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TOP STORIES
Effective and Ethical Government
Worker's Rights and Corporate Accountability
Transportation and Infrastructure
Effective and Ethical Government
Transportation and Infrastructure
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Today’s digest archive: http://media.progressnowaction.org/digest/051607.htm
TOP STORIES
National
Clinton, Obama to Back Vote to Cut Off Funding for Troops in Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502207.html
Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) announced yesterday that they will support a symbolic vote to cut off funding for combat troops in Iraq within a year, an important shift for both Democratic presidential candidates as the war debate on Capitol Hill intensifies. The funding vote is expected in the Senate today, as one of four test votes on Iraq that Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) had scheduled in advance of final talks with the House and the Bush administration over a $124 billion war-spending bill.
RELATED: Obama and Clinton Back Ending Iraq Combat by March 31
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/us/politics/16cong.html
RELATED: N.H. lawmaker endorses Clinton
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/05/16/nh_lawmaker_endorses_clinton/
More Iraq war news in NATIONAL/ELECTION, NATIONAL/GOVERNMENT, NATIONAL/FOREIGN POLICY, NATIONAL/MILITARY, COLORADO/MILITARY
More 2008 presidential race news in NATIONAL/ELECTION, COLORADO/ELECTION
Gonzales Hospital Episode Detailed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500864.html
On the night of March 10, 2004, as Attorney General John D. Ashcroft lay ill in an intensive-care unit, his deputy, James B. Comey, received an urgent call. White House Counsel Alberto R. Gonzales and President Bush's chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr., were on their way to the hospital to persuade Ashcroft to reauthorize Bush's domestic surveillance program, which the Justice Department had just determined was illegal. In vivid testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Comey said he alerted FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III and raced, sirens blaring, to join Ashcroft in his hospital room, arriving minutes before Gonzales and Card. Ashcroft, summoning the strength to lift his head and speak, refused to sign the papers they had brought. Gonzales and Card, who had never acknowledged Comey's presence in the room, turned and left.
RELATED: Ashcroft ex-aide details wiretap infighting
RELATED: Gonzales' visit to hospitalized Ashcroft criticized
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-15-ashcroft-wiretapping_N.htm
RELATED: Senate hears of split over wiretaps in '04
More DOJ scandal news in NATIONAL/GOVERNMENT
Prices Rose Faster Than Wages in April
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500493.html
Prices for food, gasoline, medical care and other items rose faster than most workers' wages last month, the government reported yesterday, adding to concerns that a squeeze on consumer spending might further weaken the sluggish economy. The Labor Department said yesterday that its consumer price index, a broadly followed gauge of inflation, rose 0.4 percent in April, largely reflecting a 2.4 percent increase in energy costs, including gasoline, fuel oil and electricity. After adjusting for inflation, average weekly earnings fell 0.5 percent last month and are up 0.9 percent from a year before, the department said in a separate report. These are the wages paid to private factory and non-managerial service workers, who account for four of every five workers.
RELATED: Inflation and Wages Show Slower Growth
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/business/16econ.html?ref=business
Gas likely to hit $4, transportation chief says
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/05/16/0516metpeters.html
Americans can expect $4-a-gallon gas, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said Tuesday in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution during a daylong visit to Atlanta. She stressed she wasn't speaking from specific data but had seen $4 gas in San Francisco and predicted it would spread to regions like Atlanta "certainly in the next few years." Peters, who was in town to release a study on air travel, made that observation between meetings with airport officials, Georgia Transportation Commissioner Harold Linnenkohl, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and the chairmen of the House and Senate transportation committees, her staff said.
RELATED: Experts say oil refineries stretched too thin
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2007-05-15-gas-hearing-usat_N.htm
More fuel price/energy policy news in NATIONAL/ENERGY, COLORADO/TOP STORIES, COLORADO/ENERGY
Colorado
Greeley mayor heads to Washington to stop immigration raids
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070516/NEWS/105160093
Greeley Mayor Tom Selders will go to Washington on Thursday along with several religious groups to ask the President and Congress to stop immigration raids and urge for legislation on immigration reform. "I'm not making a stance one way or the other, but I am saying that we need some policies that work," Selders said. "Every time there is a raid, it creates a lot of turmoil in the community, and I think we can overt that turmoil by having better policies." Selders is set to present during a hearing on the social impact of raids on families and communities for the White House, Department of Homeland Security and congressional leaders as negotiations begin this week to pass an immigration reform bill. He said he plans to talk about how the December Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid at Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Greeley has divided the community.
RELATED: Latinos Unidos members urge city council to oppose ICE office in Greeley
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070516/NEWS/105160090
RELATED: Talk food, child care at next meeting on immigration money
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070516/NEWS/105150096
More immigration policy news in NATIONAL/ELECTION, NATIONAL/IMMIGRATION, COLORADO/IMMIGRATION
Udall, Salazar call for delay on Roan Plateau drilling
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5901296
Congressmen Mark Udall and John Salazar called for a one-year moratorium on oil and gas exploration on top of the Roan Plateau on Tuesday, saying the federal government needs more time to gather public comment and study alternatives. The two Democrats asked Congress to delay funds for the Bureau of Land Management to oversee Roan Plateau development for a year and to prevent new projects in the meantime. "We're very concerned about the top of the Roan," Salazar said. "It's species-rich, it's a beautiful area." Udall said he is not trying to stop development, just delay it long enough to make sure alternatives are reviewed. "To take a year time-out seems the right way to proceed," he said. A spokesman for the Colorado Oil and Gas Association did not return a phone call seeking comment.
RELATED: Roan leasing delay lauded by officials, planned by industry
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/16/5_16_Roan_delay.html
RELATED: Roan drilling would net immediate $1B, Penry says
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/16/5_16_Roan_worth.html
RELATED: Putting the brakes on gas drilling
http://postindependent.com/article/20070516/VALLEYNEWS/105160047
Laws address health issues, foster care, meals for kids
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/0,2777,DRMN_23906_5539384,00.html
Gov. Bill Ritter on Tuesday signed a package of bills to help developmentally disabled children, young adults in foster care and poor youngsters who may not get regular breakfasts. "These new laws make good health care sense and good fiscal sense," Ritter said. "When we talk about bills like these, we should always ask a few questions: Is it good for kids? Will it make a real difference in the lives of children? Is it a good investment? The answer . . . is yes, yes and yes," he said.
RELATED: Ritter signs package of health-care bills
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070515/NEWS/105150062
Homeless watch convention plans
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904067
Denver's homeless advocates are closely monitoring and offering strong words of caution about plans to increase shelter capacity and hours during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. "During the convention, (the homeless) should be as free as anyone to participate in the activities or do as they please," said John Parvensky, the president and chief executive of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, who is working with city planners to prepare for the convention. At issue are the security zones that will spring up in and around the Pepsi Center, where the convention will be held. The urban landscape surrounding the site includes areas where the homeless camp or hang out during the summer. If those areas are closed, the homeless - and anyone else - would be forced to stay away.
RELATED: Homeless will be cleared off streets when Dems meet in Denver
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/15/homeless-will-be-cleared-streets-when-dems-meet-de/
More Democratic National Convention news in COLORADO/ELECTION
Election
Romney peppy after debate
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/elections/article/0,2808,DRMN_24736_5539373,00.html
Just minutes after 10 Republican candidates left a debate stage in South Carolina, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's voice popped onto a speaker phone inside a suburban Des Moines office park. He was upbeat, as candidates are supposed to be after presidential debates, telling supporters he got across what he wanted to get across. "I made the toughest choices, the toughest decisions in the toughest state in America," Romney told his supporters here and at debate- watching parties all over the country. The implication is that if a Republican survives in fiercely liberal Massachusetts, he can survive anywhere. But, even his supporters concede, he had to take a bruising to make that point.
Briefs: Senators try again for convention funds
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904065
Colorado's senators have joined with Minnesota's senators to make a second request for $100 million to provide security for next year's national political conventions. Republican Sen. Wayne Allard and Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar want $50 million dedicated to fund security for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Another $50 million would go to the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn. The request is being made to a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, of which Allard is a member. An earlier attempt to obtain the money through the emergency supplemental budget failed. Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette of Denver has had a similar appropriations request in the House.
Musgrave builds team for 2008 re-election bid
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904207
A pack of noted Republicans from northeastern Colorado - some rumored to have considered a run for Congress themselves - will instead stand behind U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave as she seeks re-election. Among the campaign chairmen Musgrave announced Tuesday are state Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, and state Sens. Greg Brophy, R-Wray, and Steve Johnson, R-Larimer County. All three were the subject of speculation in what's expected to be another feisty battle for the 4th Congressional District. Meanwhile, state Sen. Brandon Shaffer, a Boulder County Democrat and assistant majority leader, said he is forming an exploratory committee - the first step to launching a campaign. "I'm willing to serve if the people of Colorado want me to," Shaffer said.
Longmont lawmaker considers run for Congress
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5901512
Democratic state Sen. Brandon Shaffer of Longmont plans to take the first steps toward running for Congress this week, forming an exploratory committee and starting to raise money to challenge Republican Marilyn Musgrave. Shaffer, 36, an attorney, told the Longmont Daily Times-Call in Tuesday's editions that he has been encouraged to run by fellow Democrats and party officials in Washington. Former state Rep. Angie Paccione, a Fort Collins Democrat who was defeated by Musgrave last year, said she plans to run again. Other Democrats who have expressed interest in running for the seat in 2008 include Betsy Markey, a regional director for Sen. Ken Salazar; Dr. Bob Bennell, a Fort Collins dentist; and Eric Eidsness, who ran for the 4th District as a Reform Party candidate last year before becoming a Democrat.
RELATED: Shaffer ponders run for 4th CD
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16362
City needs more time for special election
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/16/city-needs-more-time-for-special-election/
Boulder residents might vote this fall on a proposed change to the city's charter that would increase the number of days officials have to fill a vacancy on the City Council. A committee formed to review Boulder's charter will discuss putting an amendment before voters because the city is finding it "almost physically impossible" to hold an election in 60 days, City Clerk Alisa Lewis said Tuesday — two days after Councilman Tom Eldridge died of brain cancer.
Effective and Ethical Government
No panel slot for Lamborn
http://www.gazette.com/articles/committee_22445___article.html/lamborn_rep.html
Is Rep. Doug Lamborn at the front of the line or at the end? That’s the question regarding a recent opening on the House Armed Services Committee that did not go to Lamborn. The freshman Republican from Colorado Springs said on his Web site and in a mailer to constituents that he had been given “on leave” status for the committee and would have a seat “when the next Republican vacancy arises.” It’s a plum assignment for a congressman from a military town such as Colorado Springs. Lamborn’s predecessor, Rep. Joel Hefley, was on the committee 18 years. But when Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., left the committee to take a slot on the powerful House Appropriations Committee recently, Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., got the seat. Shuster, a former committee member, was chosen because he also had “on leave” status and has more seniority, said Josh Holly, a minority spokesman for the committee.
Doesn't compute: 'It's like you were having a baby, and it turned out ugly'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5538977,00.html
Colorado officials had plenty of warning that their new computer system for registering motor vehicles had careened off track. Outside auditors, county clerks and state employees who issue license plates all raised the alarm. The state even briefly suspended the development contract in 2004. But six years passed and nearly $8 million went out the door before a new Department of Revenue director halted the system's -most recent trial run last month and brought in another consultant to see if it's salvageable. State and county motor vehicle staff members say they poured months into helping plan a modern computer system, only to see their efforts dropped by state officials and the computer contractor Avanade. "It's like you were having a baby, and it turned out to be ugly," said P.J. Taylor, head of Broomfield's motor vehicle division.
No charges for lawyer over millions stolen from state
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904068
Lawyer Kevin Toohig will not be charged in connection with an ongoing investigation into the theft of up to $10 million from the Colorado Department of Revenue, the Denver district attorney's office said Tuesday. Toohig, 38, of Cleveland was arrested May 1 for investigation of theft and criminal conspiracy and was released from custody on a $10,000 bond. Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, said Tuesday that no charges are being filed against Toohig, and his bond is being released.
RELATED: Red flags for years on tax theft suspect
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539327,00.html
Tempers flare at Olathe meeting
http://www.montrosepress.com/articles/2007/05/15/local_news/1.txt
Olathe Mayor Woody Palmer smacked his gavel several times at Monday's town meeting as tempers flared over discussions of town leadership. Three business owners decried Olathe's sluggishness in finding a town administrator and lack of direction. "If we ran our businesses like you're running the town, it wouldn't work," said Pam Cannell, owner of Blue Mountain Signs in Olathe.
[Greeley] Council delays the annexation
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070516/NEWS/105160098
The Greeley City Council delayed a decision on whether to annex the Knaus Subdivision on Tuesday night because city staff didn't follow state law about notifying residents. City Attorney Rick Brady said the city did not provide proper public notice about the creation of a transitional committee that would oversee the transition of residents to Greeley rule from Weld County rule. As a result, the council could not have the public hearing on the annexation Tuesday night.
Fruita council welcomes addition
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/16/5_16_1B_Fruita.html
The Fruita City Council Tuesday appointed former council member Gordon Vetter, 75, to fill the open council position left vacant by the death of Darline Merling. About 10 applicants vied for the position, Mayor E. James Adams said. “It was not an easy decision,” he said.
Civil Liberties and Equality
Race issues go unanswered in Rifle
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/16/5_16_1a_Race_issues.html
A lack of Latino representation kept Rifle community leaders and residents from determining if race relations are a concern, after a meeting held Tuesday night. “It’s a pretty white-bread group,” said Timothy Fifer, a counselor at Rifle Middle School. “It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s hard to say if we have a serious issue when you don’t have the perspective to come from and say if it is.” School District Re-2 officials contacted the U.S. Justice Department’s community relations division about race issues shortly before the Feb. 23 assault of a 14-year-old white girl by a 16-year-old Hispanic girl at Rifle High School.
RELATED: Valley neighbors take a step in the right direction at Re-2 meeting
http://postindependent.com/article/20070516/VALLEYNEWS/105160052
Immigration
Deal for reform proves a struggle
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904677
Key senators and White House officials gather again today to piece together compromise legislation that could grant legal status to 12 million illegal immigrants. The group met for several hours Tuesday, racing against a deadline that was extended late in the evening. The negotiators had reached agreement on some controversial issues that would be part of a reform package. But Republicans and Democrats remained far apart on many others. If senators fail to reach an accord, said Sen. Ken Salazar, immigration legislation could die until after the 2008 elections. "I'm still convinced this thing could very well blow up," said Salazar, a Colorado Democrat working on the legislation. "If it does blow up, it's all over."
Lafayette passes immigration resolution
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/16/lafayette-passes-immigration-resolution/
The City Council grappled with the divisive issue of immigration Tuesday and approved a resolution calling for national leaders to pass comprehensive reform. A group of Lafayette residents and activists had asked the council to consider the resolution, which proclaims support for the local immigrant community and asks President George W. Bush and Congress to get going on immigration reform. The public hearing, which drew about 20 people, included passionate speeches from people on both sides of the debate. Lafayette resident Sandy Mullins said although the resolution is mostly symbolic, it's important for Lafayette to show respect for all families living in the city. "I think this is terribly important that Lafayette make a statement regarding immigration," Mullins said. According to the 2000 census, about 10 percent of the city's population is foreign-born.
Marriage and Family Issues
Reviews back caseworkers
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5905524
State human-services reviews of 10 child deaths since 2004 determined in eight cases that social caseworkers acted appropriately - though sometimes they could have made greater efforts at helping troubled families, records show. In two of the deaths, state officials cited caseworkers for doing a poor job of protecting the children. One case involved an underweight Morgan County girl who died in August 2004. The second was a year-old Weld County girl who was beaten or shaken to death in March 2004. The state recommended changes to how the counties handle such cases, but offered no disciplinary alternatives.
RELATED: Problems in fatal child abuse cases
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539328,00.html
Report: Colo.’s kids lag in health care, education
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16366
A new report on the well-being of the state’s kids shows that “we clearly have a lot of work to do,” the president of the Colorado Children’s Campaign said Monday. Megan Ferland said studies compiled by her Denver-based organization show that by at least some measures, Colorado adults are faring well. However, “while Colorado prospers on many levels, including the education level and income of the overall state population, many of our children are not getting their basic needs met,” Ferland said.
Health Care and Public Safety
River rips family apart
http://origin.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904678
Elsha Guel pushed her 2-year-old son's stroller into a narrow concrete tunnel to escape a pounding hailstorm Monday night. But the refuge became a trap when a wall of floodwater swept through the tunnel and Guel lost her grip on the stroller. Officials called it a "50-year storm event" - the deluge that washed Jose Matthew Jauregui Jr. down a swollen ditch feeding the rampaging South Platte River and swept away a young man at Bible Park in southeast Denver. Neither had been found Tuesday evening. Guel was clinging to a concrete barrier when firefighters reached her. She was so distraught when she learned they hadn't found Jose that she let go and the flood carried her away. "She said she no longer wanted to live without her child," said Lt. Phil Champagne, Denver Fire Department spokesman.
RELATED: Teams train for havoc of floods
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904676
RELATED: Swirling flood drama ends with officer safe
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904667
RELATED: Mom, toddler trapped in a 'concrete canyon'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539628,00.html
RELATED: Officials uncertain about fate of young man in gulch
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539469,00.html
RELATED: 'He had a hold of the kid'
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539468,00.html
Ex-foster kids given Medicaid extension
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904208
After Janay Eiland left foster care at 18, she lived in a homeless shelter for a year and had no health insurance. Now she's struggling to pay $5,000 in medical bills she incurred while having a baby. A new law signed Tuesday by Gov. Bill Ritter extends Medicaid coverage until age 21 for foster children, who have been "left adrift" after leaving the system, he said. The law means about 1,400 young adults leaving foster care now are eligible for Medicaid. The former cutoff was age 18.
DA agrees performance audit of state hospital is needed
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1179324918/9
Pueblo District Attorney Bill Thiebaut this week supported a Denver newspaper editorial’s call for a performance audit of the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo. In a letter sent Monday to Sen. Stephanie Takis, D-Aurora, who chairs the Legislative Audit Committee, and State Auditor Sally Symanski, Thiebaut said he believed the institute “would welcome a professionally designed performance audit . . .” The call for the audit was prompted by recent events that included an escape and charges that patients were running a tax-fraud scam from inside the facility. “The Denver Post seemed to reason with the escape and the tax fraud case that overall the thing needed to be looked at,” Thiebaut said. “I couldn't agree more, but at this point I didn’t think it was my place to request an audit. I wanted to let elected officials know from the community safety perspective it makes sense.”
Mother: My son fought to live
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904191
In a last letter to his family from a wilderness camp for troubled youths, Caleb Jensen wrote about the difficulties of surviving in the wild and added a postscript: "I want my mommy." Caleb's mother, Dawn Boyd of Salt Lake City, received the letter from her youngest child during the week before he died of an untreated staph infection. He was participating in a court-ordered wilderness therapy program through Alternative Youth Adventures near Montrose. The program's license to operate was suspended after the 15-year-old died May 2. Boyd said she believes camp staff ignored her son's assertions that he was sick and needed to go home. She also believes the Utah Division of Juvenile Justice Services, which placed her son in the rough and remote program, failed to take into account his frequent problems with staph infections.
City looking at a flood of problems
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1179324918/4
The Fountain Creek breach that left a north Pueblo neighborhood under 6 to 8 feet of muddy water last week is only one of many impending problems the city’s stormwater utility is trying to address. Future problems on Fountain Creek include the 13th Street interchange with Interstate 25 and just north of King Soopers. But more problems have been identified throughout the city, Stormwater Utility Director Dennis Maroney said Tuesday. “There are 10 drainage basins in the city and all have needs,” Maroney said. A few of the problems have surfaced, such as flooding last August in the Peppersauce Bottoms area near Midtown and last week’s flood in Trollsville just north of the Pueblo Mall. More such events may be waiting to happen.
Call center overloaded, police warn
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/16/5_16_1a_911_center.html
Faced with cramped work space, a surge in calls for service and overworked 911 dispatchers, the Grand Junction Regional Communication Center plans to sink roughly $1.5 million into hiring more staff and remodeling and expanding its headquarters at the Grand Junction Police Department. The Communication Center, which used to be the county jail until it moved in the 1990s, will hire five more dispatchers, tack on another 250 square feet to the 1,000-square-foot operations room, add three dispatch consoles and replace the dispatch center’s uninterrupted power source. Officials also will place another modular building on the east side of the police station where new dispatchers can be trained and technological staff will be relocated.
Animal rights group seeks to end cat tests
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539038,00.html
An animal rights group is asking that a University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences Center researcher stop his experiments with cats because they were not anesthetized properly before undergoing surgery. "We're calling on President (Hank) Brown to stop the experiments and fire the committee for allowing cats to suffer needlessly," said Bruce Friedrich, vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, at a press conference Tuesday. At issue is the use of chloralose, a drug used by researcher Moshe Solomonow of the orthopedic bioengineering division at CU, to knock out cats before testing how their back muscles react to repetitive stress. A whistleblower had approached PETA this year with a report and video footage of cats that were conscious before undergoing surgery to the spine at the center.
Officials warn of plague threat at 63rd, Diagonal
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16368
Boulder officials announced Monday that fleas collected May 8 near 63rd Street and the Diagonal Highway have tested positive for plague. Employees posted signs at the area, near the base of the Boulder Reservoir dam and next to the city of Boulder Water Treatment Plant, and the city plans to dust some prairie dog burrows with a pesticide to reduce the chance of plague exposure from fleas.
Economy
Szeliga settlement another boost for fund
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5538681,00.html
It's not a lot in the scheme of things, but a Qwest investors restitution fund has been boosted by more than $3 million as a result of settlements between the federal government and former Qwest executives. Most recently, former Qwest Chief Financial Officer Robin Szeliga agreed to pay more than $577,000 to settle civil fraud charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The agreement still must be approved by the court. According to court filings, Szeliga previously paid $125,000 of restitution and $5,547 in interest into the investor distribution fund in connection with pleading guilty to one felony count of insider trading. Gregory Casey, who once headed Qwest's wholesale division, paid $2.1 million into the investors fund as part of settling civil fraud charges with the SEC in 2005.
Janus, Invesco restitution is nearing
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/other_business/article/0,2777,DRMN_23916_5538682,00.html
Janus and Invesco mutual fund investors this fall should finally get a share of the combined $425 million the two companies agreed to pay to settle allegations of abusive trading, regulators said. The Securities and Exchange Commission is close to making public the plans to divvy up the money to fund holders harmed by the activity, said Donald Hoerl, associate director of enforcement in Denver. Then, the effort to get the cash to investors can proceed. The payouts would come roughly four years after Eliot Spitzer, then New York attorney general, unveiled an investigation into industry trading practices.
Briefs: First Data subsidiary loses $16 million case
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5904260
A subsidiary of Greenwood Village-based First Data Corp. has been ordered to pay $16 million to a Los Angeles company in a breach-of-contract case. A jury awarded the money Thursday to Financial Consulting and Trading International Inc., which maintains and services automatic teller machines. FCTI entered a contract in 2005 with Concord Computing Corp., which is owned by First Data, to manage 700 Concord ATMs across the country. Concord rescinded the contract two months later and sued FCTI. The jury concluded that Concord was not entitled to rescind the agreement, and that FCTI had sustained a loss of $16 million.
Can summer match winter in Vail?
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070515/NEWS/70515038
The town of Vail does 71 percent of its business from November to April. Rayla Kundolf said her Vail Village art gallery, Masters Gallery, isn’t quite that unbalanced — it does about 60 percent of its business in those winter months. But she’d like to see Vail business be more sustained through the year, she said. “We need to go to a year-round resort,” she said. “People have to get out of the mindset of ‘mud season,’” she said. Compared to other mountain resorts, Vail’s disparity between winter and non-winter business seems more pronounced. Aspen sees 59 percent of its state taxable sales from November to April, according to a study done for the town of Vail. Telluride is even more balanced, with 54 percent of its sales coming in winter.
Con artists' pot-of-gold scheme boils over
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904193
Only an attentive bank teller stood in the way of Herman Regusters' plan to turn a stolen $474,150 federal tax-refund check into a cache of gold coins. Regusters was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn to two years in prison followed by three years of probation. "Fighting crime is a community effort," Internal Revenue Service special agent John Harrison said. "This demonstrates how looking after each other prevented somebody from being out a lot of money."
Aspen attorneys under fire
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070516/NEWS/105160044
A Basalt man claiming that two Aspen lawyers stole a patent and $250,000 from him in an ongoing civil case may end up getting the attorneys disbarred. The attorneys, Alan Feldman and Jeffrey Wertz, of the Allen, Wertz and Feldman law firm, were notified in late April of imminent disciplinary action by the Colorado Supreme Court, which oversees law licenses. Dennis Barker, operator of the Barker Gang Garage, filed a grievance with the court in September 2005. He said the investigation has taken more than a year, but the Supreme Court may act as soon as Wednesday to issue a formal complaint.
Worker's Rights and Corporate Accountability
Lockheed looks to youth
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5904279
As aerospace companies prepare to add hundreds to their Colorado payrolls, they face a similar challenge - recruiting the next generation of qualified workers. "Fewer and fewer college students are preparing for a career in this industry," Lockheed Martin Space Systems executive vice president Joanne Maguire said Tuesday. Of those who earn engineering degrees, many are foreign students and are ineligible for the overwhelming majority of Maguire's jobs. Because the company does national-security work, most of its employees must be U.S. citizens.
Housing and Homelessness
Greenspan impresses with speech
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5904282
The country's excess inventory of 200,000 new homes is the greatest imbalance in the U.S. economy today, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told about 400 people at a luncheon in Denver on Tuesday. "Unless we get a pickup in sales ... we will be working on that 200,000 overhang for a while," Greenspan said during an hour-long question-and-answer session at the Denver Art Museum.
Media
Anschutz, Cussler both claim victory
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5904280
Both sides claimed victory Tuesday in the long-standing legal battle between Denver billionaire Philip An schutz and author Clive Cussler over the film "Sahara." A Los Angeles jury ordered Cussler, author of the Dirk Pitt adventure novels, to pay Anschutz's Crusader Entertainment $5 million for breach of contract on the film, which was widely considered a financial flop. But Cussler's lawyers said the jury also recommended that Crusader, now called Bristol Bay Productions, honor a previous commitment to pay Cussler $8.5 million for the film rights to a second book.
MediaNews earnings rise on acquisitions
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5904270
Acquisitions pushed Media News Group's earnings into the black despite a tough advertising market, according to a fiscal third-quarter earnings report the Denver-based publisher filed Tuesday. MediaNews, owner of The Denver Post, reported net income of $4.3 million in its January-to-March quarter versus a loss of $3.6 million in the same period in 2006. Revenues during the quarter rose to $317 million, a 52.7 percent increase from $208.4 million during the same period a year earlier.
Education
Churchill's lawyer: Panel advises suspension
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5905525
The attorney for University of Colorado ethnic-studies professor Ward Churchill said Tuesday that the committee reviewing his academic misconduct case has recommended a one-year suspension rather than dismissal. "We feel any discipline is not warranted, but at least (the committee members are) moving in the right direction," said Churchill attorney David Lane. "This will make it more difficult for Hank Brown and the regents to fire him." The Privilege and Tenure Committee on May 8 gave its report to CU president Hank Brown, who has 15 business days to consider the case record. He could advise firing Churchill, closing the case, or another punishment short of termination. The chairman of the committee, CU-Denver math professor Weldon Lodwick, said he could not comment. Churchill has been accused of plagiarizing, fabricating and falsifying material in his research and writing.
School district rethinks policies on CU panels
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904322
School officials here are re-evaluating their policies for allowing panels from the University of Colorado's Conference on World Affairs to be held at Boulder High School, after a parent and a student complained that a panel about teen sex and drug use was too graphic and permissive in tone. The controversy stems from an April panel called "STDs: Sex, Teens and Drugs." The discussion was dotted with frank talk and provocative comments about sex and drugs. "I'm going to encourage you to have sex, and I'm going to encourage you to use drugs appropriately," panelist Joel Becker, a Los Angeles clinical psychologist, told the students. "And why I am going to take that position is because you're going to do it anyway."
RELATED: Organizers defend sex talk at Boulder High
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539466,00.html
RELATED: Statement from CWA
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/16/statement-cwa/
RELATED: Statement from the White family in response to CWA statement
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/16/statement-white-family-response-cwa-statement/
After buyout, eCollege headquarters to return to Denver
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5904281
Pearson Plc, the world's biggest educational publisher, has agreed to buy Chicago-based eCollege.com for $538 million to add online degree courses in the U.S. ECollege was founded in Denver in 1996 and employs about 250 people here. The company's headquarters will return to Denver when the deal closes later this year, eCollege spokeswoman Kristi Emerson said. The company moved its executive offices to Chicago in 2005 and has about 10 employees there. That office is expected to close, Emerson said.
RELATED: A $93 million eCollege transfer
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/tech/article/0,2777,DRMN_23910_5538911,00.html
CMC tailors curriculum to workforce demand
http://postindependent.com/article/20070516/VALLEYNEWS/105160044
New and expanded training offered through Colorado Mountain College's Rifle Campus focuses on the energy industry on the Western Slope. Formal courses to prepare new workers are balanced with worksite training tailored for the current workforce.
Third graders raise scores
http://www.canoncitydailyrecord.com/Top-Story.asp?id=6972
[Florence] School district officials here hope a surge in third-grade reading CSAP scores translates into other increased results when the remaining test scores are released this August. Fremont Elementary School third graders raised their reading scores from 60 percent at or above proficiency a year ago to 71 percent this year. The same grade level at Penrose Elementary School rose from 77 to 78 percent at or above proficiency. The results were announced during Monday’s school board meeting. “I compliment and congratulate the teachers and principals of both Fremont and Penrose Elementary Schools,” said Superintendent John Merriam. “I also give students and parents a lot of credit.”
Leaders, parents vow to save Ute Creek
http://www.longmontfyi.com/Local-Story.asp?id=16363
Ute Creek Secondary Academy parents and board members vowed Monday night to do everything possible to keep the struggling charter high school open. The eight-member board of trustees met during a special meeting Monday and appointed four new members. The new trustees will replace two who resigned for “personal reasons” and two — president Eric Huber and his wife and vice president, Marcel Huber — who resigned Monday night because they plan to relocate out of state. Eric Huber said filling the vacant positions on the board was one hurdle school leaders needed to get past to continue contract negotiations with the St. Vrain Valley School District.
District looking at homeschool policy change
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070515/NEWS/105150067
Summit School District would receive state funding of $3,500 for every homeschool student currently enrolled in one class if they were taking two instead. So, a policy revision requiring them to take the number of classes for part-time funding was brought up - something other school districts throughout the state have done. However, after hearing from a homeschool parent whose family would be affected, the board tabled the policy, asking that school administration officials look into other options to present at the next meeting. Ron Bristol, who has four children currently being homeschooled, attended the school board meeting last week at Summit Education Center.
Two Springs students arrested in alleged bomb, shooting plot
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539460,00.html
Police have arrested two Harrison High School students in what investigators described as a plot to kill a record number of students by setting off pipe bombs and shooting people, possibly during a pep rally. The alleged plot unraveled two weeks ago when a teacher tipped off a school security officer that a male student had told her he "wanted to kill numerous people" because he was having problems with his girlfriend. The tip led Colorado Springs police to confiscate a green notebook in which the boy and a girlfriend had written messages back and forth.
RELATED: Teen girl held in Harrison plot may face felony charges
http://www.gazette.com/articles/boy_22450___article.html/felony_girl.html
Janitor said he opened school early on day of scare
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539461,00.html
The day SWAT teams scoured Boulder High School for two youths wearing ski masks and camouflage, a janitor told a police dispatcher he had opened the building at 6 a.m. - a half-hour before district officials said the building was supposed to be opened. Boulder Valley School District officials said last week that entrances aren't usually unlocked until 6:30 a.m. - school starts at 7:30 a.m. - and nothing was different Thursday when the security scare locked down Boulder High and prompted a nearly nine-hour search. Linda Kohler, who said she spotted the suspicious males inside at 6 a.m., told a police dispatcher at 6:13 a.m. "the whole building is unlocked right now," according to a tape of the 911 calls.
Worker confesses to grafitti threat
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20070516/NEWS/105160042
A white man has confessed to writing a message threatening to attack "whites" at the Aspen public schools campus last week, which led to closure of the schools on May 11. But the man, whose identity authorities are withholding, has not been arrested or charged, pending discussions with the district attorney's office, according to Pitkin County Sheriff's Deputy Brad Gibson. Gibson said the message, scrawled on the wall of portable toilet May 8, was not directed at either students or at construction workers.
District 60 answers discipline lawsuit
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1179324918/15
Pueblo City Schools is denying that school personnel last year confined an 11-year-old severely disabled pupil in a small closet because of his behavior. The school district's denial is in its newly filed answer in U.S. District Court to a lawsuit in which the boy, through his mother, Veronica Hijar, made the allegation. The district is asking a judge to enter judgment in its favor and to require the boy and his attorney to pay the fees of the district's lawyer for defending against the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges Highland Park Elementary School staff confined the boy in "a dangerous condition for him because of his multiple disabilities and his inability to control physical movement, emotional outburst and seizures." The district's answer is its first court response to the lawsuit. It was filed in February in Pueblo District Court and city schools moved it last week to federal court.
Military
Congress audits Ft. Carson mental-health care
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904066
Congressional staffers ended a two-day fact-finding mission to assess mental-health care at Fort Carson on Tuesday, vowing to visit other military installations to assess their care. Representatives from the Colorado offices of Sens. Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar, and Reps. John Salazar and Doug Lamborn met in closed-door sessions with 21 soldiers and their families to learn more about the struggle to get care for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Representatives also came from the offices of presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton, and Sens. John Kerry, Barbara Boxer, Joe Lieberman and Kit Bond.
RELATED: Trauma care better, group says
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5538973,00.html
RELATED: PTSD meeting a success at Carson
http://www.gazette.com/articles/johnson_22440___article.html/soldiers_carson.html
War at Home: Lance Cpl. Tom Schwander, U.S. Marines Corps
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070515/NEWS/105150069
For most of us "civilians," recalling the day after our 21st birthday brings to mind hazy recollections of the previous night's mirth and merriment, and a lazy day spent hungover around the house. But for 2004 Summit High grad Tom Schwander, the day after his 21st birthday was remarkable in that he set off on a seven-month tour of duty in dusty, dangerous Iraq - his first deployment as a Marine bound for Anbar Province near Fallujah.
Peterson outgrowing its 1,200 acres
http://www.gazette.com/articles/base_22447___article.html/peterson_air.html
Peterson Air Force Base would expand from 1,200 acres to more than 2,000 acres under a plan unveiled Tuesday by base commanders. They’re eyeing property on the eastern edge of the base and envision moving the fence up to a halfmile into the prairie, which would include more than 500 acres that’s part of the planned Banning Lewis Ranch development. The Air Force has given Peterson officials permission to sniff out land deals, but approval from the Pentagon and Congress would be needed before any property changes hands. Col. Jay Santee, commander of Peterson’s 21st Space Wing, said the base is having to shunt growth to leased space off base or to other area installations.
House veterans panel OKs new national cemetery
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1179324918/16
A new national cemetery in the Pikes Peak region moved a step closer to reality Tuesday when the full House Veterans Affairs Committee approved legislation to create it. The measure is sponsored by Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., and a member of the veterans panel. His bill would require the Veterans Administration to establish a new national cemetery to serve the counties across Southern Colorado. "Today's vote was a win for Colorado veterans," Salazar said in a statement after the unanimous vote. "Requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a Southern Colorado National Cemetery is a fitting tribute to those Americans who have served our nation with honor."
Religion
"Pioneer" charted Christian activism
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904176
Focus on the Family leaders and former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer point to the "large impact" Jerry Falwell had on politics and culture.
RELATED: Residents recall Falwell's impact
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070516/NEWS01/705160324/1002
RELATED: Falwell spread the word in Pueblo in ’85
http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1179328370/3
Energy Policy
The ongoing oil shale controversy
http://blogs.denverpost.com/washington/2007/05/15/the-ongoing-oil-shale-controversy/
Colorado and other Western states will get a little more time to study a federal plan for commercial oil shale development, but not enough to satisfy Gov. Bill Ritter. In a letter obtained Tuesday by the Denver Post, the Interior Department told Ritter and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal that they only would have an additional two weeks to review the plan, although the governors requested a 120-day extension and sent lobbyists to Washington last week. “We are disappointed that our request was not granted and regret that the time provided will not allow for a comprehensive evaluation,” said Evan Dreyer, a spokesperson for Ritter. “We believe that nothing is of higher importance than assuring that oil shale development proceeds in a responsible manner.” Under the new blueprint laid about by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Colorado, Utah and Wyoming will have four weeks, from May 15 to June 12, to assess the environmental, social and economic impacts of commercial oil shale development. Colorado Department of Natural Resources Deputy Director Mike King said that’s not long enough to determine how the extraction of oil shale could impact air quality and water resources, particularly since researchers are using untested technology.
Western Slope lawmakers ready to control mineral-revenue committee
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/16/5_16_interim_committee.html
Western Slope lawmakers will comprise the majority of an interim committee aimed at reforming how Colorado’s mineral revenues are collected and spent, according to one appointee. Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, said House and Senate leaders will appoint six of the 11 interim committee members from regions west of the Continental Divide and at least five from energy-impacted regions. “I’m very pleased with the makeup of the committee,” Buescher said.
Oil, gas leader 'counts days' to job's end
Ted Brown is "counting the days" until he's done with his job. He took over as president of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association in November, just in time to see Democrats sweep the elections and deliver a historic smackdown to his industry during the 2007 Legislative session. "Hopefully, we won't have a session for the next president that I had this year," Brown told a group of about 75 oil and gas employees at a Tuesday afternoon seminar. COGA closely watched 50 bills move through the Legislative session, but Brown said four were highly important. But he doesn't know the long-term effects of any of the four on his industry, which produced $8.9 billion worth of fuel last year, according to the Colorado Geological Survey.
County takes stand on BLM plan
http://craigdailypress.com/section/localnews/story/26588
Although the Moffat County Commissioners applaud the efforts by the Bureau of Land Management on gathering public input for a proposed plan to determine public land use, there are some areas of disagreement between the two entities. Wilderness designation is one such disagreement to the BLM's Resource Management Plan, the document designed to oversee land use on the bureau's 1.3 million acres in the Little Snake Resource Management area. Commissioners presented a letter to the BLM on Tuesday, the day before the public comment period on the plan ended, to voice some of their concerns on the four different alternatives presented in the proposed RMP.
CSU given $2.3M grant for oil exploration
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070516/CSUZONE01/705160330/1002/NEWS01
Scientists at Colorado State University received a $2.3 million grant from the Norwegian petroleum industry to aid oil and gas exploration here and abroad. The Norwegian Research Council recently awarded researchers with the university's Applied Isotope Research for Industry and the Environment program the money, which will go toward dating black shales, the source of hydrocarbons that produce oil and gas. Researchers in the program have worked extensively with the global mining industry during the past decade and have just recently expanded to petroleum.
Marathon Oil plans a return to Colorado
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_5904283
Marathon Oil Co. is preparing to restart operations in Colorado after years of absence with an investment of up to $2.5 billion. Houston-based Marathon plans to drill 700 natural-gas wells in the next seven years in western Colorado's prolific Piceance Basin. The area has become one of the nation's hottest natural-gas plays, with thousands of new wells underway by producers such as EnCana, Williams, Ex xon Mobil, ConocoPhillips and XTO.
RELATED: The newest player
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/energy/article/0,2777,DRMN_23914_5538912,00.html
Kinder Morgan renamed SourceGas
http://postindependent.com/article/20070516/VALLEYNEWS/105160043
A leading local retail natural gas distribution utility unveiled its new name, SourceGas, following the completion of its sale to GE Energy Financial Services and Alinda Investments LLC from Kinder Morgan. Residents of Colorado, Nebraska, Wyoming and Hermosillo, Mexico, will see the distinctive green and blue SourceGas logo on ads, mailings, vehicles and signs.
Pain in the gas: record fuel prices
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/16/pain-in-the-gas-record-fuel-prices-some-drivers/
Colorado ranks ninth in the nation for the highest gas prices at an average of $3.24 per gallon. Coloradans are paying an average of 43 cents more per gallon than a year ago, according to an AAA survey. Some drivers are sacrificing leisure and convenience to soaring gas rates, but others are bargain shopping,sometimes driving out of the way to places like the Superior Costco, located just off U.S. 36, to save 5 or 10 cents a gallon. "My parents bought me a Costco membership because filling up here is a lot cheaper," Colefire said. Analysts say prices are rising because an unusual number of refinery breakdowns has reduced national gas supplies at a time of strong consumer demand.
Many don't boycott gas
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070516/NEWS01/705160323/1002
With gas prices climbing steadily, an Internet chain letter urged drivers to boycott gasoline sales Tuesday in an attempt to hurt oil companies' profits. There was much debate about whether the boycott would actually accomplish that goal. The Coloradoan asked residents whether they planned to participate in the boycott and what their motivation was for their decision.
Transportation and Infrastructure
Some rail plans may be spiked by inflation
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5538933,00.html
FasTracks planners saw the beginnings of an unprecedented spike in construction costs in mid-2004, just after their $4.7 billion budget had been put to bed and was headed to voters. The spending plan accounted for reasonable inflation, but the costs kept climbing. In 2005, the price of copper, steel and other construction materials jumped an average of 52 percent. So today, RTD begins work on its first FasTracks project amid uncertainty over whether it can deliver everything it promised. The $511.8 million West Corridor light rail line to Golden faces at least $128.4 million of overruns.
RELATED: How many billions?
http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt
Survey: Denver drivers courteous
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5900608
Denver was ranked among the most courteous cities for drivers in a survey released today. Denver drivers were the fifth-most courteous behind Portland and Pittsburgh while rude Miami drivers earned the city the title of worst road rage. Miami motorists said they saw other drivers slam on their brakes, run red lights and talk on cellphones, according to AutoVantage, a Connecticut-based automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance. Other cities near the top of the rude drivers list were New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
RELATED: Miami's roads are all the rage
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5538976,00.html
Greeley gets perfect scores from federal agency examining transit services
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070516/NEWS/105150102
The city of Greeley has received a perfect score from a federal agency conducting reviews of transit services throughout the United States. According to a press release, Greeley received only the second perfect score that the review with the Federal Transit Administration reviewer has ever given. The reviewer has completed more than 100 reviews in his eight years on the job, according to the release. The reviews are done every three years for transit services throughout the country that receive federal money and looks at compliance to a host of federal statutes such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VI. The review also examines finances, fleet maintenance, procurement, safety and security and work place drug and alcohol program compliance.
Environment and Conservation
U.S., state target RMNP's nitrogen levels
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904323
While rising carbon emissions are getting a lot of press, scientists studying Rocky Mountain National Park are as concerned about nitrogen. Thursday, the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission will be briefed about the park's nitrogen levels and on a proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Park Service and the state to reduce the pollutant. "It could be devastating for the park if you can't stop that," said Brian Mitchell, environmental protection specialist with National Park Service. "We want to ward that off and get things back on track in the park." Next month, the commission meets in Estes Park to consider establishing a limit on nitrogen in the park - 1.5 kilograms per hectare per year, or a little more than a pound an acre.
Eco-arsonists protest comparison to KKK
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539326,00.html
Defense attorneys expressed outrage Tuesday when federal prosecutors compared 10 Earth Liberation Front arsonists who are awaiting sentencing to Ku Klux Klan arsonists. I cannot sit idly by and hear what these defendants did be compared to acts of the Ku Klux Klan burning empty churches," defense attorney Amanda Lee said in federal court. The six men and four women, branded eco-terrorists, have pleaded guilty to charges related to 20 fires set in five Western states from 1996 to 2001 that caused $40 million of damage. Targets included the Vail ski resort, wild horse corrals, National Forest ranger stations, meat packing plants, research laboratories, lumber company offices and a tree farm.
Analysis Finds Large Antarctic Area Has Melted
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/science/earth/16melt.html?ref=science
While much of the world has warmed in a pattern that scientists have linked with near certainty to human activities, the frigid interior of Antarctica has resisted the trend. Now, a new satellite analysis shows that at least once in the last several years, masses of unusually warm air pushed to within 310 miles of the South Pole and remained long enough to melt surface snow across a California-size expanse. The warm spell, which occurred over one week in 2005, was detected by scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA and the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Forest Service opens wilderness to mining
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/05/16/5_16_Gold_Mine.html
The U.S. Forest Service will allow a Montrose family to operate a gold mine within the Uncompahgre Wilderness Area on the Uncompahgre National Forest east of Ouray. Charlie Richmond, supervisor of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, announced Tuesday the agency will allow Robert and Marjorie Miller of Montrose to mine for gold on a 20-acre, unpatented mining claim at the Robin Redbreast Gold Mine near the Middle Fork of the Cimarron River. The Millers’ 1938 mining claim predates the 1964 Wilderness Act, giving the couple a right to mine within the wilderness under a 19th century mining law.
Beetle Task Force meeting Thursday
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20070515/NEWS/70515017
What is the future for the forest products industry in the High Country? The public is invited to attend a roundtable discussion about the short and long-term market for wood at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday at the Best Western Lake Dillon Lodge.
W. Slope melt-off may break records
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5539329,00.html
Snowpack on Colorado's Western Slope is melting far faster than usual, with two river basins likely to melt off in near-record time, a federal scientist told water watchers Tuesday. The status of western Colorado's snow is in marked contrast to conditions in the Denver region, where snowpack in the South Platte River basin stands at 104 percent of its May 15 average, as a stormy spring has reduced melting and kept water supplies bountiful.
RELATED: Spring ahead of schedule
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/2007/may/16/spring_ahead_schedule/?local_news
There's no catch in fish giveaway
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904192
Marty Martinez came with his shiny spinner, bright orange fireballs and fake worms. Rick Abeyta answered with scented fish bait that boasts, "Fish Bite and Won't Let Go." Others are bound to follow with their own tricks and special fish voodoo as word spreads that the city is hosting "Fish-A-Palooza" at Croke Reservoir. "Oh, yeah, this weekend, it will get real busy here," said the 70-year-old Martinez, who Tuesday came to Croke armed with two fishing poles and the earnestness of any good angler. Northglenn and the Colorado Division of Wildlife declared no-limit fishing at the reservoir on May 2, meaning people can snag and take home as many large-mouth bass, yellow perch and bluegill as they can carry. Officials hope locals can catch all the fish from the reservoir before dredging begins this summer.
Watch out weeds, here she comes
http://postindependent.com/article/20070516/VALLEYNEWS/105160051
Nikki Brown hasn't met a noxious weed she likes. And she's not afraid to say it. Or spray it. "Noxious weeds are horrible and massive," she says. "It spreads and takes over the native species." A certified herbicide applicator for the Colorado Department of Transportation, Brown is the only one spraying weeds on local highways these days. And she has a lot of ground to cover. Her territory spreads from Rifle and the tops of McClure and Independence passes to Dotsero. To spray weeds, Brown drives a one-ton truck with a 400-gallon tank for the chemicals. And safety is her priority.
City to consider sustainability hire in ’08 budget
Now is not the time to add a new environmental position to city staff, city officials said Tuesday. Despite a request from the city’s Green Team, a volunteer group that takes on local environmental initiatives and activities, the Steamboat Springs City Council decided hiring a full-time sustainability coordinator is not appropriate outside of the city’s annual budgeting process. Several members of the Green Team spoke in support of such a hire during Tuesday night’s council meeting in Centennial Hall, saying Steamboat is lagging behind other communities that are moving forward with similar hires and energy efficiency efforts.
Opinion
DPS, teachers must forge new agreement
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5902705
The burdens and mandates on today's teachers seem to increase by the year. But, given the realities of DPS's tight budget, we hope the administration and the union can quickly reach some compromise to ensure that neither the district nor the teachers are distracted from classroom challenges.
Riesberg: The session has ended, but the work continues
http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070516/READERS/105160096/-1/TRIBEDIT
The Colorado Legislature adjourned in record time, but not before a substantial amount of positive legislation received broad bipartisan support to make our economy more productive, our schools more effective and our health care more affordable.
Immigration opportunity
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070515/EDITS/70515028
The donkeys in D.C. have a chance to validate their new majority by working with Republican colleagues in passing an immigration reform bill before the Memorial Day recess. The bipartisan-sponsored STRIVE Act of 2007 provides that opportunity. The bill attempts to address the gap in immigration enforcement while also acknowledging the human element of illegal immigration and the needs of today’s U.S. economy.
Horsepower USA: Time to cool our jets
http://dailycamera.com/news/2007/may/16/horsepower-usa/
To some extent, American automakers have a point: The paramount reason they build big, gas-swilling vehicles is that American consumers prefer them. And who can blame consumers? All things being equal, a powerful car is more fun than an underpowered car. But all things are not equal, and the power of our vehicles carries huge costs: more energy insecurity and higher greenhouse-gas emissions.
Spencer: A phrase stings whole community
http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_5904195
"That colored boy." I don't know why La Jara physician Vaughn Jackson picked that description. He didn't return my call. Jackson's words while defending his son Trey against charges of racism surprised a lot of people I talked to Tuesday. "I've had that colored boy in my home," Jackson said of the teen son of an African-American high school basketball coach. If the southern Colorado town of La Jara needs a place to start mending an ugly racial rift, Dr. Jackson's phrase would be a fine place to start.
Lazarus: Kids are first step in health care for all
http://blogs.rockymountainnews.com/denver/speakout/2007/05/kids_are_first_step_in_health.html
One in six Coloradans can't get needed medical and preventive care simply because they lack health-care coverage. Nationally, the problem is similarly severe. Nearly 45 million patients in the U.S., including more than 8 million children, are uninsured. Taking steps toward reform, Colorado joins the many states making notable efforts to get their residents covered. Here at home, the Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform created by Gov. Bill Owens is working to reach consensus on the best ways to expand health-care coverage and lower costs for state residents. State efforts have played a major role in getting health-care coverage back into the national spotlight, but more expansive federal reforms are needed to provide the legislative and financial support to extend health-care coverage to all of America's uninsured.
Judge should unseal records
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5902704
A Denver County judge's decision to keep secret the official explanation for the arrests of two people accused of murdering 7-year-old Chandler Grafner is a puzzling and disappointing turn of events in a horrific case. Prosecutors raised no objections when The Denver Post filed a motion arguing that unsealing the arrest and search affidavits in the case was in the public interest. However, Judge Melvin Okamoto ruled that defense lawyers for Jon Phillips and Sarah Berry needed time to do their own investigation and took the unusual step of sealing the documents for two months. We urge Judge Okamoto to reconsider his unwarranted decision.
Tops for vets
http://www.gjsentinel.com/opin/content/news/opinion/stories/2007/05/16/5_16_VA_edit.html
When it comes to meeting the needs of this country’s military veterans, the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Grand Junction is tops in the nation. That’s definitely something worth noting, especially at a time when the number of veterans — both old and young — seeking medical attention at the local Veterans Affairs center is on the rise.
Dawid: Making recycling sexy
http://www.denverpost.com/opinionheadlines/ci_5902711
Last month, San Francisco flashed the green light to ban petroleum-based plastic bags from grocery stores. A city council member said his Bay Area metropolis alone contributes 181 million plastic bags annually to the environment, harming marine life, littering the landscape and, of course, using up huge amounts of finite oil resources. As a former San Francisco resident, I still love the idea that many life-altering movements begin on the West Coast and make their way East. Now a Colorado resident, these movements will come my way sooner than they might in New York, where I was born.
Election
Republicans Debate Their Conservative Bona Fides
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501308.html
The leading Republican presidential candidates parried accusations from their rivals that they have strayed too far from their party's conservative philosophies on abortion, taxes and immigration in a debate that featured some of the most direct exchanges of the 2008 battle for the GOP nomination. The debate included sharp jabs as the candidates pledged tax cuts and all but one reaffirmed their support for the war in Iraq. The contenders also further exposed their party's divisions over social issues, including abortion and stem cell research, on a day when the Rev. Jerry Falwell's death cast a shadow over the campaign.
RELATED: Lively exchanges fill second GOP debate
RELATED: GOP foes tout conservative credentials
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/05/16/gop_foes_tout_conservative_credentials/
RELATED: G.O.P. Hopefuls Differ on Response to Terror Attack
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/us/politics/16repubs.html?ref=washington
Brownback's Darfur Stand
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502279.html
Republican presidential hopeful Sam Brownback released financial disclosure forms yesterday showing that the senator from Kansas has sold off tens of thousands of dollars in mutual fund holdings to avoid investing in companies that do business with Sudan. Brownback has been an outspoken critic of the violence in Darfur.
RELATED: First candidates' FEC financial filings released
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-apfec16may16,1,7947190.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
A third party? This could be the time
Voter dissatisfaction with some top-tier presidential contenders and with extreme Republican and Democratic partisanship has spawned a Web-based movement to field a bipartisan ticket. Discontent also has fueled speculation about a possible self-financed bid by billionaire New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Chatter about a potential independent Bloomberg campaign picked up steam this week after maverick Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), who had a private dinner recently with Bloomberg, seemed to leave the door open Sunday to such a ticket. "It's a great country to think about a New York boy and a Nebraska boy to be teamed up leading this nation," Hagel replied when asked on CBS News' "Face the Nation" whether he could see himself running as an independent with Bloomberg.
Illinois to move primary
Moving to boost U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's White House bid and make Illinois voters more relevant, the Senate gave final approval Tuesday to legislation that advances the state's 2008 presidential primary by more than a month to Feb. 5. Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich has said he will sign the measure, which also would put primary races from the county level to the legislature, Congress and the U.S. Senate on the same fast track, as well as future contests for governor and other statewide offices.
Effective and Ethical Government
Bush Taps Skeptic of Buildup as 'War Czar'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501612.html
President Bush tapped Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute yesterday to serve as a new White House "war czar" overseeing the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, choosing a low-key soldier who privately expressed skepticism about sending more troops to Iraq during last winter's strategy review. In the newly created position, Lute will coordinate often disjointed military and civilian operations and manage the Washington side of the same troop increase he resisted before Bush announced the plan in January. Bush hopes an empowered aide working in the White House and answering directly to him will be able to cut through bureaucracy that has hindered efforts in Iraq.
RELATED: Bush Picks General to Coordinate War Policy
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/washington/16warczar.html?ref=washington
Gonzales: Deputy Was Pointman on Firings
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500755.html
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Tuesday he relied heavily on his deputy to oversee the firings of U.S. attorneys, appearing to distance himself from his departing second-in-command. Gonzales' comments came the day after Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty said he would step down by the end of summer, a decision that people familiar with his plans said was hastened by the controversy over last year's firings of eight prosecutors. "At the end of the day, the recommendations reflected the views of the deputy attorney general. He signed off on the names," Gonzales told reporters after a speech about Justice Department steps to curb rising violent crime.
RELATED: Gonzales: I relied on aide in firings of prosecutors
Bush Nominee to Get Payment From Old Job
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/washington/16safety.html?ref=washington
A senior lobbyist at the National Association of Manufacturers nominated by President Bush to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission will receive a $150,000 departing payment from the association when he takes his new government job, which involves enforcing consumer laws against members of the association. The lobbyist, Michael E. Baroody, wrote recently to the commission’s general counsel that the severance was an “extraordinary payment” under a federal ethics rule, requiring him to remove himself from agency matters involving the association for two years. Under the rule, a payment is “extraordinary” if an employer grants it after learning that the employee is being considered for a government position and it is not part of an established compensation or benefits program.
Rep. Jefferson challenges legality of FBI raid
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-15-jefferson-fbi-raid_N.htm
Rep. William Jefferson's attorney told federal judges Tuesday that last year's FBI raid on the congressman's office had grave implications for the independence of the legislative branch, and he asked the court to declare the search unconstitutional. Jefferson, D-La., says the Justice Department crossed the line when it raided his office in a bribery investigation. His lawyer argued that point before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. His attorney said nearly 19,000 pages of documents and electronic files seized by prosecutors and the FBI are covered by the constitutional principle that the executive branch may not use its law enforcement powers to infringe on the independence of the legislative branch.
Civil Liberties and Equality
Terrorism Suspect Alleges 'Mental Torture'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500935.html
A suspected terrorist who once lived in Maryland told a military tribunal that he was "mentally tortured" at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and was driven to twice attempt suicide by chewing through his own arteries, according to a transcript of a hearing released yesterday by the Pentagon. Majid Khan, 27, one of 14 "high-value" suspects held for years by the CIA at secret foreign prisons before their transfer to Guantanamo Bay, also said he lost 30 pounds in 27 days during a hunger strike, according to the transcript. In a statement redacted in places by government censors, he complained of mistreatment that ranged from having his beard forcibly shaved and spending weeks without sunlight to the poor quality of the camp's weekly newsletter, it says.
RELATED: Guantanamo terror detainee claims innocence, torture
RELATED: Determination of Majid Khan as Enemy Combatant
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501269.html
Evidence on terror suspect Padilla has murky origins
The U.S. government obtained a crucial piece of evidence for its terrorism conspiracy case against Jose Padilla from a mound of documents dropped off at a secret CIA location in Kandahar, Afghanistan, by a tribal leader's driver, a covert agent testified Tuesday. The CIA operative — who identified himself under oath as Tom Langston — did not name the tribal leader, the truck driver, or the area where the material was seized. The driver, he said, told him it had come from an office used by Islamic militants who fled Kandahar during the U.S. invasion in December 2001. The document in question is Padilla's alleged application to undergo Al Qaeda training, which prosecutors hope will link the 36-year-old former Chicago gang member and his two codefendants to the Islamic terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden. In cross-examining the CIA agent, defense attorney Orlando do Campo raised numerous questions about the document's validity and the chain of custody.
Foreign Policy
Missing, Slain GIs Identified As Search Continues in Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502298.html
The Pentagon on Tuesday released the names of seven soldiers from the Army's 10th Mountain Division who were captured or killed by insurgents in a sophisticated weekend ambush south of Baghdad. The three soldiers confirmed dead are Sgt. 1st Class James David Connell Jr., 40, of Lake City, Tenn., Pfc. Daniel W. Courneya, 19, of Nashville, Mich., and Pfc. Christopher E. Murphy, 21, of Lynchburg, Va. The Pentagon said they died in the village of Al Taqa "of wounds suffered when their patrol was attacked by enemy forces using automatic fire and explosives."
RELATED: U.S. hunts for soldiers missing in Iraq
RELATED: Soldier's family has new cause for worry
RELATED: Military Gives Details of Iraq Ambush of 7 G.I.s
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/world/middleeast/16iraq.html
Attacks in Iraq seen to remain steady
Newly declassified data show that as additional American troops began streaming into Iraq in March and April, the number of attacks on civilians and security forces there stayed relatively steady or at most declined slightly, in the clearest indication yet that the troop increase could take months to have a widespread impact on security. Even the suggestion of a slight decline could be misleading, since the figures are purely a measure of how many attacks have taken place, not the death toll of each one. American commanders have conceded that since the start of the troop increase, which the United States calls a "surge," attacks in the form of car bombs with their high death tolls have risen.
Iraq intel proposal raises concerns
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-05-15-iraq-intel_N.htm
Iraq's Shiite-dominated government is attempting to establish an intelligence agency that would rival the U.S.-backed organization created shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The move has raised concerns that Iraq's government is trying to blunt U.S. influence and bring intelligence gathering under Shiite control. It comes as the U.S. government has accused Iran of backing Iraqi militias that attack U.S. troops. Officials in Iraq's Shiite-dominated government, such as national security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie, have downplayed the claims about Iran, a Shiite country that borders Iraq. The coalition authority created Iraq's National Intelligence Service after the U.S.-led invasion. Gen. Mohammed Shahwani, a Sunni with ties to the Americans, heads the agency.
U.S. Aims to Establish International Tribunal in Hariri Assassination
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501941.html
The United States will introduce a draft Security Council resolution as early as this week to establish an international tribunal that would try alleged perpetrators of the 2005 car-bomb assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri and 22 others, according to Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Khalilzad's announcement came one day after Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora asked the 15-nation council to help break an impasse in Lebanon over the creation of an international court. But Siniora, who supports a tribunal, faces stiff domestic opposition, including from Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who warned Tuesday that the establishment of such a court could lead to civil violence in Lebanon.
Deadly Fighting Resumes Between Hamas and Fatah
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500170.html
Hamas gunmen riddled a Fatah police jeep with gunfire at close range Tuesday, killing eight policemen and pushing the Palestinian government closer to collapse. Gunmen in black ski masks controlled the streets and terrified residents huddled in their homes. Israel was briefly drawn into the battle. "I don't know when it's going to end," said Salman Abu Arafeh, 42, a Gaza City interior decorator who was pinned down with his family for hours by gunfire in his apartment building. A total of 15 people were killed in Tuesday's fighting.
RELATED: 13 dead in Gaza Strip
Iran Accuses U.S. Scholar of 'Crimes Against National Security'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500866.html
Iran's judiciary said today that it is investigating noted American scholar and Potomac resident Haleh Esfandiari for suspected "crimes against national security," an allegation that immediately produced condemnation from academic circles and international human rights groups. Judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi told reporters today that Esfandiari, director of Middle East programs at the Smithsonian's Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, is being held under the authority of the intelligence ministry. "Her crime is security issues, investigations over crimes against security are still going on," Jamshidi said in Tehran.
RELATED: Iran's spiritual leader supports Iraq talks with U.S.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-05-16-iran-us_N.htm
Suicide Bombing Kills 25 in Pakistan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500264.html
A suicide bomber detonated his charge inside a crowded restaurant during the lunch hour here on Tuesday, killing 25 people and adding to a string of violent episodes that have badly shaken the government of President Pervez Musharraf. In just four days, Pakistan has been the scene of urban rioting that killed 40, a border clash with Afghanistan, the death of a U.S. soldier and the suspected assassination of a top official at the Supreme Court.
RELATED: Bomb kills 22 at Pakistan restaurant
Algeria's Voters Uninspired as Limited Democracy Slowly Evolves
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502209.html
It's been 15 years since Algeria began one of the first experiments with democracy in the Arab world. What followed was a disaster: a civil war, an estimated 200,000 deaths and terrorist bombing campaigns that became part of daily life in this North African country. On Thursday, in spite of a national psyche that is still deeply scarred, millions of voters will return to the polls to elect a new lower house of Parliament. It will be the sixth time that Algeria has held multiparty national elections since a military coup in 1992, a track record matched by few other countries in North Africa or the Middle East.
Putin, Rice Resolve to Tone Down Harsh Rhetoric
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501985.html
President Vladimir Putin and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice agreed at a meeting here Tuesday to tone down increasingly strident rhetoric between the two countries at a time of tension over Kosovo's future status, U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe and other issues. "I have said while I'm here that the rhetoric is not helpful, that it is disturbing to Americans who are trying to do our best to maintain an even relationship," Rice told a small group of reporters after her sit-down with Putin at his country home outside Moscow. Putin, in a May 9 speech, made a reference to "new threats," and some felt he was comparing the United States to Nazi Germany.
RELATED: The United States and Russia try to relax
Sarkozy Inaugurated as French President
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/16/AR2007051600074.html
Nicolas Sarkozy was officially inaugurated Wednesday as president of France, taking over power from Jacques Chirac in an elaborate ceremony in the Elysee Palace. The conservative Sarkozy, who won election May 6 on pledges of market reforms and a break with the past, was given a special necklace of linked medallions engraved with the names of past French presidents and his own. Chirac left the palace, after 12 years in power.
Wiretaps Raise New Problem for Colombia's Uribe
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501320.html
Opposition politicians in Colombia demanded an explanation from President Álvaro Uribe's government on Tuesday after it was revealed that an elite police intelligence unit had for two years been illegally tapping the phones of opposition figures and journalists. The disclosures, made late Monday by Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos after a long meeting with Uribe, was embarrassing for an American ally that has received upwards of $4 billion in mostly military and anti-drug aid. Democrats on Capitol Hill have expressed reservations about supporting a free-trade pact with Colombia, citing its troubling human rights record, and some in the U.S. Congress are pushing for more restrictions on military assistance.
RELATED: Death-Squad Scandal Circles Closer to Colombia’s President
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/world/americas/16colombia.html?ref=world
Official's slaying prompts calls for troops in Mexico City
The leaders of two political parties called Tuesday for army troops to be dispatched to this capital city and its suburbs to fight drug traffickers in the wake of the assassination of a high-ranking official in the attorney general's office. President Felipe Calderon promised an "unprecedented battle" against the traffickers, who have killed as many as 1,000 people this year as they fight Mexican authorities while battling one another for control of a lucrative trade in cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin and other illicit drugs. Most of the drugs are shipped to the United States. The shooting in the political, cultural and media capital of Mexico raised troubling questions about Calderon's declared war on traffickers, which has included troop deployments to several states and cities, where violence has since spiraled. Newspaper editorials Tuesday accused the president of being unprepared for the backlash.
RELATED: Mexico asks U.S. to help stop arms flow
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-05-15-mexico-drugs_N.htm
Immigration
Latino Groups Play Key Role on Hill
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502022.html
When Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) declared last week that unnamed "stakeholders" would decide whether Congress overhauls immigration law this year, Latino organizations in Washington understood exactly what he meant. After laboring in obscurity for decades, groups such as the National Council of La Raza, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and the National Immigration Forum are virtually being granted veto power over perhaps the biggest domestic issue coming before Congress this year. Organizations that represent what is now the nation's largest minority group are beginning to achieve power commensurate with their numbers.
RELATED: Senate nearing immigration bill
RELATED: Bush, Kennedy join forces over immigration law
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-15-bush-kennedy-immigration_N.htm
Groups fight Texas town's immigrant ban
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-15-immigration-texas_N.htm
Latino activists and civil liberties advocates asked a federal judge Tuesday to block a voter-approved ordinance that prohibits landlords from renting apartments to most illegal immigrants in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union, which have already sued the city, requested the temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court. The ordinance, scheduled to take effect next Tuesday, requires apartment managers to verify that renters are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants before leasing to them, with some exceptions. Violators face fines of up to $500.
Marriage and Family Issues
Some Gay New Yorkers Gain in Ruling on Marriages
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/us/16gay.html
A little-noticed resolution to a case involving same-sex couples from New York will allow dozens of them to be considered legally married in Massachusetts, and apparently in their home state as well. The matter, resolved in a Boston courtroom last week, had its roots in a 2004 decision by Mitt Romney, then the governor. Soon after Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage by court order in May of that year, Mr. Romney, invoking a 1913 law, proclaimed that same-sex couples from out of state could not marry here unless they intended to move to Massachusetts or their home state did not prohibit their marriage.
Health Care and Public Safety
Abuses in Enrollment Tactics Found for Private Medicare
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502074.html
Insurance agents in at least 39 states used illegal or unethical tactics to sell private Medicare plans, in some cases enrolling the dead and mentally incompetent, impersonating Medicare representatives, and using personal information stolen from federal records, according to interviews and documents released to Congress. "Medicare Advantage" plans and enrollments have exploded in the past year, touted by the Bush administration as a valuable alternative to Medicare, the federal health insurance program for seniors.
FEMA says it's ready for hurricanes
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-15-fema-response_N.htm
The government has fixed most of the problems that undermined its response to Hurricane Katrina, even though an updated federal disaster plan is not completed, Federal Emergency Management Agency chief R. David Paulison told lawmakers Tuesday. At a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, Paulison said the plan should be finished next month. He had previously notified Congress that it wouldn't be ready by the June 1 deadline, the start of the hurricane season. "You're not going to see the same kind of response. You're going to see a federal government that is very proactive," Paulison said.
Lawmakers Find $21 a Week Doesn't Buy a Lot of Groceries
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501957.html
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) stood before the refrigerated section of the Safeway on Capitol Hill yesterday and looked longingly at the eggs. At $1.29 for a half-dozen, he couldn't afford them. Ryan and three other members of Congress have pledged to live for one week on $21 worth of food, the amount the average food stamp recipient receives in federal assistance. That's $3 a day or $1 a meal. They started yesterday.
Safety chief: Monitoring toys is a 'struggle'
The head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission sidestepped a barrage of congressional questions Tuesday over her agency's response to a string of child injuries and a death related to powerful magnets in a popular toy. Nancy Nord, acting chairwoman of the CPSC, said the agency faces a "struggle" under current staffing levels to regulate such foreign-made toys as Magnetix, whose dangers were exposed by a Tribune series this month. She declined to talk in detail about Magnetix issues, citing an ongoing investigation, but said the agency responded swiftly to recall millions of the toys after a toddler's death in 2005 from swallowing magnets.
Study links vitamins and cancer fatality
Taking too many vitamins may increase men's risk of dying from prostate cancer, according to a study published Wednesday. Heavy multivitamin users were almost twice as likely to get fatal prostate cancer as men who never took the pills, concludes the study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Study: Diabetes drug use spikes in girls
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-05-16-diabetes-drug_N.htm
The number of adolescent girls taking drugs for Type 2 diabetes nearly tripled in just five years, while use of chronic medicines for psychotic behavior and insomnia roughly doubled among boys and girls aged 10 to 19, a study shows. Meanwhile, adolescents' use of drugs for depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, leveled off or dropped in the last two years, after widespread new warnings about safety concerns. The study, an analysis of prescription drug use from 2001 to 2006 among 370,000 insured children aged 10 to 19, was conducted by Medco Health Inc. of Franklin Lakes, N.J., the country's biggest prescription benefit manager, and released exclusively to the Associated Press.
FDA Says Quarantined Hogs Are Safe to Eat
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501940.html
A person could consume 800 pounds of meat in a single day from animals that ate feed made with tainted pet food before having any health effects from the toxins in that pet food, government scientists said yesterday. "Clearly, that is a very unlikely situation," said David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food protection at the Food and Drug Administration.
RELATED: USDA approves processing of hogs exposed to melamine
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-05-15-fda-hogs-melamine_N.htm
Panama: Toothpaste Contains Chemical That Killed 51 People
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/16panama.html
Health experts confirmed Tuesday that two brands of toothpaste pulled from shelves contain the same chemical that killed at least 51 people in the Central American country last year.
Crime and Penal Reform
Ill. issues gun owner card to 10-month-old baby
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-15-baby-gun-permit_N.htm
Bubba Ludwig can't walk, talk or open the refrigerator door — but he does have his very own Illinois gun permit. The 10-month-old, whose given name is Howard David Ludwig, was issued a firearm owner's identification card after his father, Howard Ludwig, paid the $5 fee and filled out the application, not expecting to actually get one. The card lists the baby's height (2 feet, 3 inches), weight (20 pounds) and has a scribble where the signature should be.
Economy
White House Support for Wolfowitz Wavers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500185.html
The Bush administration softened its support for World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz yesterday, signaling a willingness to replace him if the bank's executive board resolves an ethics controversy without firing him. "All options are on the table," said White House spokesman Tony Snow, addressing reporters at a morning briefing. "Members of the board, Mr. Wolfowitz, need to sit down and figure out what is in fact going to be best for this bank. . . ." The shift of tone at the White House, which nominated Wolfowitz for the post two years ago, is a blow to his struggle to save his job. It came a day after a bank investigating committee found that Wolfowitz broke ethics rules and damaged the integrity of the institution by engineering a large raise for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, while keeping the bank's top legal adviser out of the loop.
RELATED: Wolfowitz pleads case to World Bank board
RELATED: Bush Opens Door to Wolfowitz’s Resigning
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/washington/16wolfowitz.html?ref=washington
Bush to Nominate Two Bankers for Fed Board Seats
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501958.html
President Bush will nominate two veterans of the banking industry to fill openings on the seven-member Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the White House said yesterday. The nominations come as the Fed is talking to Capitol Hill lawmakers about how to modernize banking regulations and enforce fair-lending laws. Bush plans to nominate Elizabeth A. Duke, 54, former chairman of the American Bankers Association and now the chief operating officer of TowneBank in Portsmouth, Va. Her company provides banking, real estate, insurance, asset management and other financial services. The president also plans to nominate Larry Allan Klane, 46, president of global financial services at Capital One Financial of McLean, one of the nation's largest issuers of credit cards.
Tyco to Pay $3 Billion to Settle Investor Lawsuits
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/business/16tyco.html?ref=business
Tyco International, whose two top executives were imprisoned for fraud, has agreed to pay almost $3 billion to settle class-action lawsuits brought by investors, the company announced yesterday. The settlement, described as the largest payment ever by a company in such litigation, seeks to help put to rest one of the nation’s most notorious cases of fraud. Tyco investors may be in a position to recover even more money because they would also share in any proceeds from litigation still outstanding against L. Dennis Kozlowski, the former Tyco chief executive, and two other former executives, and against the company’s former auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Chrysler Plans To Keep All 3 Of Its Brands
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502160.html
The future of Chrysler under its new management began to take shape yesterday as executives and union officials laid out promises to save the automaker's brands and hold off on more job cuts. Chrysler chief executive Thomas W. LaSorda said private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, which agreed to acquire 80.1 percent of DaimlerChrysler's U.S. unit on Monday, won't phase out or sell the carmaker's three brands: Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler. "These brands are staying together," LaSorda said at a news conference at Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. "They will not be broken up under any circumstances. It's critical that they stay together."
Housing and Homelessness
Home prices fell in 1st quarter
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2007-05-15-home-sales-prices-q1_N.htm
Home prices extended their decline in the first three months of the year, but the nation's housing market seems to be stabilizing and is likely to recover slowly in the second half of 2007, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. The median price of an existing single-family home was $212,300 in the first quarter, down 1.8% from the January-March period a year ago. It was the third quarter in a row in which prices fell. But the drop wasn't as severe as the one in the fourth quarter of 2006, when the median price fell 2.7%.
Media
Reuters, Thomson Reach Deal to Create Data Giant
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500229.html
Reuters Group, the 156-year-old news service, yesterday agreed to be acquired by Thomson Corp. in a $17.2 billion deal that creates a dominant financial information and news provider. The size of the transaction would make the new company, which would rival Bloomberg in the lucrative financial services market, a potential target for U.S. and European regulators. "It's something the Justice Department's antitrust division will be interested in looking at," department spokeswoman Gina Talamona said. She declined to comment further.
RELATED: Thomson Adds Reuters in $17 Billion Bid to Be Giant
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/business/media/16thomson.html?ref=business
RELATED: Reuters Trustees Say Sale Won’t Hurt Journalism
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/business/media/16integrity.html
Web Site Is Held Liable for Some User Postings
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/us/16roomates.html?ref=us
A Web site that matches roommates may be liable for what its users say about their preferences, a fractured three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled yesterday. The suit was brought by two California fair housing groups that objected to postings on the matching service, Roommate.com. The groups said the site violated the Fair Housing Act by allowing and encouraging its users to post notices expressing preferences for roommates based on sex, race, religion and sexual orientation. The ruling knocked down the main defense of the site. In 1996, Congress granted immunity to Internet service providers for transmitting unlawful materials supplied by others. Most courts have interpreted the scope of that immunity broadly.
Education
Ivy League Crunch Brings New Cachet to Next Tier
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/education/16admissions.html?ref=us
Lehigh University has never been as sought after as Stanford, Yale or Harvard. But this year, awash in applications, it churned out rejection letters and may break more hearts when it comes to its waiting list. Call them second-tier colleges (a phrase some administrators despise) or call them the new Ivies (this, they can live with). Twenty-five to 40 universities like Lehigh, traditionally perceived as being a notch below the most elite, have seen their cachet climb because of the astonishing competitive crush at the top.
Military
Marine in Haditha case defends actions
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-15-marines-haditha_N.htm
A Marine captain accused of failing to investigate the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians said Tuesday that he never pursued a probe because he believed the deaths resulted from lawful combat. Capt. Randy W. Stone also said he never lied about his actions. "I have never lied and have worked at all times to assist as best I could to shed light on what I knew and when I knew it," Stone said. Stone, who was the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines' lawyer at the time of the Nov. 19, 2005, killings in the town of Haditha, spoke from the lectern on the seventh day of his Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding. It was the first time he addressed the court and his statement was unsworn, which prevented him from being cross-examined by prosecutors.
Extended tours break bonds of GIs' families
As ceremonies go, the promotion was nothing special. U.S. Army Spec. Matthew Brue stood near his Humvee in the middle of a field of wheat and weeds, and an officer slapped a sergeant's patch on Brue's chest. For Brue, it was a bittersweet moment. This was what he had looked forward to for months, ever since he found out in January that his squadron would spend four extra months in Afghanistan. For his wife, the extension was the end of the marriage. "She basically quit," said Brue, 24, of Syracuse, N.Y. "That's the best way I can say it." The true toll of war on any soldier is difficult to gauge. While in Afghanistan, eight men have died in Brue's squadron, victims of an ambush and accidents. But 16 months in Afghanistan cannot be judged only by battles won and soldiers lost.
Former Soldier, Now a Professor, Loses His Only Son to a War He Actively Opposed
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/us/16prof.html?ref=us
The father, a longtime military man, from West Point to Vietnam to the first Persian Gulf war, became an early public critic of the war in Iraq, writing frequently and potently about its causes and effects. But when his only son joined the Army and was sent to fight in that war, the father, Andrew J. Bacevich, a professor of history and international relations at Boston University, expressed only support, said a family member and colleagues.
Religion
Harnessed The Political Power of Evangelicals
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500981.html
Jerry Falwell, 73, a Southern Baptist preacher who as founder and president of the Moral Majority presided over a marriage of Christian beliefs and conservative political values -- a bond that bore prodigious fruit for the Republican Party during the past quarter-century -- died May 15 of congestive heart failure after he was found unconscious in his office at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. According to a school spokesman, he was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital, where CPR efforts were unsuccessful.
RELATED: For New Generation of Evangelicals, Falwell Was Old News
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502426.html
RELATED: Preacher built religious right into a political force
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-falwell16may16,1,472726.story?coll=la-headlines-politics
Critics: Pope errs on conquest, conversion
Indian-rights groups are criticizing Pope Benedict XVI for saying Latin American Indians wanted to become Christian before European conquerors arrived. The pope said Sunday that pre-Columbian people of the region were seeking Christ without realizing it. "Christ is the savior for whom they were silently longing," Benedict told bishops at a conference.
Wiccans Keep the Faith With a Religion Under Wraps
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/us/16wiccan.html?ref=us
Among the most popular religions to have flowered since the 1960s, Wicca — a form of paganism — still faces a struggle for acceptance, experts on the religion and Wiccans themselves said. In April, Wiccans won an important victory when the Department of Veterans Affairs settled a lawsuit and agreed to add the Wiccan pentacle to a list of approved religious symbols that it will engrave on veterans’ headstones. But Wicca in the civilian world is largely a religion in hiding. Wiccans fear losing their friends and jobs if people find out about their faith.
Nigerian Oil Production Falls After a Pipeline Hub Is Overrun
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/business/worldbusiness/16oil.html
Young protesters have overrun an oil pipeline hub in the volatile Niger Delta, the authorities said, helping to cut Nigeria’s oil production by about 30 percent as the country weathers a period of instability after a deeply flawed election last month. The protest, by activists of the Ogoni tribe in the Niger Delta, is the latest violence among ethnic militias that have attacked pipelines and other facilities since the election last month returned the ruling People’s Democratic Party to power with wide margins.
Transportation and Infrastructure
House overwhelmingly votes to restrict Mexican trucks
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-15-mexican-truck-bill_N.htm
The House voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to delay a Bush administration plan to allow Mexican trucks full access to U.S. highways. The trucks would have to be declared safe first, the lawmakers said, and Mexico would have to give U.S. truckers the same access south of the border. The House voted 411-3 to approve a three-year Department of Transportation pilot program that would restrict opening the border to 100 carriers based in Mexico. They would be allowed to use a maximum of 1,000 vehicles under the pilot program. The Bush administration wanted to start a pilot program this year that would run for a year before fully opening the border to Mexican trucks.
At Mayors’ Summit, Bloomberg Campaigns for Clean Air
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/nyregion/16climate.html
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg thrust himself onto an international stage yesterday as a champion of the environment, telling a roomful of leaders from this country and overseas that the solution to global warming lay with the world’s mayors. Addressing roughly 250 mayors and other leaders over lunch at the Jumeirah Essex House on Central Park South, Mr. Bloomberg argued that cities, which are responsible for 80 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, must take the lead in addressing issues where national governments have not.
Editor’s note: the New York Times has converted to a subscription-based editorial section. We are no longer clipping their op-ed columnists.
Milbank: Ashcroft and the Night Visitors
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501890.html
Despite public pleas from a "lonely" Specter, the other Republicans on the committee didn't risk an appearance. Even the White House declined to counter Comey, who has a reputation for honesty. "You've got somebody who has splashy testimony on Capitol Hill -- good for him," presidential press secretary Tony Snow dodged. In truth, nothing Snow could have said would have matched Comey's testimony. Comey recounted how, while driving home at 8 p.m. on that day in 2004, he got word that Mrs. Ashcroft had received a call -- possibly from President Bush himself -- to say Gonzales and Card were coming. "I told my security detail that I needed to get to George Washington Hospital immediately. They turned on the emergency equipment and drove very quickly," Comey testified. "I got out of the car and ran up -- literally ran up the stairs with my security detail. . . . I raced to the hospital room, entered." The room was dark, and Ashcroft was "pretty bad off."
RELATED: Mr. Comey's Tale
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501945.html
Rosen: What Bremer Got Wrong in Iraq
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501322.html
In Bremer's mind, the way to occupy Iraq was not to view it as a nation but as a group of minorities. So he pitted the minority that was not benefiting from the system against the minority that was, and then expected them both to be grateful to him. Bremer ruled Iraq as if it were already undergoing a civil war, helping the Shiites by punishing the Sunnis. He did not see his job as managing the country; he saw it as managing a civil war. So I accuse him of causing one.
The silencer speaks
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2007/05/16/0516edperdue.html
[Georgia] Gov. Sonny Perdue has suggested that Americans concerned about the course of the war in Iraq ought to be quiet about it. "We have everyone that wants to talk about what's gone wrong, but we have very few solutions coming out of this nation, and Washington there," Perdue told a radio talk show audience last week. "Until you've got a better idea, keep your mouth shut." But this is no time to remain silent. That's not how things are done in a democracy; that's not how decisions are reached. Perdue's suggestion of a collective gag order betrays a deep discomfort with the unruly process of self-governance in this country.
Bringing Lobbyists to Heel
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/opinion/16wed3.html
It’s crunch time for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to deliver on the Democrats’ vow to rein in power lobbyists who sully Congress by purchasing privileged access with outsized campaign donations. There are worthy remedies, but members are balking. If the House resorts to mere cosmetic changes, the Democrats will risk the same voters’ ire that cost the Republicans control last year.
RELATED: World-Class Mess
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502139.html
THE SEVEN executive directors of the World Bank who this week submitted their second report on bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz managed to leave both Mr. Wolfowitz and themselves looking worse than when the process began. Start with Mr. Wolfowitz and the way he handled salary increases for his companion Shaha Riza, an employee of the bank. We already knew that Mr. Wolfowitz showed poor judgment in playing any role in shaping Ms. Riza's job conditions when he joined the bank in the summer of 2005. What the report makes clear is that Mr. Wolfowitz's role didn't just look bad; it was bad.
RELATED: Marcus: A Fine Romance
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051501875.html
Kershaw: Blair's 'special relationship'
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-kershaw16may16,0,696863.story?coll=la-opinion-rightrail
In Kosovo in 1999, these principles prompted intervention, which was instrumental in preventing further ethnic cleansing and ultimately bringing about the removal and trial of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic. After 9/11 they led Blair to offer his immediate, unconditional support for the United States. The war in Afghanistan followed, but so did the ill-fated commitment to the war in Iraq. Yet Blair's decision was out of line with the history of the "special relationship" — a relationship that has generally benefited from a less emotional, more hardheaded and cautious approach, with specific attention paid to the respective national interests of both countries.
RELATED: Brownstein: Same war, different goals
The Unkept Promise on Voting
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/16/opinion/16wed1.html
Congress has done a terrible job of regulating electronic voting: It allowed A.T.M.-style voting machines to proliferate without requiring them to produce a paper trail that can be audited to ensure that the results are accurate. That has meant wasted time and money for the states, confusion for voters, and questionable election results. Fortunately, the nation’s delinquent lawmakers have a chance to set things right — through a bill introduced by Representative Rush Holt, Democrat of New Jersey, that would finally impose a paper trail requirement. There are some details that need fine-tuning, but Congress should move quickly to pass it.
Parker: Whites not immune to racial hostility
Back in the day, if a pupil had talked the way these did, he or she would have received a well-deserved thwack, been suspended and sent home to face the wrath of a parent. That process likely would have put a swift end to the tribal tyranny now often tolerated in the service of self-esteem. Let's be clear: What these children called this teacher is beyond reprehensible and could be only be construed as hostile and threatening. Here's a sample: white b----, white m----- f-----, white c---, white a------, white ho. Other white teachers and pupils corroborated Kandrac's account, including a male war veteran who testified he would rather return to Vietnam than to Brentwood. Kandrac's attorney, Larry Kobrovsky, argued that the repeated use of "white" made these slurs racist in nature. But school officials insisted that because black pupils were equally abusive to other blacks, the language wasn't inherently racist. Here's what we know without question: If white pupils had used similar language toward black pupils and teachers, the case would have been plastered on the front page of the New York Times until heads rolled.
Keillor: Spring and the wait for a worthy leader
The French have a new president, the British will soon have a new P.M., and we envy them as we endure the endless wait for this small dim man to go back to Texas and resume his life. His party is coming to see that it must figure out how to tell the truth about him if it is to compete in 2008, but so far nobody has stepped forward and wound up to throw the pie. Their clock is stuck in the fall of 2001. They are sleepwalking toward the precipice.
Giuliani's pro-choice tightrope
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-giuliani16may16,0,1078602.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail
It may hurt his campaign, but at least he's honest enough to tell the GOP base what it doesn't want to hear.
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