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TOP STORIES
National
Iraqi Lawmakers Back Bill on U.S. Withdrawal
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051000387.html
A majority of members of Iraq's parliament have signed a draft bill that would require a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq and freeze current troop levels. The development was a sign of a growing division between Iraq's legislators and prime minister that mirrors the widening gulf between the Bush administration and its critics in Congress. The draft bill proposes a timeline for a gradual departure, much like what some U.S. Democratic lawmakers have demanded, and would require the Iraqi government to secure parliament's approval before any further extensions of the U.N. mandate for foreign troops in Iraq, which expires at the end of 2007. "We haven't asked for the immediate withdrawal of multinational forces; we asked that we should build our security forces and make them qualified, and at that point there would be a withdrawal," said Bahaa al-Araji, a member of parliament allied with the anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose supporters drafted the bill. "But no one can accept the occupation of his country."
RELATED: Debate ends with a slap in Iraq parliament
RELATED: Iraqi government rejecting U.S.-funded projects
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-10-iraq-contracts_N.htm
More Iraq war news in NATIONAL/ELECTION, NATIONAL/GOVERNMENT, NATIONAL/FOREIGN POLICY, NATIONAL/MILITARY, COLORADO/GOVERNMENT, COLORADO/MILITARY
Illegal immigrants voice complaints to U.N. expert
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/05/10/0511metunited.html
"There's a lot of hiding now," she said. "People are in the shadows." Gines testified in Atlanta Thursday at a meeting among immigrants, community leaders and Jorge Bustamante, a United Nations expert on migrant human rights. Bustamante has held similar meetings in Arizona, Florida and Texas. More than 50 people — some from as far away as Louisiana — jammed into a small office in a nondescript office park off I-85 Thursday to give testimonies. "We have seen a rise in anti-immigrant sentiments all over the world," said Bustamante, a sociology professor at Notre Dame University who also serves as the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants. Some people mistakenly believe that undocumented immigrants don't have any rights, he said. His visit to Georgia is significant because the state's illegal immigrant population is considered one of the nation's fastest-growing. Both the Pew Hispanic Center and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimate it's approaching half a million.
House GOP Stands Behind Gonzales
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051000109.html
House Republicans rallied around embattled Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales yesterday during intense questioning by Democrats, even as revelations emerged about attempts to fire U.S. attorneys singled out for criticism by White House political adviser Karl Rove. Appearing more confident as he has kept his job and the support of President Bush, Gonzales rebuffed questions by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys and repeated his defense of the dismissals as warranted, if poorly handled.
RELATED: Attorney general frustrates Democrats
RELATED: Gonzales: White House didn't seek resignations
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-10-gonzales-prosecutors_N.htm
Path Is Cleared For Trade Deals
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002170.html
Congressional Democrats, who only six months ago struck a combative stance with the Bush administration on trade policy, reached a deal with the White House yesterday, clearing the way for approval of trade pacts with Peru and Panama. "Today marks a new day," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said as she stood beside the Bush administration's Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., to announce the deal. She expressed gratitude to Republicans as well as Democrats. "With their help, we have been able to agree to this new trade policy so that we can raise the living standards in the United States and abroad, expand our markets and spur economic growth," Pelosi said.
RELATED: Pelosi announces bipartisan trade policy
RELATED: Bush and Democrats in Accord on Labor Rights in Trade Deals
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/business/11trade-web.html
Colorado
Bush threatens veto of disaster aid bill
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/12
President Bush warned House lawmakers Thursday he would veto legislation being drafted to provide $3.5 billion in disaster aid to Western state farmers and ranchers who suffered losses from drought and the winter's blizzards. "The 2002 Farm Bill, when coupled with federally subsidized crop insurance, already provides a generous safety net that was designed to eliminate the need for ad hoc disaster assistance," the White House informed Congress, referring to a disaster relief bill that is moving through the House. "Consequently, the proposed assistance is unnecessary and unwarranted." The disaster aid had been part of the $123 billion Iraq war supplemental that is currently deadlocked between the Democratic leadership in Congress and the White House. Bush vetoed that bill last week because it called for a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, but he also labeled the disaster aid portion as unnecessary "pork barrel" spending. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., said the veto threat ignored the loss of cattle that ranchers suffered in the Christmas and New Year's blizzards.
Residents rip Udall's limits on Army's Piñon Canyon plans
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531435,00.html
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., called Thursday for strict limits on the Army's planned expansion of its Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, but was assailed later in the day by residents who face losing their land to the expansion. The Army announced in February that it wants to acquire 418,000 acres to expand its 238,000-acre maneuver site between Trinidad and La Junta. The Democratic congressman from Eldorado Springs introduced legislation Thursday that would require the Army to meet several conditions before it could invoke eminent domain to force southeastern Colorado ranchers and farmers from their land. Udall also called for congressional hearings on the expansion. But Udall's actions were attacked as betraying the Coloradans he was elected to represent and opening the way for the Army to proceed with condemnation plans. Instead of halting or impeding the expansion, Udall's measure was attached to a bill that actually provides funding for the Army's plan, said an angry Lon Robertson, president of a rancher and farmer group called the Piñon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition.
RELATED: Udall amends Piñon Canyon land criteria
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867360
RELATED: Udall aims to restrain Army
http://www.gazette.com/articles/army_22223___article.html/udall_state.html
RELATED: Udall puts limits on Army plans for Pinon Canyon
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/3
RELATED: Army, anti-expansion group to work on resolving lawsuit
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/9
Fountain schools chief tapped for state's top education post
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5531376,00.html
Fountain School Superintendent Dwight Jones, widely known for raising student achievement in his district, was named Thursday as the sole finalist for state education commissioner. If approved by the state Board of Education in two weeks, Jones will replace outgoing Commissioner William Moloney, who is retiring. Jones, who is black, would be the state's first minority commissioner.
RELATED: Educator lone finalist for commissioner
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867425
RELATED: Jones taking vision statewide
http://www.gazette.com/articles/jones_22195___article.html/school_education.html
State expands investigation into personal gain from data
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5531208,00.html
The state auditor has broadened an investigation of the Colorado secretary of state's office to determine whether any employees have misused state resources to enrich themselves. The expanded inquiry by state Auditor Sally Symanski was sought by the watchdog group Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government. Symanski could not be reached for comment Thursday. But secretary of state spokesman Jonathan Tee and state Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, confirmed a broader audit. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Coffman reassigned a technology supervisor and longtime political ally who operated a side business selling voter information for mainly Republican interests.
Election
A kinder, gentler Clinton in Iowa
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_5531186,00.html
The visitor feigned a surprised facial expression when she popped into the small, hilltop museum and found a few hundred people waiting for her in the atrium. "My goodness, I thought I was coming to have pie and coffee with a few people," Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said with an aw-shucks grin, introducing herself at a Sunday night event in rain-drenched Red Oak. Clinton doesn't get to do that stereotypical Iowa caucus coffee klatch stuff. She's too famous.
Dean preaches to the choir on fairness, fiscal restraint
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531677,00.html
Moments before Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Pat Waak turned the microphone over to Howard Dean at the Pipefitters Union Hall in Denver on Thursday, Dean's cell phone buzzed. Dean flipped it open, chuckled and then closed it - but not before he cracked that it was probably Colorado Republican Chairman Dick Wadhams. So, what would Wadhams have said to the chairman of the Democratic National Committee if it had been him on the phone? "I'd welcome him to Colorado as well as the entire Democratic National Convention. I think it's great they're coming to town," Wadhams said before cocking his shotgun barrel. "I also think it's a wonderful opportunity for Republicans because we can show how the DNC and Gov. Bill Ritter are out of step with the state." Funny, because Dean made the exact opposite case to the crowd of about 200 - ripping Republicans for lacking fiscal restraint, preaching morality they don't practice themselves and getting the country bogged down in a war a majority of Americans don't believe in anymore.
RELATED: Values key in bridge-building visit
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5868573
Mayor granted ethics waiver
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531436,00.html
When Mayor John Hickenlooper flies around the country seeking donations for the 2008 Democratic National Convention, he can do it in first-class style. The city's board of ethics granted the mayor a waiver, allowing him to solicit and accept travel, lodging and meals during his cross-country fundraising efforts. Hickenlooper expects the host committee to pay or reimburse any lodging or meal expenses, but said he may fly to "relevant cities" on private planes to raise money. The mayor sought a waiver from the board because he believes "some uses of private planes or other travel may implicate the Code of Ethics," according to city documents.
City, Bruce battle over proposed ballot issue
http://www.gazette.com/articles/city_22227___article.html/bruce_ballot.html
A city attorney and anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce squared off in district court Thursday over a ballot issue Bruce is trying to petition onto the November ballot. Fourth Judicial District Judge Rebecca Bromley said she’ll issue a ruling this morning. The proposed ballot issue would overturn the city’s new stormwater fee, require voter approval to create future enterprise funds and lower the city’s property tax. The city’s Title Board rejected the measure late last week, saying it violates a state law limiting ballot questions to a single topic. Bruce is asking the court to force the city to print the ballot issue on petitions so he can begin gathering signatures.
Rifle City Council members discuss upcoming ballot issues
http://postindependent.com/article/20070511/VALLEYNEWS/105110057
Three open city council seats and the resurgence of a proposed lodging tax are some of the items that are likely to be on the city's ballot in the municipal election in September. Rifle City Council members held a workshop meeting Wednesday evening to discuss the proposed ballot issues for the Sept. 11, 2007 municipal election.
Effective and Ethical Government
Salazar wants U.S. to use Iraq panel's plan for war
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5530809,00.html
Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar wants to build a bipartisan group of lawmakers to push President Bush into adopting the Iraq Study Group's advice for ending the war. Salazar, a Democrat, and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Republican, circulated a letter in the Senate Thursday arguing the group's recommendations are the best alternative to the debate over funding for the unpopular and costly war. The senators plan to introduce a bill around the end of the month which would set a series of benchmarks the Iraqis must meet in exchange for continued U.S. support. Unlike at least one previous House Democratic proposal, they do not propose cutting off funding for the war.
RELATED: Salazar spearheads bipartisan effort to change direction in Iraq
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070511/NEWS/105100122
RELATED: Salazar, Alexander offer bipartisan plan on Iraq
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/7
Ex-parks director nagged by horse purchase
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867427
The specter of a horse loomed over a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing Thursday for the former director of Colorado State Parks, Lyle Laverty. Laverty, 64, of Arvada, resigned as the parks head last month when he was nominated by the Bush administration to the Department of the Interior's No. 3 position - assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks. But a 2004 purchase of a Missouri fox trotter named Harley is proving to be a difficult issue for Laverty to hurdle. The Senate must approve Laverty's appointment, and any senator can put a hold on the confirmation process. The assistant secretary oversees the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service. "I do not believe that I can vote for you at this time," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., during Laverty's confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Bills stack up on Ritter's desk
Lawmakers might have gone home for the year, but lobbying continues at the state Capitol. Gov. Bill Ritter has 50 to 100 bills on his desk, his staffers say, and he’s talking with his staff about vetoing some of them. “We’re not saying. We have things that we have on our desk that we’re looking at,” Ritter said Monday. “I’m just not going to prejudge anything right now.”
Lobbyist not subject to ethics rule
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5531683,00.html
A state ethics panel agreed Thursday that a lobbyist orchestrated "deceitful" and "reprehensible" automated phone calls to stir up voter opposition to a homeowner protection bill. But a majority of the three-lawmaker panel concluded that an ethics rule against lobbyists using "deceit" to influence a lawmaker doesn't apply to the actions of William Mutch. The recommendation now goes to a panel of House and Senate leaders from both parties. Mutch is the director and lobbyist for Colorado Concern, an alliance of business leaders who said the bill shielding homeowners against construction defects would fuel costly lawsuits. Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, said if a lobbyist "misrepresents a bill to me, that's a clear violation of the rules." But she said extending the rule to lobbyists' communications with the public could turn the legislature into the "political speech" police. Mutch's attorney has stressed that the U.S. Supreme Court has long ruled that political speech, even when statements are false or misleading, is granted broad constitutional protection.
RELATED: 2 of 3 on ethics panel say lobbyist kept to rules
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867426
RELATED: Divided ethics panel makes no recommendation on lobbyist
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070510/NEWS/105100080
Ex-state employee is officially fired
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531678,00.html
Michelle Cawthra, 30, the former state employee accused of stealing $10 million of taxpayer funds, was officially fired Thursday. The taxpayer services supervisor was notified of her termination April 30, and her 10-day appeal expired Thursday, said Department of Revenue spokeswoman Diane Reimer. Cawthra and her boyfriend, Hysear Don Randell, 40, have been charged in a plot to funnel millions of dollars of bogus tax refunds into his bank accounts. Prosecutors have frozen bank accounts in a bid to recover the money.
RELATED: Scam suspect worked for Revenue Department
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867973
RELATED: State planned to replace computer system prior to alleged $10 million theft
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/8
Penley: Region must be united
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070511/NEWS01/705110339/1002
Changing times mean Northern Colorado's communities will have to work cooperatively in meeting the challenges of the future, Colorado State University President Larry Penley said Thursday. Penley, speaking at the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado's annual luncheon, said the area's cities and towns should stop "whining" about each other's successes and focus on a regional approach for attracting economic prosperity.
Blogger aims ethics complaint at city auditor
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867971
Auditor Dennis Gallagher's office is facing an ethics complaint for paying nearly $50,000 in campaign funds to his city- paid spokesman. But the employee in question, Denis Berckefeldt, said there were no grounds for a complaint. Lisa Jones, a blogger and Denver watchdog, filed the complaint with the Denver Board of Ethics last month out of concern over Berckefeldt's "moonlighting." She pointed out that Gallagher's campaign paid Berckefeldt- owned Prairie Fire Communications thousands of dollars since the beginning of the year. Berckefeldt makes $92,556 working for the city as Gallagher's spokesman. "Even if Gallagher gave approval for Berckefeldt's moonlighting," Jones wrote in her complaint, "Gallagher would have no reason to object to Berckefeldt using city time to further Gallagher's campaign goals." Berckefeldt, however, said he followed city protocol and was careful to work on his own time. He said most of the money he received went directly to buying services such as television ads or robo-calls. "When I do stuff for Gallagher, I'm doing it for free because I have an investment in him getting elected," he said.
Louisville group protests renewal authority
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/11/louisville-group-protests-renewal-authority/
A Louisville group filed a ballot initiative Thursday challenging an appointed commission's authority over urban renewal. The measure would transfer authority over redevelopment from the Louisville Revitalization Commission to the City Council. It also would require the council to pass an ordinance approving any project financed with sales tax — but not before studying fiscal impacts on city funds and conducting a cost-benefit analysis of tax financing and "the city's long-term financial position." The council voted 5-2 in December to declare 230 acres — including downtown Louisville, shopping centers along South Boulder Road and the former "Pow Wow Grounds" — an urban-blight area eligible for public incentives for redevelopment. The plan authorizes a process called tax-increment financing to set aside new tax revenues from redevelopment — an estimated $77 million over 25 years — to reimburse a portion of developers' costs for public infrastructure.
Property values skyrocket, tax bills won’t
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070510/NEWS/70510013
What was explained to Graboyes is what County Assessor Mark Chapin would like all property owners to know. The Taxpayers Bill of Rights and the Gallagher Amendment to the state’s tax laws limit the amount of revenue the government can collect from property taxes, Chapin said. The law also requires an independent audit of the valuations, he said. “We are not doing this to collect tons of money, we are doing it because the law requires us to,” Chapin said. “We are audited by the state and have to be accurate within 5 percent up or down of a property’s value to pass. That is my goal in life — to pass the audit and not fail.” The values of the homes are based on what it could sell for and what the trend for the market in the area is, Chapin said.
Victor back in business — more fireworks
http://www.gazette.com/articles/bielz_22232___article.html/city_justice.html
Kissing and making up wasn’t on the agenda for Thursday night’s City Council meeting. Continued bad blood between this mountain hamlet’s new mayor, city clerk and assorted other characters most certainly was. “You came in like Rambo and made it clear you didn’t care who it hurt,” Councilwoman Lonesa Wyatt accused Mayor Serena Bielz, chosen to replace Kathy Justice, who was ousted in an April 24 recall.
Civil Liberties and Equality
Activist welcomed home as a hero
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531682,00.html
Kirsten Westby was paraded Thursday before photographers and reporters for the second time in the past few weeks. Unlike the first time, however, Westby wasn't threatened. Instead, her husband, Phillip Bartell, and about 25 members of the Tibetan Association of Colorado gave her a hero's welcome. The 29-year-old Boulder woman spent 55 hours in Chinese custody after she and five other Americans went last month to a Mount Everest base camp where a Chinese expedition, preparing for the Olympic torch ceremonies, was staying.
State ed board rules out quotas for charter school diversity goals
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5531672,00.html
Numerical quotas are not an acceptable way for charter schools to meet diversity goals, the Colorado Board of Education said Thursday. The ruling came in the case of an applicant seeking a charter from the St. Vrain Valley Board of Education, which runs schools in Longmont and surrounding communities. As a condition of receiving a charter, the local board insisted that 31.1 percent of students at the proposed Imagine School be eligible for free or reduced-cost lunches. That's the percentage in nearby schools run by the district. The state board agreed with proponents of the school, who called the requirement a quota.
Health care disparities for minorities to be discussed
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/11/5_11_1b_minority_health.html
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment wants to hear about health care disparities and ethnic minority health issues in Mesa County. A town hall style meeting will be held 11 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. today at the Latino-Anglo Alliance Foundation building, 760 Winters Ave. The Minority Health Care and Advisory Commission, of the Department of Health is sponsoring the meeting. “Communities of color are disproportionately affected by disease, disability and death,” said Mauricio Palacio, director of the Department of Health Office of Health Disparities. “These health disparities exist across all health areas.”
Centauri officials told of racial tension
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/20
The Confederate flag. The use of an epithet against blacks that has a long, ugly history. A picture on the Internet depicting boys believed to be local students holding guns and making the Nazi salute. They all may seem like flash points from other times and other places, but they were front and center at a meeting of the North Conejos School District School Board meeting Wednesday night. School board members laid a number of steps to ease tension and improve security at Centauri High School. In the past week the 323-student school in the San Luis Valley has had a school day canceled, its prom postponed and a student walkout.
Pipe shop's graffiti alternative must go
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867428
So what's wrong with a caterpillar smoking shisha in a hookah anyway? Or a white rabbit popping a pill? Plenty, if you're the city of Englewood. The city is forcing a South Broadway pipe and smoking-accessories shop to get rid of a mural painted a few weeks ago depicting characters from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." "It's a cartoon, people. Let's move on," said Mike Mahaney, owner of Headed West, at 4811 S. Broadway. Mahaney grew tired of painting over the constant barrage of graffiti at his shop, so he had a mural painted on the walls. All seemed fine, until some people complained that the mural was inappropriate because they said it depicted drug use.
Marriage and Family Issues
Custody decisions close caseworkers' book
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867991
Social service workers were not required to keep tabs on the welfare of two half brothers - the older now dead - after a judge granted custody of them to the people charged Thursday in the boy's death. County social service agencies assess the safety and quality of a home when child custody is in dispute, then present their findings to a judge who decides where a child will reside. But unless allegations of abuse or neglect in the home require follow-up visits, the workers' responsibilities end once the judge closes the case, social service officials say. A Jefferson County magistrate decided in January that Chandler Grafner and his half brother should live with Jon Phillips, the younger boy's biological father and the elder's "psychological father," court records show. The case was closed a week later.
Health Care and Public Safety
Teen at W. Slope camp died of staph infection
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531438,00.html
A Utah boy who died May 2 in the care of Alternative Youth Adventures in a backcountry camp in Colorado's western Montrose County was killed by a staph infection and should have received medical care, authorities said. The camp was shut down, the state license for AYA "summarily suspended" and the remaining 26 teenagers in the program's care were dispersed Thursday to other state facilities, said Liz McDonough, spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services. "The child reported symptoms of observable signs of infection," McDonough said. Dr. Rob Kurtzman, the Grand Junction pathologist who performed the autopsy on Caleb Jensen, 15, said testing confirmed that the death was caused by a staph infection.
RELATED: Bacterial infection blamed in teen's death
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/11/5_11_1a_coroner_report.html
RELATED: Camp shut after youth dies
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5865646
'Black Death' found in Denver squirrels
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-10-denver-squirrel-plague_N.htm
A rash of squirrel deaths from plague in the middle of Colorado's largest city has heightened surveillance for the deadly but curable disease. No humans here have been infected with plague, the "Black Death" disease that killed millions in 14th-century Europe. A state hotline gets 50-75 calls daily about dead rodents. Chris Urbina, Denver's health director, says the risk of catching it "is extremely low." One human case has been reported in the USA this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A 49-year-old man in San Juan County, N.M., was hospitalized last week and is recovering. A flu-like illness that occurs most often in lymph nodes or the blood, plague is treatable with antibiotics.
Health commission looks for ideas
Most people know what's wrong with health care: Costs are going up, it's getting harder to find a good doctor, and many people don't have insurance. It's more difficult to figure out what to do about it. But Four Corners residents will get a chance to share their ideas Saturday, when a high-level group for health-care reform comes to Durango for a public hearing. The Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform is looking at sweeping new ideas for health care in Colorado. "This is the opportunity the region has to speak out on health-care reform," said Lynn Westberg, a commission member and the director of the San Juan Basin Health Department.
Mosquito spraying to start early
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16273
Public health officials say they plan to start spraying insecticide to kill adult mosquitoes earlier this year, after research showed that waiting until humans start getting sick with West Nile virus is too late.
States say Anheuser-Busch marketing drink to minors
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5867446
Attorneys general in 27 states, including Colorado, urged Anheuser-Busch Inc. to issue warnings about mixing alcohol with caffeinated energy drinks, such as its new Spykes flavored malt-beverage drink. In a letter to the company Thursday, state officials accused the beer company of marketing Spykes and other products to underage drinkers and failing to deter minors from using them. It's the latest criticism of Spykes, a 2-ounce bottle of flavored malt beverage meant to be mixed with beer or other drinks, or consumed as a shot. With colorful packaging and four flavors - lime, mango, melon and hot chocolate - Spykes measure 12 percent alcohol by volume.
Hearts don't keep beat with iPods, study hints
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5866937
Attention, iPod users: Your music might be breaking Grandpa's heart - and not just because he doesn't care for the lyrics. A study of 83 volunteers with pacemakers found the music devices interfered with the pacemakers nearly 30 percent of the time. The results of the study, conducted by Michigan high school student Jay Thayer and Dr. Krit Jongnarangsin, a University of Michigan cardiologist, were presented Thursday at the Heart Rhythm Society meeting in Denver. The society is a professional group focusing on irregular heart rhythm. In most cases, the iPod interference caused pacemakers to misread the heart's pacing. In one, the pacemaker stopped altogether.
Lawsuit: Needle found in burrito
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16278
A Longmont man filed a lawsuit last week claiming that he discovered a hypodermic needle in a burrito he bought at a Boulder Chipotle Mexican Grill Restaurant in March.
Crime and Penal Reform
Zavaras: Inmate growth at ‘one prison a year’
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Top-Story.asp?id=6926
The Colorado Department of Corrections director told local officials Wednesday that inmate numbers are growing at a rate of “one prison a year” and more needs to be done to reduce recidivism before budgetary problems get further out of hand. DOC director Ari Zavaras met with Fremont County representatives at West Central Mental Health in Cañon City to discuss issues ranging from inmate work crews to private prisons, as well as other areas of interest to local residents. Among those in attendance were Cañon City Mayor Bill Jackson, Florence Mayor Cindy Cox and Fremont County Commissioner Ed Norden. Other interested attendees included local business representatives. Upbeat and charismatic during the hour-long session, Zavaras said he is hopeful for changes within DOC to come soon, but he cautioned the rising costs of housing inmates is something that cannot be ignored by Colorado communities. “It costs $27,500 a year to house an inmate,” he said. “Prison beds cost $125,000. Imagine what you could do with education with that kind of money.”
Cops seek court worker
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531679,00.html
Investigators are searching for a former contract worker with the Jefferson County Courts office accused of stealing $7,912 by writing restitution checks to herself. Lori Sue Salminen, 23, of Edgewater, wrote seven checks to herself during the six months that she worked as a bookkeeper for the courts, according to a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
RELATED: Ex-Jeffco contractor accused of theft
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5865023
State patrolman still recovering after being shot
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/11/5_11_1B_Trooper_talks.html
A “warrior mentality” helped Brian Koch survive a shooting incident last fall, and he said that mentality is driving his desire to continue his law enforcement career with the Colorado State Patrol. Koch, 39, talked about his experience publicly for the first time Thursday in Glenwood Springs, where the State Patrol honored the men who stopped to provide him medical aid immediately after Koch was shot by Steven Appl.
RELATED: It's the second purple heart for Koch
http://postindependent.com/article/20070511/VALLEYNEWS/105110056
RELATED: Three earn top civilian CSP honor for coming to aid of injured trooper
http://postindependent.com/article/20070511/VALLEYNEWS/70510006
Alleged fraud common in unregulated industry
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070511/NEWS/105110080
Money shuffling schemes, such as the one "Scoop" Daniel is accused of, aren't uncommon in the world of 1031 exchanges, a practice that is unregulated and can be offered by anyone, including - as in one recent Denver case - a convicted felon. Unfortunately it's rare for victims of such scams to ever see their money again, according to experts in the field. "If the intermediary spent the money there's no place to go to get it," said George Beardsley, president and owner of Land Title Guarantee Company of Summit County, whose company arranges about five or six 1031 exchanges a month. Breckenridge attorney Daniel, who acted as a qualified intermediary, is accused of taking in excess of $500,000 of his clients' 1031 exchange money before disappearing on April 27, authorities said on Wednesday.
Fallen deputy honored during national memorial
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/11/5_11_1b_deputy.html
The only Mesa County Sheriff’s Department deputy to die in the line of duty will be memorialized on the National Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial in Washington, D.C. Edward Innes, who died 101 years ago, will have his name placed on the memorial during a candlelight vigil Sunday along with four other Colorado law enforcement officers. The ceremony will mark the beginning of National Police Week.
Economy
Allard introduces measure to prevent industrial banking
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070511/NEWS/105100118
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., announced legislation Thursday to eliminate a controversial exemption in federal banking law that has allowed commercial firms, most famously Wal-Mart, to acquire or establish banks. Wal-Mart began filing paperwork to get into the banking business two years ago. The retail giant's efforts were opposed by a coalition including independent bankers and the United Food and Commercial Workers, a labor group traditionally opposed to Wal-Mart for its efforts opposing unions in its stores. The company pulled its application for a bank -- technically called an "industrial bank" -- in the summer of 2005. "When we fought the issue, Wal-Mart was kind of the big dog everyone was fighting," said Jerry Bryant, chairman and CEO of Colorado Community Bank. Bryant, whose bank has a branch in Greeley and six branches in Weld County, said his concern was that big retailers are vulnerable to bankruptcy, which makes them unfit for banking. In such a scenario, the entire banking community would take a hit as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation would have to insure the corporation's losses.
Spotlight shifts to Nacchio's vendor stocks
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5531574,00.html
Former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio owned millions of dollars of stock in company vendors, some of it held in his family partnership, prosecution exhibits released Thursday indicate. The vendor stocks were listed as part of Nacchio's half-billion-dollar investment portfolio in early 2001. Many of the investments were already known or assumed, but the list provided further confirmation and detail. While vendor stock dealings weren't part of the criminal case against Nacchio, they were the subject of a grand jury investigation and resulted in an indictment against former Qwest Executive Vice President Marc Weisberg in 2005.
RELATED: What the jury heard and saw
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5531575,00.html
RELATED: Nacchio trial evidence made public
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5867291
After Valley Floor win, town looks to take land
http://telluridegateway.com/articles/2007/05/11/news/news02.txt
With $50 million for the Valley Floor sitting in a Denver bank account, the long-sought, hard-fought prize of an eminent-domain battle now lies within Telluride's reach. But the land is still outside the town's grasp. The town has now paid for the 570-acre Valley Floor, but it will likely be another two weeks before Telluride residents can ride their bikes or walk their dogs across the sprawling meadow. And it could be another year before the town officially becomes the new owner. Nothing has been simple in the Valley Floor saga, one of the longest and costliest civic efforts in Telluride's history. And it looks like the endgame will be no exception.
RELATED: Locals ‘elated' by last-minute success
http://telluridegateway.com/articles/2007/05/11/news/news01.txt
Worker's Rights and Corporate Accountability
One-fifth of county residents struggling
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070511/NEWS01/705110352/1002
One in five Larimer County and Colorado households don't have enough income to meet basic living costs, according to a report issued Thursday. "Colorado is a great place to live, but there are people in our state who are struggling," Lt. Gov. Barbara O'Brien said during the report's unveiling. "Being able to define the scope of the problem is important ... and this report will be a great tool in helping these people and this issue." The report, released by the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, used 2000 census data to analyze the number of people living below the "self-sufficiency standard" and issued policy suggestions that could help. The report's sponsors said the standard is a more reasonable measure than the federal poverty level in determining whether individuals and families have enough income to live in a particular community.
Housing and Homelessness
Guerrero replaces Carpio at DHA
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/real_estate/article/0,1299,DRMN_414_5530485,00.html
The Denver Housing Authority today announced it named Ismael Guerrero as the authority's executive director. Guerrero replaces Sal Carpio, who announced last spring that he is retiring, after more than 12 years at the helm of the authority, which has a $129 million annual budget and more than 300 employees. Guerrero, currently a Business Development Officer for U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., was chosen following a national search and interview process.
Skico: Midvalley purchase saves employee housing
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070511/NEWS/105110078
A top Aspen Skiing Co. official said Thursday that an El Jebel apartment complex would disappear as affordable housing if the Skico's weren't acquiring it. Skico attorney Dave Bellack said critics of the pending purchase aren't factoring in what market forces would do if the Skico hadn't planned to buy and preserve the 62-unit complex as employee affordable housing. "Apartment buildings get converted to condominium buildings almost inevitably," Bellack said. He believes it was just a matter of time before "some astute investors" obtained the Sopris View Apartments, condominiumized them and sold them for prices outside workers' budgets.
E-Free offers second chance
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Top-Story.asp?ID=6927
In October 2006, the Evangelical Free Church purchased the neighboring property, formally known as the Knotty Pines Motel, in the anticipation it would expand in the future. But the church wasn’t sure exactly what they wanted to do with the space. “They were wondering what they should do with these buildings, whether they should mow them over or what,” said Dee Dee Clement, a staff member of Loaves and Fishes. “And they sent out a letter to some nonprofits in the community and one of those letters went to Loaves and Fishes Ministries.” Don Farr, director of Loaves and Fishes, proposed an idea for transitional housing in Cañon City. After contacting local agencies, such as the Cañon City pregnancy center and Messengers of Hope jail ministry, the New Creations Inn was born.
Media
EchoStar posts gains but misses forecast
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5867958
If you are a late-paying customer who regularly calls to complain, Charlie Ergen doesn't want you. Ergen, the chief executive of satellite-television provider EchoStar Communications, said he would give those customers Comcast's phone number, referring to the nation's leading cable-TV company. A customer-service phone call "costs us a dollar a minute," Ergen said Thursday during a conference call with analysts after the company announced its first-quarter financial results, which missed analyst expectations because of higher costs. "Comcast is happy to serve all types of customers," said Comcast spokeswoman Cindy Parsons, in a telephone interview later. Ergen also said he would be happy to provide customers who set up automatic payments and don't complain with the best technology the company has to offer. Despite missing targets, Doug las County-based Echo Star, which offers satellite-TV through its Dish Network brand, added 310,000 net new subscribers as the rate of its customer cancellations slowed.
Education
Education board OKs funding for "fifth year"
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867358
The Colorado State Board of Education reversed course Thursday, voting to allow high schools to use state money to help students get associate college degrees. Programs at Sheridan High School and Denver's Abraham Lincoln High School were effectively shut down by the state in 2005 because state officials believed K-12 money was never intended to fund a college education. But Thursday, in an unexpected vote that caught even Sheridan Superintendent Michael Poore off guard, the State Board of Education voted unanimously to repeal the prohibition against so-called fifth-year programs.
Gov. Ritter appoints two to community college panel
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/16
Gov. Bill Ritter recently appointed two new members to the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education. Bernadette Marquez of Denver has been appointed to fill a vacant at-large position and John Trefny, President Emeritus of Colorado School of Mines, was appointed to represent the 7th congressional district. “The backgrounds of these two individuals demonstrate Gov. Ritter’s commitment to the pre-school through college concept of seamless education for Colorado’s students,” said Barbara McKellar, chairman of the SBCCOE.
Vowing to befriend environment
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5531657,00.html
Hundreds of graduating University of Colorado students plan to wear a little emerald with their black and gold today. They are part of a growing movement in which college graduates pledge to be environmentally friendly as they head off into the real world. "Coming to Boulder, you just become more environmentally aware, and when you leave you take a piece of Boulder with you," said student Steve Gilman. Called the Graduation Pledge Alliance, the effort was launched in 1987 at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif., and has since spread to 100 school campuses, including Harvard, Stanford, Notre Dame and the University of Michigan.
RELATED: Famed civil-rights figure speaks at CU graduation ceremony
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/11/cu-graduation-famed-civil-rights-figure-speaks/
RELATED: Honoring pioneers
http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2007/05/10/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt
RELATED: More security at CU graduation
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/11/more-security-at-cu-graduation/
Largest-ever Metro class to graduate
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/education/article/0,1299,DRMN_957_5531645,00.html
Gov. Bill Ritter on Sunday will address the largest graduating class in the history of Metropolitan State College. The 1,380 graduates number 13.5 percent more than graduated in 2006. The ceremony begins at 2 p.m. in the Colorado Convention Center. At Metro, officials say the higher number of graduates partly reflects enrollment increases. But they also believe the school is reaping the benefits of "stepped-up efforts" to head off dropouts, said spokeswoman Cathy Lucas. Metro's Mother's Day commencement is among several being held this weekend.
FRCC students graduate
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16276
About 85 Front Range Community College students walked across the stage Wednesday night at Vance Brand Auditorium at Skyline High School — some doing victory dances, some throwing their arms in the air in celebration. They collected their degrees and certificates, as well as hoots, hollers, sharp whistles and shout-outs from family and friends.
Lamar Community College graduation takes place Saturday
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/21
John Stulp, a former Prowers County Commissioner and the state's new agriculture commissioner, will be the keynote speaker.
PCC president candidates narrowed to three
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/6
The search for a new president at Pueblo Community College has been narrowed to three candidates. Cecilia Cervantes, president of the College of Alameda in California; John Garvin, chief of Global Space Operations, headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base; and James Richardson, president emeritus of Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton, N.C., will participate in interviews next week with Nancy McCallin, president of the state Community College System. McCallin will make the final decision on the new president.
Fall opening of campus Aurora's boon
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867296
The state's third-largest city is embarking on what could be its biggest and most important redevelopment project ever as major pieces of the new Fitzsimons medical campus open this fall. The 578-acre site on East Colfax Avenue near Interstate 225 will have jobs for about 15,000 people by next spring. At build-out, more than 32,000 people will be employed. And all those people will need places to eat, shop, leave their kids, work out, meet and live. The city also wants to incorporate the existing neighborhoods into the new campus and redevelopment.
Reading CSAP results show Re-1 trails the state average
http://postindependent.com/article/20070511/VALLEYNEWS/105110049
Preliminary third-grade reading Colorado Student Accountability Program (CSAP) results for the Roaring Fork School District Re-1 showed reading proficiency levels for English speaking students remain high, despite some declines at all schools, according to the RFSD. "Overall district scores, an average of those who are learning English and those whose first language is English, were 62 percent proficient or advanced, trailing the state average of 71 percent," Superintendent Judy Haptonstall wrote in a news release. "The impact of increasing numbers of students for whom English is not their first language continues to have an influence on district averages."
RELATED: Bea Underwood shows improvement on CSAP
http://postindependent.com/article/20070511/VALLEYNEWS/105110053
Teachers walk out
http://greeleytrib.com/article/20070511/NEWS/105110074
Contract negotiations between Greeley-Evans School District 6 teachers and the school board broke down Thursday night, district officials said. Teachers walked away from the negotiations about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, according to Mark Stevens, school district spokesman. It is not clear when the might resume. The teachers' current contract says an agreement must be reached by next Friday.
Principal: Political joke, math test don't add up
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070511/NEWS01/705110353/1002
A Rocky Mountain High School math teacher acted inappropriately when he wrote test questions that referred to Republicans or Democrats as "liars," the school's principal said Thursday. "It was a very dumb thing to do because, obviously, one of our students took offense to it," Principal Tom Lopez said. He declined to identify the teacher. The question was one of a series of word problems the math teacher gave to students in January and said the "number of democrats was 0.908 million more than the number of liars - I mean republicans," according to a copy of the test provided to the Coloradoan on Thursday by a source who asked not to be identified. Lopez said that question was one of two versions the teacher created for the class, with the other reversing the partisan roles and referring to Democrats as liars. The teacher gave the differing versions to students based on the teacher's assessment of a student's political leanings, Lopez said.
Suthers reveals plans to form U.S. panel to study school safety
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531138,00.html
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers unveiled plans Thursday for a national task force to examine school safety and mental health issues. The task force will likely be composed of attorneys general across the nation and focus on violence prevention at schools and university campuses. Suthers' renewed interest in school safety follows reports that the Virginia Tech gunman was found to be a danger to himself and was ordered to get mental health treatment months before his rampage. "School safety remains a high priority of ours." Suthers said, adding, "We don't want to interfere in the efforts going on in Virginia."
Intruders stop school day
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531649,00.html
Putting security cameras inside the building isn't the answer to situations such as the one Thursday that shut down a high school when two intruders were spotted by a cook, Boulder Valley School District officials say. Boulder High School's 1,900 students got the day off after the head cook spotted two people in the kitchen about 6 a.m., both dressed in camouflage, one wearing a ski mask. The pair ran when the cook yelled at them to stop. Not sure if they ran outside, officials decided to cancel the school day and conduct three meticulous searches.
RELATED: Intrusion closes Boulder High
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5865643
RELATED: Scare shuts down BHS
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/11/scare-shuts-down-bhs-2-suspects-spotted-in-one-a/
RELATED: Students miss AP exams
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/11/students-miss-ap-exams/
Threat closes Aspen schools
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5871699
Classes at Aspen's elementary, middle school and high school were canceled today after graffiti on a portable bathroom wall threatened an attack. Workers at the Aspen Middle School construction site discovered the threat Thursday afternoon indicating an attack would happen at 8:46 a.m. today. Officials said the threat was similar to one indicating that all Mexicans working at the Snowmass Base Village construction site at 2:15 p.m., May 4, would be shot. In that incident, police increased patrols and the time came and went without incident.
RELATED: Graffiti threat closes Aspen schools today
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070511/NEWS/105110079
Military
Army general pushes for detection of stress malady
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531689,00.html
The head of the Army Medical Action Plan, set up to guarantee better treatment for wounded Iraq war veterans, says he wants to make certain that incidents that could cause brain damage or post-traumatic stress disorder are immediately recorded in soldiers' personnel files. Army Brig. Gen. Mike Tucker, in a visit Wednesday to this post, also said soldiers should be screened for possible brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder after returning home. The Army Medical Action Plan is based at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Commanders at all levels should be trained to identify possible symptoms of brain damage and stress disorder, Tucker said. Soldiers being discharged for personality disorders should be examined carefully to make sure no brain injury or stress disorder is being missed, he added. Veterans for America, an advocacy group, claims some soldiers suffering brain injuries or stress disorder have been wrongfully discharged and thus denied medical benefits.
AG vows to press case over arsenal pollution
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867357
Attorney General John Suthers - armed with $1.9 million recently allotted by state lawmakers - vowed Thursday to seek about $100 million in damages for pollution at Rocky Mountain Arsenal. Shell Oil Co. and the U.S. Army have spent $2.2 billion cleaning up the site, and part of the one-time manufacturing complex for mustard-gas weapons and napalm has been turned into a wildlife refuge. But Colorado is owed up to $100 million for groundwater contamination that no amount of cleanup can erase, Suthers said. "They can't clean this up," he said. "We've been deprived of a huge amount of groundwater." The new money approved by the legislature's Joint Budget Committee this session will allow the attorney general to continue a 24-year-old lawsuit against Shell and the Army.
Air Force Academy graduation drawing little interest locally
http://www.gazette.com/articles/tickets_22226___article.html/academy_graduation.html
The Air Force Academy is hoping a few more people will pick up tickets for their May 30 graduation rites, because as things stand, the cadets and commencement speaker Defense Secretary Robert Gates could be left feeling lonely in Falcon Stadium. Free tickets have been available at the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce for more than a week, but so far just over 100 of them have been snapped up. When the president addresses the graduates, the free tickets are often gone in a couple of hours. Last year’s speaker, then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, drew a lukewarm reception. Plenty of people came to the graduation, but it wasn’t the eager throng that went to see President Bush speak in 2004.
Religion
Colo. Episcopal diocese sues to regain breakaway church
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531209,00.html
The Episcopal Diocese of Colorado on Thursday made its first move to regain control of the venerable property that was known for much of its history as Grace and St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs. The diocese filed documents in El Paso County District Court declaring it is the rightful owner of the 134-year-old church, which has been renamed by its current rector as Grace Church and St. Stephen's Parish. "It is a shame that a small, misguided group has forced this litigation by illegally taking possession of the church property," said the chancellor of the diocese, Lawrence R. Hitt II, in a statement Thursday.
Chaput to preside at mother's funeral
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531437,00.html
The mother of Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput died Wednesday in Concordia, Kan., at the age of 96. Marian Helen DeMarais Chaput had been in declining health for several months. The archbishop and other family members were with her when she died, said his communications director, Jeanette DeMelo.
Energy Policy
Energy cool-down
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/energy/article/0,2777,DRMN_23914_5531573,00.html
Colorado's red-hot energy sector is losing some steam. For the first time since the boom of the early 2000s, the value of the state's oil and gas production fell last year, mostly because of weaker prices that offset slightly higher production. The total value of Colorado's natural gas, coal, oil and minerals production in 2006 fell 5 percent to an estimated $11.6 billion, compared with $12.2 billion in 2005, according to a report by the Colorado Geological Survey released Thursday. "The biggest reason why there has been a decrease in the value of minerals, even though natural gas production has gone up, is because the average annual price of gas decreased during 2006," said James Cappa, chief of the survey's mineral resources section. "Also, molybdenum average prices went down during 2006."
RELATED: Lower natural-gas prices hit Colo. revenue
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5867295
Oil shale impact report may be delayed
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/11/5_11_Oil_shale_sked.html
The long- awaited environmental impact statement expected to detail the extent of possible commercial oil shale development in Colorado and the water and energy it may consume is tentatively set to be released July 13. The U.S. Department of Interior this week issued to the Colorado Department of Natural Resources a complete timeline outlining the expected development of the Bureau of Land Management’s commercial oil shale program, now in its fledgling stages. The state is expected to receive a copy of the seven- volume, 2,000-page environmental impact statement next week, but will have only two weeks to review and comment on it, Department of Natural Resources Assistant Director Mike King told the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Thursday. “That is simply not a sufficient amount of time,” he said, adding later the department must rush to pull together staff from various departments to get comments to the BLM by the May 29 deadline.
Shell not ready to move on oil shale yet, exec says
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/11/5_11_1b_GJEP_Luncheon.html
A high-ranking representative for Shell Exploration and Production Co. said Thursday his company has hurdles to clear before it can determine if the energy giant can pursue a full-scale, commercial oil shale project in the region. “No new commercial venture yet,” said Terry O’Connor, vice president of communications, regulatory and governmental affairs for the exploration and production company. “We still have a plethora of unanswered questions.” He said Shell could make a decision on whether to move ahead with a commercial oil shale project “early next decade.” O’Connor made the remarks during his keynote address at the Grand Junction Economic Partnership’s annual meeting at Two Rivers Convention Center. The event attracted about 400 people.
GarCo leads state in drilling permits
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/11/5_11_1b_gas_permits.html
Garfield County continues to lead the state with the number of oil and gas drilling permits issued so far in 2007, Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Director Brian Macke said Thursday. About 37 percent of all the new oil and gas well permits issued to date in 2007, or 762, were for wells in Garfield County. Weld County garnered the second-most permits, 492, followed by Yuma, Las Animas, Mesa, La Plata and Rio Blanco counties.
RELATED: BLM lease sale brings in $1.47 million
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070510/NEWS/105100079
It's official — we've never paid more for a tank of gas
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/11/5_11_1a_gas_prices.html
Grand Junction broke the record price for a gallon of gas in town on Thursday. A gallon of regular unleaded was selling Thursday for an average of $3.14, according to AAA’s Web site: www.fuelgaugereport.com. The previous record in Grand Junction was $3.13 for a gallon of regular unleaded, set Sept. 6, 2005. A year ago, the price for a gallon of regular unleaded in Grand Junction was $2.79. The record price for a gallon of gas locally comes one day after the record was broken for the state at $3.13 a gallon. That record price for the state was bumped up a notch Thursday, with a gallon of gas rising to $3.15, according to AAA.
RELATED: Gas prices hit record high
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/05/11/local_news/2.txt
Transportation and Infrastructure
RTD receives proposals on how to contain costs
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5531094,00.html
RTD received proposals from six investment banking advisers this week on how to contain FasTracks' cost explosion, and the transit agency says some of the ideas could save hundreds of millions of dollars. "Our preliminary review of the proposals shows some very innovative recommendations," said Cal Marsella, RTD general manager. He declined to outline specifics of the proposals, which RTD sought from the financial experts earlier this year. FasTracks consists of seven new transit corridors and extensions to three existing ones, all planned to be operating by 2017, along with bus system expansion and renovation of Denver Union Station.
RELATED: FasTracks plan at Sheridan revisited
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5865040
Efficient enough for free parking?
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070511/NEWS/105110077
Chrysler's new Aspen Hybrid, planned for 2008, won't make the cut for special parking breaks in Aspen, according to city parking officials. Thanks to a temporary ordinance, parking officials grant hybrid drivers a free permit for residential zones normally restricted to a two-hour limit during daytime hours. And hybrid owners are free to park in spots otherwise designated for those who carpool. But the new Aspen Hybrid, like many hybrid SUVs and trucks, isn't efficient enough by Aspen standards, according to parking officials.
Environment and Conservation
RMNP nears new status
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/11/rmnp-nears-new-status/
Members of Colorado's congressional delegation will announce details of a compromise on the status of Rocky Mountain National Park as a wilderness area at the park on Monday. U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. Mark Udall, both Democrats, and Sen. Wayne Allard and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, both Republicans, plan to participate.
Lamborn bill would help water plan
http://www.gazette.com/articles/bill_22224___article.html/lamborn_colorado.html
Rep. Doug Lamborn introduced a measure in the U.S. House on Thursday that would smooth the way to enlarge Pueblo Reservoir. A Colorado Springs Utilities official hailed the bill as “standing up for our interests.” The bill, though, is at odds with Rep. John Salazar’s bill that would delay expansion by requiring additional studies. Lamborn’s bill calls for one study by the Bureau of Reclamation to determine if adding up to 50,000 acre feet of storage capacity to the reservoir is feasible. Colorado Springs plans a 43-mile pipeline to the city from Pueblo Reservoir, a $1 billion project that would accommodate the city’s growth until 2040.
Colorado River water demands increasing
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/11/5_11_Climate_meeting.html
The good news is area reservoirs will fill with water this year, including many of the lakes on Grand Mesa. The bad news is the state is experiencing a below-average snowpack as warm temperatures this spring have caused an early water runoff. Water managers, climate watchers and members of the Colorado River District flooded the audience at Grand Junction City Hall with information Thursday night on water issues in Colorado and the West during a Mesa County State of the Rivers meeting. Speakers topics’ ranged from river and reservoir levels to how climate change is affecting the West’s water storage and the Colorado River. Eric Kuhn, general manager of the Colorado River District, said the demand for flows from the Colorado River is increasing.
Local officials discuss Fountain flooding issues
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1178894064/4
Three days after the Fountain Creek flooded three low-lying areas north of the Pueblo Mall, local officials are saying the flood is a stark reminder that the city needs to foster better cooperation with its northern neighbors to prevent something worse. "I'm hoping that we can get an agreement that is substantive," said City Council President Judy Weaver. "It's going to take time, like everything else, to get an agreement among El Paso County, Colorado Springs and the city." Weaver said she believes an agreement among the various governmental entities along the creek is the first step toward solving the problems of the Fountain, including the large swings in water volume fueled by stormwater runoff from cities north of Pueblo. Council members Barbara Vidmar and Michael Occhiato agree that Monday's flood could be considered an early warning sign and the flooding of the Fountain is something to take seriously.
Economic Summit urges taking steps to sustainability
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/may/11/economic_summit_urges_taking_steps_sustainability/
Straw bale homes, which feature thick walls and high-performing insulation while allowing builders to save on material costs, were just one of the innovations on display at the Economic Summit 2007’s Sustainability Expo.
Father, son net time for stealing artifacts
A father and his son were sentenced earlier this month to three months in jail and banned from area U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service land. Donald Leonard Johnson, 59, and Donald Wayne Johnson, 38, were found guilty in February by U.S. Magistrate Judge Dave West of excavating and taking artifacts from an archaeological site known as the Sheep Skull Camp in the McPhee Recreation Area in 2006. They were sentenced on May 2, according to Wallace Kleindienst, assistant U.S. attorney.
Ancient gas "burps" may hold future climate clues
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5868582
Thousands of years ago, Earth's oceans burped twice - releasing great masses of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into the air and warming the planet up after the ice age, according to a new study. A shift in deep currents probably caused the oceanic belches about 13,000 and 18,000 years ago, scientists concluded. That may mean today's oceans - which absorb carbon dioxide - are, under some conditions, also capable of releasing the gas. "With global warming, it's likely that deep-water circulation will slow down at least slightly, even in this century," said the University of Colorado's Tom Marchitto, an author of the new study in the current issue of Science. "What impact that has on the carbon cycle is very uncertain, but the type of evidence we get from this study will help us understand the natural system better," Marchitto said. Marchitto and his colleagues studied a layered core of muck pulled from the bottom of the ocean off Baja California.
Opinion
Spencer: Vets group stands tall for sick GIs
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5867431
An Army general said Wednesday that a "Wounded Warrior Transition Brigade" would come soon to Fort Carson. It will help soldiers with post-traumatic stress and brain injuries. As Brig. Gen. Michael Tucker spoke at Colorado's Mountain Post, no one from Veterans for America stood beside him. They should have. VFA played as big a role in Tucker's announcement as any of Fort Carson's brass. Veterans for America, a group run by ex-military personnel, has forced the Army's hand across the country by exposing bad treatment of soldiers who return from war with psychological wounds.
Second-job scandal
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/editorials/article/0,2777,DRMN_23964_5531178,00.html
It's no secret that elected officials often award jobs to people who helped them get elected. Like it or not, politics and government are joined at the hip. But both the official and the employee have to make sure that ongoing political work doesn't overlap or conflict with the job that is supposed to be done for taxpayers. Secretary of State Mike Coffman is learning this lesson the hard way. He's been scrambling to protect himself from the fallout over the fact that one of his employees, veteran political aide Dan Kopelman, got caught with a Web site promoting a voter information service he was running on the side.
Public roadless lands in limbo
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5865656
Gov. Bill Ritter's heart is in the right place on protecting Colorado's 4.1 million acres of roadless public forests. But for the moment - and it could be a very long moment - he's little more than a bystander in the lengthy battle over 59 million roadless acres nationwide. Last month Ritter wrote to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, requesting some tightening up of a roadless area protection plan sent to Washington last November by then-Gov. Bill Owens. Owens' proposal basically incorporated the recommendations of the broad-based Colorado Roadless Area Review Task Force, which sought protection of most roadless national forest lands. It was a sound process, based on extensive study and public comment.
Women’s rights may be bolstered at polls
A cursory reading of the news suggests that women's reproductive rights are increasingly at risk. But there is also evidence that the United State s is moving toward a political solution to the abortion debate that would cement women's right to choose. There is a good chance that next year the voters will be offered two avowedly pro-choice candidates for president. With that, American politics could move beyond what has become a shrill and tiresome argument. Supporters of women's rights see threats nationally and on the local level. One example was the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision upholding a law banning so-called partial-birth abortions. That led to speculation that Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide, is itself in jeopardy.
Ingle: 21st century skills
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5868241
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today's students will have 10-14 jobs by the age of 38. Thirty or 40 years ago, we knew the kinds of jobs our students would have. Today, we are preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist. How do teachers deal with the challenges of the 21st century? How do we prepare our students to be successful citizens in the rapidly changing world we live in? How do we produce "high- quality graduates with skills that offer the greatest potential for employment?" Despite the considerable work that has been done to raise academic expectations, implement standards and assessments, and increase accountability, our educational system in this country is still primarily a 20th century system. The demands of the 21st century require us to examine our schools and our expectations for students and revamp both to meet the challenges of a global economy.
Johnson: Aumans battle to end life terms for juveniles
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/news_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_86_5531176,00.html
Now at age 53, given everything he has gone through, I figured Don Auman would long ago have found a hammock on a quiet beach somewhere - any place far from controversy, the spotlight and headlines. Yet there his name was, at the bottom of a press release announcing a Mother's Day demonstration for the 45 juvenile offenders who now are serving life terms in Colorado's prison system. His daughter, Lisl - absolutely the last person I ever figured would make another public appearance - is expected to join her father on the west steps of the Capitol on Sunday, the exact same spot where the late journalist Hunter S. Thompson headlined a celebrated rally seeking her release from prison on a felony murder conviction stemming from the murder of a Denver police officer. "She is going to sing," her father said in an interview. He will accompany her on the guitar, he said, insisting he did not know what the song might be. The event is being sponsored by the Pendulum Foundation, a 6-year-old Colorado organization that says its mission is to educate the public about the issue of children in adult prisons, and to attempt to transform the lives of juveniles now serving life behind bars.
'Tom Almighty?’
http://www.gjsentinel.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2007/05/11/5_11_Telluride_edit.html
When Telluride fell $1.5 million short in its effort to raise money to acquire property at the entrance to town and prevent its development into upscale condos, the community needed a financial savior. Enter Hollywood producer and frequent Telluride visitor Tom Shadyac, who ponied up a $2 million contribution to the cause, providing enough money for the town to meet the court-ordered $50 million condemnation price for 570 acres on the valley floor owned by San Diego businessman Neal Blue. The deadline for raising the money was Thursday. The town used its eminent domain powers to protect the land as open space and prevent Blue from developing condominiums on the land. However, in a lengthy court battle to determine the appropriate price the town had to pay for acquiring the land through condemnation, a Delta County jury determined the property was worth $50 million, nearly twice what the town had sought to pay. That left Telluride far short of the money it needed to acquire the land and prompted a community drive to raise additional funds.
A warning to drug companies
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5865654
The imposition of $634.5 million in fines against the makers of the potent painkiller OxyContin should serve as a warning for drug company executives who are faced with questions about drug safety issues. The fines were levied in federal cases out of Virginia, in which three current and former executives of drug maker Purdue Pharma pleaded guilty Thursday to allegations they misled doctors, patients and regulators about the drug's risk of addiction. In an unusual move, the current and former officials also faced individual criminal charges and fines. The case, in combination with a measure passed by the U.S. Senate Wednesday that would boost monitoring of prescription drug side effects and drug marketing, demonstrate the public appetite for a tightening of drug safety efforts.
Exhaustion, expense of runoffs
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070511/DAILYCOMMENT/105110071
We recognize the value of having elected officials win a majority of votes. We understand the awkwardness associated with a duly elected mayor who commanded only, say, 40 percent of the ballots cast. We also know that a vast majority of Aspen voters approved this system in 2000. But we would ask - after runoff elections in 2001, 2003 and 2005, which cost taxpayers more than $21,000 and simply mimicked the original results - isn't it time for a change? We would be comfortable returning to Aspen's pre-2000 "plurality" system, but there are other "instant runoff" possibilities that involve voters expressing preferences for multiple candidates. Either is preferable to the exhaustion and expense of runoff elections.
Use caution, sense to avoid plague in city
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5865655
In Colorado, we're accustomed to hearing about the Bubonic plague. Despite its scary name and grim history of killing millions, the disease largely has been confined to the foothills or far-flung parts of the state, killing a few dozen rodents and pets every year. But this year's outbreak is sweeping through Denver's City Park, which on any warm weekend day is host to hundreds of youth soccer players, people walking dogs and picnickers. The carriers this time are squirrels, and City Park is chock full of them. The take- home message for anyone who visits City Park, or any of Denver's many parks and adjacent neighborhoods, is to stay away from squirrels, dead or alive. And keep your pets away from them, too.
Zalaznick: Republicans rudderless
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070510/EDITS/105100070
Loonies, bullies, mental defectives - no, it's not the cast of the Sopranos. We're talking about the Republican presidential primary, whichmakes any quartet of the Democratic hopefuls look as monumental as Mt. Rush-more. Even Dennis Kuc-inich and that guy from Alaska. Mc-Cain's pandering, Rudy's waffling, Brown-back's preaching and Tancredo's intolerance make the first female president (and first black or first Hispanic vice president) look downright inevitable. These guys are done.
Election
Romney Criticizes Bush War 'Errors'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002129.html
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney told CBS News's Mike Wallace that the Bush administration made "a number of errors" in the prosecution of the Iraq war. "I don't think we were adequately prepared for what occurred. I don't think we did enough planning. I don't think we considered the various downsides and risks," says Romney, according to a transcript of Sunday's "60 Minutes" released Thursday.
RELATED: Romney calls self 'convert' to antiabortion cause
RELATED: Romney Works to Put Skeptics’ Doubts to Rest
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/us/politics/11romney.html
McCain claims Bush's poor poll numbers hurt the Republican Party
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-apmccain10may10,1,840653.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Thursday he believes President Bush's low approval ratings are hurting the GOP yet won't affect the party's 2008 nominee. "I don't think there's any doubt that when the president's polling numbers are low that it harms the Republican Party in general, but I think that when it comes election time that the overwhelming majority of Americans will choose their candidate on the basis of that individual candidate's qualifications, vision and record," McCain said in an interview with The Associated Press. The president's numbers have fallen largely because of his stewardship of the Iraq war. On Tuesday, 11 moderate House Republicans met with Bush at the White House and bluntly told him that the war was unsustainable without public support and that it was damaging GOP political fortunes.
Giuliani Likely to Address Abortion in Speech on Friday
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051001521.html
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani travels Friday to Houston Baptist University for a campaign speech on economics and national security. But the GOP front runner is likely to confront the topic that has dogged him for more than a week: abortion. Giuliani's advisers say Friday's speech will focus broadly on his standard themes, including "the two 'T's' -- taxes and terrorism." But sources said the forum will give Giuliani a fresh opportunity to address his support for abortion rights. On that, he will leave no doubt that his position has not changed, they said.
RELATED: Can the G.O.P. Accept Giuliani’s Abortion Stance?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/us/politics/11record.html
Edwards Says He Didn't Know About Subprime Push
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002277.html
The hedge fund that employed John Edwards markedly expanded its subprime lending business while he worked there, becoming a major player in the high-risk mortgage sector Edwards has pilloried in his presidential campaign. Edwards said yesterday that he was unaware of the push by the firm, Fortress Investment Group, into subprime lending and that he wishes he had asked more questions before taking the job. The former senator from North Carolina said he had asked Fortress officials whether it was involved in predatory lending practices before taking the job in 2005 and was assured it was not. Subprime loans are aimed at buyers with poor credit histories and charge higher rates because of the risks. Some loans carry fees and large rate increases that are hidden from a home buyer. Largely as a result of the rise in subprime lending and the cooling housing market, home foreclosure filings rose to 1.2 million in 2006, an increase of 42 percent. At the same time, the drop in value of subprime lenders has presented a buying opportunity for investors such as Fortress.
Michelle Obama's Career Timeout
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002573.html
For the first time in her adult life, Michelle Obama is about to be unemployed. She never aspired to be a stay-at-home wife or mother. For years she wrestled with the issues that many professional women with families face, chiefly whether to quit her job. Now, that is what Obama, 43, has decided to do. And though she will hardly be homebound, she admits to being conflicted. "It is very odd," she said of the prospect of interrupting her career, during one of her first one-on-one interviews since her husband, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), announced he is running for president.
President's Dinner? Bring the Lettuce.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002093.html
Get ready, Goodrich. Brace yourself, Bristol-Myers Squibb. If you haven't received the call already, a Republican member of the House of Representatives is probably about to try to shake you down for big money. It's springtime in Washington and lawmakers from both parties are once again hounding the political action committees of major corporations for huge donations. On the GOP side, this is done through the sale of tickets to the President's Dinner on June 13, an event so large that it has to be held in the Washington Convention Center. House Republicans are taking nothing for granted. Their leaders last month sent out a 28-page instruction kit laying out exactly what rank-and-file members have to do to reach the dinner's multimillion-dollar goal. The kit includes a list of more than 225 companies, trade associations and lobbying firms that are proven benefactors of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the House GOP's campaign organization. The document even tells lawmakers how they should phrase their telephone calls. A page with "suggested talking points for House Members" includes this: "Following a disappointing loss of our majorities in the House and Senate, we need to restore the faith of the American voters in us. We heard their message this past November that we need to re-commit our priorities for lower taxes, securing our boarders [sic], supporting our troops and fiscal responsibility."
Effective and Ethical Government
Cheney Rejects Tenet's Account of Run-Up to War
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002117.html
Vice President Cheney yesterday rejected former CIA director George J. Tenet's assertion that the Bush administration did not engage in serious debate before invading Iraq in 2003, escalating a public conflict over what happened during the run-up to the war. In his first comments on the matter since Tenet's book came out, Cheney took issue with the former intelligence chief's account of the months before the invasion when, Tenet says, Cheney and others seemed determined to topple Saddam Hussein and were not interested in discussing whether Iraq posed an imminent threat or whether it could be contained without an invasion.
House Approves Revised War Bill
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051000104.html
The House last night pushed through its second plan to fund the Iraq war and reshape war policy, approving legislation that would provide partial funding for the conflict but hold back most of the money until President Bush reports on the war's progress in July. Coming only a week after the Democrats' first war funding bill was vetoed, the House's 221 to 205 vote defied a fresh veto threat and even opposition from Democrats in the Senate. "The president has brought us to this point by vetoing the first Iraq Accountability Act and refusing to pay for this war responsibly," declared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). "He has grown accustomed to the free hand on Iraq he had before January 4. Those days are over."
RELATED: Bush gives ground on Iraq war funding
Judge Orders Lid On Phone Records
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051001450.html
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the woman accused of being the D.C. madam, can't release any more phone records that would reveal patrons of her Washington escort service, a federal judge said yesterday. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler placed a temporary restraining order on Palfrey and her civil attorney, prohibiting them from sharing additional phone records with news organizations or the public. Palfrey and her attorney had prompted -- critics said encouraged -- speculation in the past few months about who might be publicly identified as a client after they turned over a sizable portion of her business phone records to the ABC News program "20/20."
Civil Liberties and Equality
Gen. Petraeus Warns Against Using Torture
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051001963.html
The top U.S. commander in Iraq admonished his troops regarding the results of an Army survey that found that many U.S military personnel there are willing to tolerate some torture of suspects and unwilling to report abuse by comrades. "This fight depends on securing the population, which must understand that we -- not our enemies -- occupy the moral high ground," Army Gen. David H. Petraeus wrote in an open letter dated May 10 and posted on a military Web site. He rejected the argument that torture is sometimes needed to quickly obtain crucial information. "Beyond the basic fact that such actions are illegal, history shows that they also are frequently neither useful nor necessary," he stated.
Informants scrutinized in Fort Dix case
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-10-fort-dix_N.htm
He railed against the United States, helped scout out military installations for attack, offered to introduce his comrades to an arms dealer, and gave them a list of weapons he could procure, including machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. These were not the actions of a terrorist, but of a paid FBI informant who helped bring down an alleged plot by six Muslim men to massacre U.S. soldiers at New Jersey's Fort Dix. And those actions have raised questions of whether the government crossed the line and pushed the six men down a path they would not have otherwise followed. It is an argument — entrapment — that has been made in other terrorism cases, and one that has failed miserably in this post-Sept. 11 era.
Pentagon charges Bin Laden's former driver
The Pentagon on Thursday charged Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former bodyguard and driver for Osama bin Laden, with conspiracy and material support for terrorism, and referred the Yemeni for prosecution at the U.S. military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It was Hamdan's challenge of the U.S. government's bid to detain and prosecute him at the tribunal that brought down President Bush's previous military tribunal process, which the Supreme Court deemed unconstitutional last year. In its place, Congress passed the 2006 Military Commissions Act in September, which created a new tribunal system for prosecuting the Pentagon's terrorism suspects. It specifically stripped detainees of the right to challenge their detention through writs of habeas corpus.
Foreign Policy
Cheney to Try to Ease Saudi Concerns
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002506.html
Vice President Cheney faces a diplomatic rescue mission tomorrow in Saudi Arabia, where King Abdullah has told top State Department and Pentagon officials over the past six weeks that the kingdom no longer supports Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and does not believe the new U.S. military strategy to secure Baghdad will work, U.S. officials and Arab diplomats said. The oil-rich kingdom, which has taken an increasingly tough position on Iraq, believes Maliki has proven a weak leader during his first year in power and is too tied to Iran and pro-Iranian Shiite parties to bring about real reconciliation with Iraq's Sunni minority, Arab sources said. Assuaging Saudi concerns is the primary reason for the vice president's trip -- and even a key reason he went to Baghdad this week, U.S. and Arab officials say. During his stop in Riyadh on Saturday, Cheney wants to be able to tell the Sunni world's most powerful monarch that the Bush administration is leaning hard on the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad to implement long-delayed political steps to help end the Sunni insurgency, U.S. officials said.
Crackdown makes Iraqi city 'unbearable'
U.S. and Iraqi troops have imposed a strict security crackdown in Samarra, a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, prompting residents to complain that basic necessities such as drinking water have not reached the city for seven days. The strictures follow recent incidents in which militants linked to the group Al Qaeda in Iraq flew black flags in the city's streets and a suicide car bomber rammed into police headquarters, killing 12 officers, including Chief Col. Jaleel Nahi Hassoun, and disabling Samarra's water system. "Life in the city is unbearable," said Mustafa Abdul-Latee, a 38-year-old city worker and father of four. "I get paid on a daily basis, so being unable to work is causing me a big problem…. I am forced to buy in debt from all the shops since I don't have money."
Afghans Say Civilian Toll in Strikes Is Much Higher Than Reported
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/world/asia/11afghan.html
The toll of civilians killed in bombing by coalition forces on Tuesday night was much higher than the official figure of 21, and may be as high as 50 or even 80, residents reached by telephone said Thursday. The tally differed from that given by a government administrator of the Sangin region, Ezatullah, who uses only one name. He said he had spent four to five hours in the village of Sarwan Qala on Thursday and said the civilian death toll remained 21. Some Taliban were also killed in the bombing, he said, but he did not specify how many. The United States military has stuck with its original news statement, which said that it had called in the airstrikes on Taliban insurgents after a heavy 16-hour battle and destroyed three militant compounds.
Iran and West Clash Over Nuclear Treaty
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/11/AR2007051100307.html
Iran's nuclear activities were dominating the last day of a meeting Friday aimed at tightening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, with delegates saying Tehran was objecting to a draft final summary it deemed too critical of its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. Since the outset of the two-week meeting, Iran has been a major issue, with Tehran defending its nuclear record and the United States and its allies accusing it of breaching the Nonproliferation Treaty. On its final day, the gathering was expected to hear a summary by conference chairman Yukiya Amano. An afternoon session was set back to start later than originally planned, possibly to allow back-room negotiations on a possible compromise text acceptable to Iran that tones references to Tehran's nuclear defiance.
Olmert says he, army leaders made mistakes
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during an inquiry that the army command did not perform well in last summer's war in Lebanon and acknowledged he gave short shrift to warnings troops weren't ready, according to testimony released Thursday. Olmert insisted, however, that Israel had no option but to fight. The prime minister's comments were made during hearings by a special commission that issued a report last week severely censuring his wartime performance, an appraisal that triggered a wave of resignation calls and may yet cost him his political career.
Envoy appointed for Darfur crisis
China announced the appointment of a special envoy dedicated to the Darfur crisis in Sudan on Thursday as Beijing faces international pressure to do more to resolve the conflict and the possibility of an Olympics boycott if it fails to act. The move came a day after a group of U.S. politicians demanded China use its influence as one of Sudan's biggest trade partners to persuade the African nation to stop the bloodshed in its western region of Darfur.
RELATED: Republicans in Congress Press Bush for Sanctions on Sudan
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/washington/11sudan.html
Pressed by Police, Even Innocent Confess in Japan
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/world/asia/11japan.html?ref=world
The Japanese authorities have long relied on confessions to take suspects to court, instead of building cases based on solid evidence. Human rights groups have criticized the practice for leading to abuses of due process and convictions of innocent people. But in recent months developments in this case and two others have shown just how far the authorities will go in securing confessions. Calls for reforms in the criminal justice system have increased, even as Japan is to adopt a jury-style system in 2009 and is considering allowing victims and their relatives to question defendants in court.
Rice heads to Russia, criticizes Putin
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-10-rice-russia_N.htm
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin's moves to consolidate power are troubling. Just ahead of her departure for Moscow next week, Rice said the United States and Russia are working well together on a number of issues but that the overall ties remained "complicated" by a rollback in reforms and Russia's contentious relations with its neighbors. "On many things we have done very well, but the fact is that on some others it's been a difficult period," she said of the U.S.-Russia relationship.
The Sarkozy of the Future Jousts With the Chirac of the Past
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/world/europe/11france.html
Repentance for the sins of the past has come easy to President Jacques Chirac. He will be remembered as the first French leader to recognize the country’s crimes against Jews in World War II and to commemorate formally its complicity in African slavery. President-elect Nicolas Sarkozy, by contrast, does not believe in saying he is sorry.
After 10 Years, Blair Bowing Out
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051000392.html
Prime Minister Tony Blair, one of Britain's most influential and long-serving leaders in a century, announced Thursday that he will step down on June 27, leaving a legacy of economic and political achievement mixed with deep public anger over his partnership with President Bush in the Iraq war. "I have been prime minister of this country for just over 10 years," Blair told cheering supporters in his home constituency of Sedgefield, speaking in the modest Trimdon Labor Club building where he launched his political career almost 24 years ago to the day. "In this job, in the world today, I think that is long enough for me, but more especially for the country. Sometimes the only way you conquer the pull of power is to set it down."
RELATED: To the last, Blair defends Iraq war
RELATED: Brown May Loosen U.K. Ties to Bush
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002584.html
RELATED: Blair parting robs president of an ally
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/05/11/blair_parting_robs_president_of_an_ally/
Moore in hot water over trip to Cuba
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Moore is under investigation by the U.S. Treasury Department for taking ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for a segment in his upcoming health-care documentary "Sicko," The Associated Press has learned. The Treasury Department notified Moore in a letter dated May 2 that it was conducting a civil investigation for possible violations of the U.S. trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba. A copy of the letter was obtained Wednesday by the AP.
Marriage and Family Issues
U.S. divorce rate at lowest level since '70
By the numbers, divorce just isn't what it used to be. Despite the common notion that America remains plagued by a divorce epidemic, the national per capita divorce rate has declined steadily since its peak in 1981 and is now at its lowest level since 1970. Yet Americans aren't necessarily making better choices about their long-term relationships. Even those who study marriage and work to make it more successful can't decide whether the trend is grounds for celebration or cynicism.
Health Care and Public Safety
Port, transit security grants rise to $445 million
The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday distributed $445 million in infrastructure grants — a 10% increase from last year — to be used to strengthen the ability of ports, transit and intercity bus systems to protect against terrorist attacks. California is receiving more than $30 million in port security funding for fiscal year 2007, almost doubling last year's $17-million grant. "This represents a significant boost in funding for California's ports," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). "And it means that these ports will be better equipped to meet the real threats they face on a daily basis. Much more needs to be done, but this is a step in the right direction."
Water continues to rise across Missouri
Floodwaters rose still higher across Missouri on Thursday, leading residents to remove valuables from their homes and fill sandbags to protect river communities. Near-record flooding that inundated the village of Big Lake this week broke more levees Thursday, and water levels were expected to peak in some spots this weekend. In other areas, however, the danger appeared to be passing. The Missouri River had fallen a few inches Thursday near Craig, where inmates from a St. Joseph prison and National Guardsmen spent Wednesday sandbagging, trying to protect the water treatment plant, schools and an ethanol plant. The water got within "a hillbilly's whisker from going over in several places," Holt County Sheriff Kirby Felumb said Thursday. State officials said dozens of levees — most protecting agricultural land — had been topped or breached since a weekend of drenching thunderstorms raised rivers and generated tornadoes that claimed 13 lives in Kansas. No serious injuries or deaths had been reported in the flooding, said Brian Hauswirth, a spokesman for the State Emergency Management Agency.
Gene advances bring ethical quandaries
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/05/11/gene_advances_bring_ethical_quandaries/
A revolution in genetics is leading to almost weekly discoveries about genes linked with diseases such as diabetes, but also creating a dilemma for medical scientists: Should they tell the patients whose DNA was used in the research that they may be at risk for a serious illness? At present, that's almost taboo because of privacy policies governing most medical research. "Researchers are coming up with more and more information, but we're using 'privacy' and our own ingrained paternalism as excuses for not sharing information that could be important to [individual research] subjects," said Dr. Isaac S. Kohane, associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a researcher at Children's Hospital in Boston.
Odds high, funds sparse for stem cell researchers
The $1 billion life sciences initiative [Massachusetts Governor Deval] Patrick announced this week could provide a boost for stem cell companies that locate or start up in Massachusetts, in part by providing stable support through the many years it will take to realize the promise of stem cell treatments. Saying he intended to make the state the "capital of stem cell research on the planet," Patrick wants to set up an embryonic stem cell bank at the University of Massachusetts that would greatly reduce storage costs for the delicate cells and expand researchers' access to different types. He proposed grants for lab equipment that could be used to work with the embryonic stem cells scientists are banned from studying with federally supported lab instruments, and grants to keep promising researchers from leaving the state.
OxyContin Makers Admit Deception
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051000892.html
The manufacturer of the potent painkiller OxyContin and three current and former executives at the company yesterday pleaded guilty to falsely marketing the drug in a way that played down its addictive properties and led to scores of people becoming addicted, prosecutors said. The Purdue Frederick Co. and its chief executive, top lawyer, and former medical chief agreed to pay a total of $635 million to resolve charges filed by the U.S. attorney in the Western District of Virginia, who called OxyContin "one of our nation's greatest prescription-drug failures." "Even in the face of warnings from health-care professionals, the media and members of its own sales force . . . Purdue continued to push a fraudulent marketing campaign," U.S. Attorney John L. Brownlee said.
RELATED: OxyContin maker, execs plead guilty to fraud
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-10-oxycontin-plea_N.htm
FDA Panel Questions Safety of Anemia Drug
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002218.html
A panel of experts advising the Food and Drug Administration gave strong signals yesterday that it thinks the blockbuster anemia drug called erythropoietin is overused in cancer treatment and may, in fact, be shortening the lives of some patients who take it. While it did not recommend specific changes to the official instruction for the drug's use, the panel told the FDA to gather much more data on erythropoietin's safety. Setting a much higher bar for giving it, prescribing it for shorter periods, and avoiding it altogether in patients with some cancers are all options the agency should consider, it said.
RELATED: F.D.A. Panel Seeks Limits on Cancer Patient Drugs
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/health/11anemia.html
FDA probe reaches feed supplier
A Chicago-area feed supply company is the latest U.S. business to find itself implicated in the distribution of tainted rice protein from China, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed Thursday, raising the specter that customers of the firm may have unwittingly spread the contaminant melamine in pet food. Cereal Byproducts Co., which has plants in five states and a headquarters in Mt. Prospect, issued a recall for the rice protein products on May 4. The company's products went to three pet food manufacturers. Word that yet another company has been implicated two months into the pet food contamination scare suggests that the scope of the problem is expanding, despite a FDA investigation. Since the first discovery of tainted pet food after numerous reports of cat and dog illnesses and deaths in early March, the FDA has determined that the same contaminated ingredients from China have also been used in chicken, hog and fish feed.
Houses sprouting in the hot zone
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2007-05-11-houses-hot-zone_N.htm
The last time the kindling hills over this Southern California boomtown burned they stoked a fire so hot it raged for more than a week and incinerated nearly 1,000 homes. "It could happen this year," says Tom O'Keefe, a chief in California's state fire department. "It will burn again. We just don't know when." That certainty hasn't stopped houses from sprouting along the slopes that rise above Highland and other towns around San Bernardino and Riverside, Calif. Nowhere has the West's migration to areas beset by frequent wildfires been more rapid. Misty McWaters-Agrawal says she at first resisted looking at houses in the San Bernardino foothills, in part because of the area's wildfire reputation. But in November, she moved with her husband to a new house on a steep Highland hillside. In the end, she says, the neighborhood's affordability and its twinkling nighttime views of the Los Angeles suburbs won out.
RELATED: Wildfire Threatens a Southern California Resort Island
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/us/11disaster.html?ref=us
RELATED: Allstate will stop insuring California homes
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/insurance/2007-05-11-allstate-california_N.htm
Recalled magnetic toys still in stores
The Illinois attorney general's office has found stores across Illinois selling recalled toys linked to the death of one child and the severe intestinal injuries of more than two dozen others.
Crime and Penal Reform
Va. Tech Panel Outlines Agenda
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002225.html
Several members of the panel investigating the Virginia Tech massacre said Thursday they have concluded that law enforcement and university officials probably handled the initial response to the shootings appropriately, given the information that authorities had at the time. During the first meeting of the Virginia Tech Review Panel, the chairman and other members said they do not want their review to second-guess the first responders to the April 16 shooting, which left 33 people dead, including the shooter, Seung Hui Cho of Fairfax County. Instead, the panel began outlining an agenda that will probably focus more on Cho, his access to weapons and the state's mental health system than on the performances of Virginia Tech officials and campus and Blacksburg police.
Journalists subpoenaed in death row case
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-10-journalist-subpoenas_N.htm
A veteran Associated Press reporter and three other journalists who covered a botched execution were subpoenaed to testify in another inmate's challenge to Florida's lethal injection practices. Attorneys for death row inmate Ian Deco Lightbourne, convicted in the 1981 murder of a Marion County woman, also want the reporters to disclose their notes from the Dec. 13 execution of Angel Diaz. Diaz took 34 minutes to die — twice as long as usual — and Lightbourne's attorneys say those problems support their claims that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. "It's everything we have been saying all along," said Lightbourne attorney Suzanne Keffer. "I want their accounts of what they saw at the Angel Diaz execution."
Civil Liberties Advocate Named Ombudsman for Texas Youth
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/us/11youth.html
A leading civil liberties advocate was named Thursday as the first ombudsman of the Texas Youth Commission, after a sexual abuse scandal. The appointee, Will Harrell, has been the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas for the last seven years. He will serve as the commission’s acting independent watchdog until final passage of a bill making its way through the Texas Legislature, said Jay Kimbrough, the commission’s conservator in Austin. The board and top officials of the agency were ousted after disclosures in February that supervisors had ignored reports that two men who were administrators at the West Texas State School in Pyote had had sexual contact with boys held there, and that rapes and beatings had also gone unpunished at other facilities. Criminal investigations and arrests have since followed.
Judge tosses drug evidence, says officer's deception went too far
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/05/10/0511metsuppress.html
Saying that Atlanta narcotics officers went too far in using deception to make a bust, a Fulton County judge suppressed evidence Thursday in a court case, heavily damaging a substantial case as it was set to go to trial. Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington Sr. ruled that an undercover officer pretending to be an acquaintance of an accused dealer had no right to enter his Midtown home. The officer pretended to be someone who had partied with the accused dealer, Hugh Sidney Goodman, and was let into the home by someone else in the residence. The officer "was not an invited guest of the defendant and had no right to cross the threshold of the defendant's residence, because he gained entry by deceiving" the person who let him in, Arrington wrote. Prosecutor Kimberly Hayes had argued that undercover officers pretending to be someone other than a cop is what narcotics officers do. Representatives of the Fulton district attorney's office could not be reached Thursday afternoon. On Thursday, Goodman's attorney, Rand Csehy, called the drug evidence "poisonous fruit" of an illegal search. He is demanding the state dismiss charges but has been told prosecutors will appeal the ruling.
Economy
Trade Deficit Hits a Six-Month High
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/business/11tradedeficit-web.html?ref=business
Rising oil prices and a surge in pharmaceutical imports contributed to a significant widening of the nation’s trade deficit in March, the government said today. The jump — to $63.9 billion, or 10 percent more than February’s revised deficit of $57.9 billion — put the imbalance at its highest level in six months. It is now likely, economists said, that growth in the first quarter was even slower than the 1.3 percent rate the government reported last month. The monthly trade report, issued by the Census Bureau, followed a trend that economists have been observing for several months: even as growth slows in the United States, expanding economies overseas are creating a need for American exports. In March, exports totaled $126.2 billion, up $2.2 billion from February.
With Weak April, a Bleak Turn
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051000472.html
The outlook for consumer spending in months ahead grew dimmer Thursday after a report that big retailers stumbled in April, their sales hurt by rising gasoline prices and the weak housing market. Retailers released their monthly sales figures, and weak performers cut through all segments of the industry and included Wal-Mart, which recorded a rare drop in business, as well as Abercrombie & Fitch and Federated Department Stores. "Consumers are feeling pressured by higher gasoline prices and a sluggish housing market, particularly low- and middle-income consumers," said Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics, a research company in Swampscott, Mass. Analysts had expected last month to be weak after an early Easter motivated many consumers to do their holiday shopping in March, siphoning part of April's business. But sales were much softer than expected, raising concerns that retailers will also face disappointing results in months ahead.
RELATED: After Long-Lasting Heady Ascent, Stocks Tumble on Retail Sales
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002204.html
RELATED: Retail Sales Fell Sharply Last Month
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/business/11econ.html?ref=business
Bank workers see Wolfowitz as a world apart
In the tense days after World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz admitted his mistake in arranging a generous payment package for his girlfriend, angry employees launched an impromptu campaign. Blue ribbons started cropping up on lapels, taped to doors and as an image in e-mails — a symbol of support for the bank's ideals of good governance and transparency. The curls of fabric were seen by many of the more than 7,000 staffers in Washington as a silent but clear call for their leader to resign. Then Wolfowitz himself was seen wearing one. For employees chafing against his leadership, that blunder became a vivid example of Wolfowitz's isolation from the bank's employees — a remoteness that has left him with few allies inside the international poverty-fighting institution as he battles to keep his job. A political scientist and former Pentagon official known for his analytical skills and predilection for sweeping, visionary ideas, Wolfowitz also has a reputation for remaining aloof from day-to-day management decisions. At the World Bank, he brought in a tightknit cadre of aides — all onetime GOP political operatives with no experience in development projects — who limited the access of bank veterans to the new president.
RELATED: Europeans Press Wolfowitz to Quit as Bank Chief
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/washington/11wolfowitz.html?ref=washington
Shareholders Give Ex-Chief the Blame for Ford Woes
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/automobiles/11ford.html?ref=business
A group of Ford Motor shareholders took turns blaming the company’s executive chairman, William Clay Ford Jr., at the annual meeting Thursday, criticizing every decision he made as the former chief executive except one. That was his decision last September to hire a Boeing executive, Alan R. Mulally, as his successor. Mr. Mulally, 61, a boyish-looking aeronautical engineer who worked for Boeing for 37 years and rose to become its senior vice president, was widely credited with rescuing its commercial airline division from its economic troubles after the events of 9/11. “Alan knows what it’s like to have your back to the wall, and fight your way out with a well-conceived plan and great execution,” Mr. Ford has said.
Worker's Rights and Corporate Accountability
Poll finds resentment of flextime
http://www.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2007-05-10-flex-time-usat_N.htm
Companies that woo and retain employees by offering mothers flexible schedules may not anticipate a backlash from others who consider it unfair. A survey out this week and timed for Mother's Day exposure, shows that 20% of women and 25% of men say, "I am often left picking up the slack for my co-workers who are moms." Among the most resentful may be fathers. When asked a less specific question about whether or not they perceive resentment among co-workers about flexible hours for mothers, 59% of men ages 35 to 44 said yes. That comes as a surprise, because men of that approximate age are most likely to be fathers with wives trying to balance family and jobs, says Bernadette Kenny, chief career officer of Adecco Group North America, which released the survey. Adecco is the world's largest employment agency.
Media
Burns Agrees To Include Latino Veterans In 'The War'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002389.html
Filmmaker Ken Burns reached an agreement yesterday with two advocacy organizations that have pressured him to amend his World War II documentary to include more material about Latinos' contribution to the American war effort. The agreement between Burns's production company, Florentine Films, and the two Latino groups appears crafted to enable both sides to declare victory in the long-running war over "The War," which is scheduled to air on PBS in September. After meeting in New York on Wednesday, activists from the two groups, the American GI Forum and the Hispanic Association of Corporate Responsibility (HACR), said they were satisfied that Burns would include interviews and other content about Latino American veterans, and that this material would appear "between the credits" -- that is, during the 14-hour, seven-part documentary.
Earnings Down 36% at Viacom as Expenses Rise
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/business/media/11viacom.html
The media conglomerate Viacom said yesterday that its first-quarter profit fell 36 percent, dragged down by revamping charges and higher costs at its MTV Networks, but the results beat Wall Street estimates. Since returning to the company last year, Viacom’s chief executive, Philippe P. Dauman, has sought to overhaul the international operations while reorganizing sales to offer advertising across its television, Internet and other digital properties.
Education
Education Secretary Defends Loans Record
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002031.html
Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, facing aggressive questions about her department's oversight of the $85 billion-a-year student loan industry, offered a vigorous defense of her actions yesterday and called for a multi-agency effort to prevent corruption in the loan system. "Federal student aid is crying out for reform," Spellings told the House education committee. "The system is redundant, it's byzantine and it's broken. In fact, it's often more difficult for students to get aid than it is for bad actors to game the system." In a sometimes-tense hearing, Democratic lawmakers accused the Bush administration of failing to clamp down on conflicts of interest and various industry practices that have drawn criticism from Congress and attorneys general across the nation. The House voted this week to increase federal regulation of the loan business.
RELATED: Spellings Rejects Criticism on Student Loan Scandal
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/washington/11spellings.html
South leads in early childhood education
A report says the region provides public preschool to the highest percentage of youngsters in the nation.
Science and Technology
Purdue Will Reinvestigate Its Professor Who Claimed Desktop Fusion
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/education/11purdue.html?ref=science
Three months after it cleared him of research misconduct, Purdue University has begun a new inquiry into a professor who claims to have generated nuclear fusion in a desktop experiment, the university acknowledged yesterday. The new inquiry goes beyond the focus of an earlier one, which looked at whether the professor, Rusi P. Taleyarkhan, improperly omitted himself as an author on two scientific papers. For the first time, a committee is examining whether the underlying research might have been fraudulent. Meanwhile, details of the earlier inquiry have emerged in a report by a Congressional subcommittee that reviewed Purdue’s actions. Although the earlier inquiry cleared Dr. Taleyarkhan of misconduct, it described “what might be characterized most favorably as severe lack of judgment” and said he had “abused his privilege as senior scientist,” according to the report from the Congressional subcommittee. Dr. Taleyarkhan said last night in an e-mail message that the subcommittee’s report represents “a gross travesty of justice.” He asked, “Where are the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the Asian community during this episode that has caused this biased and openly one-sided smear campaign?”
Military
Haditha Deaths Raised No Red Flags
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002205.html
A two-star general testified Thursday that he learned almost immediately that Marines under his command had killed at least 15 civilians -- including women and children -- in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005 but that he did not believe the incident merited an investigation. Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck was the latest of several witnesses in a military hearing at Camp Pendleton this week to say the deaths of Iraqi bystanders in Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, were widely known but did not raise concerns. Reports of the killings went up and down the chain of command, said Huck, who led the 2nd Marine Division in Iraq at the time. Yet no one -- from the company commander to Gen. George W. Casey Jr., then commander of multinational forces in Iraq -- indicated they wanted a preliminary inquiry into why so many civilians had died.
RELATED: Marine Says His Staff Misled Him on Killings
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/world/middleeast/11haditha.html?ref=world
Death of Teen Soldier Brings Grief to Iowans
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002196.html
Pfc. Katie M. Soenksen, a 19-year-old soldier serving with the 410th Military Police Company, died last week in a Baghdad explosion not two years after she graduated from North High. She enlisted and wrote recently that being in Iraq "makes me realize how good we have it in America." She was the 71st woman killed in Iraq -- 45 by hostile action -- and the 246th teenage soldier killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. With women serving in combat in unprecedented numbers, the number killed in action is higher than in previous wars, roughly triple the number of female casualties in Vietnam and the Gulf War combined. Soenksen's death cut deeply in Iowa, which buried another 19-year-old soldier on Wednesday. In the Quad Cities, which straddle the Mississippi, 14 fighting men and women have been buried since the Iraq war began, breaking hearts and driving political attitudes.
Official says Army will seek funds for vehicles
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-10-mrap-funds_N.htm
The Army has decided to ask Defense Secretary Robert Gates to approve funds for 18,000 armored vehicles that can counter the threat of roadside bombs, a Pentagon official said Thursday. The official, who has direct knowledge of the request, said the proposal for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles comes from commanders in Iraq. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the Army. The Army operates 18,000 Humvees in Iraq. MRAP vehicles can resist roadside bomb attacks significantly better than Humvees, Marine Corps Commandant James Conway testified to Congress in March. The vehicle's raised chassis and V-shaped hull help deflect the force of a bomb's blast.
Olson Picked to Lead U.S. Special Operations Command
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051001441.html
President Bush today nominated Navy Vice Adm. Eric T. Olson to lead U.S. Special Operations Command, replacing Army Gen. Bryan "Doug" Brown, according to a Pentagon release. Olson would be the first Navy officer to head Socom. The command is responsible for about 48,000 elite troops, such as Army Green Berets, Rangers, Delta Force operatives, Navy SEALs and Air Force rescue teams. Olson is now Socom's deputy commander.
Hotline serves as outlet for concerns of soldiers
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-10-va-hotline_N.htm
Disputes with the Army over disability ratings, out-patient health care and misplaced medical records dominate the more than 700 complaints received by a new Army telephone hotline, public records provided to USA TODAY show. There were far fewer phoned-in complaints than the Army anticipated after seven weeks. The hotline started March 19, shortly after the revelations of problems with care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. The largest portion of phone calls — more than 40% — related to issues that have triggered several investigations, commissions and task forces following news coverage about Walter Reed: the Army's disability process, out-patient health care and lost records.
Army recruiter reassigned after anti-gay rants
The recruiter who caused a controversy when she fired off anti-gay and racist e-mails to a job seeker has been permanently reassigned to other duties, the U.S. Army's Recruiting Command said Thursday. Sgt. Marcia Ramode was the recruiter in New York City who sought enlistees on the Internet and ended up initiating a vitriolic exchange with a gay, African-American freelance copywriter when she wrote that homosexuals are "disgusting and immoral." The e-mail exchange between Feb. 27 and March 1 was sent over the Internet and proved embarrassing as the military grapples with its "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
Religion
Vatican Seeks to Clarify Abortion Remarks
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002386.html
Pope Benedict XVI caused such a stir with his comments on the excommunication of lawmakers who vote in favor of legalizing abortion that the Vatican released a transcript Thursday changing what the pontiff said. While Benedict met with Brazil's president, and thousands of Roman Catholics streamed toward a soccer stadium for an evening youth rally, the Vatican released a new transcript that seemed to roll back the pope's comments from a day earlier. Asked during an in-flight news conference Wednesday if legislators who legalized abortion in Mexico City should rightfully be considered excommunicated, Benedict replied, "Yes." "The excommunication was not something arbitrary. It is part of the code," the pope said, referring to canon law. On Thursday, the Vatican issued a slightly edited transcript that dropped the word "yes" in the pope's response. Several other changes made his remarks seem a more general statement, rather than referring specifically to Mexican bishops who had said the politicians had excommunicated themselves.
RELATED: Pope's abortion comments changed by Vatican
RELATED: No premarital sex, pope tells Latin youth
As Gas Prices Rise Again, Democrats Blame Big Oil
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002091.html
A week after U.S. gasoline prices hit a near-record $3.05 a gallon, Democrats in Congress are promoting legislation taking aim at the big oil companies, although industry experts say that the efforts aren't likely to have any effect. Standing in front of an Exxon station near the Capitol on Wednesday with the posted $3.05-a-gallon price for unleaded regular in the background, half a dozen senators railed against the oil industry. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Congress would look into breaking up the giant companies. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) promoted her anti-price-gouging bill, which the Senate Commerce Committee adopted on Tuesday. And Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) backed a windfall profits tax, pointing to $440 billion in profits over the past six years for the nation's five biggest oil companies.
State Closes Coal-Fired Plant That Failed to Limit Emissions
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/nyregion/11plant.html?ref=science
Four years ago, a company that owns two local power plants settled a lawsuit with New York State by agreeing to install $100 million worth of pollution control technology at one of them, its coal-fired plant here, or shut it down. At the time, the company, Mirant New York, said it would move forward with the upgrades at its Lovett plant. But on Thursday, state officials announced a different outcome. In a news conference here, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo said the state was forcing the plant to close after Mirant failed to reduce emissions with new technology. One unit of the plant closed on Monday, while the other will close in one year, as stipulated by a 2003 consent decree.
A Nuclear Reactor Reborn
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/business/11nuke.html?ref=business
The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to reopen its Browns Ferry 1 nuclear reactor this month — 22 years after it was shut for safety reasons and 5 years after extensive renovations began. The move reflects the increased interest in nuclear power as an energy source, but the government agency’s willingness to spend $1.8 billion on the overhaul — almost as much as a new plant is supposed to cost — also shows just how hard companies think it will be to build a new plant.
U.N.: Food prices could offset biofuels benefits
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/environment/2007-05-08-biofuel-doubts_N.htm
Biofuels like ethanol can help reduce global warming and create jobs for the rural poor, but the benefits may be offset by serious environmental problems and increased food prices for the hungry, the United Nations concluded Tuesday in its first major report on bioenergy. In an agency-wide assessment, the United Nations raised alarms about the potential negative impact of biofuels, just days after a climate conference in Bangkok said the world had both the money and technology to prevent the sharp rise in global temperatures blamed in part on greenhouse gas emissions. Biofuels, which are made from corn, palm oil, sugar cane and other agricultural products, have been seen by many as a cleaner and cheaper way to meet the world's soaring energy needs than with greenhouse-gas emitting fossil fuels.
NASA: Hotter summers in store for Eastern U.S.
In the future, summers in the Eastern United States could be much hotter than originally predicted, with daily highs by the mid-2080s about 10 degrees warmer than in recent years, a new NASA study says. Previous, widely used global warming computer estimates predict too many rainy days, the study says. Because drier weather is hotter, they underestimate how warm it will be east of the Mississippi River, said scientists Barry Lynn and Leonard Druyan of Columbia University and NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
Mining law changes pose a real dilemma for Nevada's Reid
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, a gold miner's son from the top gold-producing state in the nation, is confronting competing political interests as House Democrats prepare to rewrite an antiquated hard-rock mining law. The minerals mining industry holds huge sway in Nevada and industry is balking at some of the most far-reaching reforms. Reid must work with environmentalists and fellow Democrats in Congress, but also hang onto support at home or risk the fate of his ousted predecessor, Tom Daschle. In an interview Reid said he supports reforms to the General Mining Law of 1872 and said he can work with House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. Rahall introduced a rewrite of the bill on Thursday. During the Clinton administration Reid had pitched battles with fellow senators he thought were trying to amend the mining law to hurt the mining industry. Reid always prevailed and the law remained fundamentally unchanged. "We had people then that were more interested in destroying hard-rock mining," said Reid. He added that he met with Rahall on the issue last week.
Invasive cargo spawns calls for regulations
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-10-invasive-cargo_N.htm
The discovery of a deadly fish virus in the Great Lakes has renewed calls for stringent regulations to prevent foreign ships from bringing invasive species into U.S. waters. The invasive critters are stowaways in the tons of water that ships pump in and out of their hulls for stability and maneuverability. Every year, billions of gallons of this ballast water are discharged into U.S. waterways, releasing everything from fish to microorganisms. "It's a huge problem that is invisible to most people," says Tim Eichenberg, a lawyer at the Ocean Conservancy, an environmental group. "The ballast is dumped underwater, so you don't see it happen, and the damage is below the surface."
Editor’s note: the New York Times has converted to a subscription-based editorial section. We are no longer clipping their op-ed columnists.
Robinson: Free Ride for a Likely Killer
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051001807.html
The Bush administration says that its zero-tolerance policy against terrorism applies to all suspected evildoers, not just Muslim evildoers, and that its zero-tolerance policy against Cuba is a principled position, not just an exercise in pandering to the implacable anti-Castro exiles in Miami. On both counts, evidence suggests otherwise. The fact is that Luis Posada Carriles, an accused terrorist who entered the United States illegally and was taken into custody, is not being kept in solitary confinement and dragged out for occasional waterboarding. As of this writing, he is a free man. Posada, 79, has long been suspected of opposing Fidel Castro's regime with violence. He was accused of masterminding the 1976 midair bombing of a civilian Cuban airliner, a terrorist act that killed 73 people. He is also suspected of involvement in a series of bombings of Havana hotels and nightclubs in 1997; several people were injured and one, an Italian tourist, was killed. Terrorism, our government constantly reminds us, is the scourge of our times. So why is a man described by our government as "an unrepentant criminal and admitted mastermind of terrorist plots and attacks on tourist sites" looking forward to a hero's welcome in Miami from his old Bay of Pigs comrades?
RELATED: Brooks: The terrorist we tolerate
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-brooks11may11,0,2749129.column?coll=la-opinion-center
Mr. Bush Alone
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/opinion/11fri1.html
The difference between mainstream hawks and mainstream doves on Iraq seems to have boiled down to two months, with House Democrats now demanding visible progress by July while moderate Republicans are willing to give White House policies until September, but no longer, to show results. Then there is President Bush, who has yet to acknowledge the reality that Congressional Republicans and even administration officials like Defense Secretary Robert Gates now seem to tacitly accept. Three months into Mr. Bush’s troop escalation, there is no real security in Baghdad and no measurable progress toward reconciliation, while American public support for this folly has all but run out.
College loan scandal
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2007/05/10/0511edloans.html
Even ivory towers can become soiled, as a growing scandal over kickbacks to colleges from student loan companies indicates. The abuses now emerging in the $87 billion-a-year college loan business are striking. Paid employees of private loan companies were allowed to work inside college financial aid offices, answering calls from students seeking information. Private loan-company employees were also allowed to deliver government-mandated lectures to graduating seniors with federal loans, explaining how they could consolidate their loans with private lenders. While students assumed they were getting balanced advice from an unbiased college aid officer, they were in fact being fed a sales pitch.
Juvenile Injustice
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/opinion/11fri2.html
The United States made a disastrous miscalculation when it started automatically trying youthful offenders as adults instead of handling them through the juvenile courts. Prosecutors argued that the policy would get violent predators off the streets and deter further crime. But a new federally backed study shows that juveniles who do time as adults later commit more violent crime than those who are handled through the juvenile courts. The study, published last month in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, was produced by the Task Force on Community Preventive Services, an independent research group with close ties to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After an exhaustive survey of the literature, the group determined that the practice of transferring children into adult courts was counterproductive, actually creating more crime than it cured.
Brownstein: Getting on a low-carbon diet
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-brownstein11may11,0,5408722.column?coll=la-opinion-center
President Bush will probably succeed in blocking any serious effort to combat global warming until he leaves office. But for the next president, the question will be how, not whether, to reduce American emissions of carbon dioxide and the other gases contributing to climate change. And that debate, like the planet itself, is heating up. Scientists, economists and political leaders who support action against global warming all construct their proposals on a simple foundation: attaching a cost to carbon emissions. Since the U.S. (and most other big polluters, like China and Russia) does not regulate greenhouse gas emissions, factories and power plants and cars can pump carbon into the atmosphere for free; to the polluter, carbon today has no cost. This despite all the costs global warming could impose on the world, from lower crop yields to destabilizing migrations and the greater international conflict that a group of retired generals and admirals warned about in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday.
Dionne: A Legacy Overshadowed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051001810.html
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's announcement that he's stepping down won't quell the anger felt among so much of the antiwar left. But my own reaction is a deep sadness that he tarnished a formidable legacy. As Blair exits, beleaguered by the unpopularity of the war in Iraq that he championed, it's almost impossible to remember the excitement and energy he called forth 10 years ago when he and his Labor Party won their landslide victory.
Goodman: A third gender in the workplace
IT'S BECOME a Mother's Day tradition on a par with candy, flowers, and guilt. While advertisers wax poetically about the priceless work of motherhood, economists tally up the paycheck for the services she performs. This year, salary.com estimates the annual value of a full-time mom at $138,095, up 3 percent from last year. The monetary value of a second-shift mom is $85,939, on top of her day job. But, alas, the check is not in the mail. Nor will mom find it next to the maple syrup on her bed tray. Motherhood is what the economists call a monopsony, a job for which there is only one employer. And it's a rare child who's saved up to fill mom's piggybank, let alone a 401(k). The real story of the Mother's Day economy is less rosy. This is what to expect when you are expecting -- expecting to be a mom and a paid worker at the same time. You can expect to be mommified.
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