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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
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
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
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."
Today’s complete national news
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
Today’s complete Colorado news
Today’s complete daily news: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/050907.htm
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