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TOP STORIES
Effective and Ethical Government
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Effective and Ethical Government
Transportation and Infrastructure
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TOP STORIES
Briefs: Probe of Norton's ties with Shell sought
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5849515
ProgressNowAction.org, a Denver-based liberal advocacy group, is calling for a federal investigation of the relationship between former Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and Royal Dutch Shell's oil shale operations in northwest Colorado. The group alleges that Norton may have used her influence at the federal agency to approve Shell's leases in Colorado, followed by Shell hiring Norton as a general counsel for the company's "unconventional resources" unit that includes oil shale development. Norton resigned from Interior in March 2006. Shell was awarded the federal leases in November 2006. Shell hired Norton in December 2006.
RELATED: [NORTON] WEB SITE SET TO LAUNCH (Business briefs, May 9)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5527165,00.html
More Department of Interior news in COLORADO/TOP STORIES
National
Officer at Haditha Describes Reaction
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801807.html
The first officer to see the bodies of two dozen civilians killed in a 2005 Marine assault in Haditha, Iraq, testified Tuesday that he saw nothing at the scene that he believed required further investigation. Lt. William T. Kallop said that after a roadside bomb killed one Marine and injured two others, he ordered Marines in the unit to clear two nearby houses. Later, Kallop entered one of the houses and saw two wounded children pretending to be dead, along with "a family that had been killed." "The only thing I thought was 'Hey, where are the bad guys? Why aren't there any insurgents here?' " Kallop testified. "I thought that those Marines, after what they'd told me, I thought they'd been operating the best they could in an uncertain environment."
RELATED: Officer Says Civilian Toll in Haditha Was a Shock
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/world/middleeast/09haditha.html
More Iraq war news in NATIONAL/ELECTION, NATIONAL/GOVERNMENT, NATIONAL/FOREIGN POLICY, NATIONAL/MILITARY, COLORADO/CIVIL LIBERTIES
69 Afghans' Families Get a U.S. Apology
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801360.html
A U.S. Army brigade commander in Afghanistan yesterday told the families of 69 civilians who were killed or wounded by members of an elite Marine Special Forces unit in March that he is "deeply, deeply ashamed" about the incident, describing the series of shootings along a civilian thoroughfare as a "terrible, terrible mistake." Col. John Nicholson said he apologized to a group of Afghan people in the eastern Nangahar province on behalf of the U.S. government and delivered solatia payments of approximately $2,000 to the families of 19 innocent civilians who died as a result of the March 4 attacks. Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon via a video feed from Afghanistan yesterday, Nicholson said the payments were "essentially a symbol of our sympathy to them" and "a way of expressing our genuine condolences over the incident occurring."
RELATED: 21 Civilians Killed in Afghan Airstrike
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/09/AR2007050900247.html
RELATED: Afghan upper house backs bill limiting international forces
Conservatives Step Up Attacks On Giuliani's Abortion Stance
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801892.html
GOP rivals pounced on former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani this week after fumbling explanations of his support for abortion rights again exposed his biggest vulnerability in the quest for the Republican presidential nomination. Giuliani's rambling and sometimes contradictory responses on abortion during last week's Republican presidential debate in California provided an opening for the other GOP hopefuls, including Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), who declared Monday that an abortion rights candidate violates one of the "fundamental principles of a conservative." That was followed up yesterday by the revival of stories noting that Giuliani had contributed to Planned Parenthood in the 1990s, sparking outrage on conservative blogs and a lengthy, uncomfortable appearance on Laura Ingraham's radio program.
RELATED: Giuliani's foes see abortion as chink in armor
More 2008 presidential race news in NATIONAL/ELECTION, COLORADO/ELECTION
31 states target global warming
Led by California, 31 states representing more than 70% of the U.S. population announced Tuesday that they would measure and jointly track greenhouse gas emissions by major industries. The newly formed Climate Registry is the latest example of states going further than the federal government in taking steps to combat global warming. State officials, along with some industrial groups and environmentalists, say the registry is a crucial precursor to both mandatory and market-based regulation of industrial gases that contribute to warming. All agree that the most important part of the new registry is subjecting emissions statistics to third-party verification — unlike a Bush administration program that does not require verification. "You have to be able to count carbon pollution in order to cut carbon pollution," said Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The registry gives business and policymakers an essential accounting tool for tracking the success of the many emerging global warming emission reduction initiatives that are blossoming across the country."
More Climate Registry news in COLORADO/ENVIRONMENT
Colorado
Caldara getting ducks in row to challenge Ritter tax plan
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5527170,00.html
The Golden-based Independence Institute said Tuesday it intends to sue to halt Gov. Bill Ritter's tax plan. "This insult to the taxpayers will be challenged," Independence Institute President Jon Caldara said. Caldara said the institute is lining up plaintiffs and attorneys and discussing ways to fund a lawsuit. However, Caldara said, the Institute might step aside if someone has a better strategy to oppose Ritter's plan. The institute, a free-market think-tank, has a long record of bringing legal actions or running issue campaigns at the ballot box. The institute sued to halt campaign finance limits proposed by Colorado Common Cause. It also ran court challenges to a ballot item that would have authorized state funds to build a monorail through the mountains. Under Ritter's plan, property tax rates will be frozen at current levels, eliminating tax cuts that otherwise would have taken place under a 1994 school finance law.
Resignation casts doubts on lynx, boreal toad rulings
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070509/NEWS/105090041
Last week's resignation of a high-level Department of Interior official who subverted scientific documents calls into question a whole slew of decisions on endangered species, potentially including Summit County's boreal toads and lynx. Julie McDonald, who headed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered species program, quit after government investigators determined that she violated federal ethics rules by sharing internal agency information with industry lobbyists. Environmental groups, including the Boulder-based Center for Native Ecosystems, released other documents showing that McDonald specifically ordered agency scientists to change their conclusions on endangered species decisions. In part because of McDonald's resignation, the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a May 9 hearing on political interference in the scientific decision-making process.
Amendment 41 hindered fundraiser, police official says
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5527290,00.html
When a fellow police officer's 15-year-old son committed suicide, Doug Abraham wanted to help. Abraham, police chief of the University of Colorado's medical center, took up a collection, but he worried about running afoul of Colorado's new ethics law. In the end, each staff member could give only $50, and that wasn't enough to cover his friend's expenses, Abraham told a Denver district judge Tuesday. "There was a limit on what we could do to help," he said. Abraham was among a handful of government employees and lobbyists who testified Tuesday on the impact of Amendment 41. A deputy attorney general defended the new constitutional amendment, saying it has not created the hardships opponents have described. A group of Coloradans, called the First Amendment Council, filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to halt the enforcement of the new gift ban. Testimony is expected to wrap up today.
RELATED: Lobbyist: Amend. 41 chills work
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5849910
Group, Coffman seek audit of election technology chief
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5527547,00.html
Secretary of State Mike Coffman's office says a worker who sold election information on the side appears to have violated personnel rules. The employee did not access state data for his business, a spokesman for Coffman said. Coffman has moved Dan Kopelman, his $85,000-a-year elections technology manager, out of the elections division. "His job duties are being evaluated as part of our internal investigation," Coffman's spokesman, Jonathan Tee, said Tuesday. Coffman also asked the state auditor to conduct an audit. His request to Auditor Sally Symanski Tuesday afternoon came several hours after a group called Colorado Citizens for Ethics requested an audit. What, if any, possible sanctions Kopelman faces will be determined when the investigation is finished, Tee said.
RELATED: Secretary of state worker faces 2nd inquiry
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5849541
Election
TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS (EXTRA!, May 9)
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5527545,00.html
20 years ago this week former Colorado senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Gary Hart withdrew as a candidate from the 1988 presidential race amid rumors of an affair with a woman he met at a New Year's Eve party in Colorado. At the time, Hart challenged The New York Times to follow him around. "They'll be very bored," he said. NBC anchor John Chancellor said a few days later, "We did. We weren't." Hart re-entered the race the following December, but quit for good after winning a paltry 4 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire primary.
Dems look at Springs for state convention
http://www.gazette.com/articles/colorado_22110___article.html/convention_springs.html
Rivers may boil, cats and dogs may lie down together and the Democratic State Convention may be coming to Colorado Springs in 2008.
Mayoral race heading to runoff
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070509/NEWS/105090045
Political foes Mick Ireland and Tim Semrau will continue to fight for Aspen's top elected post for the next 28 days. The two candidates were the top vote-getters in Tuesday's mayoral election. Ireland came in with 1,036 votes (48 percent), and Semrau with 747 (34 percent). All it would have taken for Ireland to win the mayoral seat was 57 more votes. In order to win the mayoral race in Aspen, a candidate must get 50 percent, plus one vote, according to the city charter. Instead, runoff election will take place June 5. The vote eliminated Torre, who earned 370 votes, or 17 percent, to finish third; and Bonnie Behrend, who received 30 votes, or 1 percent. Don't expect Semrau, 53, and Ireland, 56, to hit the campaign trail Wednesday, though. Ireland will be in Denver Wednesday to discuss transportation with the governor's task force, and Semrau is on his way to New Mexico to watch his son, Erik, graduate with a degree in psychology.
RELATED: Romero wins council seat
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070509/NEWS/105090046
RELATED: Voters endorse bus lanes
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070509/NEWS/105090044
Falcon cityhood faces flak
http://www.gazette.com/articles/incorporation_22109___article.html/falcon_town.html
Two El Paso County landowners — one private, one public — are protesting their inclusion within the boundaries of the proposed town of Falcon. El Paso County commissioners say the Falcon Incorporation Committee never talked to them about taking over county land, including roads and trails. Developer Greg Timm says he never gave permission for his 50 acres near Meridian and Woodmen to be inside the town. Incorporation committee chairman Tom Cline says his group has followed Colorado law, even though they’re interpreting it on their own without an attorney. “People in Falcon are very conservative with money,” Cline said of the group’s decision to go it alone. The incorporation question goes before voters May 29.
Effective and Ethical Government
SW Colo. politics fare well
Rep. Ellen Roberts might be a freshman, but she quickly learned how to get things done in the state Legislature: make friends with the majority. Sen. Jim Isgar learned that Democrats are a lot busier when one of their own is governor.
Swindle suspect asks for lawyer
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5527366,00.html
Police found 20 fur coats and a "secret room" in the home of an Aurora man charged in the plot to swindle $10 million in taxpayer funds, documents show. Hysear Don Randell, 40, had the room built to conceal a safe and "other items," according to court records. In a court appearance Tuesday, Randell, a self-described "multimillionaire entrepreneur," said he could not afford an attorney, and asked for a court-appointed one. Denver prosecutors have obtained up to 30 search warrants in their race to find and freeze bank accounts and other assets where the hip-hop and sports entertainment entrepreneur and his girlfriend, Michelle Cawthra, may have stashed millions of dollars. Prosecutors allege she diverted the funds from her employer, the state Department of Revenue.
RELATED: Cops find "secret room" in fraud suspect's home
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5849540
Lottery director oversees headquarters from Denver
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/4
On the job for 1,224 days, and the Colorado Lottery director still doesn't live in Pueblo. And the days that Margaret "Peggy" Gordon will continue to oversee the lottery while not living in the town where it is headquartered could go on for at least one more year. That's because Gordon is one of the nearly 60 top state government officials - holdovers from the previous Republican administration - who were offered fresh annual contracts under the new Democratic governor. But it is unknown if her new boss, recently appointed Department of Revenue Executive Director Roxy Huber, will require that Gordon live in Pueblo, said department spokeswoman Diane Reimer.
Elections official is moving on
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16224
Josh Liss, Boulder County’s elections coordinator, will leave that post next week. Liss, who has spent the past two years overseeing elections in this county, has accepted a job as Jefferson County’s deputy clerk and recorder. “Josh came to the clerk’s office after a very difficult 2004 election and really helped bring the office back together,” said Hillary Hall, who took office as Boulder County’s clerk in January.
Phillips to replace Fox as county planning director
During a period of significant growth and change, Routt County officials say it’s fortunate the new planning director won’t have a steep learning curve. Routt County Manager Tom Sullivan announced Monday that assistant planning director Chad Phillips will replace planning director Caryn Fox, whose last day on the job is June 8. Fox directed the county Planning Department for the past seven years, served as assistant director for two years before that and has worked for Routt County since 1981.
Federal Heights manager leaving
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5849915
The manager who led this city through revitalization efforts and a controversy over the mayor working at a strip club has a new job. Chuck Reid resigned as city manager last month after serving for nearly 2 1/2 years. His last day is May 19, after which he'll work for Clifton Gunderson, a certified public accountant and consulting firm. "I'm looking forward to the change; it will be a great opportunity," Reid said Tuesday. "But I'll miss the staff here and the work we have started." Fire Chief Andrew Marsh will serve as interim city manager until a permanent replacement is found.
Council delves into city budget
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070509/NEWS01/705090326/1002
The new [Fort Collins] City Council got its first in-depth look at the budget process at a Tuesday night study session when it heard from city leaders about funding priorities and the budget's focus. The discussion came one day after 75 residents offered input about the city's half-billion dollar budget for 2008-09 at a public meeting Monday - opinions staff shared with Council on Tuesday. The Council typically adopts the budget in two-year cycles.
Council hears annexation concerns from residents
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070509/NEWS/105090087
It's not their first choice, but if the residents of a proposed annexation have to be annexed in to Greeley, they want city officials to make some concessions. The Greeley City Council on Tuesday heard the concerns of Knaus subdivision residents Tuesday night who reside in an area that the city is trying to annex. "The residents of Knaus just feel like we are not being listened to," resident Carmen Laws told city council. "Everybody doesn't fit into a box, we're asking you to take a step back."
[Canon City] Citizens debate with councilors
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Top-Story.asp?id=6911
Councilors received earfuls from concerned citizens on issues ranging from road work to library funding while debating agenda items among themselves in what was a longer than usual Monday session.
County home, land values rise
Signs nationally point to a softening of the housing market, but La Plata County homeowners were just notified that their assessed home values increased about 24 percent in the last two years.
Civil Liberties and Equality
Anti-war protesters accuse cops of lying
http://www.gazette.com/articles/police_22093___article.html/protesters_parade.html
Anti-war protesters Tuesday denounced the police version of arrests at a St. Patrick’s Day parade, saying there is little hope for an improved relationship with law officers. In often emotional testimony before the Colorado Springs City Council, protesters accused police of brutality in removing them from the parade and lying in an investigation of the incident. “It’s going to be very hard to cooperate with people that lie about us and have such a history,” said Tony Abdo, a member of the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission. Members of the group were among the anti-war demonstrators in the March 17 parade. Abdo was among about a dozen activists who addressed the council Tuesday, heightening a dispute over law enforcement tactics that has lasted nearly two months. Police say they removed the protesters from the Tejon Street parade route at the direction of parade organizers, who said the anti-war message violated the private event’s rules. Officers arrested seven people, all now facing obstruction charges in Municipal Court. Police and protesters disagree on what happened when police removed them from the parade.
'Cowardice' cited in Columbus fight
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5527558,00.html
They have gone to jail, written letters to the editor and talked at schools. Now opponents of the state's Columbus Day holiday are accusing the governor and members of the state legislature of disrespecting American Indians. The "political cowardice" of state leaders "has set the stage for additional conflict," said American Indian Movement of Colorado member Glenn Morris during a Tuesday news conference on the Capitol steps. Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, who was among those singled out by name, said the criticism isn't warranted. "The offices of the governor and lieutenant governor are actively working with our tribes and American Indian communities on ways to create jobs and economic opportunities," Ritter's office said in a statement. "We're focusing on improving health care and education as well as protecting civil rights, improving public safety and fighting racial discrimination."
RELATED: Columbus critics slam Dems, Ritter
http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_5849913
Resident will not bend to HOA rule
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/09/resident-will-not-bend-to-hoa-rule/
Rachel Amaru's deadline for removing a sign from her front porch will come and go today. The sign will likely stay. Todd Malmsbury, president of the Meadow Glen Resident Association, said he wants to take a non-confrontational approach with his neighbor over a "Darfur: End the Genocide" sign she is displaying on her property. "We're going to continue to encourage Meadow Glen residents to abide by the covenants they agreed to and to respect their neighbors," Malmsbury said Tuesday. "We are all volunteers and neighbors here, and we follow the covenants because we agreed to follow them." In a letter sent to Amaru last week, the Meadow Glen Resident Association's board of directors asked her to remove the sign by today, stating the placard violated the east Boulder neighborhood's rules against erecting signs, posters, billboards or advertisements. After receiving the letter, Amaru moved the sign from a common areain front of her home to a spot closer to her front door.
Health Care and Public Safety
Responders get a taste of terror
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5849753
As birds chirped and cattle grazed on the green prairie grass, would-be terrorism first responders watched improvised bombs explode. One was a water bottle, another a briefcase. There were also envelopes packed with plastic explosives. The responders studied the fireball as a flaming tire rocketed 300 feet into the sky. They sniffed the fumes as milk jugs filled with gasoline ignited. They rushed to the scene after a 15-pound bucket of diesel-soaked fertilizer - the recipe used in the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 - shattered a Chevy Astro van. This was the scene at a new Department of Homeland Security-funded course - the first of several nationwide - designed to help police, sheriff's deputies, paramedics and firefighters prepare for a terrorist attack. Some 31 participants from agencies across the country including U.S. military personnel - led by 22 federal and local bomb experts - gathered for this three-day course Tuesday at a University of Denver field station.
K-9 teams to help in Kan. search
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5527549,00.html
Four K-9 teams from Colorado will help search for survivors in Greensburg, Kan., where a tornado devastated the town Friday. "(The dogs) were very, very excited," said Cindy Matthews, spokeswoman for Colorado Task Force One. "They want to get out there and find some people." A call came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the task force at 2 p.m. Tuesday, requesting that K-9 teams be packed and ready to move out in four hours. Four teams left Tuesday. They are expected to be in Kansas for 10 to 12 days.
Transportation Technology Center tunnel project moving in House bill
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/6
Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., and other members of the Colorado delegation have been working to have TTCI made part of a federal anti-terror training consortium of several universities and federal facilities. As part of that effort, Salazar is asking the federal government to construct an $18 million above-ground tunnel complex at TTCI that would allow law enforcement and other first-responders to train in subway-like conditions.
Health care reform commission holds public meetings on proposals
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070509/NEWS/105080094
The blue ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform will hold community meetings to discuss 11 proposals for Colorado's future health care system. The commission received 31 proposals for reform and narrowed the field to 11. At its next meeting May 17 and 18, the commission must choose three to five for detailed analysis and is seeking public input to prioritize the proposals. "The commission faced a difficult selection process. We strove to identify a diverse array of proposals to consider in the next round of our deliberations," said Bill Lindsay, commission co-chair.
RELATED: Health care group seeks comment from [Pueblo] residents
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/13
Law requires additional vaccinations for students
http://www.gazette.com/articles/students_22122___article.html/health_new.html
Thousands of Colorado middle and high school students must receive a new vaccine this year for the first time since kindergarten under a recently passed state law. The new law also adds a shot to the list of vaccinations required for kindergartners. Students who don’t get the vaccinations or obtain an exemption for personal, medical or religious reasons will not be allowed to attend school. The Colorado State Board of Health passed the rules Jan. 17 to require all sixth- and 10thgrade students to show proof of a Tdap (Tetanus/Diphtheria/Acellular Pertussis) vaccination, said Diane Ashton, community health planner for immunizations with the El Paso County Department of Health and Environment. Additional grades will be included in the requirements within a few years.
Fountain Creek returned to its banks
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/2
It took nearly 24 hours, 58 pieces of equipment, 70 people and 5,300 tons of rock and stones to repair a breach in an abandoned railroad embankment that caused the Fountain Creek to flood three low-lying areas near the Pueblo Mall Monday. Public Works Director Dan Centa said the breach was closed by 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, but there is still more work to finish along the Fountain. At about 2 p.m. Monday, crews from Tezak Construction began hauling the first shipments of large boulders used to block the opening from its quarry in Canon City, Centa said.
RELATED: Residents blame development as cause of flood
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/3
RELATED: Residents warned to avoid contact with water, mud
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/14
Alamosa hantavirus death first of '07
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5847236
A 28-year-old Alamosa County woman has died from hantavirus, the first case of the disease in Colorado this year, health officials said. The woman, whose name and hometown were not released, died Friday. The source of the infection had not been determined today, said John Pape, an epidemiologist with the state Department of Public Health and Environment.
Plague concerns climb as more animals die
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5850109
Reports of dead squirrels continue to come into a hotline set up by the state health department to track what could be the first plague outbreak in Denver since 1968. There have been positive plague tests on 15 squirrels and one rabbit in Denver, Jefferson and Arapahoe counties. Thirteen of the animals were in Denver's City Park area, health officials said. Between Friday and Monday, nearly 200 calls came into the hotline, reporting dead animals mostly in the City Park neighborhood, said John Pape, the state epidemiologist. The city of Boulder this week closed Tom Watson Park to test a prairie dog town that has been unusually inactive. "We're still trying to determine how widespread it is," Pape said. "I wouldn't apply the term 'outbreak' to this," he said. "We normally see this kind of rodent die-off where plague is occurring, and it just happens to be occurring in Denver this year."
Health foundation hears area’s woes
La Plata County health-care providers on Tuesday described their struggle to serve despite funding problems to officials from a nonprofit that supports worthy causes statewide. Anne Warhover, president and chief executive officer of the Colorado Health Foundation, said she had no immediate answers but likes to hear about potential solutions. "We like to know what you're doing and of opportunities to help," Warhover said during a 90-minute meeting at Fort Lewis College, which included elected officials. The foundation, with assets of more than $800 million from investments and ownership interest in the HealthONE hospital system, gave $24 million in grants last year to improve access to affordable health care and help Coloradans take charge of their own health.
Coffee, pills and cold showers
http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2007/05/08/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt
Some students, particularly during finals week, use excess amounts of caffeine to stay awake, while others abuse prescription drugs bought on the black market to concentrate on studying. Two popular illicit substances used by some students during finals week are Adderall, an amphetamine, and Ritalin, an amphetamine-like stimulant, both of which are prescribed to treat attention-defecit disorder or attention-defecit hyperactivity disorder. Both are classified as Schedule II controlled substances by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which means they're considered highly addictive.
Jefferson County Courts building evacuated
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5847868
The Jefferson County Courts and Administration Building was evacuated shortly before 4:30 p.m. [yesterday] when a suspicious backpack was turned in.
Crime and Penal Reform
DOC stops plans for Ault prison
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070509/NEWS/105090085
Plans for a private prison in Ault came to a halt recently when Colorado Department of Corrections rescinded its offer to GEO Group. Ault Mayor Brad Bayne said board members haven't discussed the prison for months. "Until there was some sort of guarantee, we'd just rather not talk about it," he said. "There is probably some disappointment from me and a few board members who believe we still could have made it work for the town." Talk of the 1,500-bed medium-security prison proposed last spring has bought some uproar in the town of fewer than 1,500 residents. Some said a prison coming to town would boost the town's economy, but others said it would be too dangerous because of its proximity to the town. The plan was to build on 40 acres in the southeast part of town.
Park County likely to get new district court judge
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/19
A new district court judge position recently approved by the Legislature will be filled in the 11th Judicial District and likely will sit in Park County. Deadline to apply is May 21. The nomination commission will meet June 1 to select nominees to refer to Gov. Bill Ritter and the new judge will start work July 1.
Cole-Whittier leaders critical of police effort
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5850767
They tell the mayor that a strategy of concentrating officers on small crimes to prevent more serious ones is failing to bring cops and the neighborhood closer.
Suspect in witness killings to avoid death penalty
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5849912
At a previous hearing, Canney said Carter has an IQ of 64 and has been classified as being mentally retarded based on testing in high school. Carter, Sir Mario Owens and Robert Ray face murder charges in the death of Marshall-Fields and Wolfe. The couple were killed in June 2005 as they were driving down an Aurora street. Marshall-Fields was set to testify against Ray and Owens in a killing at a park a year earlier.
Death penalty ruled out for Springs cop's accused killer
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5849914
A man charged in the slaying of a Colorado Springs police officer will not face the death penalty, in part because many of the officer's relatives oppose capital punishment. Jereme Lamberth, 31, is accused of gunning down Detective Jared Jensen after the officer recognized him at a convenience store on Feb. 22, 2006. Lamberth was being sought for allegedly trying to kill his sister. Authorities have said Jensen, 30, was trying to arrest Lamberth on a warrant for attempted murder when he was fatally shot in the head. A filing Monday by the 4th Judicial District Attorney's office said the decision against seeking the death penalty took into consideration the feelings of Jensen's relatives. Also, Lamberth scored 69 on an IQ test, District Attorney John New some said. Colorado law forbids the execution of the mentally retarded, which is defined as an IQ below 70.
Officer shoots man who police say confronted them with knife
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5527548,00.html
Denver police were investigating an incident Tuesday afternoon in which an officer shot and wounded a man who allegedly confronted police with a knife in an apartment building that houses formerly homeless and at-risk people in downtown Denver. At 4:45 p.m., officers were called to the Renaissance Apartments at Civic Center, 25 E. 16th Ave., which is above the downtown YMCA, to assist paramedics and firefighters who were checking on a resident, said police spokesman John White. They were confronted by a man with a knife in his hand, White said. "They used less than lethal force," White said. "They were ultimately put in the position of having to fire a single round."
RELATED: Denver officer shoots man brandishing knife at YMCA
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5850092
Progress in case doesn't dissuade Lacy critics
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/09/despite-indictments-critics-still-skeptical/
National media outlets were quick to criticize Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy when — like the JonBenet Ramsey homicide — a chance for charges in the death of a 10-week-old Louisville infant seemed to be fading with the passing time. Now that Alex Midyette, 27, and Molly Midyette, 28, have been arrested, critics are still hesitant to praise the embattled district attorney. "It's not vindication for Mary Lacy when the people she's decided did this heinous killing were on the streets for months," said Denver lawyer and legal analyst Dan Caplis. "But as a parent and someone who follows the legal system, I'm happy about the arrest." A grand jury indicted the Midyettes on Tuesday in connection with their infant's March 2006 death. Their 8-pound baby, Jason Midyette, died with 28 broken bones in various stages of healing.
Missing man's parents' allege murder in lawsuit
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/12
The parents of a former government worker who has been missing nearly three years have filed a civil lawsuit against their daughter-in-law claiming she killed her husband.
Judge: ‘On the fence'
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/26494
In March, a jury convicted Sherry Nelson of distribution of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance -- felonies -- and no injury child abuse -- a misdemeanor. The latter conviction stemmed from Nelson selling narcotics near her child. A pre-sentencing report recommended Nelson be sentenced to intensive supervised probation, in part because she had no previous felony convictions. However, District Attorney Bonnie Roesink disagreed with the recommendation and asked the court to sentence Nelson to prison time, a common practice for defendants convicted of selling methamphetamine. Nelson sold meth for profit, Roesink said, and is not addicted to the drug. "This community has sent a message to us loud and clear ... meth dealers have to go to prison," the district attorney said. She added dealers who sell for profit should "go to prison whether it's their first time, second time or whatever it is.
Missing Breckenridge lawyer may have headed for Brazil
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5527554,00.html
A prominent Breckenridge lawyer missing for more than a week may have fled to Brazil, and authorities are trying to account for more than $1 million that he controlled, according to three sources close to the investigation into his disappearance. One source said between $1 million and $1.5 million from several real estate sales is unaccounted for.
RELATED: Lawyer may be on lam
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5850110
RELATED: ‘Scoop’ details set for release
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070508/NEWS/70508015
Canteen carelessness spurs bank brouhaha
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5527520,00.html
It started when a buddy mailed Timmy O'Neill a rusty old canteen they'd found while climbing together in Yosemite National Park. The situation escalated after O'Neill, 37, spaced out and left the suspicious-looking package at a CHASE ATM in Boulder on Monday. A bank employee saw the duct-taped box only minutes after reading a story online about a bomb that had blown up an ATM in Las Vegas earlier that morning. The bank manager called Boulder police, who brought in the bomb squad and used bank records to track down O'Neill through a Hungarian ex-roommate.
Economy
Former Qwest CEO Nacchio to oppose motion to forfeit $52 million
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5527173,00.html
Joe Nacchio will oppose the government's motion for him to forfeit $52 million of proceeds from stock sales, his attorneys wrote in a brief filed in U.S. District Court in Denver on Tuesday. The court filing didn't elaborate, saying instead that Nacchio "hereby reserves his right to respond more fully" by July 7 to the government's motion for the money judgment. Nacchio, former CEO of Qwest, was convicted last month of 19 insider-trading counts in connection with $52 million of stock sales in April and May 2001. His attorneys have said they will appeal.
Earnings propel Molson Coors
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/money/article/0,2777,DRMN_23908_5527097,00.html
Molson Coors stock, continuing its all-time highs, flirted with the $100 mark after a second straight positive quarter suggested the beer maker is in full turnaround mode. The company reported net income of $4.4 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $30.2 million in 2006's first quarter. Those bottom-line numbers don't tell the full story, though. Net sales increased 6.5 percent to $1.23 billion, and sales volume of 8.9 million barrels was up 2.9 percent. That's a turnaround from 2005, when declining sales volumes in all the company's major markets painted a picture of a company in deep trouble.
RELATED: Molson Coors' profits rebound; sales climb 6.5%
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5846474
Gambling rivals ante up for joint marketing effort
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5850107
Black Hawk and Central City are combining resources to collaboratively market the gambling towns to conventioneers and tourists, a remarkable shift for once-bitter rivals who are separated by about a mile but whose fortunes are a world apart. Armed with $175,000 from the Black Hawk Business Improvement District and $75,000 from Central City, the newly launched Black Hawk/Central City Visitor and Convention Bureau will pitch the two mountain towns as a single attraction.
Good snow, lots of skiers
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070508/NEWS/70508017
Northeast and Pacific West ski resorts apparently had tough years when it comes to skier numbers. The Rocky Mountains, on the other hand, did quite well. That comes as no surprise to Buzz Schleper, longtime Vail ski shop owner. “The only place that had good snow besides us was the Northwest,” said Schleper, owner of Buzz’s Ski Shop.
Fundraiser for Telluride Valley land nears end
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070508/NEWS/70508003
Town officials scheduled an announcement for Wednesday on the results of a fundraising drive to preserve a 570-acre parcel of land as open space. The ski resort town in southwestern Colorado wanted to buy the land for $26 million after deciding in 2004 to condemn it to force a developer to sell. But in February, a jury decided the property was worth $50 million, and a judge gave the town until May 21 to come up with the money. At the time of the verdict, the town had about $26 million available from bonds and tax revenue. A fundraising drive brought the total to within about $2 million of the goal last month.
RELATED: VFPP hopes to have cash ready today
http://telluridegateway.com/articles/2007/05/09/news/news01.txt
Every day is tax day
http://postindependent.com/article/20070509/VALLEYNEWS/105090038
Sales tax revenues grew a whopping 41 percent in Garfield County last year. Since 2004, the county has seen double-digit growth. That year sales tax revenues grew by 13 percent over 2003 and from 2004 to 2005, by 21 percent - $8.4 million from $6.9 million - according to county treasurer's records. Revenues continue to rise thanks to a growing population and a healthy economy, spurred in part by a burgeoning oil and gas industry.
RELATED: Garfield County getting economic assessment
http://postindependent.com/article/20070509/VALLEYNEWS/105090039
Wal-Mart to market Lafayette site in Vegas
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/09/wal-mart-to-market-lafayette-site-in-vegas/
City officials are betting on Las Vegas to help a stalled redevelopment project get going again. That's the location of the International Council of Shopping Centers' annual convention later this month, and where Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will market its empty buildings to potential buyers. After Lafayette received just one proposal to redevelop its own empty Wal-Mart store on South Boulder Road — and the surrounding shopping center — leaders are banking on the Vegas exposure to bring more offers.
Housing and Homelessness
Book ranks city 8th best place to live
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070509/NEWS01/705090339/1002
Fort Collins is the eighth-best place to live in the United States, according to a new book. The 848-page book, "Cities Ranked & Rated," by Bert Sperling and Peter Sander, rated cities in 10 categories, from the economy to the arts. It gave most weight to cost of living, climate and quality of life.
Media
EchoStar questions Comcast study
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5527167,00.html
EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen on Tuesday touted the company's high-definition television offerings, blasted a Comcast study on the topic and voiced skepticism about telephone companies competing in the TV market. His comments came during a brisk, 15-minute annual shareholders meeting at the company's Douglas County headquarters, and during an informal discussion with analysts and reporters afterward. Comcast, which provides competing cable television services, last week said a survey it commissioned found that satellite TV customers believe they get better HD picture quality from Comcast. "That's not what our customers tell us," Ergen countered.
RELATED: State of the 'Star: Satellite fare in flux
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5849509
Council to vote tonight on Comcast contract
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16222
The Longmont City Council will vote tonight on whether to extend the city’s cable television franchise contract with Comcast for another two years, despite concerns expressed by some city residents. The current five-year contract with Comcast expires May 25, and the council will consider extending the non-exclusive agreement until 2009. Jim Wall, Longmont’s chief information officer, said in a memo to council members that he recommends the contract be extended despite the city’s “concern with the lack of investment in infrastructure” by Comcast.
Education
Teachers hold noisy rally
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5527555,00.html
Several hundred Denver classroom teachers celebrated Tuesday's National Teacher Day by rallying in front of school district headquarters to chant, shout and honk their disapproval over stalled contract talks. Dave Szumiloski, who teaches Spanish and French at Bruce Randolph School in north Denver, used safety pins to stick 75 $1 bills to his shirt and pants. "That's what I have to eat with for the rest of the month," he said. "That's why I picked this amount." Kim Ursetta, president of the Denver Classroom Teachers Association, the teachers union, declared an impasse Monday in negotiations between the union and Denver Public Schools.
Westminster schools hit top salary
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5527553,00.html
Westminster public schools on Tuesday became the first school district in Colorado to hit the $40,000 mark in starting teacher pay. A unanimous vote by the Adams County School District 50 school board gives the 10,683-student district northwest of Denver the state's top salary schedule for teachers. At least, it does for now. Several other school districts are in negotiations. "We want to raise the bar," said Tom Lynch, president of the Westminster Education Association, the teachers union, "and we hope others will too."
BVSD adds gender identity to policy
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/09/bvsd-adds-gender-identity-to-policy/
Boulder Valley now includes gender identity and expression in its non-discrimination policy, making it the second school district in the state to add protection for transgender students and staff members. The school board approved the change Tuesday in a 6-1 vote, with member Jean Paxton dissenting.
Children eyed in grant allocation
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/09/5_9_1B_community_grants.html
Low-income and at-risk children stand to gain the most benefit from nearly $400,000 in federal funding the Grand Junction City Council will allocate this year. Council members tentatively agreed this week to give money to eight nonprofit organizations and one city sidewalk-improvement project through the Community Development Block Grant program, with the largest gifts going to Western Slope Head Start and The Tree House. The Riverside Head Start branch will receive $110,000 to remove an old building at 134 West Ave. and replace it with a parking lot and new classroom for 34 preschool children who are on a waiting list for services.
Preschool receives funding
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Top-Story.asp?ID=6909
A Cañon City preschool director on Monday received a welcomed phone call from U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard’s office. The call was to inform Park Avenue Preschool director Linda Davis that her school will receive an $8,000 grant from the USDA Rural Development to purchase a passenger van to help transport students.
New tactic in reading pays off for schools
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/09/5_9_1a_reading.html
While some School District 51 elementary schools have reading programs that use a series of standard reading textbooks, schools such as Orchard Avenue and the New Emerson School use a textbook-free workshop model that allows students to choose their own grade-appropriate books from a classroom library and encourages them to engage in discussion about the books with their teachers and peers.
FOUR MORE YEARS?
http://www.gazette.com/articles/students_22113___article.html/years_college.html
Hundreds of local high school seniors will graduate this month after four clearly mapped-out years of classes. In college, the path to graduation is not as well-defined. The traditional time frame for earning a bachelor’s degree is four years, but many factors can extend, or in some cases shorten, students’ stay. Students who take longer often risk spending more money in student fees and tuition hikes, losing financial aid, or even dropping out. By contrast, those who collect college credits in high school can graduate sooner or extend their studies without exceeding four years.
5 questions for urban education expert Pedro Noguera
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5527530,00.html
Pedro Noguera, an expert on urban education whose books include City Schools and the American Dream: Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education, will speak Thursday in Denver. Noguera has taught in the graduate schools of education at Harvard and the University of California at Berkeley and is a professor of education at New York University. He will be the keynote speaker at the Public Education & Business Coalition's annual luncheon. The son of Caribbean immigrants, Noguera is a sociologist focusing on how schools are influenced by social and economic conditions in urban environments.
CSU board of governors votes in new chair
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070509/CSUZONE01/705090349/1002/NEWS01
The Colorado State University System Board of Governors named a new chairman and three new members to its board. Douglas Jones, president and owner of The JONES Realty Group in Denver, was named chairman and Joe Blake, president and chief executive officer of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, was named vice chairman.
Churchill case handed to CU's president
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5850723
The process of deciding whether to dismiss professor Ward Churchill came a step closer to the end Tuesday when a committee submitted recommendations to University of Colorado president Hank Brown. Brown has 15 business days to determine how to proceed with the case, according to CU system spokeswoman Michele McKinney. He could recommend firing Churchill, dismiss the case, or come up with another punishment short of termination. The chair of the university system's privilege and tenure committee, which held a hearing on the case in January, declined to discuss the contents of its confidential report.
Recall petition to begin circulating
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/may/09/recall_petition_begin_circulating/?local_news
A group calling itself “Save Our Schools RE-2” will begin circulating petitions to recall Steamboat Springs School Board member John DeVincentis after an informational meeting Thursday night. Routt County Clerk Kay Weinland said she approved the 175-word petition after it was submitted last week, allowing the group to begin circulating the petition.
RELATED: Ex-board members stay silent
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/may/09/exboard_members_stay_silent/?local_news
C'dale students walk out to support teacher
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070509/NEWS/105090040
More than 100 Roaring Fork High School students walked out of class at noon Tuesday in support of longtime Spanish teacher Jill Knaus. After more than 21 years in the district - including 14 at Roaring Fork - Knaus said she intends to resign. Her students don't want to let her go, and she doesn't want to go, either. "I started crying when I told my Spanish III class this morning. All of them are taking Spanish IV; I didn't want them to think I was abandoning them," Knaus said after the impromptu rally, where more than a dozen students stood up and spoke out. Several students and parents have spoken out recently about the problem retaining good teachers at Roaring Fork, and concern over seeing students who live in Carbondale choosing to commute out of the district. Retaining teachers is a problem at most valley schools because of the cost of living. But tensions have been building among students, parents and teachers and the administration.
Centauri students walk out citing security concerns
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/9
Nearly 50 students walked out of Centauri High School Tuesday morning, demanding more information about how school officials are dealing with security concerns that led to the closing of the school on Friday. North Conejos School District officials and one school board member met with 12 of the protesters for nearly three hours following the walkout and laid out a plan to address communication and security concerns. The walkout and the meeting followed the cancellation of classes and the postponement of the school prom on Friday. In the weeks leading up to the closure, a Confederate flag had been hoisted up the school's flagpole. Moreover, a picture reportedly posted on a Myspace.com Web site of four boys, allegedly students at the school, holding guns and giving a Nazi salute, has also heightened tension at the school.
Pueblo school district sued in "timeout" case
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5849539
A mother is suing Pueblo School District 60, claiming her severely disabled son was improperly restrained in a room described as a closet at his elementary school. Veronica Hijar, 28, filed suit in Pueblo District Court against the district, Highland Park Elementary School, the principal, teachers, paraprofessionals and a case manager responsible for oversight of a special-education-needs program for her son. Jeffrey Hijar, 11, has severe physical, mental and emotional disabilities, including autism, Kabuki syndrome and seizures. The lawsuit says that when Veronica Hijar went to pick him up from school on March 1, 2006, she found school personnel gathered around a closet door. She could hear her son screaming and crying while no other children were in the classroom.
RELATED: City schools sued for confining disabled student
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/7
Teens accused in threat
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16220
Longmont police on Monday arrested two seventh-grade girls accused of e-mailing bomb threats to Westview Middle School, a police spokesman said. On Saturday night, the girls — ages 13 and 14 — sent e-mail messages to five teachers, claiming a bomb at the school would explode at 2:30 p.m. Monday, Police Cmdr. Craig Earhart said. They also demanded $10,000 cash in exchange for not blowing up the school, he said.
Military
Suit seeks to stop shipments of nerve agent wastewater
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178717758/16
Groups in Indiana and Texas have filed suit in a Terre Haute, Ind., federal court to block any more shipments of nerve agent wastewater to Texas. Two national organizations, the Sierra Club and the Chemical Weapons Working Group, joined local groups and individuals in filing the suit. They accused the U.S. Army of violating the federal Resource, Conservation and Recovery Act and that the shipments pose “an imminent and substantial endangerment to the public health and the environment.” Under the act, citizens are allowed to sue if they believe actions by anyone, including the U.S. Government may present such endangerment. The Army is sending the hydrolysate, wastewater from the neutralization of VX nerve agent at the Newport, Ind., Army Depot to a plant in Port Arthur, Texas, for incineration.
U.S. rebuffs Allard plea to regain warship
http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_5850658
The State Department says it can't negotiate the return of the USS Pueblo from North Korea while the United States is trying to get the communist nation to drop its nuclear ambitions. A State Department official turned aside a suggestion by Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., that the U.S. demand the North Koreans return the Pueblo. He suggested offering a Korean flag captured in the 19th century in exchange for the ship. Allard said his constituents are eager to see North Korea return the Pueblo, which is named for the Colorado town and is the only active-duty U.S. warship in the hands of a foreign power. The assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, Jeffrey Bergner, wrote to Allard that the countries have no formal diplomatic relations.
Energy Policy
Ritter: U.S. needs better energy policy
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070508/NEWS/105080059
The United States needs to develop a comprehensive national energy policy and stop leaving important issues like global warming to a patchwork of states, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter said Tuesday. In a meeting with journalists from eight other countries to discuss his renewable energy projects, Ritter said the national energy bill President Bush signed in 2005 doesn't go far enough. "While it contemplated how we would do some things around renewables, I think it wasn't nearly serious enough and that it didn't do the things that we should be doing as a nation," Ritter said. Eventually, a "critical mass of states" will drive changes in federal energy policy, he said.
Tri-State storm builds in Kansas
http://telluridegateway.com/articles/2007/05/09/news/news02.txt
The fight over coal-fired power that gripped the Western Slope this spring has spread north to the lonely rolling fields of western Kansas. And what happens now in Wichita and Topeka, Finney County and Holcomb will decide how power flows to Telluride over the next decade.
Coloradans pay even more to fill up
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5849510
As if record high gas prices weren't enough, Coloradans are paying more for their fuel than motorists in many parts of the country. Colorado's average price Tuesday for self-service regular was an all-time high of $3.11, 7 cents higher than the national average of $3.04, according to AAA. Residents of South Carolina had the privilege of buying the nation's cheapest gasoline at $2.81. Fuel is cheapest in the southeastern U.S. where crude oil and refineries are relatively plentiful, and along the East Coast, with easy access to imported gasoline. Colorado's inland location and dependence on out-of-state gas account for its higher prices, experts said. Tight supplies in Colorado became even tighter this week as a Sinclair refinery near Rawlins, Wyo., lost about one-third of its production from a mechanical problem. Colorado is one of the chief markets for the refinery.
Transportation and Infrastructure
Can troopers keep up with truckers?
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070508/NEWS/70508020
Graves and others from the State Patrol like the idea of an increased number of state troopers on the freeway. Eagle County’s state representative Dan Gibbs wants those troopers to enforce his bill to increase fines for truckers that don’t use snow chains. Gibbs wrote Gov. Bill Ritter last month asking that the number of troopers between Floyd Hill and Edwards be increased. Ritter has until June 4 to consider the chain law legislation, said Evan Dreyer, spokesman for the governor. Ritter considers public safety a priority and would take a “serious look” at Gibbs’ request for more troopers, he said. With a shortage of officers, the chain law can be tough to enforce and that means more traffic jams, said Sgt. Shawn Olmstead of the State Patrol.
DIA's shaky ground
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5849596
As Denver International Airport approaches the busy summer travel season, officials have shut one of DIA's six runways for nine weeks to replace deteriorating concrete. Contractors will cut out and replace more than 400 17-inch-deep concrete panels on runway 8-26 while consultants continue to study the full scope of DIA's pavement problem. A chemical reaction called ASR is a factor in premature deterioration of concrete at DIA, say aviation officials, and no one knows how much pavement might ultimately be impacted. "It looks right now like we do have ASR issues on about 1 percent of our pavement," said DIA engineering director David Rhodes. The airport's first five runways, and their associated taxiways, were built in the early 1990s. They are designed to last between 20 and 30 years, according to federal officials.
Environment and Conservation
State joins voluntary greenhouse gas emissions registry
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5527178,00.html
Colorado has joined 30 other states in a push to curtail global warming, setting up a program that will allow companies, utilities and governments to report and measure their greenhouse gas emissions in a uniform way. The voluntary climate registry would ensure that polluters in different states are using the same yardstick to measure their emissions, and will allow other parties to accurately verify emissions and reductions. Gov. Bill Ritter's office announced the state's participation Tuesday. His climate adviser, Heidi VanGenderen, called the move "a great first step" in cutting global warming gases.
A warming world or a rising tide?
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5849514
Scientists and politicians worldwide are sounding alarms about global warming, arguing that a hotter planet could forever alter the environment. Whether the threat from global warming is real or overblown, it could also damage the world economy. A report released last year by the treasury office of the United Kingdom estimated that global warming could eventually cause the world's combined gross domestic product to decline by up to 20 percent per year. "It could amount to significant losses," said Jonathan Pershing, a director at the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank in Washington, D.C. Yet those concerns also present a slew of investment possibilities ranging from individual stocks to entire sectors. Here are a handful of areas where big business and small-time investors are poised to benefit.
Salazar hopes state will work with Gunnison landowners
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/09/5_9_Salazar_Black_Canyon.html
Ranchers and farmers in the Upper Gunnison River Basin should be protected as the Colorado water court weighs the water right for a national park, U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., said. The “well-established water rights of the traditional users in the upper Gunnison Basin” must be respected and preserved, said Salazar, whose 3rd Congressional District includes the basin. The federal government has reached more than 100 stipulations with basin landowners aimed at protecting their uses as the water right for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is quantified.
Ritter could shape water with appointments
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/09/5_9_1B_Water_leaders.html
Several top-level vacancies in the Colorado Department of Natural Resources could give Gov. Bill Ritter a chance to put an immediate mark on water issues. Many Western Slope legislators and organizations would like to see the new governor, a Democrat, set a decidedly different tone than that of his Republican predecessor. At stake, to some degree, is the ability of Front Range transmountain diverters to maintain their rights to water that otherwise flows west. Ritter, who took office in January, will appoint the replacements to State Engineer Hal Simpson, Colorado Division of Wildlife Director Bruce McCloskey and possibly a new executive for the Colorado Water Conservation Board. There has been no change in the status of water-conservation board head Rod Kuharich, said Harris Sherman, who oversees the Department of Natural Resources.
GMUG proposed forest plan suspended
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/05/08/local_news/6.txt
Public comment on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest (GMUG) proposed Forest Plan is suspended indefinitely. “We don’t know for sure where we will head with Forest Plan revision in response to the injunction; however, we are evaluating our options for when and how to proceed,” GMUG Forest Supervisor Charlie Richmond said. “Whatever approach, we decide to use, the public collaboration and recommendations we have received to date will be integral in our continuing planning activities. Our stakeholders have helped us develop a vision for the forest for the next 15-20 years, and we need to prepare effective plans to guide and support that vision.”
‘The right thing to do’
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16223
A pro-recycling bill could provide about $4 million a year to Colorado recycling programs and help Boulder County get food scraps out of landfills. With money raised from landfill dumping fees and old-tire disposal statewide, House Bill 1288 would create a grant program for recycling and conservation projects. The bill’s Senate sponsor, Longmont Democrat Brandon Shaffer, says the Sustainable Resource Economic Opportunity Fund will pull waste out of landfills while creating jobs in a burgeoning recycling industry. “It’s good for the environment and good for the economy,” he said. “It’s the right thing to do.” Coloradans already pay a $1 fee to exchange old tires for new ones, and that would go up to $1.50. Trucks carrying solid waste to landfills also will pay increased fees of 1 to 7 cents to support the project.
Casebolts advised on indictment
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/05/08/local_news/5.txt
A Montrose father and son made their first court appearance Monday, where they were advised on a 44-count grand jury indictment. Steven Casebolt, his father, Joseph, and their alleged business associate, Wayne Ratner, were charged late last month with multiple counts of racketeering, securities fraud and seeking to influence officials who were investigating their firm, Elizabeth Mining and Development, Inc. They were also charged with violating the state’s hazardous waste act. EMDI, which was also identified by other names in the state grand jury indictment, strips precious metals from catalytic converters on 63.00 Road in Montrose.
CU grads vow to stay green
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/09/cu-grads-vow-to-stay-green/
About 200 seniors will be among the University of Colorado's first green graduates Friday, having signed pledges to be socially and environmentally responsible when they enter the real world. The campus — which welcomes freshmen with a zero-waste festival in the fall and won environmental awards this year for the green design and construction of its newest buildings — is now part of a 20-year-old nationwide effort called the Graduation Pledge Alliance.
Fire season approaches; precautions advised
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/26493
Mathewson said extreme Northwest Colorado has not received as much precipitation as other portions of the state, and people should always be careful when camping and lighting fires. "The two ignition sources that concern us are humans and lightning," he said. "The short-term outlook is good, but we will re-evaluate conditions in early June." BLM fire mitigation specialist Lynn Barclay said this is the time of year to prepare for the worst.
Water board OKs rules for conservation
A whittled-down ordinance to regulate landscaping and watering won approval this week from the Durango Water Commission. The ordinance, proposed in the heart of the drought five years ago, must pass legal scrutiny and be approved by the City Council before becoming law. The water-efficient landscape ordinance, the main topic of the last three water commission's monthly meetings, was approved unanimously Monday. The five-person commission also approved a companion automatic-sprinkler ordinance.
CSU has mites to help fight bindweed
The Colorado State University Extension's Montezuma County Office is now taking reservations for the bindweed mites, a biological control of field bindweed. The bindweed mite is a microscopic mite imported from southern Europe as a biological control of bindweed. It feeds on bindweed and some closely related wild morning glories that are not found in Southwest Colorado. The best results will be obtained when an area is mowed, which moves the mites around.
Operation sage removal
http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2007/05/08/news/c_u_and_boulder/news3.txt
It's spring and it's time to weed the garden, but certain civic-minded citizens might spend part of this Saturday weeding local open lands as well. The nonprofit organization Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WLRV) has organized a small army of volunteers to work on removing or at least halting the spread of Mediterranean Sage - a non-native or “noxious” weed that can spread rapidly and crowd out native species.
Noxious weeds program caters to do-it-yourselfers
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070508/NEWS/105080057
The county is launching a new do-it-yourself component to its noxious weeds program in hopes of motivating more homeowners to take care of non-native plants popping up on their property. Starting June 1, people can rent a backpack already filled with herbicide for $20 per day in order to spray weeds on their property. Summit County Weed Department coordinator Lisa Taylor said she thinks the program fills a needed niche. "We want people to take care of their weeds, but we're setting them up for failure unless we give them the tools to make it happen," Taylor said.
Opinion
Solid start for Ritter on his initial agenda
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5847549
Gov. Bill Ritter put forward an ambitious agenda in his State of the State address in January. Four months later, it's safe to say he's made a respectable dent in his priority list. In his first legislative session, Ritter won from lawmakers a sweeping reform of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, a feat that eluded former Republican Speaker of the House Russ George. He pushed through a proposal - albeit somewhat clumsily - to boost property tax funding for public education, an accomplishment that former Republican Sen. Norma Anderson tried but failed to attain in 2004. While he made modest gains toward improving health care for Coloradans, leaving the heavy lifting for 2008, he made a leap toward his goal of beginning a transition to a new energy economy for Colorado. The legislature passed at least eight bills that lay a foundation for renewable-energy investments.
Kefalas: State budget reflects shift in values, priorities
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070509/OPINION04/705090308/1014/CUSTOMERSERVICE02
The 2007 Legislative Session ended May 4, five days ahead of schedule, saving the taxpayers at least $75,000. We did the people's work in record time and on the last day were rewarded with the resonating sound of mariachi music echoing from the first floor of the state Capitol all the way up to the top of the rotunda, filling the entire legislative space with lively rhythms. The musicians were a renowned group of high school students from Adams County. I believe the 2007 session was successful. Often with bipartisan support, we achieved much of what we set out to do - to benefit the people, communities and businesses of Colorado while protecting our environment and putting Colorado squarely on the map as a leader in renewable energy development.
Help that doesn't go far
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070508/EDITS/105080053
Supporting a couple of kids on $10 an hour may not be that bad in Mississippi. But it's downright impossible in Vail, Colo. Problem is, the federal government doesn't adjust the guidelines for welfare programs for resort areas like ours. So when the federal government says a single mom with one child must make less than $2,111 a month to qualify for aid, it leaves local people who need help out in the cold.
Spencer: Lead safety is worth its weight in gold
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5849597
For want of $250,000, some of Colorado's at-risk kids face another threat: Untreated lead poisoning.
Rural renewal
http://pueblochieftain.com/editorial/1178717758/2
RENEWABLE ENERGY development for rural areas of Colorado is the goal of legislation passed this year by Sen. Ken Kester of Las Animas and Rep. Cory Gardner of Yuma. The two rural Republicans won bipartisan support in the Democratic-controlled Legislature for HB1150. It will create a seven-member Colorado Clean Energy Development Authority to finance transmission lines, pipelines and rail and truck transportation for renewable energy. These projects will be intended to facilitate the delivery to markets of renewable energy generated in remote rural areas much in need of economic development.
Morgan: Bring back the balance on our BLM lands
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070508/COLUMNS/105080043
Oil and gas development in itself is not the problem. The problem is that over the past six years, oil and gas development has become the predominant use wherever those resources might exist. The BLM by law is supposed to be a "multiple-use" agency, and while oil and gas may be an important natural resource, so are those now taking a back seat - from wildlife and fisheries to recreation and cultural history. The BLM's rush-to-drill policy is predicated on the false notion that restrictions impede energy development. But according to the agency's own analysis, most BLM lands, as well as the oil and gas resources in the five Rocky Mountain states containing most of those resources, are available for development, and they have been for a long time. The agency, prodded by energy developers, is in a hurry, and planning for mitigating the impacts of development gets put off. The agency's multimillion dollar "Healthy Lands Initiative," for example, appears to be designed to restore lands harmed by oil and gas development long after the fact, instead of managing to avoid the impacts up front. The BLM is opening ever more sensitive areas to leasing, even though the agency has become unable to meet its commitments to monitor impacts to wildlife and air quality. Over the past few years, the BLM has even leased over 200,000 acres in Colorado and Utah that have been the subject of congressional attempts to designate them as wilderness.
Johnson: Community, officers take steps to meet in middle
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_86_5527287,00.html
Fingers pointed everywhere. Accusations were hurled, and countercharges were flung. In a less civilized society, perhaps a few shots would have been fired. No one was immune. "Cop hater," one officer point-blank called me, complaining to the gathering that he didn't feel free to say anything, that I would even get that wrong. The important good thing, though, was Aurora police and members of the city's black community were finally sitting down together, breaking bread and sharing their real and perceived grievances with each other. Peaceably. It was a long time in coming.
Fountain flooding
http://pueblochieftain.com/editorial/1178717758/1
Fountain Creek’s existing levees are inadequate to protect life and property from the next big flood. Sedimentation and erosion, exacerbated by urban population growth in the Colorado Springs area, has filled the creek channel to the point where it won’t take as much water to breach the East Side levee next time. This is an urgent call for elected officials in both Pueblo and El Paso counties to get serious about correcting the Fountain, a flood-prone creek of deteriorated water quality that harms our environment. Clearly, a damaging flood can occur even with moderate rain. We strongly recommend a flood-control dam and reservoirs to hold both stormwater and regular return flows so Colorado Springs can recycle water and not send ever-increasing flows down the Fountain to damage Pueblo and the Lower Arkansas Valley. We cannot sit by and let a huge human and economic tragedy happen. It’s past time for action.
Lum: Instant voting: How it works
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070509/COLUMN/105090028
As I write this, I have no idea how Tuesday's election is going to shake out, but I'm pretty sure there will be some run-offs involved and we'll all be rolling our eyes and thinking MUST we go through this for another thumping month? More money, more time, more ads, more debates, all for another vote that traditionally has a lower turnout than the first. We could go back to the old way - the one with the most votes wins, but we changed that to ensure that the winner had a clear majority. Another way to ensure a majority without having to go back to the voting booth (and make the candidates stump for another month) would be to have Instant Voting, a method that is growing in popularity. It is a bit complicated to explain, but I'll take a whack at it. For further information, go to www.fairvote.com, which has an illustrative description using Muppets as candidates and cute little colored figures, which are beyond my capacity in this column.
RELATED: Election's over; now let's fight
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070509/DAILYCOMMENT/105090033
Twister highlights Guard issues
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5847546
The unseemly blame-game between Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sibelius and President George W. Bush about the National Guard's response to last Friday's tornado in Greensburg, Kan., shouldn't be allowed to obscure an emerging truth: In many states, the Guard is so stressed by its deep involvement in Iraq that it is poorly equipped to meet its domestic responsibilities. The Guard's military role also is suffering from the long and repeated deployments of citizen soldiers that are crippling its re-enlistment efforts and its ability to recruit fresh faces. Each state maintains its own National Guard, though the units can be called up for federal service. Sibelius said Monday that the deployment of many state Guard units to Iraq had hampered its response to the tornado. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow fired back in full "blame-the-victim" mode Tuesday, chiding Sebelius for not following proper procedures by first identifying needed heavy equipment and then asking the federal government to provide it. Late Tuesday, both sides backed down a bit. Snow admitted Sibelius had asked for more aid than she had received and Sibelius said she hadn't meant to imply Kansas was ill-equipped to deal with the Greensburg tornado, but was warning about its inability to handle additional disasters in the future, such as another tornado or severe flooding. Actually, Sibelius' comments were milder than those of National Guard chief Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, testifying before Congress last month.
Look at all the riders! Oh, wait; they're not really there
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/09/look-at-all-the-riders/
Boulder is much better than many locales with respect to alternative transportation. But as many a cut-off, flipped-off or spat-upon rider can attest, it is no nirvana.
Election
O'Malley Expected To Back Clinton
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801044.html
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) will become this morning the second sitting governor to endorse Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) for president and will be named the state chairman of her campaign, according to sources familiar with the announcement. O'Malley, a former Baltimore mayor who was sworn in as governor in January, has been signaling his support for Clinton for weeks. In a radio appearance in late March, he said he was "very much inclined to support" Clinton.
Sharpton denies disputing Romney's faith
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2007-05-09-sharpton-romney_N.htm
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who recently urged that radio host Don Imus be fired for making a racially insensitive remark, said in a debate that "those of us who believe in God" will defeat Republican Mitt Romney for the White House. But Sharpton denied he was questioning the Mormon's own belief in God.
Politics could cloud election panel's work
The six-person Federal Election Commission, which enforces campaign-finance laws, is entering the presidential election season with three temporary commissioners who have not been confirmed by the Senate, two commissioners whose terms have expired but who have not been replaced, and one vacancy. As a result, most of the commissioners who are now passing judgment on campaign-finance fights will also be looking ahead to their own confirmation battles -- a process that threatens to intensify the politics surrounding an agency that was set up to resolve disputes over election rules in a bipartisan manner.
A New Pitchman -- and a New Pitch
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801924.html
One day back when Republicans controlled Congress, Reps. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) and Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) found themselves talking politics, something both men tend to do when they happen to be awake. Cole, who has worked behind the scenes for just about every prominent Republican politician in Oklahoma as well as the national party, suggested that House Democrats would need a political pro to win back the majority in 2006, and he predicted they'd choose Emanuel to chair their campaign committee. Emanuel, who was once President Clinton's top political adviser, said he doubted it; he'd clashed too many times with party leaders. "You don't have to like George Patton to know you need George Patton," Cole replied. Cole was right, and Emanuel ultimately led the Democrats back to the majority. That's why Republicans wanted their own Patton -- their own Rahm -- to take back the House in 2008. And that's why they've elected Cole to chair the National Republican Congressional Committee, where he once served as executive director.
Effective and Ethical Government
Bush's reasons for staying in Iraq not getting traction
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-08-iraq-poll_N.htm
Most Americans don't believe that the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is the key to preventing a full-scale civil war there or protecting the United States from new terrorist attacks, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds. The results of the poll, taken Friday through Sunday, underscore the limited traction the Bush administration's arguments have gotten as White House officials and congressional Democrats negotiate an interim bill to finance the war. Amid broad pessimism about what's ahead for Iraq and the region, one-third of those surveyed would be bothered "a great deal" if the United States is seen as losing the war. One in four would be bothered "not at all." "We lost the war when we went there," says Judy Champion, 58, a nurse from Indianapolis who was among those surveyed. "I don't think there is a 'win' situation there. Every time we lose another soldier it's just more loss."
House Bill Ties War Funding to Iraq Benchmarks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801991.html
A House Democratic proposal introduced yesterday that would give President Bush half of the money he has requested for the war effort, with a vote in July on whether to approve the rest, hinges on progress in meeting political benchmarks that Iraq has thus far found difficult to achieve. The House measure, which could come to a vote as early as tomorrow, would substantially raise the pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government to meet lagging commitments -- including new laws on oil revenue and de-Baathification, constitutional revisions, provincial elections and the demobilization of militias -- that Bush has said are crucial to the success of the U.S. military strategy.
RELATED: Pelosi renews vow to stop war as work continues on bill
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-08-dems-iraq-plan_N.htm
RELATED: House Democrats Push Plan to Finance Iraq War in Stages
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/washington/09cong.html?ref=washington
Official Takes Case to U.S., but Skeptics Don’t Budge
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/washington/09rubaie.html?ref=world
Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the national security adviser to Iraq’s prime minister, undertook on Tuesday what may have been his most challenging mission yet: trying to persuade American lawmakers who have all but run out of patience that still more patience is required. In a whirlwind series of closed-door meetings that began with Representative John P. Murtha and ended with Senator Carl Levin — two Democrats who have been leading the charge for American troop withdrawals — Mr. Rubaie sought to make the case that an American pullout would be catastrophic.
Lawmaker's Aide Targeted Prosecutor Before List Was Made
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801993.html
An aide to Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.) urged the White House to replace the U.S. attorney in Kansas City, Mo., months before Todd P. Graves's name was included on a Justice Department list of federal prosecutors the Bush administration was thinking of pushing out of their jobs. A spokeswoman for Bond said yesterday that the senator's former counsel, Jack Bartling, contacted the White House counsel's office in the spring of 2005, without Bond's permission. According to the spokeswoman, Bartling said that Graves's replacement "would be favored," because the prosecutor's wife and brother-in-law had stirred ethics complaints in Missouri. Graves's name was included on a January 2006 memo, drafted by the then-chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, that recommended to the White House seven U.S. attorneys who "might be considered for removal and replacement," according to administration and legislative sources. Two months later, on March 10, 2006, Graves resigned.
Civil Liberties and Equality
Jury selected for Padilla trial
A jury of five blacks, four whites and three Latinos with a broad array of jobs, political leanings and assumptions about terrorism will hear the government's case against alleged Al Queda operative Jose Padilla. The panel was selected Tuesday after weeks of contentious wrangling among the 15 attorneys representing the government, Padilla and his two co-defendants, with the government and defense teams accusing each other of racial and religious profiling in picking jurors. Padilla, a 36-year-old former Chicago gang member, and two Arabs are accused of conspiring to kill foreign enemies of Islam.
Foreign Policy
Few at Commerce Want Iraq Stints
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801800.html
The call has gone out from on high at the Commerce Department for a few good men and women. Heeding President Bush's recent appeal for government civilians to serve stints in Iraq helping with the embattled rebuilding mission, Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez sent an agency-wide memo last week imploring workers to sign up for a year in Iraq. "I am asking all Commerce employees to consider supporting this important effort," he wrote. Gutierrez noted that volunteers would work "under challenging circumstances with access to few amenities." On the bright side, he said, they "may" be eligible for overtime pay -- "35 percent hardship pay and up to 35 percent danger pay differentials." But it seems that the tepid early response to the secretary's appeal for volunteers may be a reflection of the larger struggle Bush has faced since announcing his strategy to double the number of overworked and often underqualified provincial reconstruction teams in Iraq.
Rival Shiite militias feud after bombing in Iraq
A suicide car bomber attacked a crowded market in this holy Shiite city Tuesday, killing at least 16 people, injuring more than 70 others and further stoking tensions between rival Shiite militias. The bomb was detonated in a gray sedan beside a restaurant and across the street from a girls primary school. An angry mob that included members of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr's Al Mahdi army quickly gathered around the blast's crater and loudly blamed the United States and Iraqi police for allowing the attack. Most of the police in Kufa are linked to a rival Shiite militia, the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the country's biggest Shiite political party.
Baghdad Christian district besieged
Christians are fleeing in droves from the southern Baghdad district of Dora after Sunni insurgents told them they would be killed unless they converted to Islam or left, according to Christian leaders and families who fled. Similar episodes of what has become known as sectarian cleansing raged through Baghdad neighborhoods last year as Sunnis drove Shiites from Sunni areas and Shiites drove Sunnis from Shiite ones, but this marks the first apparent attempt to empty an entire Baghdad neighborhood of Christians, the Christians say.
Tehran Jails Iranian American Scholar After Long House Arrest
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801276.html
Iran yesterday detained prominent American academic Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, according to center president and director Lee H. Hamilton and Esfandiari's husband. Esfandiari, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who has lived in the United States for more than a quarter-century, has been under virtual house arrest since December, when the government refused to allow her to leave Iran after visiting her 93-year-old mother. Since then, she has been summoned repeatedly for interrogations by intelligence officials about U.S. programs on Iran. In particular, she was questioned about Iran programs at the Wilson Center, one of Washington's most prominent foreign policy think tanks.
Chinese To Deploy Soldiers To Darfur
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050800610.html
China will send a military engineering unit to help strengthen the overtaxed African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur, the Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday, following criticism that Beijing has not done enough to support peace efforts in the region. A spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, did not say how many Chinese soldiers would be dispatched or what their duties would be, describing them as "multifunctional" military engineers. U.S. officials in Washington estimated the number at around 300, the Reuters news agency reported.
RELATED: Russia, China tied to arms for Sudan
Nigerian Militants Destroy 3 Pipelines In Oil-Rich Delta
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050800806.html
Militants in Nigeria's volatile oil-producing region destroyed three pipelines in raids early Tuesday as part of what they said would be a rising campaign of destruction leading up to the inauguration of the nation's new president on May 29. Political protests against the election of Umaru Yar'Adua have fizzled in Nigeria since he won the presidency on April 21 in a vote that observers said was profoundly flawed nationwide and, in many places, simply rigged.
RELATED: 4 U.S. Oil Workers Kidnapped in Nigeria
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/news-nigeria-kidnap.html
Opposition Splits While Zimbabwe Continues to Slip
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/world/africa/09zimbabwe.html?ref=world
Even more than the Zimbabwean government’s frequently brutal abductions and assaults on members of the M.D.C., the internecine brawls are evidence that all is not well inside Zimbabwe’s political opposition, the force on which the West has pinned its hopes for democratic change. As President Robert G. Mugabe’s 27-year rule enters what many analysts call a terminal phase, the selfproclaimed democratic opposition is near its nadir.
More Violence in Post-Election France
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/09/AR2007050900462.html
hit France for a third night following the election of conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, with about 200 vehicles torched by vandals and more than 80 people taken in for questioning nationwide, the interior minister said Wednesday. The violence has largely been carried out by those in the left-wing and anarchists angered by Sarkozy's win in presidential elections on Sunday. Sarkozy's detractors criticize his free-market reforms and tough line on crime. Though violence continued late Tuesday and early Wednesday, the third night after the election was much calmer than the previous two, Interior Minister Francois Baroin said.
RELATED: Look to Airbus for Clues to Sarkozy
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/business/worldbusiness/09airbus.html?ref=business
Rights Groups Object to Serbia’s Leading Council of Europe
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/world/europe/09serbia.html
Human rights groups are objecting to Serbia’s taking over the presidency of a major European political organization this week at a time when Belgrade is in violation of the international Genocide Convention.
Former Foes Unite to Take Oaths of Office in N. Ireland
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050800174.html
Protestant and Catholic leaders, old enemies who until recently barely spoke to each other, took oaths of office in a power-sharing government in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, a key step in bringing a final end to sectarian violence that has killed 3,600 people in the British province.
RELATED: Kennedy gets warm greeting at N. Ireland inauguration
Immigration
Immigration Case Against Cuban Militant Dismissed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050802237.html
A federal judge on Tuesday threw out immigration fraud charges against Luis Posada Carriles, the Cuban exile militant who was facing trial later this week, saying the government manipulated his statement to investigators. U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone said the interpretation of the April 2006 interview "is so inaccurate as to render it unreliable as evidence of defendant's actual statement." Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said prosecutors were reviewing the ruling and considering whether to appeal it. Authorities said Posada, a 79-year-old former CIA operative and fierce opponent of Fidel Castro, confessed to sneaking across the Mexican border into Texas in March 2005.
Agency Affirms Mandates for Driver’s Licenses
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09license.html
The Homeland Security Department said Tuesday that it would plow ahead with national standards for driver’s licenses, despite a highly unusual level of activity by state legislatures opposed to the idea, and substantial second thoughts in Congress. The department said it had received about 12,000 public responses to its draft rules, in a 60-day comment period that ended Tuesday. Russ Knocke, a spokesman, said the comments were mixed. Comments at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday were more negative. The chairman, Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, complained that security rules were supposed to be “smart as well as tough” and predicted that state motor vehicle departments would not be able to cope with the requirements, which include verifying all documents presented by applicants. Even renewals will require birth certificates or other proof of legal residence. And the change will impose billions of dollars in costs on states and localities, Mr. Leahy and others said.
Giving shelter from the storm of deportation
The New Sanctuary Movement is offering illegal immigrants the protection of its churches, nationwide and in L.A.
Reproductive Choice
Prenatal Test Puts Down Syndrome in Hard Focus
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09down.html?ref=us
Until this year, only pregnant women 35 and older were routinely tested to see if their fetuses had the extra chromosome that causes Down syndrome. As a result many couples were given the diagnosis only at birth. But under a new recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, doctors have begun to offer a new, safer screening procedure to all pregnant women, regardless of age. About 90 percent of pregnant women who are given a Down syndrome diagnosis have chosen to have an abortion.
Health Care and Public Safety
Concerns arise over consumer nominee
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-08-consumer-nominee_N.htm
President Bush's choice to head the Consumer Product Safety Commission worked as a lobbyist to block state "fire safe" cigarette laws. He could be charged with setting similar rules nationwide if his nomination is confirmed. Michael Baroody, head lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers, pressed then-Gov. George Pataki of New York in 2000 to veto a bill requiring that cigarettes sold in the state be "fire-safe," meaning they self-extinguish if left unattended. In a letter to Pataki, who ultimately signed the bill, Baroody echoed tobacco companies' argument that requirements for such cigarettes should be set at the federal level by the CPSC. As tobacco companies continue to push for the commission to pre-empt state laws by setting national standards for fire-safe cigarettes, Baroody awaits Senate confirmation to be its new chairman. The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a hearing for May 24.
Kansas, White House Spar Over Tornado
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050802238.html
The Bush administration and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) started the day yesterday by pointing fingers at each other over the response to Friday's devastating tornado in the state, but both sides backed down within hours. Sebelius complained Monday that National Guard deployments to Iraq had hampered the response. "I don't think there is any question if you are missing trucks, Humvees and helicopters that the response is going to be slower," she said. White House press secretary Tony Snow fired back yesterday morning, saying: "If you don't request it, you're not going to get it. As far as we know, the only thing the governor has requested are FM radios." Later in the day, Snow softened his tone, saying it turned out that Kansas had requested a number of items from the federal government, which were all provided. Snow also said that the White House had just called Sebelius to see if she needed anything else and that she said she did not.
RELATED: Guard spat minimized as Bush set to visit Kan.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-08-bush-tornado_N.htm
RELATED: Kansas Tornado Renews Debate on Guard at War
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09guard.html?ref=us
Missouri town submerged as floods worsen in Plains
Five burst levees along the Missouri River sent a deluge that submerged the tiny town of Big Lake on Tuesday as thousands fled their homes amid warnings that regional flooding could near the devastation of 1993. The levees broke Monday south of Big Lake, population 150, and the rush of water immersed the town Tuesday, said Mark Sitherwood, presiding commissioner of Holt County.
Clinton announces new deal on AIDS drugs
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/05/09/clinton_announces_new_deal_on_aids_drugs/
Former president Bill Clinton announced agreements with drug companies yesterday to lower the price of so-called "second-line" AIDS drugs for people in the developing world and to make a once-a-day AIDS pill available for less than $1 a day.
Doctors Reap Millions for Anemia Drugs
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/business/09anemia.html?ref=business
Two of the world’s largest drug companies are paying hundreds of millions of dollars to doctors every year in return for giving their patients anemia medicines, which regulators now say may be unsafe at commonly used doses.
Farm-Raised Fish Given Tainted Food
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801060.html
The tainted Chinese ingredient that was incorporated into U.S. pet food and later made its way into chicken and pig feed was neither wheat gluten nor rice protein as advertised, but was seriously contaminated wheat flour, government investigators said yesterday. The finding adds a new layer of fraud to an already seamy tale of international deception. Moreover, officials said, some of that contaminated flour, mislabeled as gluten, was mixed into fish food in Canada and exported to the United States, where it was fed to fish raised for human consumption. Accordingly, some American fish may be laced with melamine, the industrial toxin whose spread has revealed in startling detail the many ways in which the food chains for pets, farm animals and humans are internationally intertwined.
Massachusetts Proposes Stem Cell Research Grants
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09stem.html?ref=us
Gov. Deval Patrick on Tuesday unveiled a $1.25 billion proposal intended to help the state maintain its status as a pre-eminent place for stem cell research and other life sciences. The money would provide grants for university and hospital scientists, establish special research centers to make their work faster and more efficient, and train workers for biotechnology businesses. It would also establish the first stem cell bank, a repository of all the stem cell lines created in Massachusetts laboratories, which would serve as a kind of stem cell lending library to scientists around the world.
Durbin launches toy investigation
Reacting to a Tribune series, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) Tuesday began investigating the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's response to warnings about a dangerous toy. The agency, known as the CPSC, announced a limited recall of Magnetix building sets last year and just last month expanded that recall to cover another 4 million boxes after acknowledging 1,500 complaints of the toys breaking and shedding aspirin-size magnets. Both recall alerts were confusing to retailers and consumers. In all, one child died and 27 others suffered serious injuries after swallowing loose magnets that twisted or tore the children's intestines.
Crime and Penal Reform
District of Columbia Set Back in Fight Over Its Gun Law
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/us/09guns.html
A federal appeals court in Washington refused yesterday to revisit a March decision striking down parts of a gun control law there. The development brought the case one step closer to possible Supreme Court consideration of the Second Amendment’s meaning. The earlier decision, by a divided three-judge panel, was the first federal appellate ruling in the nation’s history to hold a gun control law unconstitutional on the ground that the Second Amendment’s guarantee of a right to bear arms protects the rights of individuals, as opposed to the collective rights of state militias.
Economy
Wolfowitz Criticizes Handling Of Probe
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801778.html
World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz yesterday disparaged a bank panel probing his handling of a pay raise for his girlfriend, accusing investigators of poisoning the atmosphere with leaks while depriving him of sufficient time to respond to accusations that he broke ethics rules. "The inability of the committee to control leaks about its draft conclusions is very harmful, not just to Mr. Wolfowitz personally but to the institution," lawyer Robert S. Bennett said in a written statement on Wolfowitz's behalf. "The appearance that people are prejudging the outcome of the process weakens bank governance and disrespects both the board and the process." The committee gave Wolfowitz a copy of its report accompanied by transcripts and other documents exceeding 600 pages late Sunday, telling him he had until the end of yesterday to submit a written response, Bennett said. The report and the response are to go to the bank's executive board, which could deliberate as soon as tomorrow on whether to discipline Wolfowitz, call for his resignation or fire him, senior bank officials said.
RELATED: Over objection, Wolfowitz inquiry continues
RELATED: Treasury Chief Supports Delay for Wolfowitz
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/washington/09wolfowitz.html?ref=washington
N.Y. Court Dismisses 4 Charges in Grasso Case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801776.html
Former New York Stock Exchange chief executive Dick Grasso won a significant victory yesterday when an appeals court dismissed four of six charges against him in a long-running dispute over his outsize compensation package. New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo (D) said he expected to appeal the ruling, which cast doubt on his authority to supervise operations of nonprofit groups in the state. The appeals court dismissed four allegations on the ground that they exceeded New York's Not-for-Profit Corporation Law -- the basis of charges that Grasso's $188 million paycheck was unreasonable given his job description.
Media
Questionable Play on Dow Jones
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801941.html
A federal judge yesterday froze the assets of a Hong Kong couple suspected of improperly trading on inside information to profit by $8.2 million before last week's Dow Jones takeover bid. The Securities and Exchange Commission asked a New York judge to suspend brokerage accounts controlled by Kan King Wong and Charlotte Ka On Wong Leung, who, the SEC said, borrowed money from a relative to purchase 415,000 shares of Dow Jones last month, shortly before News Corp.'s offer to buy the media giant became public. Regulators called the trades "highly suspicious" for their volume and timing.
RELATED: Scrutiny Seen of Trading in Dow Jones
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/business/media/09insider.html?ref=business
Reuters, Thomson Lay Out Merger Details
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050800207.html
Thomson Corp.'s $18 billion cash-and-stock bid for Reuters Group would create a new market-data company called Thomson-Reuters that would be run by the Reuters chief executive and protect the news service's journalistic independence, the companies said yesterday. In the first acknowledgment of the bid, which was reported last week, the companies detailed plans to create the world's largest provider of financial market data and trading systems to investing professionals. Currently second and third in the marketplace, respectively, Reuters and Thomson, if combined, would edge out market leader Bloomberg, owned by New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
Journalism advocates decry teacher's ouster over student's article in paper
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-05-08-journalism-teacher_N.htm
When the year began at Woodlan Jr./Sr. High School in Woodburn, Ind., Amy Sorrell was busy teaching journalism and serving as publisher of the Tomahawk, the student newspaper. That changed recently when Sorrell ended up at the heart of a dispute over a Tomahawk column on gay rights — a dispute that has cost Sorrell her job, galvanized administrators and caught the attention of First Amendment activists. Journalism advocates say Sorrell's case offers a glimpse into a struggle playing out as school administrators, often because of a concern about violence, try to keep closer tabs on what students say, read and write. "The censorship that has occurred at Woodlan is happening at schools all across the country. The story and circumstances may be different, but the outcome is the same," said Mark Goodman, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, an Arlington, Va.-based advocacy group that has consulted with Sorrell.
Education
Federal Student Loan Chief Will Step Down
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801805.html
The head of the U.S. Education Department's student loan office announced her resignation yesterday amid mounting criticism of the agency's oversight of the loan industry. Theresa S. Shaw's exit as chief operating officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid comes as the New York state attorney general, congressional Democrats and the department's inspector general are investigating the loan industry and the web of personal and financial ties linking some key players in lending companies, universities and the government. Shaw, a former executive at loan industry leader Sallie Mae, has held her department post for five years. Her resignation is effective June 1. Some student-loan consumer advocates gave her a harsh appraisal.
Science and Technology
What on earth? Database to list all named species
Spurred by fears that thousands of animals, plants, and microbes will disappear from the planet before scientists can properly study them, a consortium of world-famous research institutions and funding foundations today is launching an effort to compile an enormous, computer-based "Encyclopedia of Life" to catalog every species known or found.
Military
Commanders in Iraq See 'Surge' Into '08
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050802096.html
The Pentagon announced yesterday that 35,000 soldiers in 10 Army combat brigades will begin deploying to Iraq in August as replacements, making it possible to sustain the increase of U.S. troops there until at least the end of this year. U.S. commanders in Iraq are increasingly convinced that heightened troop levels, announced by President Bush in January, will need to last into the spring of 2008. The military has said it would assess in September how well its counterinsurgency strategy, intended to pacify Baghdad and other parts of Iraq, is working. "The surge needs to go through the beginning of next year for sure," said Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the day-to-day commander for U.S. military operations in Iraq.
RELATED: Pentagon Tells 35,000 Troops They May Be Deployed to Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/washington/09troops.html?ref=washington
VA Benefits System for PTSD Victims Is Criticized
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801746.html
The government's methods for deciding compensation for emotionally disturbed veterans have little basis in science, are applied unevenly and may even create disincentives for veterans to get better, an influential scientific advisory group said yesterday. The critique by the Institute of Medicine, which provides advice to the federal government on medical science issues, comes at a time of sharp increases in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among veterans and skyrocketing costs for disability compensation. The study was undertaken at the request of the Department of Veterans Affairs amid fears that troops returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will produce a tidal wave of new PTSD cases.
RELATED: Better stress tests are urged for vets
Six Charged in Plot To Attack Fort Dix
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050800465.html
A group of would-be terrorists, allegedly undone after attempting to have jihad training videos copied onto a DVD, has been charged with conspiring to attack Fort Dix and kill soldiers there with assault rifles and grenades, authorities said Tuesday. Five men -- all foreign-born and described as "radical Islamists" by federal authorities -- allegedly trained at a shooting range in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains to kill "as many soldiers as possible" at the historic Army base 25 miles east of Philadelphia. A sixth man was charged with helping them obtain illegal weapons.
Religion
In Brazil, Pope to Face A Church Losing Hold
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801959.html
When Pope Benedict XVI lands here Wednesday for his first visit to Latin America since becoming pontiff, he will set foot in a region considered by many here to be the heart of his church, home to nearly half the world's Roman Catholics. A clear challenge awaits him: to persuade them to stay true to a church that is losing thousands of adherents throughout the region every day.
RELATED: Benedict to confront a vast theological divide in Brazil
Gas price jump comes early
As politicians from both parties blamed each other Tuesday for record gasoline prices, American motorists are facing what could be a long, hot summer of paying through the hose. Economists and government officials blamed the soaring pump costs on record demand by drivers and refinery outages that have reduced gasoline stocks. The U.S. still is importing gasoline, but not enough to drive prices down. It appears to be a repeat of last summer, but this time the prices are much higher, much earlier. Gasoline prices this week hit a record national average of $3.05 a gallon, the Energy Department reported Monday, with prices in some regions much higher. Unlike in 2006, oil prices are not the main driver.
Clean Power That Reaps a Whirlwind
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/business/09carbon.html?ref=business
The wind turbines rising 180 feet above this dusty village at the hilly edge of Inner Mongolia could be an environmentalist’s dream: their electricity is clean, sparing the horizon sooty clouds or global warming gases. But the wind-power generators are also part of a growing dispute over a United Nations program that is the centerpiece of international efforts to help developing countries combat global warming. That program, the Clean Development Mechanism, has become a kind of Robin Hood, raising billions of dollars from rich countries and transferring them to poor countries to curb the emission of global warming gases. The biggest beneficiary is no longer so poor: China, with $1.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, received three-fifths of the money last year.
Transportation and Infrastructure
Natural-gas powered cars: Who even knows they exist?
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-05-08-natural-gas-usat_N.htm
Imagine paying as little as $1.25 a gallon to run your car. Not for gasoline. Instead, you would pump a fuel that's readily available, North American-produced and virtually pollution-free. Many motorists could even fill up in their own garages every night just like they would power-up with one of the gas-electric plug-in hybrids still under development. Now, what if this magical car were available today, and no one cared. Not government officials. Not auto executives. Not consumers. Not even some environmentalists. Therein lies the paradox of the natural-gas powered car. Most major automakers offered them in the 1990s, primarily for government and corporate fleets. Back then, smog was the chief national concern. Yet today, when natural gas offers a common-sense, immediate and ecological relief valve to the nation's dependence on foreign oil, only one major automaker still makes a production model — and sales stink.
Senate panel OKs bill to boost fuel efficiency standard
In a sign of congressional concern over near record-high gasoline prices and global warming, a Senate committee Tuesday approved legislation calling for the most significant increase in vehicle fuel efficiency in decades. The measure would boost the fleetwide average fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020, up from 25. It now goes to the Senate, where a similar measure was defeated two years ago after heavy lobbying by automakers. This time, however, the bill was being backed by a number of lawmakers who previously opposed tougher standards. And it comes when congressional Democratic leaders have pledged to pass legislation to address climate change. Cars and light trucks, including sport utility vehicles, pickups and vans, account for about one-fifth of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions.
RELATED: Senate panel votes to boost fuel economy levels
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2007-05-08-fuel-economy-standards_N.htm
Editor’s note: the New York Times has converted to a subscription-based editorial section. We are no longer clipping their op-ed columnists.
Chance for Reform
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801838.html
CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS have been promising since last November's election to reform President Bush's treatment of foreign prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay prison. There are practical limits to what can be done while this president remains in office; eye-catching bills to shut down Guantanamo, for example, are unlikely to be enacted. But today Democrats in the House have an opportunity to take an important first step toward the reform that may be most achievable -- the restoration of the ancient right of habeas corpus to the Guantanamo detainees. Unfortunately, their leaders seem to have decided to pass up the opportunity.
RELATED: The Democrats’ Pledge
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/opinion/09wed1.html
Ignatius: Cheney And the Saudis
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801581.html
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may make the headlines with her high-profile diplomatic missions to the Middle East. But for a glimpse at the hidden power plays, follow Vice President Cheney's trip this week to Saudi Arabia. Saudi King Abdullah has emerged over the past nine months as the Bush administration's most important and strong-willed Arab ally. He launched an aggressive campaign last fall to contain Iranian influence in the Arab world and, in the process, buttress American interests in the region despite U.S. setbacks in Iraq. It's Cheney, whose blunt, unsmiling demeanor matches Saudi notions of American gravitas, who manages the Abdullah account.
Jackson: For African-Americans, folly of this war hits home
MILITARY SOCIOLOGIST David R. Segal was asked Monday over the telephone what he hears in his surveys of soldiers. He quoted an African-American veteran of the Iraq invasion and occupation: "This is not a black people's war. This is not a poor people's war. This is an oilman's war." Gregory Black, a retired Navy diver who last year started the website BlackMilitaryWorld.com, said that quote sums up what he too hears from African-American veterans of Iraq. "African-Americans detest this war," Black said yesterday in a phone interview. "Everybody kind of knows the truth behind this war. It's a cash cow for the military defense industry, when you look at the money these contractors are making. African-Americans saw this at the beginning of the war and now the rest of the country has figured it out. It's not benefiting us in the least."
No loopholes for fuel standards
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-cafe9may09,0,3790776.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail
WITH GAS PRICES soaring and congressional Democrats eager to flex their environmental muscles, the stars have seldom been better aligned for a long-overdue increase in automotive fuel economy standards. Yet the best hope for progress — a sensible bill from California Sen. Dianne Feinstein — underwent oral surgery Tuesday and is now all but toothless.
Meyerson: Enron's Enablers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801582.html
"We recognize," federal appellate Judge Jerry Smith wrote in a March opinion tossing out a lawsuit by Enron shareholders against the banks that helped the company cook its books, "that our ruling on legal merit may not coincide, particularly in the minds of aggrieved former Enron shareholders who have lost billions of dollars in a fraud they allege was aided and abetted by the defendants at bar, with notions of justice and fair play." Nothing like a judicial edict that acknowledges it violates common decency.
Marks: A Fair Path to College
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050801584.html
Last fall Harvard, Princeton and the University of Virginia eliminated their early admissions programs. But all concerned with increasing low-income applicants' chances of being admitted to and succeeding in college must recognize that early admission is a small part of the picture. The college admissions process is increasingly skewed against low-income students, who need better advising and funding.
Brownstein: What we know after the debates
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brownstein9may09,0,356687.column?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
The top GOP and Democratic candidates are casting themselves as the most prepared, most inspiring or most aspiring.
Page: Satire about Obama isn't the same as Imus' flub
Remember when media pundits were asking whether Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was "black enough" to attract black voters? That was the old media narrative. The new one goes sort of like this: "Maybe he's too black." Take, for example, his conservative adversaries, such as talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh, who seems to take gleeful delight in reminding everyone of how black Obama is -- and even more delight when the rest of us notice. Back in mid-March, for example, el Rushbo began to air a satirical song titled, "Barack the Magic Negro."
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