Weddings Come True for Gay Couples
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040602286.html
Same-sex weddings are coming out at Disneyland. Walt Disney Co. said yesterday that gay couples can buy the company's high-end Fairy Tale Wedding package that allows them to exchange vows at Disney's theme parks and aboard its cruise ships, starting about $4,000 per wedding. Same-sex couples have been allowed to use facilities on Disney grounds, such as banquet halls and conference rooms, for commitment ceremonies. But now, same-sex couples have access to the very public elements of the Fairy Tale Wedding plan, which includes a ceremony at one of the parks' marriage pavilions; Disney costumed characters at the reception; and a ride in a horse-drawn, glass-enclosed carriage through Disney property.

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Crime and Penal Reform

Sex-Offender Restrictions Leave 5 Men Living Under Miami Bridge
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701069.html
Because an ordinance intended to keep predators away from children made it nearly impossible for them to find housing, five convicted sex offenders are living under a highway bridge, with the state's grudging approval. The five men under the Julia Tuttle Causeway are the only known sex offenders authorized to live outdoors in Florida, said Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the state corrections department. The men have fishing poles to catch food, cook with small stoves, use battery-powered televisions and radios, and keep belongings in plastic bags. Javier Diaz, 30, has trouble charging the tracking device he is required to wear; there are no power outlets nearby. "You just pray to God every night, so if you fall asleep for a minute or two, you know, nothing happens to you," said Diaz, who arrived last week. He was sentenced in 2005 to three years' probation for lewd and lascivious conduct involving a girl under age 16.

State's prisons endure wave of deadly violence
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/04/08/0409metprisoner.html
A rash of violence swept through the Georgia prison system in March, including three slayings and a bloody scuffle between guards and a handcuffed, mentally ill inmate at Phillips State Prison that left him hospitalized with serious injuries.

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Economy

Democrats Seek to Lead the Way in Tax Overhaul
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/business/09tax.html?ref=washington
House Democratic leaders, in an effort to upstage Republicans on the issue of tax cuts, are preparing legislation that would permanently shield all but the very richest taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax, which is likely to affect tens of millions of families as early as next year if it is left unchanged. The effort, which lawmakers emphasize is still in its early stages, would exempt millions of people from the tax but would have to come up with a way to offset an enormous loss of revenue in the next decade. Measured in dollars, it would be far bigger than Democratic initiatives to provide money for children’s health care, education or any other spending program.

Wall Street Looks to Open Higher
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/09/AR2007040900212.html
U.S. stock futures rose Monday, pointing to a higher opening on Wall Street, as investors reacted to last week's robust jobs data and a report that Dow Chemical Co. is the target of a $50 billion buyout offer. The Labor Department reported Friday, a stock market holiday, that nonfarm payrolls rose by 180,000 in March, above forecasts of 135,000. The unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent, a five-month low.

More Nuggets on Pay From Proxy Filings
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/business/09pay.html?ref=business
Many of the most interesting nuggets on executive pay are buried so deep in the new corporate filings that it helps to bring along a calculator and a shovel. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s new disclosure rules were supposed to make it easier for investors to understand how top managers were being paid. But piles of new data and proxy statements that are about as easy to parse as the federal tax code have even experts scratching their heads.

Two Faces of Minority Banking
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800916.html
Two new Washington banks, one seven months old, the other about to open, are taking two different approaches to serving minority communities. Urban Trust Bank , which opened its headquarters branch at 14th and I streets NW in September, has nationwide plans focused on African American customers. The federally chartered bank is owned by RLJ, the Bethesda-based company headed by Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television. NuAmerica Bank won approval from the D.C. Council last week to open a branch in Columbia Heights, from which it will target small businesses in the region's Hispanic sector, according to Julio Lopez-Brito, who will be its chairman.

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Worker's Rights and Corporate Accountability

McDonald’s to Allow More Unions in Chinese Stores
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/business/worldbusiness/09cnd-union.html?ref=business
A year after Wal-Mart unionized all its stores in China under pressure from the government, McDonald’s is cooperating with China’s large state-controlled union to allow more unions in its 670 outlets here. A McDonald’s spokesman said today that the company is now working with union officials to help establish a union at its stores in southern Guangdong Province, one of the countries wealthiest regions.

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Housing and Homelessness

Democrats' Cause Is Tempered by Political Realities
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800998.html
During the 12 years that Republicans ran the House, their leaders didn't pay much attention to affordable-housing activists. Despite soaring rents and complaints of a deepening affordability crisis, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) told his conference that he didn't want to see housing bills on the floor. He thought housing programs were unreformed welfare -- and they competed for the same pot of money in an annual funding bill as his beloved NASA. But now that Democrats took over the House in November, their leaders are affordable-housing activists. Liberals Barney Frank (Mass.) and Maxine Waters (Calif.) run the two panels overseeing housing policy after agitating for years, without success, for increased government rent assistance. They came to office promising to pass the first major housing legislation since the early 1990s.

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Media

Wave of Widgets Spreads on the Web
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800750.html
The standard Internet advertisement is so familiar that most people tune it out: a billboard stripped across the top of a Web site, waiting for consumers to surf by and maybe click on it. Now a young generation of online-ad creators are pushing a newer idea: putting a brand on a mini-site so fun or useful -- a video game or a spruced-up calculator or a live sports update -- that people download it, paste it on their personal blogs or social networking sites, use it again and again and share it with friends. It's called a widget, an old word for a 21st-century product. And it's what they make at an expanding roster of companies that locally includes Freewebs of Silver Spring and Clearspring Technologies of Arlington -- start-ups founded in the past two years.

A Call for Manners in the World of Nasty Blogs
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/technology/09blog.html?ref=us
Is it too late to bring civility to the Web? The conversational free-for-all on the Internet known as the blogosphere can be a prickly and unpleasant place. Now, a few high-profile figures in high-tech are proposing a blogger code of conduct to clean up the quality of online discourse. Last week, Tim O’Reilly, a conference promoter and book publisher who is credited with coining the term Web 2.0, began working with Jimmy Wales, creator of the communal online encyclopedia Wikipedia, to create a set of guidelines to shape online discussion and debate.

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Education

Student Loan Official Suspended
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601824.html
The U.S. Education Department yesterday suspended a senior agency official who held more than $100,000 of stock in a student loan company at the same time he helped oversee the lending industry. Matteo Fontana, general manager in a division of the office of Federal Student Aid, was placed on paid administrative leave after officials learned Thursday that he was a shareholder in 2003 in the parent company of Student Loan XPress. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings also asked yesterday for the financial aid director at the University of Texas at Austin to resign from a committee created by Congress that advises the secretary on student aid policy. The official, Lawrence Burt, was one of three university financial aid administrators who also owned shares in the loan company and have been suspended.

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Military

Delayed Benefits Frustrate Veterans
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040700938.html
In his last years, World War II veteran Seymour D. Lewis would stand at the door of his home in Savannah, Ga., waiting for a letter that never arrived. The family of the former Army private, who lost the hearing in his right ear to a grenade explosion in basic training in 1944, spent years wrestling with the federal bureaucracy for his disability benefits, at one point waiting more than a year just to be told to fill out more forms. In 2001, the Department of Veterans Affairs started sending Lewis a monthly check for $200, an amount he appealed as too little and too late for the lasting physical sacrifice he made for his country, his family said. The appeal was still pending when Lewis died last year at age 80. "Every time I would call, they would send me a new form to fill out, with exactly the same information that they already had," said his son Frank A. Lewis, 61, a Navy veteran. "They run you around. They keep you dangling. . . . My father was elderly. He would wait at the front door for the mailman, waiting for something from the VA. When he would get a letter, he would anxiously open it, and when it said nothing, the depression he would go into was unreal. I have a feeling they were just waiting for my father to drop dead so they wouldn't have to pay any money. It's been one big nightmare."

Adding insult to injuries
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0704080436apr09,1,343733.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=2&cset=true
Sgt. Garrett Anderson never expected this feeling of betrayal. He loves his country. He supports this war. He believes in his president. He would fight again in Iraq, if he were able. But coming home has been hell for this injured National Guardsman from Illinois, whose battle to secure medical care and government benefits has undermined his faith in his government. The latest affront came in mid-March, when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs sent a letter denying Anderson 100 percent disability, which confers extra pay and benefits, largely because his medical records didn't document that "shrapnel wounds, all over body" were "related to your military service." "You feel, you give everything you can, and then they turn around and slap you in the face," said Anderson, who also suffered a shattered jaw, smashed eye socket, severed tongue and below-the-elbow amputation of his right arm after an explosion in Iraq. A VA spokesman declined to comment.

Soldier Recounts Abuse at Walter Reed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601991.html
Two months before Mario Alberto Echeverri administered a sleep disorder test to an Army corporal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the medical technician had been arrested for fondling the groin of a U.S. Park Police officer. Seventeen months before, Echeverri had been observed touching a Walter Reed patient inappropriately and was warned against such behavior. Two years before, he had been accused of improperly touching a patient at a private sleep center in Gaithersburg.

New Missile Defense System Has Successful Test Over Pacific
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701496.html
The U.S. military shot down a Scud-type missile in this year's second successful test of a new technology meant to knock down ballistic missiles in their final minute of flight, the Missile Defense Agency said Friday. A ship off Kauai fired a target missile, and three minutes later, soldiers with the U.S. Army's 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade launched an interceptor missile from Kauai that destroyed the target over the Pacific, according to the agency.

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Religion

Pope, amid Easter's joy, mourns 'continual slaughter' in Iraq
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pope8apr08,1,7688762.story?coll=la-headlines-world
Even on Christianity's most joyous day, Pope Benedict XVI lamented the "continual slaughter" in Iraq and unrest in Afghanistan as he denounced "the thousand faces of violence which some people attempt to justify in the name of religion." In his message for Easter, Benedict said suffering worldwide puts faith to the test. "How many wounds, how much suffering there is in the world," the pontiff told tens of thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans gathered today at St. Peter's Square where he had just finished celebrating Mass. Benedict, delivering his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" Easter address from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, denounced terrorism and kidnappings, and "the thousand faces of violence which some people attempt to justify in the name of religion," as well as human rights violations. "Afghanistan is marked by growing unrest and instability," Benedict said. "In the Middle East, besides some signs of hope in the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, unfortunately, nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees."

Pilgrims Make Trek to 'Lourdes of America'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040701047.html
The first pilgrim arrived a week ago, having walked 90 miles from Albuquerque over three days. At dawn on this Holy Saturday, the faithful, the penitent and even just the curious continued to stream into an adobe chapel in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains known as the "Lourdes of America." By Easter Sunday, tens of thousands of pilgrims will have visited the small Santuario de Chimayo, a shrine built upon a well of dirt reputed to have healing powers. Most walk for miles along winding two-lane roads in what is probably one of the nation's largest public displays of devotion during Holy Week. As many as 75,000 pilgrims were reported several years ago. Recent estimates have ranged from 40,000 to 60,000 a year. Most are Hispanic residents of New Mexico and neighboring Colorado or Mexicans from the nearby states of Coahuila and Chihuahua, whose families have been conducting the pilgrimage for decades.

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Energy Policy

Nuclear power enters global warming debate
http://www.latimes.com/la-na-nuke9apr09,0,3273915.story?coll=la-home-headlines
The renewed push for legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions could falter over an old debate: whether nuclear power should play a role in any federal attack on climate change. Congress, with added impetus from a Supreme Court ruling last week, appears more likely to pass comprehensive energy legislation. But nuclear power sharply divides lawmakers who agree on mandatory caps on carbon dioxide emissions. And it has pitted some on Capitol Hill against their usual allies, environmentalists, who largely oppose any expansion of nuclear power. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Barbara Boxer — Bay Area Democrats with similar political views — are on opposite sides. Pelosi used to be an ardent foe of nuclear power but now holds a different view. "I think it has to be on the table," she said. Boxer, head of the Senate committee that will take the lead in writing global warming legislation, said that turning from fossil fuels to nuclear power was "trading one problem for another."

California 'Green' project makes critics see red
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapower9apr09,0,5023301.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Highlighting the environmental pitfalls of harnessing "green" energy, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's push to import nonpolluting power to Los Angeles could require building power lines and transmission towers through a national forest, two desert wildlife preserves and a rustic hamlet used in countless westerns. According to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the 85-mile-long "Green Path" energy corridor designed to bring solar, geothermal and nuclear power from southeastern California and Arizona would slice across the Big Morongo Wildlife Preserve north of Palm Springs, Pioneertown near Yucca Valley, Pipes Canyon Wilderness Preserve and a corner of the San Bernardino National Forest before crossing over the Cajon Pass and connecting with existing power lines in Hesperia. More than a dozen preservation and community groups have condemned the mayor and DWP for a plan that they say would destroy priceless vistas, natural areas and wildlife corridors.

A Plastic Wrapper Today Could Be Fuel Tomorrow
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/business/09plastic.html?ref=business
Scientists worldwide are struggling to make motor fuel from waste, but Richard Gross has taken an unusual approach: making a “fuel-latent plastic,” designed for conversion. It can be used like ordinary plastic, for packaging or other purposes, but when it is waste, can easily be turned into a substitute diesel fuel. The process does not yet work well enough to be commercial, but the Pentagon was impressed enough to give $2.34 million for more research. The technique could reduce the amount of material that the military has to ship to soldiers at remote bases, because the plastic would do double duty, first as packaging and then as fuel. It would also reduce trash disposal problems, according to the Defense Advanced Projects Research Agency, known as Darpa.

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Environment and Conservation

Bill ties climate to national security
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/09/bill_ties_climate_to_national_security/
The CIA and Pentagon would for the first time be required to assess the national security implications of climate change under proposed legislation intended to elevate global warming to a national defense issue. The bipartisan proposal, which its sponsors expect to pass the Congress with wide support, calls for the director of national intelligence to conduct the first-ever "national intelligence estimate" on global warming. The effort would include pinpointing the regions at highest risk of humanitarian suffering and assessing the likelihood of wars erupting over diminishing water and other resources. The measure also would order the Pentagon to undertake a series of war games to determine how global climate change could affect US security, including "direct physical threats to the United States posed by extreme weather events such as hurricanes." The growing attention to global warming as a national security issue could open new avenues of support for tougher efforts to limit greenhouse gases, according to specialists.

Europe's Problems Color U.S. Plans to Curb Carbon Gases
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800758.html
Wout Kusters, director of a manufacturing plant in the Dutch lowlands, knows something the U.S. Congress needs to know. So does Gervais Pruvost, a laborer in a small cement plant in northern France. So does just about every German homeowner. When you're trying to slow down global warming, beware of unintended consequences. As U.S. lawmakers work on the details of their greenhouse-gas legislation, they are looking carefully at Europe's experience. Five Senate proposals all use the same basic approach, known as "cap and trade," that Europe has used for the past two years. But what the snappy name "cap and trade" means is that the market will put a price on something that's always been free: the right of a factory to emit carbon gases. That could affect the cost of everything from windowpanes to airline tickets to electricity.

Foundation to Offer $100 Million to Deal With Global Warming
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/business/09climate.html?ref=science
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is creating a $100 million program to support research intended to encourage policies aimed at reducing the threat of global warming. The foundation’s climate change project, which is being announced today, comes amid an increasing political push for legislation to curb emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and gasoline.

Manatees' Status May Change
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800500.html
The Florida manatee, this state's imperiled environmental icon, in 2006 suffered its most dismal year on record. Of a population of about 3,200, 416 died in 2006, the highest number of deaths recorded in 30 years of statistics. Many died in collisions with boat propellers.

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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.

Christine Todd Whitman: Carbon Ruling: A Welcome First Step
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800927.html
Last week's Supreme Court decision concerning carbon dioxide emissions from cars was welcomed by all who regret that the United States has lagged far behind in addressing this serious environmental challenge. The decision gives the Environmental Protection Agency two choices. It could develop, implement and enforce rules to regulate carbon dioxide emissions as a pollutant under the Clean Air Act. Or, it can seek to demonstrate, using science (real science, not political science) why carbon emissions do not contribute to climate change or bad air quality. This ruling should herald the beginning of a carbon-constrained U.S. economy. For a moment last Tuesday I thought President Bush might agree. When he said that "whatever we do must be in concert with what happens internationally," I thought the administration might adopt a position on carbon emissions that would bring us closer to the regulation efforts being made by the rest of the developed world.
RELATED: A Consensus on Crisis
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/07/AR2007040700821.html
RELATED: Time to act on auto emissions
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0704080327apr09,0,464280.story?coll=chi-newsopinion-hed
RELATED: Hot and Cold
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/opinion/08sun1.html

Hoagland: A Korean Strategy For Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601782.html
President Bush believes that his job is to convince the American people that the war in Iraq is not a replay of Vietnam. He is failing spectacularly in that self-described mission. The president's best hope now is to convince Americans that with continuing U.S. help, Iraq may still become Korea.
RELATED: Bacevich: 'Your Iraq plan?' is a pointless question
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-bacevich9apr09,0,3650600.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail

Glasser: A Shock Wave of Brain Injuries
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601821.html
"We can save you. But you might not be what you were." Neurosurgeon, Combat Support Hospital, Balad, Iraq

The Real Fumble in Damascus
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/07/opinion/07sat1.html
There is at least one point on which we and the critics of Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Damascus can agree: It is the White House, not the speaker of the House, that should be taking the diplomatic lead. But the Bush administration has far more appetite for scoring political points than figuring out whether talking to Syria might help contain the bloodletting in Iraq or revive efforts to negotiate peace.

Fundamental rights
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/04/07/fundamental_rights/
AS PRESIDENT Bush purports to export democracy to Iraq and other nations, he continues to deny it at home. He gained the support this week of six Supreme Court justices, who refused to hear the appeals of 45 detainees at the Guantanamo prison in Cuba. Each of the 45 has been held prisoner for more than five years without a criminal charge, and without legal protections that have been treasured by Americans as fundamental for 215 years.

Another Layer of Scandal
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/opinion/09mon1.html
As Congress investigates the politicization of the United States attorney offices by the Bush administration, it should review the extraordinary events the other day in a federal courtroom in Wisconsin. The case involved Georgia Thompson, a state employee sent to prison on the flimsiest of corruption charges just as her boss, a Democrat, was fighting off a Republican challenger. It just might shed some light on a question that lurks behind the firing of eight top federal prosecutors: what did the surviving attorneys do to escape the axe?

The Iglesias Episode
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800874.html
The firing of the U.S. attorney in New Mexico has not been adequately explained.

Student Loans
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601755.html
THE FEDERALLY subsidized student loan industry contends that it brings choice and competition to the world of university finance. With many private firms lending money to college students, the argument goes, schools get to choose the lenders that offer the best services at the best rates to recommend to their students. With guidance from their universities, students can sift through multiple options to find the loan packages that suit their needs. But this week an ongoing investigation of the ties between universities and private lenders revealed that financial aid officers at Columbia University, the University of Southern California and the University of Texas at Austin once had significant financial interests in the parent company of a private lender, Student Loans Xpress. That company, it turns out, is on each school's list of "preferred lenders"; that is, the private firms that each school recommends for its students. According to documents gathered by New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, the financial aid officer at Columbia received more than $100,000 from selling the company's stock.
RELATED: Insider aid at universities
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-loans09apr09,0,5657959.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail
RELATED: The Widening College Loan Scandal
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/08/opinion/08sun3.html

Keyes: Classroom Caste System
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/08/AR2007040800925.html
Written five years ago to reduce the "achievement gap," the No Child Left Behind Act has in fact created a gap in American education. Its pressure to raise test scores has caused many schools to give poor and minority students an impoverished education that focuses primarily on basic skills. As it comes up for reauthorization, members of Congress should consider the unintended consequence of the act: a new gap between poor and minority students, who are being taught to seek simple answers, and largely wealthy and white students, who are learning to ask complex questions. In my work as an elementary school teacher, I have seen this new gap and I worry about its impact on my students' future prospects.
RELATED: Homing: The Motherlode of Homework
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601780.html

Klein: This time, we want healthcare reform
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-klein8apr08,0,4307370.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
ON MARCH 24, EVERY MAJOR Democratic presidential candidate — and a handful of minor ones — gathered in Las Vegas to spend a long afternoon getting grilled on the precise details of their healthcare plans. The candidates were enthusiastic, confident and expansive. The mood was not friendly to half-measures and timid triangulations; the disagreements were not over how many Americans to cover but how quickly we would cover them all. What a difference a decade makes. It wasn't so long ago that President Clinton's proposed reforms suffered a catastrophic defeat at the hands of moneyed interests and Republican opportunists, setting the stage for the Democratic Party's historic losses in the 1994 midterm elections. It was an enormous blow to not only the Democratic Party but the thousands of policy wonks, political operatives and congressional staffers involved in the policy's creation and present for its collapse. Such traumas leave scars, and for years afterward, Democrats were afraid to reenter the bad room where the scary thing happened, and so they shied away from fully reengaging the healthcare debate, even as the country's healthcare system continued its slow deterioration.

Baker: The Subprime Meltdown and the Ownership Society
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601522.html
The full effects of the collapse of the subprime market remain to be seen, but it is not too early to talk about the policies that got us here. In particular, the government policy of promoting homeownership should be examined. Proselytizers of homeownership can be found in both political parties. Democrats have long argued for lending policies that allow easier mortgage credit to low-income families to help remove an important obstacle to achieving financial security. Republicans tend to frame their support for homeownership as part of their drive to create an "ownership society" in which everyone owns a piece of the country and can share in its prosperity. The result has been a range of policies that promote homeownership while generally neglecting renters.

Brownstein: Go green? Go West
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-brownstein8apr08,0,3497819.column?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
The energy and environment innovations west of the Rockies could change the nation's mind about what's possible.

Rodriguez: Illegal? Better if you're Irish
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-rodriguez8apr08,0,1081193.column?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
Woodlawn, The Bronx — IMAGINE HILLARY Clinton holding up a T-shirt that read: "Legalize Mexicans." That's not going to happen, right? Well, last month in Washington, at a rally hosted by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform, the leading Democratic candidate for president actually did have her picture taken holding a shirt that read: "Legalize the Irish." That's the lobby's in-your-face slogan, which says a lot about the role that race (and ethnicity) plays in the debate about illegal immigration. Latino activists bend over backward trying to cloak undocumented Mexican migrants in the slogan "We are America," but their Irish counterparts don't feel similarly obliged.

Meyer: 'Rome' Isn't Just Television. It's Us.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601807.html
A friend of mine is hooked on the HBO toga-ripper "Rome" and is sorry it is ending. He never misses an episode. When I asked why, he said the whole thing struck him as somehow eerily familiar. It isn't merely that the series re-chronicles the oft-told story of the collapse of the Roman Republic following the assassination of Julius Caesar; rather, he said, the gruesome spectacle reminds him of us. We Americans have always had Rome on the brain, of course -- and for good reason. Like Romans, Americans are a diverse group of immigrants who annihilated the indigenous population (Etruscans there, Indians here) before growing into a mighty civilization, all the while borrowing liberally from other cultures (ancient Greece there, Western Europe here).

Circuit Breaker
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/09/opinion/09mon2.html
The announcement that Circuit City was laying off some 3,400 of its better-paid workers to fill the same positions with cheaper labor has become the latest chapter in the new rulebook for corporate America. There are significant social questions for policy makers in these new norms, but businesses need to consider whether this is really the answer. As American consumers turn ever more to online shopping, it would seem that customer service provided by knowledgeable salespeople would be the highest priority for face-to-face interactions. The best shopping experience has to be the goal if people are going to keep slogging through the elements and marching through the sliding doors.

Broder: New Scorecard for A Republican Scramble
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/06/AR2007040601784.html
The unsettled state of the Republican presidential race can be illustrated in the Tale of the Two Thompsons. Tommy Thompson, the former governor of Wisconsin and secretary of health and human services in President Bush's first term, jumped into the race last week, claiming to be the "reliable conservative" voters want.

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