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TOP STORIES
Dingell, NRA Working on Bill to Strengthen Background Checks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902437.html
With the Virginia Tech shootings resurrecting calls for tighter gun controls, the National Rifle Association has begun negotiations with senior Democrats over legislation to bolster the national background-check system and potentially block gun purchases by the mentally ill. Rep. John D. Dingell (Mich.), a gun-rights Democrat who once served on the NRA's board of directors, is leading talks with the powerful gun lobby in hopes of producing a deal by early next week, Democratic aides and lawmakers said. Under the bill, states would be given money to help them supply the federal government with information on mental-illness adjudications and other run-ins with the law that are supposed to disqualify individuals from firearms purchases. For the first time, states would face penalties for not keeping the National Instant Criminal Background Check System current.
RELATED: Democrats shy away from stricter gun laws
Iraq Pullout Would Lead To Bloodbath, Bush Warns
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902719.html
President Bush warned Thursday that pulling out of Iraq too soon would trigger a bloodbath akin to that of the Cambodian killing fields of the 1970s, while Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid declared that it is too late to stay because the war has already been lost. On a day that reverberated with echoes of the Vietnam War era, Bush and Reid (D-Nev.) engaged in a long-distance debate over the lessons of history and the fate of the latest overseas war as part of a struggle over $100 billion in funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Reid cast Iraq as another Vietnam and Bush as another Lyndon B. Johnson, while the president described dire consequences if the past repeats itself.
RELATED: Reid says war is 'lost,' drawing GOP rebuke
RELATED: Leading Democrat in Senate Tells Reporters, ‘This War Is Lost’
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/washington/20cong.html?ref=washington
RELATED: GOP Sen. Snowe sponsoring Iraq withdrawal bill
New York Times
Senators Chastise Gonzales at Hearing
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902935.html
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales came under withering attack from members of his own party yesterday over the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys, facing the first resignation demand from a Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and doubts from others about his candor and his ability to lead the Justice Department. Gonzales appeared frustrated, weary and at times combative during a five-hour Senate panel hearing that was widely considered crucial to his bid to hold on to his job. He sought to present a careful defense of the firings, apologizing for the way they were handled but defending them as the "right decision."
RELATED: Gonzales Says He Didn't Know Why Two Were Fired
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902863.html
RELATED: Gonzales hit from both sides
RELATED: 'A heavy burden of proof'
RELATED: Gonzales gets grilling, vows to stay
Roberts Court Moves Right, But With a Measured Step
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/19/AR2007041902675.html
The Supreme Court's decision signaling a significant reversal in the way it views government restrictions on abortion may also offer a glimpse of how the court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will proceed on other controversial issues this term and in the future. The five justices in the majority came up with an opinion that delighted abortion opponents and outraged abortion rights activists -- and yet, in the view of the court, did not overturn a single precedent or seemingly contradictory ruling. "It's an interesting opinion, of course, because of what it says about abortion," said A. E. Dick Howard, a constitutional law professor at the University of Virginia. "But it also provides an interesting way of thinking about what the Roberts Court is going to look like."
Today’s complete national news
Colorado
Ex-Chief at Qwest Found Guilty of Insider Trading
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/technology/20qwest.html?ref=business
A jury in Federal District Court deliberated six days before finding Mr. Nacchio guilty on 19 of 42 counts of insider trading. He was found not guilty of 23 counts of insider trading. The eight men and four women on the jury listened as witnesses testified during the 15-day trial that Mr. Nacchio had exaggerated financial forecasts while concealing Qwest’s growing troubles. Mr. Nacchio, 57, who was released on $2 million bond, offered a slight smile as he left the courtroom. He declined to comment as he locked arms with his wife and son and walked away. He faces up to 10 years in prison and up to $1 million per count, as well as forfeiture of assets. The judge, Edward W. Nottingham, set sentencing for July 27. Earlier, before a packed courtroom, Judge Nottingham methodically read each count. “Not guilty,” he said on Count 1, then repeated the phrase 22 times. Mr. Nacchio’s son Michael began sobbing, piercing an otherwise hushed courtroom. The defendant and his lawyers stared straight ahead; prosecutors sat stoic. On Count 24, the words and mood changed. “Guilty,” the judge said, saying it again 18 times. The younger Mr. Nacchio turned somber. A defense lawyer glanced back at the Nacchio family and shook his head.
RELATED: 'GUILTY'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5495191,00.html
RELATED: Nacchio trial team silent after guilty verdicts, planning appeal
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5495204,00.html
RELATED: Timing of sales mattered
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5495219,00.html
RELATED: Nacchio convicted on 19 counts
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5708804
RELATED: Late decision: "So traumatic"
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5709641
RELATED: If Nacchio does time, low-security likely
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5708939
RELATED: Appeal may take up to two years
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5709757
RELATED: Special coverage: Nacchio on trial
http://cfapp2.rockymountainnews.com/business/nacchio/
Law to keep state dollars out of Sudan
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5495036,00.html
They gaped and stared, almost unable to believe what they were seeing - a top government official signing a bill into law without fear of retribution or knowing it would be ignored. They also agreed it could never happen in their country. "It is easy to carry guns. This . . .," David Mayen said, waving his hand around the Capitol to illustrate democracy, "this is hard." Mayen, a 36-year-old from southern Sudan, arrived in Colorado just a few months ago. On Thursday he and other Sudanese went to the Colorado Capitol to watch Gov. Bill Ritter sign a bill that would divest Colorado's largest pension fund from any companies doing business with Sudan - the epicenter for a genocide that has seen more than 200,000 people killed in the Darfur region and turned 2.5 million into refugees. Sudan's government in Khartoum is accused of arming Muslims from the north and allowing them to raid the Darfur region at will. The Janjaweed, as the fighters are known, are able to terrorize the region because money is still flowing into Khartoum through companies doing business there.
RELATED: Public pension funds must sever Sudan ties
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5707581
Leaders back freeze on property tax rates
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5494824,00.html
Gov. Bill Ritter's plan to freeze property tax rates to fund schools won support Thursday from business, health and education leaders. Pediatrician Jim Shira, of Children's Hospital, warned that unless the state's school funding mess is resolved, money will be drained from other programs, such as health care. "Kids who depend on health insurance from Medicaid, the children's basic health plan, are all vulnerable if we can't stabilize the state's education fund," said Shira, who also represents the Colorado Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Shira was among 25 community leaders who addressed a press conference called by the Colorado Children's Campaign, which also supports the governor's plan.
RELATED: GOP ex-senator backs property-tax freeze (Under the dome, 4/20)
http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_5707583
RELATED: Education funding plan gains support
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1177078667/7
Wildfire season, federal cutbacks worrying Ritter
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5494832,00.html
Federal cuts in the money to clear dead trees and other fire fuel from Colorado's forests have heightened Gov. Bill Ritter's concerns as wildfire season approaches. In a news media briefing Thursday on the resources available for the upcoming fire season, Ritter questioned the federal government's decision to give other parts of the nation more money for forest management while $4.3 million has been cut from the U.S. Forest Service budget for Colorado. "I want to express my concern as the governor of Colorado about the $4.3 million reduction in the United States Forest Service (funding) for forest management, especially with the pine beetle infestation and the warning signs that we are seeing that lead us to believe we could have a more active fire season," Ritter said.
RELATED: Long-term fire forecast grim
RELATED: West's forest-health funds cut
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5708377
RELATED: "Active" fire season forecast
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5705063
Today’s complete Colorado news
Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/042007.htm
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