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Today’s digest archive: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/041807.htm
TOP STORIES
National
Va. Killings Widely Seen as Reflecting a Violent Society
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701805.html
Officials, newspaper columnists and citizens around the world Tuesday described the Virginia Tech massacre as the tragic reflection of an America that fosters violence at home and abroad, even as it attempts to dictate behavior to the rest of the world. From European countries with strict gun-control laws to war-ravaged Iraq, where dozens of people are killed in shootings and bombings each day, foreigners and their news media used the university attack to condemn what they depicted as U.S. policies to arm friends, attack enemies and rely on violence rather than dialogue to settle disputes. "I'm not saying that it could only happen in the U.S.A.; no one could prevent someone from shooting people in the Sorbonne," said Pierre Chiquet, a 77-year-old retired aerospace engineer, referring to a Paris university. "But violence is more imbued in American society than in ours. The most dramatic aspect is that they even transport their violence to the rest of the world."
RELATED: Campus shootings draw world scrutiny
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-17-virginia-tech-world_N.htm
More Virginia Tech shooting news in NATIONAL/ELECTION, NATIONAL/IMMIGRATION, NATIONAL/CRIME, NATIONAL/EDUCATION, COLORADO/CRIME, COLORADO/EDUCATION
85 people found dead across Iraq
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/04/18/85_people_found_dead_across_iraq/
Police in Ramadi uncovered 17 bodies buried beneath two schoolyards in a district that until recently was under the control of Al Qaeda fighters. At least 85 people were killed or found dead across the country yesterday.
RELATED: Iraq’s Public Health Services Severely Strained, Group Says
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/world/middleeast/18health.html
More Iraq war news in NATIONAL/GOVERNMENT, NATIONAL/FOREIGN POLICY, NATIONAL/MILITARY, COLORADO/GOVERNMENT, COLORADO/MILITARY
March Inflation Blamed Mostly on Gas
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041700342.html
Surging gasoline prices pushed inflation higher last month, the Labor Department reported yesterday, with the increases eating up workers' pay gains. But other government data showed that, outside of fuel costs, prices did not rise much in March, while home construction appeared to stabilize and factories stepped up production.
RELATED: Consumer prices surge as energy prices jump
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-04-17-cpi_N.htm
More energy policy news in NATIONAL/ENERGY, NATIONAL/ENVIRONMENT, COLORADO/ENERGY
Flexibility advised in late home mortgages
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2007-04-17-mortgage-loans_N.htm
Federal regulators Tuesday urged lenders to be flexible with borrowers who are behind on their home payments, as mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) laid out initiatives to help strapped consumers refinance into more affordable loans. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chair Sheila Bair also told the House Financial Services Committee that lenders and Wall Street firms must "share the pain" of mounting losses from borrowers who took out subprime loans. The loans are aimed at borrowers with impaired credit. "We should hold the (loan) servicers' and investors' feet to the fire," Bair said. "It was clear to investors these were high-risk." The activity is part of a growing effort to aid the crisis in the subprime sector, where 13% of mortgages are in delinquency. Nearly 2 million adjustable-rate subprime mortgages will reset at higher rates this year and next, and many borrowers will be unable to keep up. While that's a small share of the overall mortgage market, the subprime troubles have affected bond and stock prices and credit costs.
More mortgage crisis news in NATIONAL/HOUSING, COLORADO/HOUSING
Colorado
Ranchers, farmers blast Army plan
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490642,00.html
Nearly 200 ranchers, farmers and supporters filled a conference room [in Pueblo] Tuesday, sending a resounding message to Army brass that they will fight the Army's attempt to take their lands for an expansion of its Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site northeast of Trinidad. A meeting to brief businesspeople on Fort Carson's addition of 8,000 to 10,000 troops in the next three years and the effects of that growth was overshadowed by the fort's pending proposal to triple the size of its maneuver site in southeastern Colorado. "I want to know what in the heck they're going to do and when the heck they're going to do it," said Judy Benevidez, who lives near the current maneuver site in Model.
RELATED: Senate backs fight to save ranchland
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5490448,00.html
RELATED: Senate backs ranchers over Army
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5689932
RELATED: Talking back to the Army
http://www.gazette.com/articles/army_21344___article.html/it?bill_site.html
RELATED: Fort Carson surge on its way to area
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176906196/1
RELATED: Senate delivers Army a message
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176906196/3
More Fort Carson/Pinon Canyon news in COLORADO/MILITARY
Ritter says adoption bill does 'right by kids'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5490221,00.html
Gov. Bill Ritter said his years as a prosecutor dealing with "fractured families" were key in his decision to support a controversial adoption bill. Some opponents say House Bill 1330 was introduced to give gays the right to adopt, but supporters say the bill is about protecting children. "The world that we all wish we lived in is a world where all families are intact," Ritter said Tuesday. "In fact, what I saw again and again and again were fractured families. "My preference here is to do in a public policy way things that are right by kids. I really do believe that a two-parent adoption bill has the ability to do that." Opponents of the bill include Catholic Charities, which issued a statement Tuesday urging Ritter to veto the measure.
RELATED: Catholic Conference steps up call for veto of gay adoption bill
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070417/NEWS/104170074
Insurance measure spurs anger
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5490222,00.html
The hearing for a controversial health insurance bill was postponed until today after an ugly Senate battle in which both sides traded jabs about breaking the rules. Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, was outraged that the insurance bill was scheduled to be heard Tuesday morning, though it had not been posted on the calendar issued Monday. As a result, he said, rural opponents had little time to travel to the Capitol to testify against House Bill 1355, by Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora. "This is an abuse of politics," Mitchell said. "This is heavy-handed politics." Senate President Joan Fitz- Gerald eventually asked for a "senatorial five" so lawmakers could privately discuss the situation on the side of the floor, but their voices could still be heard. Mitchell said the majority Democrats were abusing their power. "Should I bring up your illegal redistricting where you broke every rule in the book?" Hagedorn demanded to know. "Congratulations," Mitchell shot back. "You have become what you abhorred."
College Republicans sell controversy
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/one-for-you-and-another-for-you-college-sell/
The University of Colorado's College Republicans cooked up controversy and cookies Tuesday at an "affirmative action bake sale," where baked goods were priced differently based on the buyer's race and gender. More than 100 protesters — most of them staging a silent demonstration — formed an orbit around the half-dozen College Republicans and their cookie table near the Norlin Quad. The bake sale came a week before the California-based American Civil Rights Coalition announces whether it will launch an initiative in Colorado to ban affirmative action. Colorado is expected to be among the states selected for the next anti-affirmative-action campaign, which would aim to amend the constitution to ban the use of race and gender preferences in university admissions and government hiring. Organizers of CU's bake sale put up a poster with "suggested donations" asking that Asians pay $1.25, whites $1, Hispanics 50 cents and African-Americans 25 cents for cookies.In their second such event since 2004, the College Republicans said they wanted to parody affirmative-action policies, highlighting their "negative effects." Their stance is that affirmative action was designed to end discrimination toward people based on race and gender, but the policies do the opposite.
Election
Sen. Salazar raises $339,000 in 1st quarter
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690194
Sen. Ken Salazar's re-election fund raised $339,000 in the first three months of this year and ended the period with $304,000 cash on hand. Sen. Wayne Allard, who's retiring at the end of next year, reported $12,000 in donations and $75,000 cash on hand. Salazar doesn't run for re-election until 2010, but he'll need a lot of cash when he does. He spent $10 million to win his seat in 2004. He took in $248,000 from individuals and $90,000 from political action committees. Among Salazar's biggest donors were people who live in Puerto Rico. He received eight donations of $2,300 each, the maximum allowed for a primary race. They came from community volunteers, an attorney, physicians and a certified public accountant. Salazar held a fundraising event in Puerto Rico and Miami, Salazar spokesman Cody Wertz said.
Two vie for clerk and recorder post
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_5490651,00.html
Big challenges and bigger expectations await Denver's first elected clerk and recorder. Four months after the winner is sworn in, another citywide election will be held, giving the new clerk and recorder a chance to start to restore voter confidence - or perhaps make it worse. But the Nov. 6 school board election isn't the only pressing item. Among the tasks the clerk and recorder will face: wading through a backlog of hundreds of foreclosure packets that are weeks past due; finding a new elections director; and planning for the 2008 presidential election.
Candidates close in chase for moolah
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070418/NEWS/104180059
[Aspen] Mayoral candidates Mick Ireland and Tim Semrau beat all others in the race to raise money for this year's election. If money raised shows support among the electorate, then these first fundraising reports represent a tight mayoral race between Semrau and Ireland. "On a national basis money has become a scorecard," Semrau said. "It's been important to spend a lot of money to get the truth out about what I stand for." Of the four candidates for mayor, Ireland topped the others at $18,339.99, Semrau brought in $17,525, while Torre raised $5,911.86 and Bonnie Behrend declared no monetary contributions.
MV used town funds in rec center support
http://telluridegateway.com/articles/2007/04/18/news/news01.txt
The Mountain Village town attorney said the town made a mistake in using public funds to distribute a letter in support of the Monument/rec center project, but just how much that mistake will cost, or when it will be resolved, remains unclear.
Tax committee mulls options; board discusses whether to petition voters
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/04/17/local_news/3.txt
A sales tax alone won’t solve [Montrose] county’s fiscal woes, Citizens Committee for Funding Our Future member Richard Harding said April 12, suggesting other funding opportunities to the rest of the board. “The county commissioners have got their hands tied. We need to engage the voters right now. We need to take it to the street,” Harding said at the group’s meeting. He suggested considering a 4 percent lodging tax, a use tax and, for law enforcement funding, taking advantage of pending legislation that would allow for the increase of sales tax specifically for public safety.
Effective and Ethical Government
Ritter reflects on first 100 days as Colo. governor
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/i-dont-think-anybody-can-say-its-been-perfect-on/
Some call it a mistake, others call it brilliant. Whatever you call it, lawmakers and analysts say Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter has demonstrated he's his own man during his first 100 days in office. Ritter said his only mistake was not engaging legislative leaders early, including on a bill he vetoed that would have made it easier to organize a union. He drew heavy fire from labor leaders for that. "I don't think anybody can look and say it's been perfect," Ritter said. He said he should have worked with lawmakers earlier on the timing and content of measures. Bob Loevy, a political science professor at Colorado College, said some people consider his decision to veto the bill a brilliant political strategy, not a mistake, because it shows he's willing to stand up to liberal Democrats and assert his independence.
State workers, prisons come out ahead in budget
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5689928
The legislature wrapped up its work Tuesday on next fiscal year's $17.8 billion state budget, with the House and Senate approving the final version submitted by the Joint Budget Committee.Although lawmakers made few major changes to the 659-page document, there are still winners and losers in the debate.
Senators propose selling state lottery
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5490194,00.html
Calling it "Colorado's GI Bill," two lawmakers said Tuesday they want the state to sell its lottery operation to a private company and use some of the proceeds for veterans, college scholarships and open space. Under a draft proposal released Tuesday, the state would sell the lottery for an estimated $2.2 billion to $2.6 billion plus a share of future growth. The backers, Sens. Chris Romer, D-Denver, and Josh Penry, R-Fruita, said the deal would be similar to a lottery winner choosing an immediate - but smaller - lump sum instead of yearly payments. Voters would have final say on the plan.
RELATED: Lotto holds schools' ticket?
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690070
RELATED: McFadyen joins bid to privatize state lottery
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176906196/8
GOVERNOR WHO? (Roll Call, April 18)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5490450,00.html
Old habits die hard. Just ask Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien. When she and Gov. Bill Ritter on Tuesday talked about their first 100 days in office, O'Brien recalled how "Gov. Romer" asked her to be his running mate. It's the second time O'Brien has publicly referred to Ritter as Gov. Roy Romer, who served from 1985 to 1998. O'Brien hasn't yet referred to Ritter as former GOP Gov. Bill Owens, who left office in January. "No more last names," a red-faced O'Brien said. "It's 'the governor.' "
Can we quote you on that? (On the side, 4/18)
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5689931
"America is not at war. The U.S. military is at war. America is at the mall." - Sen. Steve Ward, a Littleton Republican and former Marine who served in Afghanistan, quoting from a circulating e-mail during a debate over the expansion of Fort Carson's training area
Citizen Legislator: Joe Rice
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5490428,00.html
Rep. Joe Rice says the war in Iraq is too complex to talk about "in just a sound bite." He should know. A lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves, Rice served two tours of duty in Iraq, helping establish the first post-Saddam Baghdad City Council.
The exodus continues
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/04/17/local_news/1.txt
Olathe Town Clerk Cheryl Suppes resigns as of April 23. She is taking a week of vacation until her resignation date because of a family emergency, she said. Suppes began working for the town June 1999. She declined to comment on her reason for leaving. This is the town’s ninth loss in about a year. Mayor Wayne Blair and Parks Director Don Perkins both resigned within the past month.
New councilors join city leadership
A standing-room-only crowd packed Durango City Hall on Tuesday to bid farewell to three councilors and welcome their successors. Once the festivities ended, the crowd thinned to a handful as the new council got down to business.
Senior tax rebates stand: Louisville council tables repeal of property law
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/senior-tax-rebates-stand/
The Louisville City Council on Tuesday refused to cut the city's property-tax rebates for senior citizens, saying a state program would not fill all the gaps for elderly residents in need. Louisville's Finance Committee proposed a repeal of a 1973 ordinance providing a cash rebate of the city's mill levy to qualified residents older than 65, which was later modified to cap participants' home values at $250,000. The program now provides a maximum rebate of $103 annually, and it cost the city $38,000 in lost tax revenue in 2006, Finance Director Patty Leslie said.
Small city annexation a taste of larger fight to come
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070418/NEWS/104180107
One annexation down, another looms. The Greeley City Council annexed 5.5 acres of land Tuesday night, and 140 more acres will come next month. The first site, at 8320 20th St., has a single family dwelling and outhouses. It was annexed as an "enclave" property. Enclave properties are those that have been surrounded by a city for more than three years. State law says cities can annex these properties without the property owner's consent. The city has identified 30 parcels of land as possible enclave annexation sites.
EDP waits for city, county input
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/26184
The Craig/Moffat County Economic Development Partnership board is awaiting additional city of Craig and Moffat County input before deciding the agency's fate, board President Scott Cook said Tuesday evening. The board met in closed, or executive, session Tuesday to discuss Executive Director Tim Gibb's resignation and the EDP's future.
Civil Liberties and Equality
6 students face charges in attack
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176906196/18
Two Centennial High School students have been charged as adults with felony crimes, and four others face juvenile charges for allegedly attacking a fellow student because he is gay. Anthony Hergesheimer, 15, told police six schoolmates peppered him with disparaging remarks about his openly gay lifestyle before hurling an aerosol can that struck him in the nose as he walked home from school on April 5. Hergesheimer underwent surgery for a broken nose. Arrest warrants have been issued for two juveniles who have been charged as adults. Kyle Salazar, 16, and Bobby Ray Kanmore, 17, face felony charges of second-degree assault and committing a bias-motivated crime, according to District Attorney Bill Thiebaut.
Court of Appeals rules "Pig" writer could seek damages
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070418/NEWS/104170108
Tom Mink wouldn't wish his saga on anyone else. But if someone else happened to be willing to take on a First Amendment crusade, that would be helpful, he said. Mink, 27, has spent three and a half years fighting a potential libel case against his satirical online newsletter, "The Howling Pig." He learned Tuesday that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled he might be eligible for damages from the Weld prosecutor who approved a search warrant for his home. That would be nice, Mink said, but he would rather have seen Colorado's criminal libel law struck down. The three-judge appeals panel said Monday it would not consider whether the criminal libel law is unconstitutional because prosecutors already said they would not charge Mink.
Holocaust horrors, heroes
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5691243
The Holocaust as fiction rather than fact. It's a preposterous notion that Anti-Defamation League leader Abraham Foxman struggles with acknowledging, much less debating. Hours before the 67-year-old Holocaust survivor spoke before a thousand people Tuesday for the ADL's 26th annual Governor's Holocaust Remembrance Program in Denver, he had difficulty deciding whether to make mention of it in his keynote address. "Holocaust denial, this is such an idiotic lie that by confronting it, we're almost giving it credibility," Foxman said prior to the event. "The Jews living in the midst of that hell, why did they keep manuscripts and why did they keep diaries? "Because they feared the world would not know they lived and how they perished," he said. Tuesday's program was about remembrance and his talk was titled "Challenging Those Who Would Dare Deny." However, Foxman focused less on Holocaust denial and talked more about teaching future generations about Jewish history and celebrating those non-Jews who stood in the way of genocide.
Immigration
19 are arrested in ICE raid in Monte Vista
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690081
Immigration agents raided a potato farm and processing plant in Monte Vista on Tuesday and arrested 19 workers on immigration violations. The raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement left community members scrambling to check on families, said Flora Archuleta, executive director of the San Luis Valley Immigrant Resource Center. "We are going to have to deal with this because it's going to affect families," she said. "They are just terrorized right now - they don't know what to do." A tip about the farm, Worley & McCullough Inc., led ICE to investigate and raid the location, said Carl Rusnok, ICE spokesman.
RELATED: ICE officials raid Monte Vista potato plant
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176906196/6
Marriage and Family Issues
Profs land $1.8M grant to study relationship education for families
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15824
Though unhealthy, unhappy marriages plague every social class, two University of Denver psychology professors recently won a $1.8 million federal grant to study the benefits of relationship education for low-income couples with children. Researchers Martha Wadsworth and Howard Markman need to recruit 40 couples in the Denver metro area and — if there is interest — in Boulder County to conduct the five-year Fatherhood, Relationship and Marriage Education (FRAME) project. They suspect relationship education lowers the divorce rate and enhances the well-being of children.
Health Care and Public Safety
Cancer survivor Rep. Primavera advances tax-form donations bill
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5490219,00.html
Rep. Dianne Primavera, a cancer survivor, celebrated "Tax Day" on Tuesday by advancing her bill to allow Coloradans to help combat women's cancers by checking off a donation box on their state income tax form. "As someone who has had breast and cervical cancer, this bill is especially meaningful for me and for all survivors," said Primavera, D-Broomfield. "Let's use our tax returns to turn back cancer," she said. "This check-off creates an easy, voluntary funding source for awareness programs that will make Coloradans more aware of reproductive cancers and may save lives."
Bill requires insurers to pay for HPV vaccine
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/bill-requires-insurers-to-pay-for-hpv-vaccine/
The House Appropriations Committee sent to the full House on Tuesday a bill that would require health insurers to pay for cervical cancer vaccinations. Dr. Ned Calonge, director of the state Public Health and Environment Department, told lawmakers a $300 vaccination made by Merck & Co. is cost-effective and could prevent many of the 40 deaths a year in Colorado from cervical cancer.
Address-confidentiality measure gains in House (Under the dome, 4/18)
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5689930
The House advanced a proposal Tuesday to set up an address-confidentiality program for victims of domestic violence, stalking and sexual assault.
CSU to host Take Back the Night awareness rally
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070418/CSUZONE01/704180326/1002/NEWS01
Colorado State University students will hold the annual Take Back the Night rally Thursday in an effort to raise awareness about sexual violence. Recording artist Bridget Gray is scheduled to perform at the rally at Old Town.
Boulder flood plan on the way
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/boulder-flood-plan-on-the-way/
A flood plan that predicts hundreds more homes and businesses would be swamped in a 100-year flood than previously believed could take the force of law within a year. The Boulder City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to send the flood-plain study to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for approval, a process that's expected to take between nine and 12 months. Bob Harberg, who oversaw the study, said scientists used state-of-the-art techniques to come up with what they believe is the most accurate flood-plain map possible.
GAS LEAK BLAMED (Briefing, April 18)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490644,00.html
Investigators have confirmed that there was a gas leak inside a home before it exploded early Saturday, though they still have not determined what ignited the blast. Authorities have identified the victim of the explosion as Erik Gregory Johnson, 34. Johnson, a master plumber, was inside his home at 8288 S. Jasmine Court when it exploded at 12:25 a.m.
RELATED: House-blast victim identified
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690036
Crime and Penal Reform
Coloradans tell of 'chaotic' campus, learning teachers, friends had died
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490427,00.html
Josh Ball, a freshman at Virginia Tech from Colorado, had ties to both shooting sites in Monday's deadly campus rampage. He described an "overwhelming" emotional gantlet that he and others faced Tuesday. Ball's dormitory room is down the corridor from the scene of the first shooting at West Ambler Johnston Hall. He didn't hear shots, but knew something had happened as he started out for morning class. "I knew someone was injured, because when I exited the building, I was told by someone to use another staircase," said Ball, whose family lives in Vail. "I saw a stretcher taken out. There was an ambulance and 10 cop cars." Ball, 19, said he didn't think much of the incident - "I thought it was a fight" - and went to his German class on the second floor of Norris Hall, which a short time later would be the site of the second shooting.
RELATED: Ritter letter to Gov. Kaine
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5489255,00.html
RELATED: Ex-resident loses his neighbor in the violence
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070418/NEWS01/704180327/1002
RELATED: Rocky grad returns home for visit
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070418/NEWS01/704180329/1002
RELATED: Erie grad close to Va. shooting
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15818
RELATED: Ritter offers hand to Virginians
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5689933
RELATED: Brush with tragedy stuns Vail man
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690587
RELATED: A candle is lit for each life: Local alumni revere victims
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5691404
Gun advocate: Rethink weapons policy
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/gun-advocate-rethink-weapons-policy/
A Denver-based gun advocate says the University of Colorado should rethink its zero-tolerance policy on firearms — or face the possibility of a massacre similar to the one at Virginia Tech. It is illegal for people other than police to bring firearms, explosives or other weapons onto CU's campuses, according to Board of Regents policy. The university's policy goes further than state law, prohibiting even permit holders from carrying guns. The rules also state that people can't have toys on the campuses that resemble guns or explosives. Dudley Brown,executive director of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, said if students or employees had been armed at Virginia Tech, they could have stopped the gunman before he killed 32 people. He said college campuses that don't allow people to carry firearms create "criminal safe zones."
Aurora police to talk race - behind doors
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690037
Three days of race forums put on by Aurora police next month will be closed to the public and the media. Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates announced his decision Tuesday, saying that barring the media is the best way to guarantee "frank discussions" between police and the 30 handpicked members of the community who will attend the workshop-type gatherings. "We don't believe that everyone that participates in these discussions can feel they can be as open and honest if they anticipate being quoted by the media," police spokesman Bob Friel said. The forums are designed to better improve relations between police and minorities in the wake of several high-profile incidents.
DOC may initiate more labor crews
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Top-Story.asp?id=6713
A representative from the Department of Corrections told [Canon City] councilors Monday labor provided by the first work crew of the season has gone without a hitch and the DOC is “investigating the possibility of creating” and second one. Meanwhile, what seemed like routine agenda items provided robust debate for councilors on issues such as property development and budget funds. Melvin Cole of DOC’s Canon Minimum Centers said the pilot, or trial, work crew of low-custody inmates has been successfully providing various services in the Cañon City area for the last three weeks.
Man says botched rehab to blame for jail assault
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/man-says-botched-rehab-to-blame-for-jail-assault/
An admitted alcoholic says he went to the Boulder County Jail for "poor man's rehab" and then threw hot coffee at deputies because jail staffers didn't properly handle his withdrawal from alcohol. Now, he's facing prison time. Thomas Froehlich was serving a 150-day drunken-driving sentence last fall when he demanded toilet paper and coffee from Deputy Sean Gwynn and then threw the hot liquid, according to court documents filed last month. The coffee burned Gwynn's neck and face and splattered onto another officer.
Jeffco weighs another jail expansion
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690453
Just six years after a $26 million jail expansion, Jefferson County officials are looking at increasing capacity again in a few years. The intent was to have the current 1,326-bed jail meet inmate and staffing needs until 2010, "and we're not too far off from that," said Cmdr. Dave Walcher, who oversees detention services. Bookings and average lengths of stay - which drive how many jail beds are needed - have been steadily rising, Walcher told county commissioners Tuesday as sheriff's officials presented the 2025 jail master plan.
County boosts sheriff funding
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070418/NEWS01/704180315/1002/NEWS01
The Larimer County Sheriff's Office received a couple of financial boosts Tuesday as the county commissioners distributed more than $2.8 million rolled over from last year's budget. The commissioners unanimously approved spending $500,000 on mobile computers for sheriff's patrol vehicles and $750,000 for the first phase of a new radio system that will allow deputies to communicate with other law-enforcement agencies.
COPS ON BIKES
http://www.gazette.com/articles/_21343___article.html/_.html
Black and white police cruisers with flashing lights and wailing sirens grab the attention of everyone. But cops on bicycles? They’re a little more stealthy. They like it that way. “I love being on the bike. It’s a totally different approach to law enforcement,” Officer Brett Iverson said. With warmer weather approaching, more Colorado Springs Police Department officers could be hitting the pavement on two wheels, patrolling streets and parks on mountain bikes.
Taggers may see writing on wall
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690073
The southern suburbs are getting serious about wiping out the artwork of vandals, whose graffiti is on the rise in Douglas and Arapahoe counties. Today, Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson will announce a reward program offering $500 to turn in a tagger. In addition, Douglas County leaders are studying tougher ordinances to make the spray-painters pay a steeper price. "It's a growing problem, and it's something we're concerned about," said Capt. Mark Fisher of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office. Just a few years ago, Douglas County had only one or two reports of tagging a month; now there are several a week.
Economy
BY THE MILLIONS, THEY ARRIVE (EXTRA!, April 18)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490673,00.html
If it seems like Denver's many attractions are becoming more crowded these days, it's not simply because of the booming metro population. Visitors are flocking to the city, too, in increasing numbers. Longwoods International has been studying the tourism market for the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau since 1991. Here are the number of overnight pleasure trips to the city through 2005, the most recent year for which figures are available.
Discounts at the pump are back
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/04/17/local_news/2.txt
A lawsuit by two Montrose businesses that ended supermarket discounted gas programs has resulted in Gov. Bill Ritter’s signature on a bill and money off at the pumps. In November of 2006, a verdict handed down in the U.S. District Court in Denver ended the gas discounts at Montrose’s Safeway and City Market stores. Monday, Ritter signed House Bill 1208, which changed the Unfair Practices Act and will allow the supermarket chains to offer gas discounts once again.
Colorado stocks on fire
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5690020
The leading index of Colorado stocks has been setting a succession of record highs in recent weeks, led by media and other growth companies and the First Data corporate buyout.
Jury recesses; fifth day of deliberations on Wednesday
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5489523,00.html
The jury deliberating the case against Joe Nacchio listened carefully for nearly an hour Tuesday as U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham re-read their instructions, but the group did not reach a verdict before being sent home later in the day. Jurors are scheduled to reconvene Wednesday for a fifth day of deliberations. Nottingham re-read the instructions after the jury sent a note asking for the legal definition of "material." To convict the former Qwest CEO of insider trading, the jury must find that Nacchio sold stock based on non-public, material information and with the intent to defraud. Information is material, Nottingham said, if a reasonable investor would consider the information important in deciding whether to act, as in buying or selling stock. The material information may be a misstatement or an omission of facts, the judge said.
RELATED: Nacchio jurors re-read instructions
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5490257,00.html
RELATED: Nacchio jurors ask for clarification
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5690023
Colorado biotechs improve
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/health_care/article/0,2808,DRMN_25396_5489954,00.html
Colorado's biotech sector is getting closer to breaking even, with its losses narrowing last year, and research and development investment in the state is on the rise, according to a new report. "Biotech is an innovation- based industry, and R&D is a critical metric," said Scott Sarazen, the global biotech markets leader at Ernst & Young, which prepared the study. The fact that R&D increased in Colorado while the bottom lines of biotech companies improved is a sign of a "vibrant biotech economy," he said. The state's biotech industry reduced net losses by 18 percent to $121 million, while R&D climbed 60 percent to $195 million, the report found.
Prologis drops a billion for warehouse firm
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/real_estate/article/0,1299,DRMN_414_5489011,00.html
Denver-based ProLogis, North America’s largest industrial real estate investment trust, just got bigger. The company will spend $1 billion to buy Sydney-based Macquarie ProLogis Trust, adding warehouses and distribution centers in the U.S. ProLogis will pay 12 percent more than the last price before trading was halted yesterday, according to a statement from the Denver-based company today.
Outlets' owner pours in money
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5690024
Many storefronts at the Outlets at Loveland sit vacant, but the center's owner says it's investing millions of dollars in a turnaround that has already netted new tenants, including Coach and a Nike Factory Store. Just last week, a Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store opened, and an Ann Taylor Factory Store is slated to open in July. Coach and Nike are set to open in the next month.
AT&T wins ruling against pretexters collecting info
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5490043,00.html
AT&T Inc. won court orders barring 13 people and companies - including one in Arvada - from using false identities to obtain customer information, a practice called pretexting. The injunctions stop the defendants from engaging in any future pretexting, said AT&T, the largest U.S. telephone company. The defendants also will pay undisclosed amounts to settle AT&T lawsuits against them.
SAME Cafe: So All May Eat
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490648,00.html
On a little concrete patch of one of Denver's grittiest avenues, Hunter Dragon is back for his daily taste of a miracle. The 25-year- old musician ("I'm a troubadour") who seems equal parts beard, stocking cap, tattoos, rolled-up pants, intelligence and good vibes is finishing up his lunch at the SAME. Soon, he will pay for his meal the way about half of the clients do - by working it off with a little elbow grease and a measure of dignity. In Dragon's case, he will wash dishes. He may mop the floor. Doesn't matter. What does matter is, "You get this sense of self- worth here. It's like you earn your keep. "The whole concept of this place - that a musician like me without much money could come eat and not be looked down on - is just so cool. I was giddy when I heard about it, just blown away." Even if you have the cash for lunch, you still might be borne aloft by the absence of set menu prices at SAME (So All May Eat). The humble cafe is more the heart-child than brainchild of Brad and Libby Birky, a pair of transplanted Illinoisans who are married to each other and the concept that there is beauty and grace in feeding people.
Worker's Rights and Corporate Accountability
Some unions making strides
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5490463,00.html
As unions struggle to reverse a steady drop in membership, several groups in Colorado have managed to buck the trend. Teachers, nurses, janitors and even hotel workers are among the groups bolstering the ranks. "We've found some ways to be able to grow in a tough environment," said Mitch Ackerman, head of the local affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. In Colorado, the number of workers belonging to a union slipped by 5,000, to 165,000 at the end of 2006. That's 7.7 percent of the state's growing work force. While Colorado's union membership rate falls in line with those of many neighboring states, it lags the national average of 12 percent.
Housing and Homelessness
Briefs: Dozens of area homes to be sold at auction
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5690027
Nearly 50 foreclosed homes in metro Denver will be sold at auction Saturday. The homes, owned by national lenders and asset management companies, are valued from $25,000 to more than $500,000 and come guaranteed with title insurance. Winning bidders will be required to make a down payment of $2,500 or 5 percent of the selling price, whichever is greater.
No easy solution
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/apr/18/no_easy_solution/?local_news
Creating a one-size-fits-all affordable housing policy may be an impossible task for the Steamboat Springs City Council. After several hours of discussion Tuesday night, and after hearing extensive public comment from business owners, developers, homeowners and community representatives, the City Council tabled any action on proposed revisions to the city’s inclusionary zoning ordinance, which regulates how the city provides and funds affordable housing.
County plans affordable housing project
http://vaildaily.com/article/20070417/NEWS/70417026
Record high housing prices and fewer and fewer options for affordable housing for the working class have county housing department officials on a mission to find a solution to fix what seems like an insurmountable problem. In an effort to put a dent in the growing need for affordable housing, the county’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Affordable Housing is developing a plan to build another Miller Ranch-type of housing area and entice developers to include more affordable housing in their buildings. The county has set a goal to purchase 30 acres of land by December, either together or in separate parcels, to build deed restricted homes on, said K.T. Gazunis, the county’s housing director. The county is eyeing three properties in particular.
Getting their hands dirty: Public officials to help build Habitat homes
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/04/17/local_news/5.txt
On Saturday, area public officials will strap on their tool belts in hopes of qualifying for a $10,000 grant that will be given to Habitat for Humanity of Montrose County. “It’s important for elected officials to be very aware of what we do because there is a need for affordable housing in the Montrose area,” HFHM President Connie Stoutt said. Habitat Builds Colorado Day, organized by Habitat for Humanity of Colorado, is a statewide project to bring awareness and be part of a solution for the affordable housing crisis, stated a HFHM press release.
Media
Denver-area readers may see new free newspaper
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5690058
Denver-area newspaper readers may soon find a new, free publication on newsstands. A Wellesley, Mass.-based newspaper company called 365 Media USA has secured a trademark for the name DenverNow, according to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The company recently launched BostonNow, a free tabloid that incorporates content generated by bloggers and by staff reporters. It has trademarked comparable names in about two dozen markets, including Houston, Detroit and San Francisco. The company's wide-ranging trademarking effort follows a similar move by Clarity Media Group, the newspaper company backed by Denver investor Philip Anschutz. Clarity, which owns the San Francisco Examiner, has trademarked the Examiner name in more than 60 cities, including Denver.
Education
Colo. schools probe threats, notify families
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490398,00.html
Some Colorado campuses are raising security measures in the wake of Monday's massacre at Virginia Tech and on the eve of the eighth anniversary of bloodshed at Columbine High School. The University of Colorado, the University of Northern Colorado and Boulder High School were investigating incidents Tuesday related to threats and potential disturbances. CU campus police arrested a student for investigation of interfering with staff members and students after he engaged in a heated discussion with classmates over the Virginia Tech rampage and said that he "would be capable of killing 32 people," Cmdr. Brad Wiesley said. Max Karson, 21, was booked into the Boulder County Jail on Tuesday evening after an afternoon interview, the commander said. Students in the journalism course where the discussion took place told CU officers that they had become fearful about attending the class Thursday, Wiesley said.
RELATED: Campuses on alert for copycats
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490400,00.html
RELATED: CU junior suspended, arrested for comments
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/cu-junior-suspended-arrested-for-comments/
RELATED: CU eyes emergency communication
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/cu-eyes-emergency-communication/
RELATED: Campus lockdown not practical, say officials
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176906196/5
RELATED: Local schools looking at safety
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070418/NEWS/104180058
RELATED: Security at Boulder High raised after menacing notes
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690041
RELATED: High school student threatens UNC
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070418/NEWS/104180103
Online schools measure dies
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5490449,00.html
A Senate committee struck down an online schools bill Tuesday, a day after the sponsor was criticized for calling some online students lazy. Sen. Sue Windels, D-Arvada, said her bill was intended to bring greater oversight to online schools, which have been plagued with problems. But the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 6-4 against the bill, with two Denver Democrats joining Republicans. Sen. Jennifer Veiga said she has concerns with the funding. And Sen. Peter Groff, a school- choice supporter, said he was offended by her comments about online students, which she wrote in an e-mail to a school director. He said he feared her measure was punitive. Windels said she will try to revive Senate Bill 215 this week, but Groff and other Senate Democrats warned they will be on the lookout for any bill they believe could limit school choice.
GOP: More school cash is in lands
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5490401,00.html
House Republicans on Tuesday called on Gov. Bill Ritter to seek more revenue from state lands to fund schools, instead of canceling scheduled property tax reductions next year. Republicans have branded Ritter's plan to freeze property tax rates as a "tax hike," a description Ritter rejects. At a press conference Tuesday, the Republicans presented figures ranking Colorado sixth among nine Western states in the amount of revenue drawn from school trust lands. "There is a fiduciary responsibility to manage those lands for the schools," said House Minority leader Mike May, R-Parker. "They could do better."
RELATED: Ritter’s education plan gets some competition
http://www.gazette.com/articles/plan_21345___article.html/ritter_tax.html
RELATED: Lawmakers work to hold off mill levy freeze, help fund education
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/18/4_18_School_Finance.html
Southwest suburbs an easy choice
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5482849,00.html
Denver's public schools are losing the tug-of-war for students in southwest neighborhoods, where as many as half the school-age children are attending suburban districts, an analysis by the Rocky Mountain News and the nonprofit Piton Foundation found. That's more than any other area of Denver. DPS needs every student it can attract to offset declining enrollment in its traditional neighborhood schools. The district needs the state and local dollars those students bring. But southwest Denver is bordered on two sides by higher-performing school districts with more convenient school locations.
RELATED: Issue: Marketing
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5482852,00.html
CU forms apparel probe group
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/cu-forms-apparel-probe-group/
University of Colorado Chancellor Bud Peterson said Tuesday he will speak with CEOs at other universities to form a group to look into labor disputes and closures at college-apparel manufacturers. Peterson said the school has received three reports about why BJ&B, a factory in the Dominican Republic, recently announced plans to close at the end of May, according to a news release. The factory makes baseball caps for Nike, including some with CU logos.
Cost to live in dorms could rise 10 percent next year
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/cost-to-live-in-dorms-could-rise-10-percent-next/
The University of Colorado campus is poised to raise the cost to live and eat in its dorms by 10 percent next year — and nearly half of the money brought in from that increase will go toward paying for an apartment building that the school is buying to house upperclassmen. Incoming freshmen may never live in the apartments that they might be required to help fund. But student leaders and the campus' housing director say purchasing the Bear Creek Apartments helps the university meet its overarching goals to provide more campus housing for students and, in the long run, move toward a residential-college setting.
DeVincentis: I am not that person
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/apr/18/devincentis_i_am_not_person/?local_news
The easy thing would have been to resign. Instead, embattled Steamboat Springs School Board member John DeVincentis stood his ground, apologized for a series of harsh e-mails he sent about a former school district administrator three years ago and said he is willing to talk “face to face” with any community member interested in hearing the “real deal.”
Budget cuts impact D70 staff changes
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176906196/11
The District 70 school board approved several personnel changes Tuesday night, including a few related to recent budget-trimming measures. In February, the board approved changes to the district's staffing ratio that prompted several schools to have to cut positions. Three of the teacher transfers approved Tuesday night are a result of the new staffing ratio changes.
Principal matter still draws attention for Re-1 school board
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070418/NEWS/104180102
The Valley Re-1 School Board's past few meetings have attracted large crowds with the superintendent's contract and a conflict-of-interest proposal on the table. With confusion about the absence of Valley High School Principal Ben Rainbolt still simmering, another packed room is possible tonight. The board meets at 7 p.m. today in the Education Service Center at 14827 Weld County Road 42 in Gilcrest.
9-R board seeks lawyer's advice about making survey public
The Durango school board will wait to speak to its attorney before deciding whether to publish 1,500 comments from a survey of parents, teachers and students of Durango High School. Board members said in a work session Tuesday that if the attorney, Reese Miller, determines the comments are a public document under state law, they will release them. If not, the public will not have access to the comments.
Ski resort's day care is closed over nude photos
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490669,00.html
State officials have shut down a day-care center at the Copper Mountain Ski Resort after investigating allegations that staffers took pictures of naked babies in sexually suggestive poses and with cigarettes in their mouths. The Colorado Department of Human Services issued a summary suspension on the Pumpkin Patch Day Care Center on April 9 after checking out complaints raised by two former staffers March 27. While such suspensions are not uncommon, the nature of the allegations is unusual, said Liz McDonough, a spokeswoman for the department.
RELATED: Resort day care closed over sex photos
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5686873
RELATED: Center closure impacts ongoing daycare crisis
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070417/NEWS/70417013
Military
Area school districts prep for ‘invasion’
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176906196/2
Communities, developers, home builders and an array of business owners are trying to gather as much intelligence as they can on an invading army but no group is as apprehensive about the troops’ arrival as educators. As with most invasions, the folks here would like to get as much advance intelligence as they can before the troops land. Rob McDonald, executive director of the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments told a town meeting in Pueblo Tuesday evening that as many as 7,000 elementary- and high school-age youngsters could be coming into the area with the relocation of 10,000 soldiers to Fort Carson over the next four years.
Problems at VA home look familiar
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690069
Inadequately trained nursing assistants, dispensing the wrong drug for a patient and old, crumbling buildings are some of the problems federal inspectors identified last week at the State Veterans Center at Homelake. Some of these conditions have gone uncorrected for years at Colorado's oldest nursing home, according to federal Department of Veterans Affairs records and interviews. "It's never good to have repeat findings," said Viki Manley, director of State and Veterans Nursing Homes in the Department of Human Services. "They did say they were comfortable and pleased with the care the staff provides," Manley said. Five VA inspectors picked through the facility last week following media reports that highlighted problems found in previous inspections at Colorado's six veterans facilities.
Nonprofit helps veterans manage stress
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=15822
A 36-year-old Army special forces veteran on Monday attended the first of two Strength after Service workshops for fresh perspective on his combat experiences in Iraq in 2003. “It’s a gateway for understanding to a person who’s just come back from surviving the most grotesque, incomprehensible event,” said the Denver resident, who requested anonymity. The Boulder-based nonprofit organization One Freedom sponsored the free, two-hour workshop at the Longmont Public Library to share stress-management techniques without the stigma of therapy, said Dan Taslitz, a former Marine and One Freedom speaker.
Religion
Episcopal group ditches pastor
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490220,00.html
A conservative Episcopal organization that counted the Rev. Don Armstrong as its executive director and had offices at his Colorado Springs church has broken with him. The Anglican Communion Institute (ACI), is the second conservative Episcopal group this month to distance itself from the embattled Armstrong. Armstrong is being threatened with criminal and civil charges related to an investigation by the Episcopal Diocese. In a six-count presentment - the church equivalent of a civil indictment - the diocese alleges he misused hundreds of thousands of dollars over a 10-year period at Grace and St. Stephen's Church. Last month Armstrong defected from the Episcopal Diocese to join a conservative Anglican organization that represents churches that object to the Episcopal Church's departure from traditional doctrines on sexuality and scriptural authority. Armstrong says the diocese is persecuting him for his conservative views.
Energy Policy
Energy official pins resignation on Ritter
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690071
The vice chairman of the panel that regulates oil and gas drilling has resigned, citing Gov. Bill Ritter's refusal to consult regulators before pushing plans to revamp the commission and its mission. Brian J. Cree of Littleton tendered his immediate resignation from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, saying he was "disappointed" the governor never responded to a two-page letter he sent March 13 requesting a meeting. Cree's resignation, dated Monday, surfaced Tuesday as Ritter sat down with reporters to tout inclusive, bipartisan negotiations as the hallmark of the accomplishments of his first 100 days in office. "Most of the best things we have done are the product of a great deal of teamwork. Many of them are the product of our being able to reach across the divide that exists between different communities of interest and even reach across the partisan divide," Ritter said. Asked if he agreed with the assessment, House Minority Leader Mike May quipped: "We haven't been contacted."
Renewable backer wins IREA seat
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5690021
One of three renewable-energy advocates running for the board of directors of Intermountain Rural Electric Association has been elected. Mike Kempe defeated incumbent IREA director Tom Phillips to serve on the board of the state's largest electric cooperative. Kempe tallied 2,160 votes to 1,368 for Phillips, who had served for six years on the board in a district that includes parts of Douglas, Jefferson, Park and Clear Creek counties. In the other two contested elections, renewable-energy advocates Mike Daniels and Jake Meffley were defeated by incumbents James Dozier and Sid Hanks, respectively. IREA, under its current board, has been among the most vocal opponents of two renewable-energy initiatives.
Methane seep study bill progresses
The state Senate gave the initial OK on Tuesday to fund a study of the methane seep in La Plata and Archuleta counties, despite opposition from some Republicans. GOP senators said the bill would raise taxes on the oil and gas industry. Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, originally had wanted to pay for the study from severance taxes on oil and gas, but legislators have overspent the account. So two weeks ago, Isgar amended the bill to raise the mill levy on oil and gas production to fund the study. Sen. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, said a statewide tax should not be levied for a La Plata County project.
Growing need for power spawns proposals, debate
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/04/17/local_news/4.txt
The Delta-Montrose Electric Association has issued two proposals to deal with the rapid growth of its service area. A change in its line extension policy would put the costs of extending service on the entity needing the extension, rather the rest of the power users. An 18-mile extension of transmission lines would improve power distribution, but the fact that about 89 percent of the proposed route would traverse private property has upset some residents.
Gas well opposed by residents, developer
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/18/4_18_3b_Rifle_gas_well.html
Residents living near a proposed 95-lot subdivision in Rifle could have to deal with a natural-gas well drilling rig at some point, but the developers said Tuesday night they hope it never happens. The Rifle Heights subdivision is proposed for 95 single-family homes on a 33-acre piece of property between 12th and 16th Streets and White River and Anvil View Avenues.
Xcel Energy plans gas price hike
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/18/4_18_Xcel_rates.html
The estimated cost of natural gas is going up more than 4 percent next month for customers of Xcel Energy Inc., an increase the utility pegged to market reaction to colder weather and stronger demand when prices were set. The per-therm price for natural gas is projected to climb to $0.5711 in May from $0.5482 in April, according to a rate change filed Tuesday with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The May 2006 per-therm price was $0.5463. Mark Stutz, a spokesman for the Minneapolis-based utility, said natural gas rates are expected to inch higher because of perceived colder weather. Gas prices usually are set by the seventh business day of each month.
New oil shale player plans to develop Utah state land
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/18/4_18_1a_oilshale.html
There’s a new kid on the oil shale block with plans to use a new surface retorting method to produce jet and diesel fuel. Salt Lake City-based Red Leaf Resources plans to develop land containing about a half billion barrels of shale oil on more than 16,000 acres of Utah state land 35 miles south of Vernal, Utah, Red Leaf chief executive James W. Patten said Tuesday at the Utah Energy Summit in Salt Lake City.
Gasoline could hit $3 this summer
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/energy/article/0,2777,DRMN_23914_5490462,00.html
Prices at the gas pump could hit $3 a gallon this summer. And the sting could last for short periods as millions of Americans take to the roads in the coming months. Just like last summer. But the average price of gasoline this summer will be more or less flat or a few cents lower than last year, said Guy Caruso, energy information administrator for the Energy Department. "There's a good chance you could see $3 a gallon for a short time," Caruso said Tuesday while speaking at the National Conference of State Legislatures at the Warwick Hotel in Denver. Caruso said the EIA - the statistical arm of the Energy Department - expects average gasoline prices of $2.81 a gallon this summer, 3 cents lower than the average $2.84 last summer. The agency's forecast assumes that imports of gasoline this summer will be adequate and weather and global politics stable, he said.
Texas rancher sues Denver firm
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5489791,00.html
A member of one of Texas' oldest ranching families has locked horns with an oil company in a bizarre dispute involving pet rhinos, steel pipe and allegations of radiation poisoning and a corporate vendetta. Rancher Jimmy McAllen, the 10th generation of his family to work the 70,000-acre ranch in South Texas, says the old pipe he used to build a corral for two African black rhinoceroses in the mid-1990s proved to be loaded with radioactive material. He blames the radiation for the mysterious 1995 death of one of his rhinos. And he says he suspects it caused the rare form of cancer that cost him his lower right leg in 2005. Moreover, he says the Denver-based Forest Oil Co. - which holds a lease to drill for gas on his property and gave him the old pipe for the corral and other projects around the ranch - deliberately poisoned his land in retaliation for a dispute the two sides had over gas payments.
Transportation and Infrastructure
RTD votes on land behind Union Station in light-rail move
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490661,00.html
RTD moved ahead Tuesday on plans to purchase land more than two blocks behind Union Station to move the light-rail boarding platforms and make room for commercial development. The transit agency board Tuesday voted to negotiate for a two-acre parcel next to the freight tracks north of the station. Some FasTracks backers have criticized the move because it would create a long walk to transfer between light-rail trains and future FasTracks commuter lines, including the one to Denver International Airport.
Metro district, county mired in road problems
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1176906196/9
Roads in Pueblo West have been a sore point for residents and between the metropolitan district and Pueblo County commissioners for years, but road damage from repeated floods last summer has brought the problem to a new level. The two boards met jointly Monday and agreed to instruct their lawyers to look into new funding mechanisms to deal with the roads in the rapidly growing district. Among the possibilities are a special improvement taxing district or formation of a roadway utility charging fees, according to Pueblo West's attorney, Tom Mullans.
Ride the Rockies will ride the trail
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070418/NEWS/104180063
Pitkin County commissioners gave the go-ahead Tuesday for more than 2,000 cyclists to ride the Rio Grande Trail for the Ride the Rockies event June 21. Last week, the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority approved use of a downvalley section of trail from Carbondale to Emma, and Ride the Rockies planners asked commissioners to approve use of paved trails in Pitkin County from Emma through Snowmass Canyon as far as Lower River Road.
Environment and Conservation
Funding boost sought to combat Colo. wildfires
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5490670,00.html
Colorado is headed into a wildfire season made more dangerous by millions of trees killed by pine beetles - but with $4.3 million less of federal funds to avoid a potential disaster. Colorado's congressional delegation is asking the U.S. Forest Service to restore the money, noting the Pacific Northwest got a $30 million budget boost for forest management. "It would be horrible policy for the United States Forest Service to cut funding in Colorado when the bark beetle problem continues to be a threat as the dangerous fire season approaches," Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., said in the delegation's joint statement Tuesday. The Front Range foothills and northern mountains were hit hard by pine beetles, but Colorado's federal dollars for fuel reduction were rolled back in February.
Bill to idle San Luis farmland advances
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5490399,00.html
A plan allowing San Luis Valley officials to take farmland out of production to save water won initial passage in the House on Tuesday. Senate Bill 220 would expand the powers of the Rio Grande Water Conservation District and its subdistricts to promote conservation of well water by taking 40,000 acres out of farm production. It won initial approval on a 46-13 vote. Some Republicans called it a hidden water grab that would bankrupt small San Luis Valley farmers by allowing one subdistrict to charge as much as $21,485 annually for the well water needed for each circular pivot irrigation system. "This bill will put the poorest farmers in Colorado out of business," said Rep. Ray Rose, R-Montrose. But supporters, led by Rep. Rafael Gallegos, D-Antonito, said critics were ignoring the fact that the plan was supported in a petition signed by more than half the farmers in the area.
Water chief should be fired, lawmaker says
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/18/4_18_1a_Black_Canyon.html
State Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, wants Gov. Bill Ritter to reverse course on papers filed this week that would gut agreements intended to resolve a fight over the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. And, Penry said, he wants Ritter, a Democrat, to fire the head of a powerful water agency who was appointed to his post by Republican Bill Owens. “This is the last straw with Rod Kuharich,” Penry said, referring to the executive director of the Colorado Water Conservation Board and a man long described as an adversary in Western Slope-Front Range battles over water. “Bill Ritter would do Colorado a favor by showing him the door.” Kuharich and his boss, Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Harris Sherman, didn’t immediately return phone calls Tuesday.
High Country 'perfect storm' discussed Thursday in Frisco
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070417/NEWS/104170068
Chris Jackson, manager for the 2007 Colorado College State of the Rockies Project, will lead a discussion of key findings from the report with an emphasis on the impact of climate change and deteriorating forest health to the communities of Colorado's central and northern mountains, including Summit County, starting at 7:30 a.m. Thursday at the Best Western Lake Dillon Lodge in Frisco.
Conference focus is sustainability
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5690006
An international conference focused on sustainability is expected to draw more than 2,000 corporate real-estate professionals to Denver from April 29 to May 3. But the conference, hosted by international trade association CoreNet Global at the Colorado Convention Center, will go far beyond developing green buildings. Speakers include Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc.; Amory Lovins, co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute; and Stuart Hart, S.C. Johnson Chair of Sustainable Global Enterprise at Cornell University. "Sustainability has developed as a major concept," said Prentice Knight, chief executive of the organization, which has more than 7,000 members worldwide. "How sustainable is the workforce, how sustainable is the community, and how sustainable is the company in terms of profit and bottom line? "There is increased concern about the relationship between major employers and the environment, the people in communities and the impact on the corporation itself."
River district directors consider revisions to key water policies
http://postindependent.com/article/20070418/VALLEYNEWS/104180041
In a state that is struggling with a dwindling supply of water, a growing population and increasing water demands, the Colorado River Water Conservation District must strike a balance between increasingly disparate needs in guiding the future water allocations on the West Slope and demands from the Front Range. On Tuesday, directors of the district met in Glenwood Springs and considered substantive changes to some of its key policies. The river district, formed in 1937 and headquartered in Glenwood Springs, is charged with protecting water as well as holding and developing water rights for western Colorado.
County grapples with well trouble
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070418/NEWS/104180062
When well water in West Buttermilk turned brown over the weekend, it raised more questions than answers about adjacent airport runway construction, further water contamination and damage to a deep aquifer. At a cost of $50,000 per day, Pitkin County commissioners ordered work stopped on part of the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport runway last week when pumps from two nearby wells churned up water contaminated with silt. Vibrations from dump trucks carrying dirt from the runway area to build large earthen berms on the southern end of end of the airport - close to Aspen near Owl Creek Road - caused silt contamination in wells, representatives of the West Buttermilk Metro District said.
Showdown at the Divide: Utility company challenges residents
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070417/NEWS/70417007
At issue are potential impacts to Colorado Springs Untilities’ water pipeline and collection system, established more than 10 years before the land in the area was platted for development. The Front Range city gets as much as 10 percent of its total municipal water supply from the Blue River watershed by piping it under the Continental Divide. “Impacts to the pipe or the system could have a significant effect on our customers,” said systems operations manager Scott Campbell. Development and traffic along County Road 805 could “put our infrastructure and our ability to operate our systems at risk,” Campbell said. “We don’t think it’s responsible to ... issue permits until these issues have been resolved,” he added. They have asked Summit County to refrain from issuing building permits in the area, implying that Colorado Springs would go to court to block development until outstanding issues are resolved.
Satisfied with safety, bureau awards bid to build fish passage
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/04/18/4_18_1b_fish_ladder_bid.html
A federal agency has done all it can to meet safety concerns raised by proponents of a whitewater park on the Colorado River near Palisade, officials said. Among the steps being taken for safety are increased signs, safety equipment at the Price-Stubb Dam and a small takeout area for rafters and kayakers who need a last-ditch option to avoid the dam at the mouth of De Beque Canyon. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Tuesday awarded a $9.7 million bid for a fish passage that will open for the first time in nearly a century about 50 miles of native habitat to the endangered species of the river.
Moratorium proposed on river development
Each of the new councilors campaigned on a platform that indicated they would keep a close eye on growth and development in Durango, and that promise was fulfilled in the evening's final discussion. In response to a proposed building at 1111 Camino del Rio that councilors Renee Par sons and Leigh Meigs believe will adversely affect views of the Animas River, the veteran and the rookie councilors are crafting a proposed moratorium on river development until the city’s 15-year old River Corridor Overlay Zone regulations can be revised. Meigs said the intent was not to halt development along the river, but rather to preserve views. She said the proposed building was simply too big and would be an imposing presence, and the outdated regulations don’t address the council’s concerns. Rendon agreed. “When I’m on the river trail, I don’t want to look at something that looks like Albertsons. I don’t want to look up at a huge wall,” he said.
Infestation of pine beetles on its way to forests in county
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070418/CSUZONE01/704180316/1002/NEWS01
The pine beetle infestation that has ravaged forests in Summit and Grand counties is edging its way into Larimer County, though it's too early to say how severe the damage to local forests could be, researchers said at Colorado State University on Tuesday night. Speakers on a panel discussion about the mountain pine beetle epidemic said the insects are inching their way from Jackson County west of Larimer County into the Poudre Canyon west of Fort Collins.
Zero-waste wisdom
http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2007/04/17/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt
While Cheba Hut Toasted Subs may not have the luxury of saying it was the first sandwich shop on University Hill, it does lay claim to another first - as the district's one and only zero-waste-dedicated restaurant. “We're not 100 percent zero waste, but we're close,” said Matt Clark-Johnson, 26, co-owner of the Hill Cheba Hut, the newest restaurant of the five-store franchise currently found in several locations throughout Arizona and Colorado. The store has already drastically cut its waste production, requiring just one weekly trash pickup instead of its usual eight. Zero waste means recycling as much waste as possible, and often includes composting.
Opinion
Littwin: Day after shooting, silence screams
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_86_5490429,00.html
Daryl Rembert lives on the sixth floor of West A.J. Hall. He says one of his friends knew the girl who died in the shooting on the fourth floor, where it all began. But that's not Rembert's story. His story is awful enough.
RELATED: Pain and lessons bind Va. Tech, Columbine
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5688265
RELATED: There is no way to fathom the unfathomable
http://www.gjsentinel.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2007/04/18/4_18__Virginia_Tech_edit.html
Not a whit of bigotry (On Point, April 18)
For once I’ve got to defend Sen. Sue Windels. The Arvada Democrat’s hostility to charter schools may be an insult to parents who simply want the best possible education for their kids, but she has every right to describe some students who opt for online schools as “lazy” without opponents playing the race card and calling for her head. Some students are lazy. That should not be a news bulletin. Whether online schools harbor more lazy students than elsewhere is questionable, but there’s nothing that smacks of bigotry in Windels’ claim that some kids “see online as a ‘quick, easy’ way to get a diploma without having to put in all the seat time and effort.”
Our View: Fixing the education fund
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/apr/18/our_view/?our_view
Gov. Bill Ritter is to be commended for trying to address anticipated shortfalls in the state’s Education Fund. Ritter’s plan is expected to come back before the General Assembly this week. Earlier in the legislative session, lawmakers dropped it amid broad opposition from both parties. The plan has been re-tooled and will be re-submitted Thursday. We aren’t optimistic about the plan’s chances. There are not enough changes to overcome the primary opposition that the plan essentially is a tax increase. We certainly understand that sentiment. But here’s the rub — defeating Ritter’s bill won’t make the problem go away. If lawmakers don’t like the governor’s solution, we would challenge them to offer a viable alternative.
Chaput: Act on immigration
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5688275
While the immigration debate in this country has continued for years, Congress has failed to pass adequate reform legislation. Our national immigration policy now includes enforcement raids, such as the December one in Greeley, which fail to address the complicated economic and social forces driving immigration. Unfortunately, these actions can often result in the separation of children who are U.S. citizens from their parents and the alienation of immigrant communities. They are symptoms of a greater illness: a seriously flawed immigration system which needs major repair.
Riesberg: How your state government responds to needs and hopes
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070418/READERS/104180113/-1/TRIBEDIT
We have made a great deal of progress this session to respond to specific issues that affect the daily lives of Coloradans, especially those in northern Colorado. The Colorado Foreclosure Prevention Hotline is a collaborative effort by government, industry and community groups to present a unified front in combating the growing problem of foreclosures in the single family residential market. A single call to (877) 601-HOPE (4673) will help connect a homeowner to a local Housing Counseling Agency that will work to assist callers with easy access to quick answers to basic questions about foreclosure. Callers will also be referred to a local trained professional who can provide HOPE in dealing with the complex issue of foreclosure. At least 4 out of 5 callers to the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline who meet with housing counselors have been able to avoid foreclosure.
Munoz: Seeing Red (The Red Scare, Vol. 3)
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070417/COLUMNS/104170055
If "Red Scare" means nothing to you, then you are probably younger than 50 years old, and I'll wait while you Google it. ... So you see, decades ago the "ism" we feared was Communism. Today the feared "ism" is terrorism, but another "red" scare seems to exist today, and it's linked with "immigrationism." I see people. But many see "invaders". I see workers. Many others see "bloodsuckers". I see black. Others see red. Now, let's talk black vs. red ink. What really is the economic impact of all those illegal immigrants? Along with the increase-in-crime myth, the bankruptcy of our social service infrastructure is probably one of the most common. If I had a dollar for each time I heard or read the economic-drain myth, my own personal finances would be out of the red and in the black.
Sex-offender illusions: Residency rules fail test of reason
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/apr/18/sex-offender-illusions/
The proposed [Lyons] ordinance would have made it illegal for registered sex offenders to live within 1,000 feet of a park, playground or school or within 500 feet of a day-care center, recreation center, school bus stop or walk-to-school route. It was patterned on an ordinance passed in Greenwood Village last year, which was similar to other cities' restrictions. But on Monday the trustees tabled the proposal because of concerns expressed by Boulder County's sheriff and probation department. In a recent letter, Sheriff Joe Pelle urged the town to rely on the statewide sex-offender registration system. "There is ample research to indicate that reintegration into neighborhoods with oversight and monitoring by family and friends results in higher success rates for these offenders," Pelle wrote. "Segregation and isolation result in frequent failure and repeat offenses."
Wising up on oil, gas oversight
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5688266
Efforts to reform the state's oversight of the oil and gas business in Colorado should strike a balance, as people on both sides of the issue would acknowledge. The needs of the industry must properly accommodate the health of the environment, wildlife and people. Unfortunately, for years the state Oil and Gas Conservation Commission has tipped the scales in favor of the producers.
RELATED: State will gain from broader composition of board
Slow down the coal express
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5688267
Coal-fired power plants are the source of more than 40 percent of this country's carbon emissions and a major contributor to global warming. Two dozen of these units operate in Colorado. State government is working overtime to create the climate for alternative energy investments, yet the Public Utilities Commission is weighing whether to force Xcel Energy to add yet another traditional coal plant in order to boost power capacity in order to meet future demand. The PUC may consider the matter in a meeting today. We urge the commission to hold off for now while Xcel explores other options and more alternative energy sources become available.
The little things count
http://craigdailypress.com/section/opinion/story/26190
Mark Twain once said, "And what is a man without energy? Nothing -- nothing at all." Life in the Yampa Valley can probably relate to the saying. Energy has history here. And by all accounts, it has a future. But another question must be asked. What is a man without his environment? The answer is the same. Nothing. Nothing at all. The two don't have to be separate. Energy and the environment can go hand in hand. Energy can be channeled through wind and solar power; renewable energy options that -- as the expected energy boom heads our way -- community leaders should be pushing forward.
Strong euro worries exporters abroad
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/editorials/article/0,2777,DRMN_23964_5489796,00.html
This is shaping up as a bad week for dollar chauvinists. The euro is near a record high against the dollar - one euro being worth about $1.36 - and the British pound passed the $2 mark, a 14-year high against the dollar. No economic news ever comes without its downside, and the British and eurozone central banks began fretting that their currencies' strength was due to rising inflation as much as economic growth.
Spencer: Holocaust lessons must never fade
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5690072
Sam Fireman survived the Holocaust in part to honor his younger brother. Aaron Fireman died after blowing up a crematorium in a show of defiance at Auschwitz. "He told me to stay alive and tell people what happened," Sam Fireman said as he left the Colorado Senate chamber Tuesday. Fireman spoke after state legislators passed joint resolutions condemning the current genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and declaring April 15-22 Holocaust Awareness Week.
Election
Political Schedule on Hold Following Va. Tech Killings
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041700783.html
Presidential politics came to a halt today as the campaigns observed an unofficial day of mourning following the deadly shootings at Virginia Tech yesterday. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) canceled a much anticipated foreign policy speech to the Chicago Council of Global Affairs set for this morning, while former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani did the same for a planned address today at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Giuliani communications director Katie Levinson called today a "day for prayer, reflection and unity," adding: "It is a time for our great country to come together."
For Clinton, Even Presidential Politics Is Local
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701987.html
In the 6 1/2 years since she was elected to the Senate, Clinton has paid close attention to the constituent services and pork-barrel politics that earned one of her predecessors, Republican Alfonse M. D'Amato, the nickname "Senator Pothole." Even now, when many fellow candidates have no time for making all their Senate votes, much less announcing federal grants, Clinton seems intent on proving her commitment to her adopted state. In part, her focus is a carryover from her entry into New York politics in 2000 as the wife of a president with no ties to the state, eager to demonstrate her seriousness and convince voters that she was not using the Senate as a steppingstone to return to the White House.
Obama Top Fundraiser on Wall Street
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701688.html
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama ran ahead of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D) and former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani (R) on their home turf in the first quarter, raising cash from the biggest investment banks on Wall Street. The Illinois senator raised $479,209 from employees at the banks in the quarter, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Giuliani collected $473,442, and Clinton got $447,625. The figures are based on employers listed by the donors; in some cases, names are incomplete or missing. Among employees of the top investment banks, Democrat John Edwards took in $193,250, FEC filings show. The employees of Goldman Sachs and UBS gave Obama more than $260,000 combined. His top fundraisers include David Heller, a managing director at Goldman, and Robert Wolf, chief executive of UBS Americas.
Candidate Romney attracts new donors
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-04-18-romney-donors_N.htm
An array of donors who never had given money in a federal election opened their wallets to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney this year, drawn to him through his networks in the business world and the Mormon church. Utah, seldom a go-to state for politicians seeking money, was Romney's second most generous state, reflecting the ties he has built there through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and his time as president of the Salt Lake Olympics Organizing Committee. That success helped vault Romney to the top of the money race among Republican presidential candidates with more than $20 million raised in the first quarter of this year.
Breaux No-Go Leaves La. Democrats in Bind
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701550.html
Former senator John Breaux's decision not to run for governor in November left Louisiana Democrats scrambling for a strong candidate for the seat being vacated by Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D). Breaux dropped out of the race over the weekend after the state's attorney general made no ruling on the former senator's eligibility to run for office. At issue was whether Breaux, who had registered to vote in Maryland after leaving office in 2004, still met the definition of a "citizen" of Louisiana.
Effective and Ethical Government
Democrats must figure next step on Iraq
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-17-us-iraq_N.htm
Congressional Democrats say there is no doubt President Bush will soon be confronted with legislation calling for an end to the Iraq war. But the new majority must decide how far to go in trying to tie Bush's hands and what will happen after the president's inevitable veto. The debate is likely to expose fissures among Democrats, who remain divided on whether to cut off money for the unpopular war and risk leaving troops in the lurch. "My feeling is at a certain point we're going to have a 'come-to-Jesus' moment in the caucus and talk about whether you fund (the war) or not," said Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.
Solid Poll Numbers For Pelosi, Reid
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701768.html
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) drew relatively high approval ratings as they passed their 100-day mark as leaders of their chambers, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Pelosi had a job approval rating of 53 percent, according to the nationwide survey of 1,141 adults. That's about where she was in January just after becoming speaker. Reid came away with 46 percent approving of his leadership of the Senate and 33 percent disapproving. The poll was conducted last Thursday through Sunday and has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. There is one red flag in the survey: In January, 25 percent of respondents disapproved of Pelosi's job performance. That has increased to 35 percent.
Immunity for Ex-Gonzales Aide Weighed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701984.html
The confrontation between Congress and the Bush administration over the dismissal of eight U.S. attorneys escalated again yesterday as Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee said they are weighing an offer of immunity to a potential key witness in the investigation. At the same time, the Republican National Committee yesterday turned down congressional demands that it hand over e-mails related to the firings, angering Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.). Frustrated by Monica M. Goodling's refusal to testify, committee Democrats said they may grant limited-use immunity to the former counsel to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. Such a grant of immunity, which would require the approval of two-thirds of the nearly 40-member panel, would free Goodling to speak about the plan to fire the U.S. attorneys and the dismissals' aftermath, without fear that prosecutors could use her testimony in a criminal proceeding. Goodling has invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself.
RELATED: Limited Immunity Weighed for Ex-Aide to Gonzales
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/washington/18brfs-atty.html
Governor's SUV was speeding at 91 m.p.h.
The sport-utility vehicle carrying Gov. Jon Corzine was traveling about 91 m.p.h. moments before it crashed, the superintendent of state police said Tuesday. The governor was critically injured when the vehicle crashed into a guardrail on the Garden State Parkway just north of Atlantic City last week. He apparently was not wearing his seat belt in the front passenger's seat.
Civil Liberties and Equality
Potential Padilla jurors admit bias
It became clear in the second day of jury selection in the Jose Padilla terrorism trial just how raw the wounds of Sept. 11 remained in this city of immigrants and military veterans. Many summoned for jury duty for a trial that is expected to last until August conceded during voir dire — the process to determine their suitability as jurors — that they could not be fair and impartial. The prospective jurors' responses came after a third of the 550 initially questioned by mail months ago were dismissed for bias in their written responses. More than half of the 36 quizzed by U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke this week failed to clear the second of several hurdles to serving on the jury.
Foreign Policy
Rome court adjourns U.S. soldier's murder trial
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-04-16-soldier-rome-trial_N.htm
The trial of a U.S. soldier accused of murder in the shooting death of an Italian agent in Iraq opened Tuesday in Rome, as Italians accused him of arrogance for not being in the courtroom. Spc. Mario Lozano, 37, is being tried in absentia. Rome has not sought his extradition, and the Pentagon has indicated that he would not be extradited in any case, as it regards the incident a "closed matter." The highly anticipated trial was immediately adjourned until May 14 for technical reasons. But it is likely to add friction to recently touchy relations between Rome and Washington.
Gates Says Iraqi Shake-Up Could Aid Reconciliation
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041700441.html
The decision by anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to withdraw ministers loyal to him from the Iraqi cabinet could advance political reconciliation if the vacancies are used to broaden the government's representation, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tuesday. Gates, on a Middle East tour, called for a range of efforts from inside and outside Iraq to speed up the formation of a broad-based government of Iraq's majority Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions. Toward that end, Gates said demands in the U.S. Congress for a timeline to withdraw American troops from Iraq are constructive because they exert pressure on Iraq's leaders to forge compromises. "The debate in Congress . . . has been helpful in demonstrating to the Iraqis that American patience is limited," Gates told Pentagon reporters traveling with him in Jordan. "The strong feelings expressed in the Congress about the timetable probably has had a positive impact . . . in terms of communicating to the Iraqis that this is not an open-ended commitment."
RELATED: Demonstration in Basra Signals Growing Tensions Between Iraqi Shiites
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/world/middleeast/18iraq.html?ref=world
In a Major Step, Saudi Arabia Agrees to Write Off 80 Percent of Iraqi Debt
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701950.html
Saudi Arabia has agreed to forgive 80 percent of the more than $15 billion that Iraq owes the kingdom, Iraqi and Saudi officials said yesterday, a major step given Saudi reluctance to provide financial assistance to the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad. But Iraqi Finance Minister Bayan Jabr said in an interview that Russia was holding out on debt forgiveness until talks begin on concessions that Russian oil and gas companies had under Saddam Hussein. Russian Embassy officials in Washington declined to comment late yesterday.
U.S.: Iran-made arms seized in Afghanistan
U.S. forces recently intercepted Iranian-made weapons intended for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, the Pentagon's top general said Tuesday, suggesting wider Iranian war involvement in the region. It appeared to be the first publicly disclosed instance of Iranian arms entering Afghanistan, although it was not immediately clear whether the weapons came directly from Iran or were shipped through a third party. Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that unlike in Iraq, where U.S. officials say they are certain that arms are being supplied to insurgents by Iran's secretive Quds Force, the Iranian link in Afghanistan is murky.
RELATED: 5 U.N. workers killed in Afghanistan
Egyptian Nuclear Engineer Is Charged With Spying for Israel
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/world/middleeast/18mideast.html
An Egyptian nuclear engineer who worked for the country’s Atomic Energy Agency has been arrested and charged with spying for Israel, the government authorities said Tuesday. A government statement said the engineer, Muhammad Sayyid Saber Ali, had delivered “important and secret information” about the agency and about one of two nuclear reactors in Egypt to “Israeli intelligence elements” in exchange for about $20,000 transferred to a bank account.
Israel: Iran plotting to recruit Israelis as spies
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-04-18-israel-iran_N.htm
Israeli security officials say they have broken up an Iranian plot to recruit Israelis as spies, deepening hostilities between the Middle East nations. The spat has thrown light on a strange anomaly. While Iran's president calls for Israel's destruction as he pushes forward with a nuclear program, Israeli Jews are still allowed to visit relatives in Iran. According to Israeli security officials, Iran has begun targeting Israeli Jews who want to visit Iran as potential spies. Israeli security officials told reporters Tuesday that agents from the Shin Bet security service detained an Israeli returning from a visit to relatives in Iran.
Rice Meets Palestinian Unity Government Official
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041702039.html
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held an unannounced half-hour meeting yesterday at the State Department with Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, her first encounter with an official in the unity government shunned by Israel. The move comes as U.S. officials seek regulatory ways to sidestep a ban on aid to the Palestinian government. Both indicate a greater willingness by the Bush administration to part with Israel on how to deal with a cabinet headed by a member of the militant group Hamas. Israeli officials have insisted that any person who joins the unity government is tainted by the association with Hamas, even an internationally respected financial expert like Fayyad.
Administration Still Weighing Sudan Options
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701853.html
President Bush will use an appearance today at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to address the crisis in Darfur. But as of late yesterday, administration officials were still weighing how far the president will go after a last-minute gambit by the Sudanese president that seemed designed, at least in part, to head off coercive U.S. action.
RELATED: Leaked report: Sudan violates UN resolutions
Nigerian Fundamentalist Group Kills 12 Police Officers in North
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041700327.html
A raid by a fundamentalist religious group killed 12 police officers in this northern Nigerian city Tuesday morning, adding to the high tensions of an election season in which scores have been reported killed. The motive of the attackers was unknown and the relationship, if any, to Saturday's presidential election was unclear. But the news further unsettled Nigerians still reeling from days of rapid-fire political news, including widespread reports of attempted vote-rigging and politically motivated attacks.
RELATED: For U.S.-Nigeria Go-Between, Ties Yield Profits
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/business/worldbusiness/18goodworks.html?ref=business
Japan scholars say military sex slaves confirmed in '40s
Evidence submitted to the post-World War II trials of Japanese war criminals shows Japan's military forced Asian women into sexual slavery during the war, historians said Tuesday, citing newly unearthed documents. The findings from evidence submitted at the 1946-48 Tokyo war crimes tribunal contradict Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's recent denial that the military coerced women to be prostitutes for its troops -- remarks that triggered outrage in South Korea and China.
Crime boss held in Japan mayor's death
The mayor of Nagasaki was shot to death in a brazen attack Tuesday by an organized crime chief apparently enraged that the city refused to compensate him after his car was damaged at a public works construction site, police said. The shooting was rare in a country where handguns are strictly banned and only five politicians are known to have been killed since World War II.
Body of missing Peace Corps volunteer found
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-18-peace-corps-volunteer_N.htm
Philippine police opened an investigation after a body believed to be a missing American Peace Corps volunteer was found Wednesday in a shallow grave in a northern mountain town where she disappeared while hiking. Maj. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang told the Associated Press there was no immediate forensic confirmation that the body belonged to Julia Campbell, 40, from Fairfax, Va. But regional police commander Chief Superintendent Raul Gonzales said the body was fair-skinned and clad in clothes similar to those that Campbell was last seen wearing.
Russia could inspect Polish missile site : U.S
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/18/AR2007041800418.html
The United States is ready to allow Russian experts to inspect a missile defense site likely to be placed in Poland to convince Moscow it poses no threat to its interests, a senior U.S. official said. "We would be prepared to show the site to the Russians so that they could check for themselves that it has no offensive character," Lieutenant-General Henry Obering, director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, said late on Tuesday.
Kremlin Says Riot Police Overreacted
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701338.html
Kremlin spokesman said Tuesday that the beating of demonstrators at opposition rallies in Moscow and St. Petersburg over the weekend was an "overreaction" by riot police who were attempting to ensure "law and order on the streets." The statement by Dmitry Peskov, on the Russia Today television station, followed strong international criticism of the police. Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said the police tactics were unacceptable, while the United States said the policing was "heavy-handed." Peskov's statement was a rare admission of fault by the Russian government, which has largely defended the violent dispersal of demonstrators. Officials have charged that the organizers, led by former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, deliberately chose not to rally at an approved location in order to spark street clashes.
Colombian Senator: Death Squads Met At Uribe's Ranch
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041702007.html
An opposition lawmaker on Tuesday alleged that paramilitary death squads met at the ranch of President Álvaro Uribe in the late 1980s and plotted to murder opponents, an explosive charge in a growing scandal that has unearthed ties between the illegal militias and two dozen congressmen. Basing his accusations on government documents and depositions by former paramilitary members and military officers, Sen. Gustavo Petro said the militiamen met at Uribe's Guacharacas farm as well as ranches owned by his brother, Santiago Uribe, and a close associate, Luis Alberto Villegas. "From there, at night, they would go out and kill people," Petro said, referring to the sprawling ranch owned by Álvaro Uribe, who served as a senator from 1986 to 1994.
South American unity shows its cracks at energy summit
With Venezuela's Chavez playing host, nations' quarrels undermine his vision of a continent allied against Washington.
Immigration
Korean Americans fear impact on U.S. relations
Local leaders gather to pray and discuss the community's response to the Virginia Tech massacre. Some worry about an ethnic backlash.
Controversial Cambodian to Visit U.S.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701771.html
A U.S. visa application by Cambodia's police chief provoked a rancorous argument inside the Bush administration because of the official's alleged links to an act of terrorism and to trafficking in women. But the State Department decided to permit Hok Lundy to travel here this week for counterterrorism meetings with senior officials at the FBI, U.S. officials and others disclosed yesterday. The decision was a policy reversal for the department, which last year told Lundy, a longtime aide to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, he would not get a visa to attend a U.S. police conference. John Miller, then head of the State Department's anti-trafficking office, said at the time that the threatened denial was based on "reports and allegations concerning his role in trafficking in persons."
Marriage and Family Issues
Gay rights bills pass Oregon House
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-18-gay-rights_N.htm
Same-sex couples would receive the same benefits as married couples, and gays and lesbians would be protected against discrimination under bills approved Tuesday by the Oregon House. The Senate is expected to pass the two bills and Gov. Ted Kulongoski plans to sign both. The first bill would enable same-sex couples to enter into contractual relationships that grant them the same benefits offered to married couples under state law. The bill refers to the relationships as "domestic partnerships." Oregon would join Vermont, Connecticut, California and New Jersey in offering civil unions or domestic partnerships to same-sex couples. Massachusetts allows gay couples to marry. Hawaii extends certain spousal rights to same-sex couples, along with cohabitating heterosexual pairs. The Washington Legislature last week approved a limited domestic partnership bill that's expected to be signed into law soon.
Health Care and Public Safety
FEMA to Take Lead Role in Coordinating Disaster Aid
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701985.html
The Federal Emergency Management Agency will replace the American Red Cross as the agency in charge of coordinating the provision of shelter, food and first aid to victims in disasters under an agreement disclosed by a Senate panel yesterday. The change in the government's emergency plans, formalized in letters between FEMA and Red Cross leaders Feb. 21, follows criticism of the way they cooperated after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and a new law that bolsters FEMA's role in providing emergency housing, human services, case management and financial help.
Workplace protection panel hears from victim
Yvette Cade was set on fire by her estranged husband at her job. She suffered third-degree burns over 60 percent her body, and says her lower lip was "actually melted to my chin." Yet Cade considers herself lucky. She lived to tell her story, while many other victims of domestic violence -- including a University of Washington staffer and an Atlanta hotel worker killed earlier this month -- do not."I am fortunate to tell what happened to me, in hopes things could be different for other women," Cade testified yesterday before a Senate hearing on domestic violence in the workplace.
Antidepressants found to help kids
Authors of a new comprehensive analysis of antidepressants for children and teenagers say the benefits of treatment trump the small risk of increasing some patients' chances of having suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The risk they found is lower than the one the Food and Drug Administration identified in 2004, the year the agency warned the public about the drugs' risks in children. After the warning, U.S. youth suicides increased, and some mental health experts said reluctance to try antidepressants might be to blame.
More People Get AIDS Drugs, U.N. Says, but Not All
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/health/18aids.html?ref=world
About two million people in the world are receiving drugs for AIDS, an increase of 700,000 in the last year, the United Nations said in a report issued yesterday. But the two million total is a million less than the three million people that the World Health Organization had hoped would be receiving treatment by the end of 2005. It represents only 28 percent of the 7.1 million people with advanced AIDS who need such therapy in poor and middle-income countries.
FDA approves bird flu vaccine
The Food and Drug Administration approved the United States' first human vaccine for bird flu Tuesday, saying it could slow a possible pandemic despite its modest effectiveness. "This is a sort of interim measure," said Norman W. Baylor, director of the FDA's Office of Vaccines Research and Review in Rockville, Md. In clinical trials, the vaccine for the H5N1 strain of bird flu provoked an immune response in 45% of people. By contrast, vaccines for a seasonal flu protect 70% to 90% of those who get a shot, the FDA said.
Natural Balance pet food recalled
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/2007-04-17-premium-pet-food-recalled_N.htm
The industrial chemical melamine has been found in more pet food, and suspicion is falling on a second pet-food ingredient imported from China as the source of the contamination. Natural Balance Pet Foods said Tuesday it found melamine in samples of some of its food, which led to a recall. The company suspects melamine was in a rice protein concentrate used as an ingredient, said President Joey Herrick in an interview. Melamine is the chief suspect related to the Menu Foods recall, first announced four weeks ago for more than 60 million cans and pouches of wet dog and cat food. The melamine in Menu's products was in wheat gluten imported from China and sold to Menu and several other pet-food makers, which also did recalls. The rice protein concentrate was imported from China by San Francisco-based Wilbur-Ellis. Herrick says the concentrate, which is being tested, is suspected to have melamine, as it was the only new ingredient. Recalled Natural Balance products include Venison and Brown Rice canned and dry dog foods, dog treats and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food.
RELATED: Pet-food ills turn light on import gap
http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/04/18/pet_food_ills_turn_light_on_import_gap/
Crime and Penal Reform
Democrats Wary Of Tightening Laws
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701780.html
The largest mass shooting in U.S. history forced reluctant Democratic leaders in Congress yesterday to confront an issue that divides their party and holds considerable political peril: gun control. Advocates of stricter gun laws, such as Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), met with Democratic leaders, determined to resurrect an issue that has been dormant since the shootings at Columbine High School near Denver in 1999. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) elicited a pledge from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) to hold a hearing on the shootings. "We need to stand up and do something," said McCarthy, whose husband was killed in a gunman's rampage on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993. But Democrats on both sides of the issue were skeptical that the 33 deaths at Virginia Tech would change a political equation that has turned in the favor of gun rights advocates. Even after Columbine, no major gun-control laws passed Congress.
RELATED: Weapons Purchases Aroused No Suspicion
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701885.html
RELATED: He Wrote About Death and Spoke in Whispers, But Few Imagined What Cho Seung Hui Would Do
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041700563.html
RELATED: Events turned on puzzling initial shootings
RELATED: Shooting Rekindles Issues of Gun Rights and Restrictions
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/us/18pistols.html
RELATED: Two-Hour Delay Is Linked to Bad Lead
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/us/18cnd-virginia.html?ref=us
RELATED: Even to his roommates, assailant was scarcely known
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/18/assailant_was_scarcely_known/
GBI joins probe of brothers' shootings
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/04/18/0418metshoot.html
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting of two brothers by Fulton County police officers that left one dead and the other seriously injured outside a nightclub early Sunday. Neither of the brothers were armed, police say.
Economy
China Leans Less on U.S. Trade
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/business/worldbusiness/18yuan.html?ref=business
At booth after booth at China’s main trade fair this week, the refrain from Chinese business executives is the same: the American market is not as crucial as it used to be.
Stocks and Bonds: Dow Index Flirts With New High
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/business/18economy.html?ref=business
This abundance of relatively benign data, together with several healthy corporate earnings reports, helped put Wall Street within striking distance of a record close on Tuesday. In trading yesterday, the Dow Jones industrial average briefly climbed above its record close but then fell back a bit. The blue-chip average finished the day up 52.58, or 0.4 percent, at 12,773.04, about 13 points short of the record of 12,786.64 on Feb. 20. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, meanwhile, rose 3.01 points, 0.2 percent, to close at 1,471.48, its highest level in six and a half years. Yesterday was the 10th day of gains in the S.& P. 500 in the last 11 trading sessions, a sign that investors have mostly shaken off the sting of February’s global stock market plunge. The Nasdaq composite was the laggard among the major stock indexes yesterday, closing down 1.38, or 0.1 percent, at 2,516.95. While the economic data helped lift stocks, profit reports from Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson for the first quarter were probably even more important in stoking the rise.
British may be coming as pound tops $2
http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/2007-04-17-pound-tops-2_N.htm
The British pound rose above worth $2 Tuesday, the first time in 15 years, after figures showing an unexpected surge in British inflation led economists to conclude that multiple interest rate increases were all but a given. The prospect of higher rates can boost a currency by promising higher returns on certain currency investments. While the currency has been flirting near the $2 level for several months, hitting the figure marks a key psychological notch in trading that analysts expect to hold.
Patently at Odds
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701687.html
Two of the country's leading industries, computer technology and drug manufacturing, are battling over an effort by Congress to overhaul the way inventors profit from ideas, with executives on both sides saying billions of dollars are at stake. The shift in political control on Capitol Hill coupled with the Supreme Court's newfound interest in taking patent cases has energized a congressional drive to revamp the patent system for the first time since the 1950s. Sponsors in both the House and Senate plan to unveil patent reform bills today, according to congressional officials. The measures would address the mounting litigation over disputed patents -- lawsuits have doubled in the past decade -- and the difficulty of ensuring accurate decisions by patent agency examiners.
TurboTax trouble: Last-minute filers clog servers
http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/taxes/2007-04-18-e-filers-clog-servers_N.htm
A flood of last-minute tax filers swamped the servers of the company that makes the popular TurboTax and ProSeries tax software Tuesday, forcing taxpayers to wait hours for confirmation that their electronic returns had been submitted successfully. A record number of returns from both individual taxpayers and accountants started causing delays in Intuit's e-filing system early Tuesday, and the problem got worse as the midnight deadline for getting forms to the Internal Revenue Service approached, said Harry Pforzheimer, a company spokesman.
Housing and Homelessness
High Court Sides With Banks on Mortgage Rules
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041700611.html
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that states may not regulate the mortgage-lending subsidiaries of national banks, in a case that pitted all 50 states and consumer groups against banks and their federal overseers. The national banks had argued that their subsidiaries were subjected to an unduly burdensome patchwork of state rules and regulations when Congress had made it clear they should be regulated by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The states had argued that their role was lawful and necessary to protect consumers from predatory lending practices and other potential violations. In a 5-to-3 ruling, the court sided with the national banks.
RELATED: High court: States can't control national banks' subsidiaries
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2007-04-18-scotus-banking-usat_N.htm
Media
Despite Drop in CD Sales, Music Industry Is Upbeat
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701869.html
The music industry experienced the greatest one-year loss in sales of compact discs last year, and rising revenue from songs and albums bought on the Internet failed to offset the consumer flight from CDs. Revenue from CD sales was down 13 percent last year compared with 2005, the Recording Industry Association of America reported yesterday. The drop-off exceeds that of any year during the Napster era of 2001 to 2004, when the file-sharing service and its descendants -- such as Kazaa and Grokster -- allowed users to download music for free.
No Offense Intended With This Year’s Choice of Entertainer, but Still an Outcry
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/washington/18memo.html?ref=washington
After more than 40 years in show business, Rich Little is still a working comedian, doing his well-practiced impersonations from Las Vegas to Granite Falls, Minn. He is even available for corporate retreats and weddings. But this weekend, Mr. Little will return to the national stage, where he once held a regular place, when he appears at the Hilton Washington as headliner at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. It is the capital’s premier social event for the president, Congressional leaders and the reporters who cover them — some of whom were too young to know Mr. Little’s work, others who were surprised to learn he was still alive (actually, he is only 68). In hiring an impersonator practiced in an old-school approach to comedy, meant to entertain but not offend, the White House Correspondents’ Association has, however, provoked left-leaning political activists, who see his assignment as a retreat from last year’s dinner. Then, the television satirist Stephen Colbert delivered a stinging roast of President Bush and, to a lesser extent, the White House press corps.
Education
Threats Rattle Schools Across the U.S.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041700758.html
Bomb threats and menacing notes sent to several colleges and universities across the country a day after the deadly shootings at Virginia Tech led officials to temporarily evacuate buildings, shutter campuses and see weapons where there were none.
RELATED: Lockdowns, evacuations as campuses react to scares
RELATED: Universities consult safety experts after massacre
RELATED: Unsettled Day on Campuses Around U.S.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/us/18campus.html?ref=us
U.S. Blocks Lenders From Student Database
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041702365.html
The U.S. Department of Education yesterday blocked lending companies from accessing a national database with confidential information on tens of millions of students after some companies were found to have searched the data in ways that violate federal rules. The temporary restriction came two days after The Washington Post reported on the improper searches and on concerns raised about data mining and abuses of privacy of the 60 million students in the system.
RELATED: Leery officials kick lenders out of student database
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2007-04-17-student-loans-usat_N.htm
Supreme Court to Revisit High School Recruiting Case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701792.html
High school football is serious business in Tennessee, and especially at Brentwood Academy, one of the winningest schools in the state. So maybe it should come as no surprise that a legal tussle between Brentwood and the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association has stretched into a 10-year court battle that will go to the Supreme Court Wednesday for the second time. The association says it is about keeping high school football pure. Brentwood is alleging violation of free speech. What started as a $3,000 fine for a recruiting violation -- the school's legendary coach sent a letter to some eighth-graders inviting them to spring practice -- has cost the two sides an estimated $5 million in legal fees. Besides its two trips to the Supreme Court, the case has drawn the attention of a federal judge (twice), a federal appeals court (three times), and the Clinton and Bush administrations.
Military
Congress Urged to Support Reforms at Walter Reed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041700642.html
Members of an independent review group investigating problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center pressed Congress to mandate and pay for improvements to the aging hospital, saying the onus was on legislators and not just the Pentagon to make urgently needed changes. "Only Congress can really address the systemic failures," John O. "Jack" Marsh, co-chairman of the Independent Review Group, told a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee. Marsh said quick action was needed to reform the "sea of bureaucracy and red tape" that mires military medicine and to retain doctors and nurses who serve wounded troops.
RELATED: Pentagon unveils troop care measures
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-17-walter-reed_N.htm
Charges Against Marine In Iraq Killings Dropped
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701152.html
All charges against a U.S. Marine accused of killing five civilians in Haditha, Iraq, have been dismissed, part of a decision that grants him immunity to testify in potential courts-martial for seven other Marines charged in the attack and in an alleged coverup, Marine Corps officials said yesterday. Murder charges against Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz were dropped on April 2, when the convening authority, Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis, agreed to give Dela Cruz "testimonial immunity" in the case. Lt. Col. Sean Gibson, a spokesman at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where the cases are underway, said yesterday that Dela Cruz "has agreed to provide testimony" in other cases and that all charges against him were "dismissed entirely." An attorney representing Dela Cruz declined to comment. The Marines allegedly shot and killed as many as two dozen civilians, including women and children, in an Iraqi village in November, 2005. The Marine Corps chain of command has been accused of not investigating the shootings until months later.
Pentagon weighing news and spin
Since the end of the Vietnam war, the military's public affairs officials have tried to rebuild the Defense Department's credibility by putting distance between themselves and Pentagon efforts that use deception, propaganda and other methods to influence foreign populations. A 2004 memo by Gen. Richard B. Myers, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, codified the separation between public affairs, which communicates with the press and public, and "information operations," which attempts to sway people in other countries.
Army Cost-Cutting in Budget Standoff May Actually Add to Costs
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/washington/18army.html
As the Army juggles its financial accounts and cuts logistical corners to maintain combat operations during a budget standoff between the White House and Congress, efficiency and economy are likely to be the first casualties. The Army has announced that it would squeeze out money for the continuing war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan by requesting the temporary transfer of $1.6 billion from Air Force and Navy payrolls and slowing the purchase of spare parts and other supplies not bound for those countries. It also said it would freeze new civilian hires and suspend some service contracts.
Coast Guard to Manage Fleet Modernization
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/washington/18coast.html?ref=washington
After months of criticism and setbacks, the Coast Guard announced Tuesday that it was taking over the management of its $24 billion fleet modernization project, curtailing the role of two military contractors that had been hired to run the job.
Air Force embraces solar power
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-04-17-air-force-solar-power_N.htm
The largest solar power plant in North America will soon be providing electricity to an Air Force base in the Nevada desert. The military says the plant, scheduled to power up at Nellis Air Force Base by the end of the year, shows that solar energy can effectively meet part of the country's energy needs. "It allows the Air Force to show its leadership in applying renewable energy and new technology to reduce our needs to use traditional forms of electric power," says Maj. Don Ohlemacher, operations flight chief and acting commander of the 99th Civil Engineer Squadron at the base. But the project also demonstrates something else: the considerable constraints that continue to limit the viability and growth of solar electric power in the USA.
Transportation and Infrastructure
Nissan Plans Diesel For U.S. Market
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701888.html
Carlos Ghosn said he will announce today that Nissan Motor will introduce its first diesel-powered vehicle in North America in the next few years. Ghosn, chief executive of Nissan of Japan and Renault of France, will give details about Nissan's diesel strategy in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington today. Like other auto-industry leaders, Ghosn is struggling to satisfy a growing consumer appetite for fuel-efficient cars and demands in Washington that the industry do more to address global warming and oil-dependence issues.
U.N. Council Hits Impasse Over Debate on Warming
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/world/18nations.html
Britain and China faced off on Tuesday in the first United Nations Security Council debate on climate change, with Britain pushing the issue and China saying the 15-member body had no competence to deal with it. The British foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, who presided over the meeting, argued that the potential for climate change to cause wars made it an issue for the Security Council, the most powerful United Nations body, but one that has a mandate to deal only with international peace and security. “Our responsibility in this Council is to maintain international peace and security, including the prevention of conflict,” said Ms. Beckett, whose country holds the current Council presidency. “An unstable climate will exacerbate some of the core drivers of conflict, such as migratory pressures and competition for resources.”
Pollution rules may tighten for small engines
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/2007-04-17-small-engines-usat_N.htm
On Tuesday, the government proposed tighter pollution rules on small engines that could result in the widespread use of catalytic converters on powered consumer products ranging from lawn mowers to boats. The proposed rule aims to cut hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions by 35% from what's allowed by today's standards for small engines, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Catalytic converters, canisterlike devices on cars that scrub pollutants from exhaust gases as they pass through, aren't specifically required by the proposed rule but are a technology available now that could meet the new standards, says EPA spokesman John Millett.
Editor’s note: the New York Times has converted to a subscription-based editorial section. We are no longer clipping their op-ed columnists.
Milbank: Even Politicians Couldn't Find Words
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701816.html
The day after the Columbine killings in 1999, the Clinton administration called on Congress to approve new gun-control measures, and Democratic lawmakers vowed to step up their efforts to get legislation passed. But this time, Democrats have neither the votes nor the appetite for stricter gun laws, and it is not clear whether proposed restrictions would have prevented the killings. The result was an unofficial day of mourning, as lawmakers and candidates canceled events -- respecting the dead and also accepting the reality that nothing else was going to make news anyway.
RELATED: Robinson: Beyond Reason
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701461.html
RELATED: Cohen: In the Reach of Madmen
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701605.html
RELATED: Brownstein: The right leadership after tragedy
RELATED: This campus, every campus
Chang: Cross ethnic lines to stop violence
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-chang18apr18,0,6121295.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
Here we go again, I thought. My wife and I watched nervously, desperately hoping that he would not turn out to be Korean or Korean American. When the media speculated that he was from China, I must admit to some relief. To my dismay, police on Tuesday confirmed that he was Korean American. His name was Seung-hui Cho. My initial reaction to the shootings was, like anyone else, shock, disgust, sadness and disbelief. Then I began to worry about the possible backlash. Would the mainstream media portray this troubled man not as an individual on a rampage but as a racialized and stereotyped Asian? Would they fall back on the usual characterizations: quiet, hardworking but seething under tremendous pressure to excel in school? Cho's ethnic background will undoubtedly trigger questions about what set off this Asian American male. But how much, if anything, does his ethnicity really have to do with what happened?
Ignatius: A New Threat In Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701457.html
While the Bush administration struggles to stabilize Baghdad, a major new threat is emerging in the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. If it isn't defused, this crisis could further erode U.S. goals in Iraq -- drawing foreign military intervention, splintering the country further and undermining U.S. hopes for long-term military bases in Kurdistan. The core issue is Kurdish nationalism, which worries Iraq's powerful northern neighbor, Turkey, which has a substantial Kurdish minority. The Bush administration has tried to finesse the problem, hoping to keep two friends happy: The Kurds have been America's most reliable partner in Iraq, while the Turks are a crucial ally in the region. But in recent weeks, this strategy has been breaking down.
Marcus: Missing The Exit Signs
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701460.html
Gonzales remains clueless about the damning implications of his own cluelessness, Wolfowitz defiantly oblivious to the untenable "do as I say, not as I do" nature of his own acknowledged mistake. What's most disturbing is the apparent inability of the institutions involved to protect themselves, and the unwillingness, at least so far, of those with the power to do so to face that task.
Worker retaliation can be 'hostile'
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-scotus18apr18,0,4977369.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail
A FEW DAYS AFTER CBS Radio fired Don Imus for referring to black female basketball players at Rutgers as "nappy-headed hos," the U.S. Supreme Court winked at an even uglier racial slur. The justices on Monday declined to review a lower-court decision against a black IBM contract worker who was fired after complaining that a co-worker had described two African American murder suspects as "black monkeys." In October 2002, Robert L. Jordan was in a room at an IBM office in Maryland watching a news report about the arrest of two suspected snipers, both black, who had terrorized the Washington area. A co-worker in the room allegedly declared that "they should put those two black monkeys in a cage with a bunch of black apes and let the apes [sexually assault] them." Jordan complained to his superiors and, in his version of events, was repaid for his whistle-blowing by being verbally harassed, given a heavier workload and eventually fired.
Needless Student Loan Subsidies
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/opinion/18weds2.html
With Congressional hearings on the student loan scandal scheduled for next week, lawmakers are looking around for ways to root out the kinds of corruption uncovered in recent investigations by New York’s attorney general, Andrew Cuomo. A good start would be to pass the Student Loan Sunshine Act, an important bill that was introduced months ago.
Pearlstein: For Consumers, the Raw Deal
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701820.html
The Bush administration may have failed in its efforts to roll back Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, but it's racking up more success with Teddy Roosevelt's Square Deal. Health and safety regulation. Labor protections. And certainly the centerpiece of progressive-era economic policy, the antitrust law. It should tell you something that when Sallie Mae, the big kahuna in the college loan business, agreed this week to be bought by a group that included two of its three biggest rivals, Bank of America and J.P. Morgan, the question of whether this would reduce competition barely came up. Estimates vary, but the merged company would control 25 to 40 percent of the college loan business.
Samuelson: The Rich and the Rest
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701458.html
To paraphrase economist John Maynard Keynes: The rich are tolerable only so long as their gains can be held to bear some relation to roughly what they have contributed to society.
Dealing with China
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-china18apr18,0,5470527.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail
It will take a sensitive hand to avoid a trade war, but the U.S. is right to enforce WTO rules.
Just say no more waste
EACH YEAR, Washington spends about $50 million and the states some $37.5 million on programs telling elementary- and middle-school students that the only way for young people to protect themselves from the harmful effects of early sex is abstinence. But the programs do not work, according to a four-year study mandated by Congress.
Democracy Inches Along at Home
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/opinion/18weds3.html
It is an uphill battle, but the House is right to confront the gross injustice that keeps the citizenry of the District of Columbia locked into that definitive grievance of the American revolution: taxation without representation. The 550,000 residents living in the shadow of the Capitol’s endless exercise in democracy have no voting representative in Congress.
Keillor: Thanking history for comeuppance
It's good for an old liberal like me to read history and recognize that Dwight Eisenhower was no dolt and Adlai Stevenson was no giant. And to read about Joe McCarthy and realize that, opportunist and blowhard that he was, he was hardly the embodiment of evil that we liberals cherished as an enemy. We made the people he attacked into heroes, but McCarthyism was very small potatoes. Alger Hiss was not the victim of a witch hunt; he was a witch. The big story was taking place in Russia and Eastern Europe, in China and in Cuba, places where evil ruled with an open hand, but a great many Democrats refused to see it. This refusal was a reaction against anti-communists such as Richard Nixon -- if he said the sun rose in the east, then we would look off to the west and maybe build mirrors there so as to be able to argue the point -- and this gave the Democratic Party a reputation for appeasement that has crippled us ever since. And now something similar is happening to Republicans. They are following the Current Occupant down a road that will be disastrous to them for years to come. They are defending the indefensible.
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