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Rural Blog Archive April 2005 Issues, trends, events, ideas and journalism from the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues Friday, April 29, 2005 Kentuckians to pay more for soaring Medicaid prescriptions to rein in costs More than two-thirds of a million (685,000) elderly, disabled and poor Kentucky Medicaid recipients, will pay more for many prescriptions in another state effort to rein in the soaring costs of the health care program. The higher co-payment is designed to push people toward the use of generic drugs, rather than more expensive brand names. If generic drugs are used, the existing $1 per prescription co-payment will not increase, writes Mark Chellgren of The Associated Press. For brand name drugs, the co-payment will be $3 per prescription. For brand drugs that are on Kentucky's preferred list, designated because of their effectiveness or special financial arrangements, the co-payment will be $2. There will be a cap of $9 per month for charges on brand name drugs, writes Chellgren. Medicaid Commissioner Shannon Turner told Chellgren, "It's to make people look at the purchases they're making." Prescription drugs are the largest single cost in the $4.5 billion annual Medicaid program, at least in Kentucky. In most states, hospitalization or long-term care are the largest Medicaid costs. Nationally, the average Medicaid patient gets around 11 prescriptions a year; in Kentucky, the average is 23. The co-payment is waived for pregnant women, children to age 19, some minorities and people who are in nursing homes and other institutions. Turner said the higher co-payment may not make a huge difference, but even a 5 percent savings would be significant. The increase is viewed as a necessary evil in some quarters. Ed Monahan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, told AP, "This is a prudent way to avoid having benefits or eligibility reduced." Pharmacists will get to keep the co-payment, which can only be waived if the pharmacy also waives co-payments for private insurance. As it stands, however, pharmacists cannot unilaterally substitute a generic drug if there is a brand name on the prescription. The higher charges will take effect in late May or early June. Hoosiers to sync-up on daylight-savings; time zone dilemma to be studied After decades of debate, discord, dissent, and division, daylight-saving time is coming to all of Indiana for the first time in more than 30 years. The Indiana House yesterday passed by a five vote margin the controversial issue, which has dominated hoosiers' daily lives for the past four months as the legislature wrestled with "father time," report Mary Beth Schneider and Kevin Corcoran of The Indianapolis Star. "Gov. Mitch Daniels, who made passage of the time change one of his top economic priorities, will sign the bill soon so that on April 2, 2006, Hoosiers will join people in 47 other states in turning their clocks ahead one hour," they write. Some legislators argued the changes are needed to boost Indiana in a global economy and erase the state's backward image. Others called it an unnecessary intrusion in Hoosiers' lives. Indiana's time zones remain the same. Opponents had argued their state is a better fit in the Central time zone. The state is to ask the U.S. Department of Transportation to hold hearings on where the time zone boundary should fall. Currently, 82 Indiana counties are in the Eastern time zone, and 10 counties in northwestern and southwestern Indiana are in the Central time zone. The bill will validate five southeastern Indiana counties that have been illegally observing daylight-saving time. (Blogger's note: Your blogger worked in Indiana, way back, and recalls one elderly woman's radio comments in opposition of DST, saying "the extra hour of sunlight is killing my flowers.") N. C. Senate passes measure to curb meth labs; control key ingredients Legislation to slow methamphetamine production throughout North Carolina has moved a step closer to becoming a law. The Meth Lab Prevention Act has cleared the state Senate by an overwhelming vote. State Attorney General Roy Cooper has pushed for the law to fight the spread of meth labs by controlling sales of meth’s key ingredient, writes Lindsay Nash of The Asheville Citizen-Times, who was the principal writer on a series the newspaper ran this week entitled, "Meth: The Rural Plague." Cooper told Nash, “These deadly drugs destroy families and communities. We’ve got to pass this law now to stop our meth lab problem from turning into a crisis.” The measure would require tablet forms of common cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine to be sold only from behind a pharmacy counter. Wal-Mart, CVS Corp., Target Corp. and Rite Aid have all said they will place the cold medicines behind the counter. The law would require customers to show photo identification to buy tablets containing pseudoephedrine. Purchases would be limited to no more than 9 grams of pseudoephedrine within 30 days without a prescription, writes Nash. Meth production and addiction has soared in North Carolina, where 243 labs were found last year, up from nine in 1999. Since enacting similar legislation, Oklahoma has seen an 80 percent drop in meth production. Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and Oregon also have passed bills patterned after the Oklahoma law. Similar measures are under consideration in many other states, including Western and Midwestern states, where meth lab busts total in the thousands annually. Minneapolis area robber targets pharmacies for ‘Hill-billy heroin’ - OxyContin A pharmacy bandit who has struck five times since Feburary in the suburbs of Minneapolis - St. Paul, Minnesota demands the same thing: OxyContin, the powerful and highly addictive prescription painkiller dubbed "hillbilly heroin" for its widespread abuse in Appalachia, reports Jill Burcum of the Star Tribune. Capt. Rob Bredsten of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office told Burcum, "This is the first OxyContin serial robber that I can recall. We've had other situations where pharmacies have been robbed of other narcotic drugs but certainly nothing where it's been this prolific and in this short amount of time." Across the metro, pharmacists say they're worried by the robberies and are taking steps to prevent being targeted, Burcum writes. Wayne Jeffrey, owner of a pharmacy in a clinic in Ramsey, a rapidly growing suburb bordering Anoka, told the Star Tribune, "We're all a little uneasy." Steve Simenson, managing partner of four pharmacy locations, told the newspaper he has prepped his employees on what to do if the bandit strikes. "All are aware that it's safety first." So-called OxyContin robberies are nothing new in Minnesota or across the nation, she writes. Soon after the drug's introduction in 1996, its illicit use as a street drug became a problem, particularly in Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia, as well as rural Maine and Florida, according the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Work lacked proper permits at West Virginia coal mine where explosion occurred Contractors lacked proper safety permits at a McDowell County, West Virginia abandoned underground coal mine where five workers were hurt in a methane gas explosion April 19. The project involved pumping water from a flooded mine shaft next to a reclamation site to reprocess waste from an adjacent coal refuse pile. But, the plans were never submitted to regulatory agencies for methane testing or other safety measures, reports Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette. Jesse Cole, director of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration's district office in Mount Hope, told Ward, "We didn't even know about that. No one contacted us about that, or informed us it was going on." The McDowell County Economic Development Authority was using funds from the federal Abandoned Mine Land program to build a large landfill. Officials wanted to clean up a 60-acre coal refuse pile, hire a contractor to reprocess the usable coal, then use leftover debris to build the landfill base Reclamation officials last fall had told the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training they wanted to enter the adjacent underground mine. Agency Director Doug Conaway sent an inspector to test for methane gas and oversee the unsealing of the shaft, but the agency never heard from the company again. Last week, the reclaiming company brought in a crane truck to help install a pump in the mine shaft. On April 19, a spark from a welding torch ignited the explosion. The workers, who were not identified, suffered arm and facial burns. The DEP and U.S. Office of Surface Mining are still reviewing the accident. West Virginia could be home to 'Mountain Music' Heritage Center “Mountain Music” will have a home of tribute in “The Mountain State” if a congressman from “Them Thar Hills” is successful in his efforts. "Tennessee has the Country Music Hall of Fame. Kentucky's got the International Bluegrass Music Museum. And if U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall gets his way, southern West Virginia will someday be home to the Appalachian Mountain Music Hall of Fame," writes Vicki Smith of The Associated Press. What "mountain music" is depends on who's talking. It can be bluegrass or blues, string band or Swiss, gospel or guitar. Those who study it say it's a little bit country and a whole lot of soul, Smith writes. The Rev. Thomas Acker, who will be part of a year-long effort to document the state's musical culture and history, then shape the vision for a regional music heritage center, told Smith, "I would like to call mountain music that which originates in the mountains, whatever nature it may be." Acker is a past president of Wheeling Jesuit University who's now with non-profit economic development group, Forward Southern West Virginia. Initial research will be done by the West Virginia Humanities Council with a $97,000 federal grant obtained by Rahall, D-W.Va., whose district includes southern West Virginia. Rahall says the hope is to build a tourist attraction in the Beckley area, possibly featuring a concert hall, exhibits and access to historical documents, photographs and recordings. For more on "Mountain Music" from The Augusta Heritage Center at Davis & Elkins College click here. Kentucky-based coal group files for IPO; acquired bankrupt Horizon assets International Coal Group Inc. has registered for an initial public offering of up to $250 million in common stock, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Ashland, Kentucky-based company is a producer of coal in Northern and Central Appalachia, with a range of low sulfur steam and metallurgical coal. It was organized by WL Ross & Co. in October 2004 to acquire the main assets of bankrupt Horizon Natural Resources Co., reports The Associated Press. That bankruptcy resulted in the loss of health and retirement benefits to hundreds of coal miners. Details about the number of shares offered and estimated
price range for the offering weren't disclosed in Thursday's filing.
The company said it will use $174.6 million of the net proceeds
from the offering to repay its term loan facility and the remaining
proceeds to further reduce debt or for general corporate purposes. The company said it plans to list its shares of common stock on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ICO." The $250 million valuation for the offering was estimated solely for calculating the registration fee, the filing said. Often, the eventual price terms of an offering differ substantially from the valuation in the first registration, they write. Ashland Inc. revises $3.7 billion gasoline refining business deal with Marathon Oil Ashland Inc. and its shareholders would reap an extra $700 million in a revised deal to sell off its minority interest in Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC to partner Marathon Oil Corp. in a $3.7 billion cash and stock transaction. Covington, Ky.-based Ashland owns 38 percent of MAP, the nation's fifth-largest gasoline refiner and marketer. Houston-based Marathon owns the rest, reports Bruce Schreiner of The Associated Press. Ashland's top executive, James J. O'Brien, chairman and chief executive, said in a conference call with industry analysts the amended deal marked a new era for Ashland as it focuses on chemical and road construction businesses while shedding its refiningand marketing operations. Ashland's shares rose by 97 cents, or 1.5 percent, to close at $65.07 in trading Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. Sponsors urge Congress to enact reporter's shield law; confident of passage Allowing a free press to report on government activities without fear of being compelled to reveal sources and protecting whistleblowers who disclose wrongdoing would benefit the public, four members of Congress said today in urging their colleagues to support reporter's shield bills currently before both houses, writes the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Reps. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.) and Sens. Chris Dodd D-Conn.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) reiterated their support for the bills at a press conference yesterday on Capitol Hill. Stressing the bipartisan effort, the four said they are confident a shield law will pass. A House committee hearing on the bill is scheduled for May 12, and one is expected soon in the Senate, reports the RCFP. Lawmakers told the RCFP talks with the White House and Department of Justice have been "constructive." The Justice Department's position is important because law enforcement officials often believe shield laws interfere with criminal prosecutions. The department has declined comment on the bill. Colorado newspaper launches web-based civic journalism intiative This May, the Rocky Mountain News will launch YourHub.com, one of the largest civic journalism initiatives with 40 neighborhood Web sites and 15 zoned print editions. Anyone can post what they want on the neighborhood sites, so long as it’s not obscene or offensive, and some content will be reused for the print section for subscribers of the Rocky and the Denver Post. YourHub sites will also link to stories from any news source that carries a story relevant to the neighborhood, reports Graham Webster of Editor & Publisher. It will compete with The Daily Camera’s community Web site at mytown.dailycamera.com. Ad sales teams will divide the 39 Web sites and the 15 print editions into 10 advertising zones, to compete with other community papers like the weekly Canyon Courier in Evergreen. Two KBA stations win Crystal Radio award for commitment to communities The National Association of Broadcasters awarded WUGO in Grayson, Ky., and WCMT-AM in Martin, Tenn., the Crystal Radio Award their outstanding commitment to community service. The ten Crystal winners were picked from 50 finalists and recognized at the Radio Luncheon during the NAB’s convention. They will be further honored at the Service to America Summit in Washington, D.C. this June. WUGO in Grayson, with station manager Francis Nash, is winning its third Crystal Award, something only seven other stations have achieved. WCMT, with station manager Paul Tinkle, is part of the Kentucky Broadcasters Association, along with WUGO, and the Tennessee Broadcaster’s Association. PEER condemns U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service regarding Everglades development Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility criticized the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for changing its position on development in the Everglades area of Florida. In February 2001, the service objected to development proposals in southwest Florida, expressing alarm at “the trend in wetland habitat loss and its contribution to significant degradation of aquatic ecosystems,” according to PEER’s records. The service focused on 24 proposals and 15 other projects where the service had already voiced objections. It cited that there had been on cumulative assessment of all the projects’ combined impact on the environment, there was improper mitigation and there had been no analysis of alternatives for the development. But four years later, the objections have disappeared, PEER says. “Four years after sounding the alarm, the Fish & Wildlife Service has fallen through the political looking glass and now defends what it once condemned,” said PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch. “The very same projects that the Service cited for exacerbating environmental problems are now proceeding without a hitch, despite the irreversible problems they will cause.” Rural Va. county dealing with cat-astrophe; colony of out-cats thriving for years They call it “Cat City.” Scattered in the woods behind a well-traveled stretch of road in suburban western Henrico County sits a colony of more than two dozen so-called "feral-cat houses," where numerous out-cats have mysteriously thrived for eight years. "Mostly cardboard boxes covered by plastic trash bags, the cat homes are behind a shopping center," writes Meredith Bonny of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The humane society has been called and county officials are investigating the problem. County Supervisor Patricia S. O'Bannon, told Bonny, "It is very difficult when someone (who is feeding them) is absolutely dedicated to something like this and continues to do something that is not in the best interest of everyone." Some say the cat habitat is a nuisance and is on a utility easement between a shopping center and a nearby neighborhood. The shopping center is home to a few restaurants, a beauty salon and a pet-grooming boutique. An official told the newspaper thy've posted no-trespassing signs and used night surveillance to deal with the problem," and that sent letters have been sent to people suspected of feeding the animals. One nonprofit group in Richmond, called Operation Catnip, operates a high-volume, no-charge clinic where feral and stray cats are spayed or neutered and vaccinated. All cats have the tip of their left ear cropped, which identifies the cat as sterilized, according to the group's Website. There are no clear indications, however, whether the people caring for the animals in Cat City are affiliated with Operation Catnip. Two cats were seen by a Times-Dispatch reporter near the colony but ran away when the reporter approached them. (Cats and politicians share the same skittishness.) JOURNALISM HISTORY FOOTNOTE: On this date in history, William Randolph Hearst was born. RURAL CALENDAR May 4: Deadline for journalists to apply for national rural-issues conference One week remains for
journalists to apply for sponsored attendance at Rural
May 18: Editors training program deadline fast approaching The registration deadline for APMe NewsTrain’s
training program is approaching. Register by May 1 to participate
in the program at Indiana University Southeast
in New Albany, Ind., designed to help frontline editors develop
editing and management skills. The program is sponsored by The
Associated Press Managing Editors and receives funding
from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Local partners include The Courier Journal, The
Associated Press, Indiana University Southeast, the Kentucky
Press Association and The News-Enterprise
of Elizabethtown, Ky. June 11: Spots open in journalism workshop on children and farm safety There are still openings in the 2nd journalism workshop, titled “Kids on Farms: Telling the Story in Cooperstown, NY,” from June 11-12. The workshop will cover all expenses and pay a stipend to each participant. For more information, visit this website, or contact Christian L. Hanna, MPH, of the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, 1000 N. Oak Ave. in Mashfield, Wisc., 54449. Her phone number is (715) 389-3116 and email hanna.chris@mcrf.mfldclin.edu. Thursday, April 28, 2005 Think tank says nation’s policy makers out of step with rapid rural growth A new study by SRI International, A Menlo Park, California – based think tank says America's rural areas are growing faster than government policy makers can keep up. Pat Conway, president of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, which paid for the study, told the Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal, "It is time for a fresh start in formulating strategies to strengthen rural America ...it is important we support and stimulate economic growth in rural America. The study can serve as a framework to develop new strategies." For a related story from The Des Moines Register, click here. The study's authors suggest a renewed, stronger focus on assets and opportunities for rural America to reclaim its prosperity, writes the Business Journal. The study also identifies policy and program steps that can be taken to enable economic growth in rural areas, including consolidating multiple programs, avoiding duplication and making them easier to find and use; greater flexibility in terms of assistance and timeframes, and co-investment by rural communities, businesses, and institutions. On the whole, rural America has several assets on which to build, the study says. These include steadily improving education achievement, low cost of doing business, high quality of life, and increasingly high levels of entrepreneurship and small business development. Liabilities faced by rural areas include declining population, difficulty retaining educated residents, and lack of employment opportunities, particularly in growing economic sectors, they write. The Business journal reports that while rural America is moving toward a more diverse economy and agriculture is declining in its share of that economy, the study shows the bulk of federal support remains primarily in direct subsidies to agriculture. Thirty percent of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2003 budget was allocated to agricultural subsidies while rural development accounted for 3.5 percent of the budget. The full study is available on the SRI Website. Congressional action could threaten local-government broadband projects In rewriting federal law on telecommunications, Congress could make it more difficult for local and state governments to get into the business of providing high-speed broadband Internet service, which could limit the accessibility and affordability of the service in small towns and rural areas. "Internet services are inherently interstate in nature," said Rep. Fred Upton, R.-Mich., chairman of the Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, "Federal jurisdiction -- and a unified federal broadband policy -- trumps state jurisdiction." Upton said the hearing, the panel’s fourth on Internet services, is the last: “At the close of this hearing it is my goal to legislate along these lines." That approach worries representatives of local governments and public utilities, several of whom testified at the hearing. "Many benefits accrue from community-owned communications systems including lower prices for consumers, increased competitiveness in the marketplace, responsiveness to local needs, universal access and economic development," said Lewis Billings, mayor of Provo, Utah, which has a city-run electric utility. Billings spoke on behalf of the American Public Power Association, reports Drew Clark of National Journal’s Technology Update (subscription required). “Billings said 600 of the country's 2,000 public power systems provide some sort of broadband access over fiber wires, power lines, wireless or a hybrid of fiber and coaxial cables,” Clark writes. “Billings criticized cable and telecommunications companies for opposing municipal broadband, and said that Provo had built a municipal fiber network because of inadequate broadband in Utah. He cited support for municipal broadband from Intel Corp., the High Tech Broadband Coalition and the Consumer Federation of America.” Arvada, Colo., Mayor Kenneth Fellman, speaking for the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisers, county officials who draft cable franchise agreements, asked the subcommittee to “take a deliberative approach and ensure that any new regulatory regime respects social obligations of service providers.” Fellman was “particularly concerned about what he called ‘economic redlining,’ which involves directing services or products at only the most affluent customers," Clark reports, quoting him: “One of the primary interests of local government is to ensure that services provided over the cable system are made available to all residential subscribers in a reasonable period of time.” John Perkins, president of the National Association of State Utility Advocates, said federal preemption of state Internet telephone regulation might jeopardize public safety through access to 911 services, Clark reports. “Dissenting somewhat was Charles Davidson, a state utility commissioner in Florida, who said consumers would benefit from competition between cable, telecom and other companies, saying, "A patchwork of rules will deter some from entering this market." Rural Virginia tourism: Small, but growing fast where bucolic is beatified Virginia Tourism Corporation officials say rural areas of the state, especially in the southwest, that offer winding trails, bluegrass music and wine-tasting have become some of the state's fastest-growing attractions. Alisa Bailey, president of the VTC, said recently at the Governor's Conference on Tourism held in Richmond, "Visitors from afar are drawn by the image of Main Street America, the old-fashioned, wave-to-your-neighbor place that doesn't exist in many cities — but does in parts of Virginia," writes Dionne Walker of The Associated Press. The rapid growth of these small attractions follows a national trend of city dwellers seeking relaxing, country getaways. Many of these tourists prefer to blend their vacations with activities like wine tastings and spa treatments, and flock to rural Virginia areas rich in culture, fine dining and recreation, writes Walker. Southwestern Virginia has responded with "The Crooked Road," a 250-mile trail highlighting eight country music landmarks. Matt Bolas, vice president of the Bristol Convention and Visitors Bureau told Walker the one-year-old trail has drawn international tourists, boosting the region's economy. Bolas told the wire service they are expecting 60,000 trail visitors within the next year. Steve Galyean, director of tourism with the Abingdon Convention and Visitors Bureau, said attendance numbers at trail attractions are growing. The Barter Theatre, for instance, saw 155,000 visitors last year, up 25,000 from 2003. But, historic attractions like Colonial Williamsburg and Mount Vernon are grappling with fewer visitors. Kat Imhoff, a vice president at Monticello in Charlottesville, said annual attendance there hasn't cracked 500,000 in nearly three years. Bailey said tourists appear to be bored with static history. For a story by Izak Howell of the Roanoke Times on that southwest Virginia city's learning from Asheville, N.C. in an effort to greater capitalize on growing Appalachian Trail tourism, click here. Roanoke is trying to boost its business while Asheville, with its Bilmore Estates, among other attractions, has seen exponential growth it its area tourism. Click here for a story by Greg Kocher of the Lexington Herald-Leader on Nicholasville, Ky.'s efforts to boost tourism business. Summit says not enough beds for recovering meth addicts in West Virginia There are few resources available to help recovering methamphetamine addicts in West Virginia, according to a Charleston, W.V. summit, Building a Meth-Free Community. Addicts have no resources in prison and few beds in treatment facilities outside of prison, reported Dan Heyman of West Virginia Public Broadcasting. There are no resources available for women, though they just opened a 10-bed unit in Charleston, said Larry Bryson, Team Agape Inc., a faith-based group. To listen to the report, click here. Best way to get from here to there is by air, says Dakota-based flying service Point2Point Airways, a new, on-demand charter service designed to appeal to business travelers who are hundreds of miles away from a major hub airport, is attracting a lot of attention from business people who have to travel a lot in highly rural areas. "Some industry insiders liken Point2Point to an air taxi service, because the trips will begin and end when the passengers want to fly. The Bismarck, North Dakota - based firm will charge businesses about $350 an hour for Midwest flights, and it is asking companies to buy flight time in blocks, which they can use over a 12-month period, writes Liz Fedor of The Star Tribune of Minneapolis, Minn. With Point2Point, business trips that took a day or two will be done in half that time or less, say supporters. John Boehle, a Grand Forks-based consultant, told Fedor, "We have pre-sold time aboard the first two aircraft." Point2Point will operate single-engine planes that seat a pilot and three passengers cruise at 210 mph and have a range of 800 nautical miles. Point2Point expects to operate with five Cirrus planes during its first year of operations and expand to 15 planes in year two, writes Fedor. Passenger revenue for the first 12 months is projected to be $646,000 and $22 million by year five, she writes. AEP in talks to settle clean air violation lawsuits; nation's largest power generator American Electric Power is in talks to settle a nearly 6-year-old lawsuit accusing the nation's largest power generator of violating Clear Air Act rules by not installing modern pollution controls at nine plants, the company's top executive said. AEP president and chief executive Michael Morris told The Columbus Dispatch, "We continue to believe that we did not violate" the law, reports The Associated Press. Columbus Dispatch story requires registration. The Justice Department sued AEP and several other utilities in 1999 over accusations dozens of coal burning power plants in the Midwest spewed dirty air that caused smog and health problems across the Northeast. The government claimed the utilities made physical changes to their plants without upgrading pollution controls. AEP's case involving nine plants in Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and Indiana is set to go to trial on June 6 in Columbus before U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus. Morris told Columbus Dispatch reporter Ken Stammen that AEP has participated in meetings at the request of Sargus, but is ready to go to trial. Ben Porritt, a spokesman for the Justice Department, told the newspaper both sides are prohibited from talking about the status of negotiations. Last month, Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. agreed to pay $1.1 billion in fines and cleanup costs at four power plants in the second-largest federal settlement with an electric utility over air pollution. AEP has about 5 million customers in 11 states. Kentucky county's residents 'guaranteed' to get hundreds of new jobs At least 320 new jobs are coming to Knox County, Kentucky as an existing business expands and a brand new one moves into the county. Pearson Government Solutions, located in Corbin, will be adding 120 new jobs through an expanded federal contract, according to Deputy Judge-Executive Bruce Murphy, writes Melissa Newman of The Times-Tribune in Corbin. The Knox Fiscal Court is offering a tax incentive program to Pearson if they assure the fiscal court all 120 new jobs will be held for Knox County residents only and the work will last at least one year. The incentive package states if all criteria is met, then the 1 percent occupational tax paid by Pearson will be refunded to them after one year. The median salary for this particular contract is $10 per hour per employee, writes Newman. Knox County Judge-Executive Raymond Smith said Pearson assured the fiscal court there would be an accounting of all personnel for this particular contract to ensure all those obtaining the jobs are from Knox County. The total incentive package will cost the county about $20,000. Smith told Newman if Pearson hires even one person out of the120 not from Knox County or if they keep the employees for 11 months instead of the full 12, they don't get the incentive. Smith told the newspaper the reason for the absoluteness terms of the incentives offered has to do with companies finding loopholes to gain tax incentives, and not entirely following the rules of the agreement, she writes. Health-care journalists hire new exec, move base to his current home at Mizzou Len Bruzzese has a new employer in journalism but has managed to do it without moving. He is the new executive director of the Association of Health Care Journalists, which is moving from the University of Minnesota to the University of Missouri – longtime base of Investigative Reporters and Editors, of which Bruzzese is deputy director. He will start his new job July 1. AHCJ has a Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, which will also be joining several other professional organizations housed at Missouri. They include the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, the National Newspaper Association, the Journalism and Women Symposium, and the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting, which works closely with IRE. “Health care is one of the fastest growing specialties in journalism,”' Bruzzese said. “I'm excited to be part of AHCJ's efforts to educate journalists, advocate on their behalf and, ultimately, better serve the general public.” AHCJ is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. Its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. The Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism focuses on training to cover all aspects of health care, including business issues, public policy, medical research, medical practice, consumer health issues, public health, health law and ethics. More information about AHCJ and CEHCJ click here. Bruzzese, 47, has spent the past seven years working at IRE and teaching at the UM School of Journalism. As IRE's deputy director, he helped manage programs and services for the 5,000-member group, which builds membership mainly through conference registration fees. Bruzzese co-authored the fourth edition of The Investigative Reporter's Handbook and edited 10 other books while at IRE. Previously, he held editing, reporting and management positions with newspapers and wire services, including The Olympian in Olympia, Wash., the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., USA Today and Gannett News Service. He is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. NCBA appealing ruling that mad-cow disease has “genuine risk of death” The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, along with the American Farm Bureau Federation and many cattle organizations, cattlemen, farm bureaus and the National Pork Producers Council, filed a “friend of the court” brief to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Their concern is with the ruling that Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, known as mad-cow disease, poses “genuine risk of death” for consumers. NCBA President-Elect Mike John said the ruling was “a far cry from sound science,” and that the group’s priority is to re-open the Asian beef market. “BSE experts from the World Organization for Animal Health agree that BSE is not a public health or herd health risk when key firewalls are in place to protect consumers and cattle, even when a case of BSE is found. The United States has these firewalls in place, as does Canada,” John said in a press release on the group’s website. Pikeville wants
A&E apology; also working with U of L
on health research City Manager Donovan Blackburn wrote in a letter to the A&E network, "Obviously, being labeled the town from hell can not be interpreted in any way as positive," Blackburn told Roger Alford of The Associated Press. The documentary revolved around murders committed by a group of occultists who lived in the area. The show delved into the 1997 kidnappings and murders of a Tennessee couple and their 6-year-old daughter by six Eastern Kentuckians now serving life prison sentences. The couple's 2-year-old son also was kidnapped and shot, but survived. A&E said, "It was not the intention of A&E Network to malign the town of Pikeville, but rather to examine it through the eyes of people who live in that community and who were affected by the particular case we were profiling," writes Alford. Meanwhile, Alan Maimon of The Courier Journal writes, "Pikeville Medical Development Corp., a subsidiary of Pikeville Medical Center, with about 1,300 employees, will apply for grants, seek donations and oversee plans for the research facility and other projects." Walter May, president of Pikeville Medical Center, told the Louisville newspaper, "Health care is a real impetus for economic development ...It's more important than the coal industry now." May has met with U of L President James Ramsey. He also plans to discuss the idea with the University of Kentucky. The corporation wants to develop collaborative research projects, obtain funding for expansion of programs at the Pikeville hospital and encourage private companies to locate in Eastern Kentucky. Plans for the center are still in the early stages. Pike County Judge-Executive William Deskins said the potential partnerships represent a great opportunity for the county, Maimon writes. Mountain murders: Same gun used in two murders 38 years apart, same place The same gun used in the murder of an award-winning Canadian filmmaker in Letcher County, Kentucky in 1967 turned out to be the weapon used in another murder in the same community in 2003, reports The Associated Press. A Letcher County jury convicted Kathy Walters-Williams, 48, of Jeremiah, of the murder of Forest Caudill in November 2003. Prosecutors said Walters-Williams approached Caudill, 19, and without provocation killed him, writes AP from a story reported in The Mountain Eagle of Whitesburg. (no website) Both shootings occurred on property that once belonged to the late Hobart Ison, who in March 1969 pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of Montreal filmmaker Hugh O'Connor, killed in September 1967. Whitesburg filmmaker Elizabeth Barret, who produced the film "Stranger With a Camera" in 2000 about the shooting of O'Connor, said it seemed strange the same gun would have been used in two fatal shootings on the same property. Police found the gun hidden under a rock on the top of a mountain about five miles away from where Caudill, and years earlier, O'Connor, were killed. The gun was soaked in motor oil to prevent laboratory technicians from recovering fingerprints. Jeremiah resident Begie "Moose" Breeding Jr. told The Mountain Eagle his family took ownership of the gun after Ison pleaded guilty to manslaughter on March 24, 1969, AP writes. Breeding said the gun was given to his family by the Letcher County Sheriff's Department and placed in a safety deposit box in the Bank of Whitesburg. He said the gun remained in the bank until he took it out while Appalshop was filming "Stranger With a Camera," reports the wire service. Wednesday, April 27, 2005 U.S. slides in broadband penetration; other countries encouraging competition The United States lags behind the rest of the world regarding broadband Internet service, with countries like Norway, Israel and Finland now surpassing the nation in broadband penetration for the first time. Getting broadband service has been especially difficult for rural areas, which are usually outside the existing networks for major telecommunications companies. Business Week reports that it’s expensive to expand the networks in a country as large as the United States. “About 20 percent of the U.S. has no way to get broadband Net access, and 5 percent to 10 percent more only have one choice: Their local cable-TV provider. Makes sense then, that while the U.S. ranks 11th in total broadband penetration, it ranks 23rd in DSL use,” BusinessWeek reports. Some telecommunications officials have attributed the slide to the lack of competition in the marketplace and the absence of any public policy to promote broadband Internet, reports Drew Clark of the National Journal’s Technology Daily. Critics say the broadband market has thrived in Canada and France because the countries have encouraged competition. “If cable companies were forced to open up their lines, over-night 80 percent of the U.S. would have more than one broadband supplier to choose from,” writes BusinessWeek. “Theoretically at least, that would drive down prices and force companies to offer enticing service packages like phone and TV delivered via the Web.” Another issue, playing out at the state level: Legislation that keeps local governments from getting into the broadband business. This and other topics will be the subject of a session at a national seminar on rural issues June 12-17 at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland. For more information, click here. Virginia Republicans join ranks of those seeking waivers of 'No Child' rules Two Virginia Republicans have introduced legislation that would let the Old Dominion get a broad waiver from key accountability provisions of President Bush’s education overhaul, the No Child Left Behind law. Former governor, now Sen. George Allen and 6th District Rep. Robert W. Goodlatte introduced the bills, writes Peter Hardin of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, to pave the way for states like Virginia to get waivers from the federal formula used to determine whether a school or school district is making "adequate yearly progress." Allen said Virginia's own Standards of Learning program has proved "clearly successful, yet aspects of the federal No Child Left Behind law are confusing parents and undermining the progress of our high academic standards and accountability in Virginia." Goodlatte said their legislation "gives states with strong accountability standards, like Virginia, the additional flexibility they deserve," writes Hardin. A spoeksman for Democratic Gov. Mark R. Warner said the chief executive "has been vocal for some time about the need for the federal government to provide more flexibility." At the National Education Association, lobbyist Joel Packer told Hardin Allen's bill offered "a key political sign bipartisan opposition is increasing to the No Child law as it's currently worded." ENERGY ‘More modest’ national energy plan includes 'clean coal' and liquefied gas The White House said last night that President Bush will unveil five modest proposals today encouraging production and use of domestic energy sources, including nuclear power and cleaner-burning coal and diesel. Prompted by record high gasoline prices, “Bush plans to renew his push for a broad energy proposal in a speech today and present the new measures in an effort to ease concerns about the supply and cost of energy. White House officials released the details to reporters under the condition that their names not be used,” writes Jim VandeHei of The Washington Post. The newspaper reports that Bush plans to request clear federal authority over the siting of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, as a way to speed up the completion of 32 new terminals. A White House official told The Post confusion over federal authority in the process is slowing expansion. Finally, Bush plans to ask Congress to expand the tax credit that applies to hybrid and fuel-cell-powered vehicles to also cover clean diesel and encourage other countries to help promote clean coal and nuclear power, writes VandeHei. Officials admitted early the new plan would not immediately bring down gasoline prices. Proposals include a mix of incentives and regulatory changes, mainly to encourage the construction of new production facilities, which the White House plans to weave into the energy bill now making its way through Congress. Bush will call for federal risk insurance to "reduce the uncertainty" for companies wishing to build nuclear plants, VandeHei writes. The president plans to prod federal agencies to work with communities to encourage the construction of new refineries at closed military bases. Because of the cost of building new refineries, most companies have chosen to expand production at current sites instead of building new ones, he writes. Wind energy industry boosting its projected numbers, creating new jobs It looks like the U.S. wind energy industry may shatter its previous record for the number of projects installed, helping to create clean power and new jobs across America, the American Wind Energy Association said on its website. Reporters and editors interested in seeing if any of the proposed projects are in or near their state can check the AWEA’s website here to get a state-by-state list. The trade group nudged its 2005 forecast from about 2,000 megawatts of energy to about 2,500 megawatts, based on survey results of wind turbine manufacturer plants. One megawatt of wind energy generates enough electricity for 250-300 households, the group said. Pennyslvania Gov. Edward Rendell announced earlier this year that the Spanish wind turbine maker, Gamesa, will build a turbine blade manufacturing plant in the state. The company's activities in the state are expected to create 1,000 jobs over the next five years. Blade manufacturer LM Glasfiber also created 100 new jobs in North Dakota and Vestas-American Wind Technology is advertising 100 new positions. "More states are looking seriously at wind energy these days as an engine of economic development, and what they are seeing confirms a major study released last fall by the Renewable Energy Policy Project," said AWEA executive director Randall Swisher. "It reported that boosting wind energy from 6,000 MW to 50,000 MW nationwide would create 150,000 manufacturing jobs." Unmined minerals lawsuit settled; should increase Ky. tax receipts, says lawyer A disagreement over how Kentucky should assess coal still in the ground for property taxes has been put to rest after more than 20 years. The agreement lays out guidelines the Kentucky Revenue Department must use to make the assessments, which are then used to levy property taxes by the state and various local taxing districts, reports The Associated Press. The first lawsuit on the topic was filed in federal court, but moved in Franklin County Circuit Court in 1988. It was filed by the Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition, the predecessor to Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. The most dramatic change in the assessment program came in 1994, when the General Assembly assigned the task to the Revenue Department instead of county property valuation administrators. Lexington lawyer Joe Childers, who claims 22 years on the case, said the ruling should result in higher assessments and therefore greater tax receipts. Farmers, property owners protest high voltage power-line proposal Propoerty owners in northern Anderson County, Kentucky, are angry over Kentucky Utilities Co. 's plans to erect a new high-voltage transmission line across their farms. Fifty people attended a public meeting at an elementary school last night to learn more about the proposed transmission line, and to voice their displeasure. KU says the line is needed to serve its customers in the future and to keep pace with demand, writes Greg Kocher of the Lexington Herald-Leader. David Mountjoy, who lives north of Lawrenceburg, was among those protesting the KU plan. He told Kocher, "I don't want a high-power line running across my property. It's going to kill the property value." Anderson County Fiscal Court magistrate Larry Smith said, "A lot of these farms have been in people's families for 100, 150 years." Dennis Monohan has lived on one of those properties for 32 years. The land, now used to raise beef cattle, had the potential for future residential development. But, he told Kocher, the proposed path of the power line could end that. "With a line going through there, you can't build under it, and you don't want to build near it," Monohan said. Other complaints dealt with safety and aesthetics. KU intends to rebuild existing lines from its plant on the Kentucky River to a substation near a plant north of Lawrenceburg. A new transmission line would be built from that substation north, across Interstate 64 and to a substation west of Frankfort. The 13 miles of the line would cross about 60 individual properties. KU spokesman Cliff Feltham told the newspaper half of those properties already have existing transmission lines. The other 30 properties, however, do not have KU lines. JOURNALISM Americans trust the news but see bias, says Journalism Center survey Most Americans believe news coverage is biased and negative, but they also say they respect journalists and trust what they hear and read. A national survey conducted by the Missouri School of Journalism's Center for Advanced Social Research found 62 percent consider journalism credible and more than half rated newspapers and television news as trustworthy, reports Sam Hananel of The Washington Post. At the same time, 85 percent said they detect a bias in news reporting. Of those, 48 percent identified it as liberal, 30 percent as conservative, 12 percent as both, and 3 percent as other bias. About two-thirds said journalists invade people's privacy too often, while roughly three-quarters said the news is too negative. George Kennedy, a Missouri journalism professor and co-author of a study that incorporates the survey results told Hananel, "The consumers of American journalism respect, value and need it, but they're also skeptical about whether journalists really live up to the standards of accuracy, fairness and respect for others that we profess." Ohio cities, newspapers argue in state Supreme Court over release of police photos Attorneys for state newspapers suing for photos of uniformed police officers told Ohio Supreme Court justices yesterday that recent changes to the state's open-records law should not prevent the release of those photos, reports The Associated Press. Fred Gittes, a lawyer representing The Vindicator of Youngstown said, "A police officer's name and image is not private, it's not personal. We don't have KGB police forces and secret forces here." At issue is a 2000 change to the law that exempts from disclosure any record identifying a person's occupation as a police officer, firefighter, or emergency medical technician, writes AP. Attorneys for The Plain Dealer of Cleveland and The Vindicator argued, if interpreted literally, the law would make it impossible to identify any police officers. But Thomas Anastos, assistant Cleveland law director, said information such as officers' names and photos still could be obtained by suing or filing a complaint. Justice Paul Pfeifer questioned whether that wasn't an extreme course of action, AP writes. Justice Pfeifer said identifying specific officers can be important, especially when they're accused of wrongdoing. NYT reports ad problems worse at big, national newspapers than local chains While ad revenue remains a challenge for all newspapers, national and other larger daily are suffering more than local chains, according to The New York Times, one of the victims of this trend. While Yahoo and Google surpassed all advertising estimates, "Dow Jones said ad revenue at its domestic and international print publications, including The Wall Street Journal, fell 10.8 percent during the first quarter," the Times declared, writes Editor&Publisher. "But ad revenue at its Ottaway Newspapers division, which includes 15 daily newspapers and 18 weekly publications, rose 1.9 percent," they add. Similarly, ad revenue at The New York Times Co. unit that includes The New York Times, The New York Times on the Web, and The International Herald Tribune, fell 0.8%, but its regional media group increased 7.2%. In general, smaller was beautiful. Lee Enterprises reported a 7.5% surge in ad revenue, Knight Ridder 3.3%, and a little less at the Tribune Co. One exception: USA Today, published by Gannett, saw ad revenue increase by 4.8% in the first quarter. N.C. paper fights for opening water meetings; files suit against city, county Buncombe County commissioners and Asheville City Council members worked behind closed doors all day yesterday and into the night to find an end to a stalemate over the future of the region's water system, while local media filed a lawsuit against the secret session, reports the Asheville Citizen Times. As of late last night, neither the city nor county showed signs of bringing the negotiations to an end. No one gave any predictions as to when the meetings would end. Councilwoman Holly Jones told the North Carolina newspaper, “I think we want to keep talking. We’d really love to serve our community by walking out of here with a good deal for everybody.” The City Council, last May, announced it would end the Regional Water Authority agreement and take control of its assets. The agreement includes Buncombe and Henderson counties. The three sides have been trying to come to a new agreement before the current one expires, the newspaper reports. City and county residents have asked City Council and Buncombe commissioners to discuss the agreement in public, but they chose a closed process with a mediator, they write. The Asheville Citizen-Times and WLOS-TV yesterday filed a lawsuit in Superior Court asking the court to declare the city and county violated state law with the closed meetings and to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the two bodies from meeting illegally again. In addition, according to the court papers, any decision the city and county reach during the meetings should be struck down. The case is scheduled to be heard at 10:30 a.m. today at the Buncombe County Courthouse. City Council and Board of Commissioners members said the meeting was within the realm of the open meetings law because only one or two of their members at a time met with the attorneys and mediator John Stephens. Also in the Citizen-Times today, the newspaper continued its series by Lyndsey Nash on Meth: The Rural Plague. For that story, click here. TOURISM AND NATURE N.C. committee OKs age limits for ATV drivers; bars children younger than 12 A North Carolina Senate committee has approved a measure that would block children younger than 12 years old from operating ATVs, the popular off-road recreational motorbikes responsible for numerous deaths and injuries nationwide. The bill would outlaw young children from driving three- and four-wheeled off-road vehicles, while those age 12 to 15 could operate smaller ATVs under an adult's supervision, writes Margaret Lillard of The Associated Press. Robert Schafermeyer, a doctor at Carolinas Medical Center said his hospital treats dozens of children annually -- nine so far in 2005 -- who have been hurt while using ATVs. Many suffer severe head, neck or spine injuries, sometimes causing permanent disabilities. He told AP, "As a physician and father, this is painful to watch," she writes. The measure would also set requirements for safety equipment, safe operation and areas where the vehicles could legally be used. It would also require all ATV drivers to complete a safety course by October 2006. Violations would be misdemeanors, with punishments varying from a minimum fine of $200, to 60 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 for disregarding the age restrictions or operating an ATV on public roads and highways. North Carolina is one of five states with essentially no restrictions on ATV use, writes Lillard. Tourism leaders advised to cooperate, promote attractions of history enthusiasts Consultants recently told a gathering of tourism officials in Williamsburg, Va., that tourism attractions need to stop competing and work together to find a broad base of travelers and promote the region as a hub. After a year of interviews and research, consultants hired by the local tourism industry unveiled their road map to improving the region's competitiveness after years of low visitor rates, reports Chris Flores of Money & Works. The report is timely as the region gears up for an influx of tourists for Jamestown 2007. After years of cuts to the state's funding of regional marketing efforts, the industry is also becoming flush with advertising cash from a new $2 lodging fee. Mitch Nichols, president of the Nichols Tourism Group said leaders do a good job with historical areas and shouldn't de-emphasize this strength, but they need to figure out how to make people stay longer, writes Flores. Consultant David Radcliffe of the Radcliffe Company told the gathering to capture the visitor a little longer, they need to be aware of options like shopping and promoting destinations beyond the historical sites also will attract new types of customers. Dave Schulte of the Williamsburg Area Convention and Visitors Bureau said the are too often is seen as a short stop in a bigger vacation. The region needs to work together to monitor competitors and figure out which regions are stealing potential or past business, writes Flores. The Virginia Tourism Corporation compiled detailed data that was released last fall, but is underused, and too little visitor data is shared locally. For all of these initiatives to work, the numerous tourism-related organizations and companies need to work together and refine the roles they are playing, said Nichols. The long consulting process helped many of these groups form closer relationships, he writes. More wild horses killed as Interior, Ford Motor Co. team to save others The U. S. Interior Department has halted delivery of mustangs to buyers as it investigates the slaughter of 41 wild horses in the West this month, which may violate a federal contract requiring humane treatment. By enlisting last-minute financial help Monday from Ford Motor Co. -- maker of the Mustang sports car -- the agency saved the lives of 52 other mustangs, writes John Heilprin of The Associated Press. The latest horses killed came from a broker who obtained them from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota. The tribe traded most of the aging horses it bought from the government for younger ones. Interior officials said they would review whether a federal contract had been violated. Kathleen Clarke, director of Interior's Bureau of Land Management, told AP, "I don't think it's fair to say they violated the agreement. They were not traded to the animal processing facility. They were trading to a private individual." Todd Fast Horse, a spokesman for Rosebud Sioux Tribe President Charles Colombe, said they did not knowingly do anything wrong. The tribal council passed a resolution saying the BLM horses could be traded or exchanged. The Sioux tribe had to sign an agreement with BLM that it would "provide humane care" to each of the animals. Clarke said Interior is investigating that arrangement. The department also is investigating the sale of six wild horses to an Oklahoma man and their slaughter at the Cavel International Inc. commercial packing plant in DeKalb, Ill., the same place the 35 were killed. Clarke told Heilprin, "It's incredibly disappointing. It is not our intent to have these animals killed. That's why we acted very aggressively." For more on wild horse rescuing, click here. Its not easy being green: Tree frog gains official Georgia amphibian status The green tree frog has gained equality in Georgia with the Vidalia onion, the knobbed whelk, square dancing and the annual "Shoot the Bull" event. The tiny amphibian has become one of Georgia's 44 state symbols and designations, joining the official processed food, vegetable, seashell, folk dance and beef cook-off, writes Carlos Campos of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The green tree frog movement began with a group of middle-school students from the Rome area studying the frog two years ago.The Rome News-Tribune reported details of the frog "Leaping into the law" in its edition yesterday. The students liked the tiny frog, which has smooth green skin and suction-like feet, and can be heard making a loud "quacking" sound in the summer. The children also were learning about state symbols, and one student wondered why there was no official amphibian, Campos writes. The students got their legislators to push a bill (no reference to leap-frogging) through the General Assembly to designate the green tree frog the official state amphibian. Two years and lots of political wrangling later, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the bill into law at the state Capitol yesterday, he writes. (Blogger's note: Yes, we had to look up 'knobbed whelk' - a.k.a. the Busycon carica - and found it is a seashell of sorts, and, yes, it has a web page. P.S. any frog that quacks is okay with us.) Tuesday, April 26, 2005 Report says many rural children living in poverty also reside in the South A report from the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture titled has found that a large number of rural children live in the South, and many rural children are more likely to live in poverty. “Rural Children at a Glance” reports that 45 percent of children in poverty live in the South and that the more rural the area, the more likely its children are to live in poverty -- up to a high of 23 percent in completely rural counties. However, the overall child poverty rate did decline between 1990 and 2000, as did the disparities between the types of rural areas. “Rural child poverty has been most persistent and severe in Central Appalachia, the Deep South (including the Mississippi Delta), the Rio Grande border area, the Southwest, and American Indian communities in the Northern Plains,” the report says. “Although poverty declined between 1990 and 2000, over 750 nonmetro counties (37 percent of all nonmetro counties) had child poverty rates of 21 percent or more in 2000.” In 2001, 1.6 million children in nonmetro areas had no health insurance, or 22 percent of the total living in those areas. The figure for metropolitan counties was only 12 percent. Children in non-metro areas are also more likely than those in metro areas to have parents who are younger and less educated, and are therefore more likely to poor and unable to provide health care and other important services for their children. The Web version of the report does not offer county-by-county data, but gives a person to contact for more information: Carolyn C. Rogers at crogers@ers.usda.gov or 202-694-5436. Florida gun law expands self-defense; NRA to promote in other states Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) could sign as early as tomorrow a bill allowing Floridians to "meet force with force," erasing the "duty to retreat" when they fear for their lives outside of their homes, in their cars or businesses, or on the street. "The legislation passed so emphatically that National Rifle Association backers plan to take it to statehouses across the nation ...over the next year," writes Manuel Roig-Franzia, Florida-basd reporter for The Washington Post. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said the Florida measure is the "first step of a multi-state strategy" he hopes can capitalize on a political climate dominated by conservative opponents of gun control at the state and national levels. LaPierre told the Post, "There's a big tailwind we have, moving from state legislature to state legislature. The South, the Midwest, everything they call 'flyover land' -- if John Kerry held a shotgun in that state, we can pass this law in that state." The Florida measure says any person "has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm." Florida already lets residents defend themselves against attackers if they can prove they could not have escaped. The new law would allow them to use deadly force even if they could have fled and says prosecutors must automatically presume would-be victims feared for their lives if attacked. The overwhelming vote margins and bipartisan support for the Florida gun bill have alarmed some national gun-control advocates, who say the measure that made headlines in Florida slipped beneath their radar. Sarah Brady, chair of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told the newspaper, "I am in absolute shock. If I had known about it, I would have been down there." Officials in Bush's home state shrug off fine over 'No Child Left Behind' Authorities in President Bush’s home state of Texas have said "so what," more or less, to a fine the federal Department of Education has imposed because it was late last year in notifying schools and districts whether they had reached student achievement benchmarks under the President's No Child Left Behind law. Sam Dillon of The New York Times writes, “While promising to notify schools in a timely fashion this year, the education commissioner of Texas, Shirley Neeley, said, "Classrooms and teachers will not be harmed by this fine." Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced the $444,282 fine. It appears to be the largest fine imposed on any state since Bush signed the law in 2002. Spellings, who was Bush's top education adviser when he was governor of Texas in the 1990s, said in a terse letter she would withhold the money from the more than $1 billion the state receives in federal education financing, arguing that the six-week delay was unwarranted, writes Dillon. The fine concludes one skirmish in a broader conflict between Washington and Texas. In the dispute, which has nettled the Bush administration, Texas has refused to apply a provision that limits the number of students with learning disabilities who can be exempted from regular standardized tests, he writes. Wal-Mart restricts cold tabs; W.Va. has anti-meth rally; N.C. meth series continues Wal-Mart has announced its stores will move many nonprescription cold and allergy medications behind pharmacy counters by June because they include an ingredient used to make the illegal stimulant methamphetamine. The world's largest retailer will join rivals Target Corp. and Albertson's Inc. in making such a move throughout all locations, writes Joe Bel Bruno of The Associated Press. All three retailers are trying to make it more difficult for customers to obtain medications containing pseudoephedrine, a key component for making methamphetamine, a powerfully addictive drug, reports AP. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.estimates 60 percent of its stores are already selling such abused products behind the counter. Wal-Mart had not previously announced a timetable for making the changes. Meanwhile yesterday, organizers of a 'Unity against meth' rally in West Virginia urged various groups to work together against methanphetamine. U.S. Attorney Kasey Warner boiled down the state ’s methamphetamine problem into a simple equation: “Meth is bad. We need to work together. We need more funds. Let’s move on,” writes Dave Gustafson of the Charleston Gazette. Better cooperation among law enforcement, prosecution, federal agencies and community groups was established as the goal of the state’s first summit on meth, which continues through tomorrow at the Charleston Marriott. Summit coordinator James E. Copple told Gustafson the hundreds of people from across the state attending the “Building Meth-Free Communities” conference would create recommendations specifically for West Virginia. Copple has organized 15 such conferences across the country. He told the newspaper, “We’re chasing this problem in many states. We’re coming in way too late.” The Asheville Citizen-Times continued its in-depth series on "The Rural Plague: Meth in western North Carolina." In today's story, Kerra L. Bolton writes of the state legsilature's plans to restrict colds medicine sales there. Yesterday, in part two, Lindsey Nash wrote of how meth is ruining families and how children were found in homes involved in 25 percent of North Carolina’s meth lab busts in 2003. More on Wal-Mart: Council limits store hours; NYC site trashes company The West Des Moines City Council has voted to uphold restrictions on the hours of operation of a Wal-Mart Supercenter under construction. The council upheld a previous vote that approved building the store but required it shut its doors at 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 p.m. on Sunday and not reopen until 8 a.m. the following day, writes Tom Suk of The Des Moines Register. The limited hours were sought by nearby residents who argued an around-the-clock operation would disrupt their neighborhood and hurt their quality of life. In the resolution to confirm the previous vote, city officials said "evidence was presented the retail development will generate noise, traffic, light and litter." In the city of New York, "There's nothing wrong, in our view, with large retailers," |