The
Rural Blog Archive: March 2005
Issues,
trends, events, ideas and journalism from the Institute for
Rural Journalism and Community Issues
Thursday, March 31, 2005
West Virginia bill would keep local agencies
from doing broadband on their own
The West Virginia Senate, under pressure from
telecommunications companies, toned down a bill intended to
encourage public-private partnerships to bring broadband Internet
service to small towns and other underserved areas. In some
states, localities have taken the lead in providing high-speed
broadband service, but in others, legislatures have prohibited
them from doing so.
The West Virginia bill calls for a study of
the best way to bring those services to the regions of the
state that lack broadband Internet, writes
Phil Kabler of The Charleston Gazette. It
was a compromise after the Senate Finance Committee amended
the bill to allow public-private partnerships only if the
state commerce secretary said there was no likelihood that
a private company could offer comparable services in the future.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley,
said of the compromise, “We decided to back off and
do the study. I think we should be sure the public sector
doesn’t step on the private sector.”
The Associated Press reported
that the Finance Committee also "removed a provision
that would have allowed municipalities to issue bonds to finance
broadband infrastructure development."
In rural Arizona, where
tourism is king, capital is scarce; 'great divide' with cities
Thousands of retirees are helping much of rural
and small-town Arizona grow at a time when much of non-urban
America is losing people.
"Living in much of Arizona's wide-open
spaces means settling for per-capita income that trails both
the state's urban centers and the national average -- and
it's losing ground. Also, industry is scarce in these regions
where tourism is king, and traditional sectors of mining,
ranching or farming are in decline," reports
The Arizona Republic. Joe Yuhas, deputy director
of the state Department of Commerce, told
the Phoenix newspaper, "When you talk about problems
in the state economy, a big contributing factor is the reality
of rural Arizona. The health of rural Arizona has a huge impact
on the state's economic health."
The department is the spearhead of efforts to
improve rural opportunities. Lower incomes, higher poverty
and the decline of traditional industries are common themes
in the intermountain West, the newspaper reports. These rural
Western regions are tethered to tourism, and capital for new
businesses is scarce. In addition, schools are starved for
resources and higher education options are limited. As in
other Western states, the federal government is a force, controlling
nearly 45 percent of the state. This brings jobs and tourism,
but also limits land uses, they write.
The phenomenon has long drawn the attention
of state leaders, although action has been limited. A University
of Arizona report cited "the great divide"
between Maricopa and Pima counties and the rest of the state.
As a result, rural Arizona is hungry for jobs created by projects
that are shunned by cities, such as power plants, mines and
prisons. One county, for example, is seeing construction of
a $75 million private prison, they report.
Jackson, Tenn., newspaper
awarded court fees in open-records lawsuit against city
A Tennessee judge has awarded The Jackson
Sun more than $6,000 in attorney fees for an open
records lawsuit the newspaper brought against the city of
Jackson.
The newspaper's attorneys will receive $3,085
each for work when the Sun sued the city for disclosure of
documents related to the Diamond Jaxx minor league baseball
team and Jackson police field interviews. The Sun filed the
lawsuit in January, also suing for the disclosure of the 911
tape or transcript of the tape from a shooting at a state
garage that left three dead. The court ruled that the newspaper
should have access to the field interviews and the baseball
team's financial records but denied access to the 911 tapes.
The release of the field interviews has been delayed until
an appeals court reviews the issue.
The city plans to appeal the ruling on the
baseball records, though they have been released. Sun Executive
Editor Richard Schneider said,
''We realize that this is the first round.'' He said he believes
the case shows how difficult and expensive it is for private
citizens to obtain records a government wants to keep secret.
Wal-Mart beats other
companies with technology; smaller businesses must catch up
If smaller companies want to stay competitive
against retail giants like Wal-Mart, they must understand
and develop their use of computer technology, writes
business columnist Don McNay, in a column that was first published
online and is to appear in Sunday's Richmond (Ky.)
Register.
The column was prompted by the closing of a
grocery in nearby Berea. "The loss of IGA was like the
death of a friend," McNay writes. The store "sits
across the street from a vacated Wal-Mart," abandoned
for the supercenter that probably forced the IGA out of business.
"Most of Berea's new businesses are near the current
Wal-Mart location, while the former Wal-Mart location is surrounded
by older and often empty buildings."
McNay references In Sam We Trust, a
book by Bob Ortega, which explains how Wal-Mart spent millions
on computers in the early 1980s to track inventory, trends
and prices. Wal Mart doesn’t know the names of any customers,
he writes, but it knows their purchasing habits. “If
small-town businesses are going to compete against Wal-Mart,
they are going to have to know their customers on a personal
basis … and get up to speed with market research and
technology," he writes. "They need to find their
markets and niches."
Tennessee war on meth
official; measure signed into law limits cold-drug sales
Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen yesterday signed
a law intended to fight the state's methamphetamine problem,
and its affect is immediate on small stores: They must stop,
within 24 hours, selling cold tablets used to make the drug.
"I hope this collective action sends a
clear signal to the people of Tennessee that we are serious
about tackling this problem," Bredesen said as he signed
the measure, which raced through the legislature a little
more than a month after he proposed it, writes
Matt Gouras of The Associated Press.
The biggest changes included in the law are
restrictions on some cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine,
a major component in making meth. The medicines will be sold
only from behind a pharmacy counter in limited amounts, with
each purchase recorded. Small stores that don't have pharmacies
won't be allowed to sell drugs that contain pseudoephedrine,
writes Gouras. Bredesen said, "This new law strikes the
right balance between public safety and consumer convenience.
We appreciate pharmacies' and retailers' support and cooperation
in the war against meth."
The drug is "cooked" using cold medicine
and easily obtainable items such as lye, matchbook striker
plates and iodine. Much of the new law takes effect immediately.
Pharmacies have 30 days to move restricted cold medicines
behind the counter -- excluding liquid or gelcap medicines,
which can't be used to make meth. For the Tennessean
version by Leon Alligood, click here.
For a more detailed look at the law itself, in The Tennessean,
click here.
Minnesota governor's
tribal casino plan declared unconstitutional; challenge expected
Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch has declared
in a legal opinion that Gov. Tim Pawlenty's plan to let Indian
tribes from entirely rural Northern Minnesota have a multi-tribal
casino near the Twin Cities would be unconstitutional without
a voter-approved amendment to the state charter.
Hatch and his chief deputy, Kristine Eiden,
did not offer a formal opinion on a second casino plan, a
"racino" proposed for Canterbury Park
racetrack in Shakopee, but Eiden
told Patrick Sweeney of the St. Paul
Pioneer Press their legal analysis would
apply to the Canterbury plan.
Pawlenty's chief of staff, Dan McElroy, said
Pawlenty had always expected a constitutional challenge, and
still thinks it will survive a court test. McElroy said courts
in four other states with constitutional provisions substantially
similar to Minnesota's have allowed casinos such as Pawlenty
proposed. The Senate Agriculture, Veterans and Gaming Committee.
The Senate committee is expected to vote on the bill Monday.
Kentucky counties closing
small jails; larger counties house inmates for a fee
With action by Breathitt County, 32 of Kentucky's
120 counties have closed their jails since 1983, when the
state began enforcing new standards on the facilities, some
of which had been compared to medieval dungeons.
"That was then. Now officials in counties
with small jails say they're closing their doors because they
can't afford to keep them open," writes
Lee Mueller of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Breathitt Judge-Executive Lewis Warrix, in referring to costs,
told Mueller, "Every one of us has got a bigger pipe
going out than we've got coming in." He told Mueller
the expense of maintaining the 12-bed jail in Jackson -- remodeled
and reopened in 1996 at a cost of $1 million -- "had
just gone out of sight."
"Breathitt County's facility is the second
small Eastern Kentucky jail to close during the last three
months -- and a third could be in jeopardy. Knott County,
which spent $1.2 million two years ago to refurbish its 14-bed
jail, shut it down in December," Mueller writes. Estill
County Judge-Executive Wallace Taylor told Mueller the fiscal
court is considering closing it again. The county's finances
forced it to shut down its 15-bed jail to briefly in 2003.
Even as the number of inmates in Kentucky jails
has increased by 13 percent since last March -- swollen by
a flood of drug-related arrests -- the closing of small facilities
comes as no shock to most corrections experts. "Every
county needs a jail," said Knott County Sheriff Ray Bolen.
"But they're just too costly."
John Rees, commissioner of the state Department
of Corrections, told the newspaper, "Basically,
it really takes a facility of 400 to 500 beds for economies
of scale to start taking place. The state and federal mandates
for operating a jail are expensive." Kentucky still has
78 full-service jails and 15 so-called "life-safety"
jails for misdemeanor offenders. Those facilities housed 14,629
inmates on March 4, 2004, and 16,536 on March 4 this year,
he writes.
Low-carb donations feed
the needy in Appalachia; diet craze fades, benefits the poor
A surplus of diet food for the overweight is
helping feed the hungry in Appalachia. "Unsold crates
of low-carbohydrate energy bars, shakes and breakfast mixes
have been pouring into the Christian Appalachian Project
to be distributed in mountain communities. For people who
otherwise might go hungry, diet food beats no food at all,"
writes
Roger Alford of The Associated Press.
Ken Slone manages the charity's warehouse some
25 miles from the spot where President Lyndon Johnson declared
war on poverty in 1964, Alford writes. Slone told him, "When
you're feeding people, you're doing a good thing." Since
September, the charity has received 14 truck-loads of food
from Atkins Nutritionals, the New York company
famous for the low-carb diet. Slone said each truckload contained
about 1,300 cases of energy bars, shakes and breakfast mixes
that are being distributed to churches and other organizations
that minister to the needy.
Rev. Brooks Kerrick, founder of Extended
Hands Ministries, which serves residents in a rural
area that has double-digit unemployment rates, told Alford,
"The Atkins products have really been a lifesaver for
us. They'll sure keep your belly button from rubbing your
backbone." Atkins Nutritional said it routinely provides
free foods to charitable organizations. A recent study by
the independent marketing company NPD Group
found the percentage of American adults on any low-carb diet
in 2004 peaked at 9.1 percent in February and dropped to 4.9
percent by early November.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
president defends marketing practices; feds say youth targeted
The president of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
Co. said her company tightly restricts its marketing
to reach only adult smokers, but a government lawyer questioned
that claim yesterday in a racketeering lawsuit against cigarette
makers.
"A Justice Department
lawyer pointed Lynn J. Beasley to advertisements for Reynolds
products in recent editions of two magazines -- Stuff and
Smooth -- that also featured a comic strip, articles on video
games and a rap music star, and pictures of largely undressed
women," writes
Hilary Roxe of The Associated Press. Beasley
replied, "Were the advertisement in the publication then
it would meet our criteria, and I'd be happy to go through
those criteria with you.".
Reynolds' marketing policies include using available
readership data to ensure product ads are not placed in magazines
that target people under 21 or that have a readership of more
than 15 percent youths, Beasley said in written testimony.
And, Beasley added, that tightening the company policies since
2000 led Reynolds to stop placing ads in several magazines,
including Rolling Stone and Allure. Beasley's testimony, which
was expected to continue Thursday, comes in the sixth month
of the trial in U.S. District Court.
In a lawsuit filed under a 1970 civil racketeering
law designed to prosecute mobsters, the government alleges
that tobacco companies engaged in a five-decade conspiracy
to hide the hazards associated with smoking. The defendants
in the lawsuit are: Philip Morris USA Inc.
and its parent, Altria Group Inc.; R.J. Reynolds
Tobacco Co.; Brown & Williamson Tobacco Co.;
British American Tobacco Ltd.; Lorillard
Tobacco Co.; Liggett Group Inc.;
Counsel for Tobacco Research-U.S.A.; and
the Tobacco Institute.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Georgia bill requiring voter ID stirs furor;
critics say hurts blacks, elderly, rural voters
Legislation to require Georgians to show photo
identification at the polls has advanced over passionate objections
from lawmakers who said the move could disenfranchise many
black, elderly and rural voters.
The Senate approved the bill which must go back
to the House for approval of minor changes. But, the Senate
action moved the legislation much closer to becoming law,
write
Sonji Jacobs and Carlos Campos of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
It also left hard feelings, especially among black lawmakers.
Senate Minority Leader Robert Brown (D-Macon), an African-American,
told the newspaper, "This is spitting on the grave of
Martin Luther King Jr." Black lawmakers argued the measure
would turn back the clock on civil rights. Some compared the
bill to a poll tax or other measures from the past that were
meant to prevent blacks from voting.
Republicans argued the measure would help prevent
voter fraud and protect the integrity of the ballot. The bill
would reduce the number of acceptable forms of identification
for voting from 17 to six forms of government-issued photo
identification. Sen. John Wiles (R-Marietta) told Jacobs and
Campos, "This bill reassures the voting public the election
process is a fair and honest process."
The bill allows poor people to obtain a free
state photo ID. But opponents said there are only 50 places
in Georgia's 159 counties where such IDs could be obtained,
and it would be inconvenient or impossible for some people
to get them. Groups such as the AARP of Georgia,
the League of Women Voters of Georgia and
the American Civil Liberties Union of Geogia
opposed the measure. Meg Smothers, executive director of the
state League of Women Voters, said the restrictions would
hamper voter turnout, they write.
Federal drug official
tours Tennessee meth burn unit; children, families often victims
A top federal drug official yesterday toured
a regional burn center in Nashville where a third of the patients
were injured by fires and explosions in clandestine methamphetamine
labs.
Joseph Keefe, deputy director of the Office
on National Drug Control Policy, toured the burn
center, where seven of the 20 patients were admitted with
what law enforcement authorities believe were meth-related
burns, writes
Bill Poovey of The Associated Press. Doctors
say such cases are showing up every day and driving up the
medical costs for everyone. The costs of treating critically
injured burn victims typically exceed $10,000 a day, and most
meth patients don't have health insurance.
Dr. Jeff Guy, director of the Vanderbilt University
Medical Center regional burn center told AP, "As
bad as this may sound, as a burn doctor I almost wish another
drug, one less volatile that doesn't regularly explode during
the manufacturing process, would come down the pike to overtake
the popularity of meth." Guy told Keefe of one man who
has been in the burn unit about 30 days and his medical costs
to date total about $240,000. He said, "We are seeing
kids in meth labs." Keefe, who was in Nashville to attend
a state conference on meth, described what he saw in the burn
unit as "devastating," writes Poovey.
Between October 2003 and August 2004, the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration broke up about 1,200
clandestine meth labs in Tennessee, a nearly 400 percent increase
from 2000. And, the state removed an estimated 750 children
from the custody of meth abusers last year, up from 2003.
Even when labs don't explode, AP writes, the toxic vapors
contaminate property and can cause health problems. Keefe
commended Gov. Phil Bredesen and state lawmakers for approaching
the drug problem with tougher criminal laws, public education
and addiction treatment.
Iowa casinos, bankruptcies, more crime linked,
disputed study indicates
Preliminary findings of a study, that looks
into the impact of gambling on Iowans, indicate counties in
the state with casinos have more bankruptcies and higher crime
rates.
The University of Northern Iowa
study was commissioned by the state legislature last year
as lawmakers considered expanding the number of casinos, reports
The Associated Press. The report says there
are more bankruptcies in counties that have casinos than in
comparable counties that don't. The report also says the 10
counties that have gambling also have more crime, but the
report's authors said they weren't ready to say crime was
worse because of gambling. They said more study is needed.
Deepak Chhabra, an assistant professor at UNI
, said, "We don't know what the reason is." The
study found that gambling generated $3.5 billion and created
35,000 jobs in Iowa last year. It was unclear whether the
study would sway state leaders. Senate Republican President
Jeff Lamberti of Ankeny told reporters, "Based on what
I'm seeing, it's about what we expected. So I don't think
it will have a huge impact."
Senate Democratic President Jack Kibbie said
some rural counties already are losing jobs and population,
and he doesn't see any greater risk of bankruptcies because
of gambling. Bob Miller, president of the anti-gambling group
Truth About Gambling Foundation, said the
study was inadequate. Wes Ehrecke, president of the Iowa
Gaming Association, said the study shows gambling
is good for the state's economy. Ehrecke told reporters, "It
is adding to Iowa's entertainment and tourism industry."
A final version of the report is due by July 1, AP writes.
States, Native American
tribes put gaming on the table; say economic benefit to all
Representatives of 23 Native American tribes
gathered in Denver yesterday for a summit with western state
governors to discuss Indian gaming and potential changes to
the federal law that oversees the industry.
With Congress pondering increased oversight,
tribal leaders were eager to point out the benefits of gambling
— not just to their own people, but also to surrounding
communities, writes
David Kelly of the Los Angles Times. (Site
requires free registration.) Keller George, president
of the United Southern and Eastern Tribes
told reporters, "In New York, we have created 5,000 jobs
for Indians and non-Indians. In Florida, they have created
15,000 jobs in and around Miami. Indian gaming has helped
everybody."
The summit, sponsored by the Western
Governors Association., was designed to look at the
1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, which allowed tribes to
open casinos. Republican Govs. Bill Owens of Colorado and
Michael Rounds of South Dakota expressed concerns about casino
expansion, decrying the practice of tribes putting land in
trust so they could use it for off-reservation gambling. Owens
is battling the Cheyenne-Arapahoe tribe of Oklahoma, which
has laid claim to nearly 30 million acres of Colorado. The
tribe has said it will relinquish the land for the right to
build a casino east of Denver.
Ownes told reporters, "While the growth
of Indian gaming clearly has benefits for the tribes, it also
raises questions for states," Owens warned against back-door
attempts by Congress to attach riders to bills that gave tribes
permission for gaming without state consent. "No one
wants to see the federal government locate casinos on our
land without the approval of the citizens." Congress
recently has taken up the issue of Indian gambling, Kelly
writes.
Ohio tax on beer, tobacco
may rise; prompted in part by Kentucky cig tax hike
Ohio state legislators are set to approve a
proposed $51.3 billion, two-year budget plan, that includes
tax increases on beer and tobacco products, prompted in part
by neighboring Kentucky's increase it its cigarette tax.
Just who will benefit from the upcoming budget
that begins July 1 isn’t certain, but as it stands,
Ohio manufacturers like the proposal while Ohio retailers
don’t, writes
David E. Malloy of The Herald-Dispatch.
Tim Gearhart, owner of Tim’s News
and Novelties in Ironton, expects to see a drop in
sales if the Legislature approves sin taxes on tobacco and
alcohol, writes Malloy for the Huntington, W.Va. newspaper.
Gearhart told him, "We’re already at a tremendous
disadvantage with Kentucky. If the tax on a pack of cigarettes
increases by another 75 cents as is proposed, "it could
put somebody like me out of the cigarette business."
"I heard the tax on beer could double,"
Gearhart continued. "If this happens, it will be doom
on cigarette dealers in border areas. It just makes it impossible
for small businesses to compete." Gearhart said About
25 percent of his sales, comes from tobacco and beer. He told
Mallory he had a glimmer of hope when Kentucky raised its
cigarette tax from 3 to 30 cents, but any benefit, he says,
will be lost if Ohio raises its tax to $1.30 per pack.
Japan plans to ease mad-cow
tests; move could let U.S. beef back in lucrative market
Japan's food safety panel has recommended the
government stop testing cattle younger than 21 months for
mad-cow disease, a step toward making U.S. beef eligible for
import after a 15-month ban, reports
the Chicago Tribune.
Tokyo, seeking to soothe worries about a domestic
mad-cow outbreak, has refused to reopen its market to U.S.
beef until Washington adopts blanket testing for the disease,
the Tribune writes. However, the Food Safety Commission's
scientific experts said research has shown rogue proteins
linked to the disease don't show up in tests on cattle younger
than 21 months, and easing the testing standards would not
put consumers at risk. (Site requires free registration.)
Contract growers hoping
chicken offers steady nest egg may be trapped by debt
In 1999, former high school physics teacher
Susan Martin became one of the country's 30,000 contract growers
responsible for much of the chicken Americans eat. She had
dreams of succeeding in agribusiness working with Sanderson
Farms, a large Mississippi poultry processor with
more than $1 billion in annual sales, dreams that became a
nightmare.
Two years after starting, writes
Barry Shlachter of the Star-Telegram, Martin
was losing money and carrying $460,000 in farm debt. She discovered
under the terms of her contract, she couldn't sue Sanderson,
which she accused of misleading her. And, she could not afford
the $23,000 cost of binding arbitration. The American
Arbitration Association's Dallas office rejected
Martin's request to waive the fees, writes Shlachter for the
Fort Worth, Texas newspaper.
Sanderson's chief financial officer, Mike Cockrell,
denied the company has misled its contract growers in Texas.
But poultry companies like Sanderson, Tyson
and Pilgrim's Pride have increasingly come
under criticism for their half-century-old system of contract
growing, through which about 90 percent of U.S. chickens are
now produced, Shlachter writes. Under contract, the poultry
companies own the flocks and supply the feed. Growers, who
get a guaranteed price per pound, provide the labor, chicken
houses, water, electricity and gas. But many find themselves
deep in hock and unable to make a profit.
Wes Sims, president of the Waco-based Texas
Farmers Union, told Shlachter that predictions of
growers' earnings are overstated, that they risk being cut
off from fresh flocks for refusing costly upgrades demanded
by companies, and that their heavy farm debt ensures they
renew unfair contracts, creating a system akin to modern-day
serfdom. Poultry companies say contracts are a boon to farmers,
insulated from fluctuating market conditions by a set price.
Texas, unlike Iowa, Kansas, Illinois and Georgia,
has no specific law protecting contract farmers from unfair
practices by poultry integrators. And farmers like Martin
who have tried to organize growers' associations in Texas
say company pressure brought such efforts to an end after
one or two meetings, he writes.
Something's fishy in the water;
sea lice can be spread to wild fish, researchers say
There has always been disagreement among fishery
experts about the extent to which sea lice, a pest on fish
farms, can spread to wild fish.
But, Canadian researchers now say that fish
farms are “prodigious producers” of sea lice,
and juvenile fish can become infested, and in fact could become
a secondary source of infestation for wild fish, writes
Cornelia Dean of The New York Times, with
ominous consequences for consumer popular salmon.
The researches began their fieldwork in 2003
after trapping 5,500 juvenile salmon, all free of parasites
until nearing fish farms. Once they passed the fish farms
and headed to sea, the scientists concluded the salmon were
so infested that they spread the lice as they went, Dean writes.
Sea lice live in salt water, and young salmon
first encounter them when they swim down river toward the
sea. The lice feed on the fish’s blood and create open
lesions, disturbing the fish’s natural balance with
the water, writes Dean.
Several briefs on U.
S. Supreme Court’s docket involve First Amendment issues
The Supreme Court has had several cases on its
docket this year with First Amendment implications, at least
one related to the free press and two other cases affecting
free speech.
One case appealed a Pennsylvania Supreme Court
ruling which forced a newspaper to pay damages after it “reported
a city councilman called the mayor and council president ‘liars,’
‘queers,’ and ‘child molesters,’”
writes
the Chicago Tribune. (Site requires free
registration.) The Supreme Court refused to hear that
case.
Two other cases relate to file-sharing software
and regulating "monopolistic" Internet Service Providers,
writes the American Civil Liberties Union.
In the first case, the high court will decide whether makers
of peer-to-peer software can be held liable for any illegal
uses of the software, including the sharing of copyrighted
material. In the second case, FCC v. Brand X, the Court will
decide whether cable broadband Internet providers can be forced
to provide access to other ISPs. (To see the previous
blog item about Brand X, check the March archive.)
Barry Steinhardt, Director of the ACLU’s
Technology and Liberty Project, told reporters,
"This case is about free speech, because if the forums
where speech take place are not themselves free, and the Internet
may be the greatest forum of them all, then the First Amendment
becomes nothing more than a dry, meaningless abstraction."
No movement in Kentucky
lawsuit that sparked debate on overweight trucks
Lawyers have made no moves yet to restart a
lawsuit that sparked debate among Kentucky legislators about
whether truckers should be allowed to haul heavier loads of
sand, oil, gravel and other natural resources.
Pike County Circuit Judge Eddy Coleman left
the lawsuit in limbo more than four months ago to give the
state legislature time to deal with the issue. However, legislative
efforts stalled earlier this month, shortly before the General
Assembly adjourned for the year, writes
Roger Alford of The Associated Press.
Jon A. Woodall, a Lexington attorney representing
D.R.T. Trucking of Pikeville, told Alford
he plans to meet with his client next week to discuss what
action to take. The company claims in the lawsuit that Kentucky's
weight limits unconstitutionally favor coal haulers. Woodall
said, "I suspect when we sit down and talk about this
a decision will be made one way or the other. Frankly, my
gut feeling is we will go forward with it."
Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet
is a defendant in the case. Spokesman Chris Gilligan declined
comment. Bill Caylor, president of the Kentucky Coal
Association, told AP, the next step in the case is
up to the trucking company. He said. “ For the record,
I'd like to see the plaintiff not pursue this lawsuit."
States sue after EPA weakens Clean Air Act
for power plant mercury emissions
Nine states have filed suit against a new federal
rule, released by the Environmental Protection Agency
earlier this month, which loosens the Clean Air Act’s
strict controls on power plant's mercury emissions.
The suit was filed by New Jersey and California,
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico,
New York and Vermont, writes
Anthony DePalma of The New York Times. It
says the rule doesn’t do enough to control dangerous
mercury emissions, often found in fish. Mercury emissions
are considered a neurotoxin that can cause brain damage. “Instead
of having to apply cutting-edge technology to reduce mercury,
power plants will be given the option of using a system called
cap and trade,” DePalma writes. “Under that system,
operators can purchase pollution credits from other plants
that have managed to lower their mercury emissions.”
Power companies say once the system begins,
some operators will begin reducing mercury emissions almost
immediately, DePalma writes. Scott H. Segal, director of the
Electric Reliability Coordinating Council,
told DePalma,"Facilities that can make cost-effective
reductions early, so they can generate credits they can trade,
have a big incentive to do it quickly." The New
York Department of Health listed 51 water sources
last year where people were advised to limit their consumption
of fresh-caught fish, DePalma writes.
Mine worker drug tests
bring mixed results; accidents cut, hiring harder, say owners
Efforts to help combat accidents in coal mines
with more stringent drug testing have brought pluses and minus,
say industry officials.
Coal mine owner Greg Damron credits drug testing
at his Eastern Kentucky mines for reducing accidents nearly
by half over the past three years, to about 15 minor injury
incidents. But he said that pre-employment, random and post-accident
screenings at his Cheyenne Elkhorn Coal Co.
are also why he cannot hire enough people, writes
Alan Maimon of The Courier-Journal. Damron
told Maimon, "We could use 15 more miners, but we won't
get them because of our drug tests."
Industry, labor and government representatives
met in Hazard to discuss drug use in mines and whether the
state should legislate drug testing. Kentucky Environmental
and Public Protection Cabinet Secretary LaJuana Wilcher
created the task force to, "eliminate substance abuse
in Kentucky coal mines." Wilcher said the group would
try to compile data to quantify the extent of drug use in
mines. She said the state has had difficulty collecting reliable
statistics on accidents caused by drug use because state and
federal agencies lack the authority to test miners for drugs,
he writes.
Currently, coal companies voluntarily create
their own drug-testing policies. But not all do so. The meeting
came after the General Assembly adjourned without getting
to consider draft legislation that would have empowered the
state Department of Mine Safety and Licensing
to test miners after fatal or serious injury accidents. The
bill did not get a sponsor, writes Maimon.
Horse Cave pollution
costs Michigan company $325,000; Sierra Club applauds fine
A Michigan company that owns a manufacturing
plant in Horse Cave, Ky., will pay the state a $325,000 settlement,
65 times larger than one it previously agreed to for allegedly
dumping pollution in a sinkhole.
"In the waning weeks of Gov. Paul Patton's
administration, state environmental regulators had reached
a settlement with the Dart Container Corp.,
whose Kentucky plant makes foam and plastic cups and eating
utensils, to pay $5,000," writes
James Bruggers of The Courier-Journal.
The settlement was reached after inspectors
had discovered a pipe sending wastewater from a production
line to a sinkhole that flows into the Green River and Mammoth
Cave National Park. But after Kentucky Attorney General
Greg Stumbo's office reviewed the case, Stumbo obtained the
larger settlement. Dart denies any wrongdoing. Corporate counsel
Frank Liesman, told Bruggers, "To avoid any further cost,
and a lot of problems, we feel it was appropriate to put this
matter behind us." He said no one told the company the
discharge had resulted in environmental harm. Liesman acknowledged
discharge occurred but he believed water was being poured
into the sinkhole.
A Sierra Club activist was
pleased Stumbo found a way to increase the settlement, saying
the earlier penalty was likely too small to be felt by the
company. Aloma Dew, a Sierra Club representative, told Bruggers,
"Five thousand dollars is a pitiful amount of money if
there was pollution going into the water from an industrial
operation. It wouldn't make them think twice."
Rural dating services
match country folks seeking country mates, country loving
"Rural guy seeks country lady," appears
to be the mantra of dating services who are expanding their
services and marketing efforts, seeking to enhance romance
beyond city limits.
Match.com
now offers a specialty dating service for those whose
dating predilections mirror their love for all things country.
MyCountryMatch.com
specializes in matching up available singles who are “ready
to focus [their] efforts on someone with real country values—integrity,
honesty and family.”
According to promotional material on the site,
the premise behind MyCountryMatch.com starts “with the
fact that most of our members are drawn to today's country
music artists.” “Country music,” the Web
site claims, “speaks to your heart. You relate to the
lyrics, you appreciate the values, and the sexuality and romance
make your heart pound.”
MyCountryMatch.com offers a free registration
that allows users to navigate much of the site. Full privileges
start at $9.95. Of particular note, MyCountryMatch offers
RSS—Really
Simple Syndication—feeds for prospective singles
for each state. Men and women seeking members of either sex
can add the feed appropriate for their state and dating interests
to their news aggregator. Doing so brings a user a fresh batch
of ads posted by interested singles as soon as the ads are
updated.
The advantages of RSS extend beyond finding
oneself a Martina McBride-loving sweetie. RSS feeds, coupled
with freely available news aggregators like NewsGator
and Feed
Demon, allow users to receive a continuous news
feed on specific topics of their choice. Check out James Lewin’s
Introduction
to RSS News Feeds for an in-depth introduction
to the technology. (IRJCI Blog Research Assistant Josh
Tucker wrote this story.)
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Kansas research challenges
happy home on the range; rural but dense, less happy
The notion of easy-going small-town life, with
its picket fences and friendly neighbors, might only be true
in the movies.
That's according to interviews of Kansans conducted
in connection with a research project at the Kansas
University School of Medicine's Rural Primary Care Practice
and Research program, writes
Terry Rombeck of The Lawrence Journal-World. The
research showed that people living in sparsely populated rural
areas and densely populated urban areas tended to be happier
than those living in more densely populated rural areas.
Dr. Allen Greiner, who directs the program,
told Rombeck, "I think part of it has to do with changes
over time. What's happening in rural America is a consolidation
of the agriculture industry. It's tougher for businesses that
can stay afloat to be supported, and there's population shrinkage
in those middle-sized counties." The 4,600 interviews
were conducted in 2001 by the Kansas Department of
Health and Environment. The KU project was based
on the results of two questions, one asking how connected
a person felt to their community and the other asking how
they rated their communities as a place to live, Rombeck writes.
The study found people living in frontier and
rural areas were the most involved in their communities, while
those in the densely settled rural areas were the unhappiest.
Those in the densely settled rural areas also were more likely
to smoke and drink than their counterparts in other categories
of counties. Nineteen Kansas counties fall into the densely
settled rural population category.
Sex offenders and their
registries make news in Iowa, Georgia, Kentucky
Iowa authorities have virtually stopped distributing
fliers listing sex offenders' addresses, saying it's up to
the public to check the searchable Internet database for predators
in their neighborhoods, but a prominent Iowa legislator wants
to toughen the state's registry law.
Unless Iowans check www.iowasexoffenders
.com , which lists 6,400 names, they probably won't know.
Police officers aren't going to come knocking on their doors,
write
Jennifer Jacobs and Madelaine Jerousek, of The Des
Moines Register. Mark Klaas, who founded the
Klaas Kids Foundation in 1994, told Jacobs and Jerousek,
"That's the trend across the country. I've always been
in favor of a screwdriver sticking out of the forehead as
a way of handling this, but I don't think that's going to
go over well. The main source for accessing information about
sex offenders in America now is pretty much the Internet."
Iowa House Speaker Christopher Rants, a Republican,
has promised an amendment that would prevent a sex offender
from living within 1,000 feet of a child care center or school.
Iowa used to prevent sex offenders from living within 2,000
feet of such places, but that law was ruled unconstitutional.
Rants told the newspaper, "If we are going to have a
discussion about the registry, it's time we put that law back
on the books."
A nationwide survey last fall by Parents
for Megan's Law found that Florida and Maryland scored
best in notifying the public. Vermont and South Dakota were
lowest, and Iowa ranked in the middle. The survey found that
Iowa and 21 other states don't require active community notification
when offenders move into new neighborhoods, and that Iowa
and 26 other states don't offer phone numbers to access registries.
Unlike Iowa, 15 states don't require juvenile sex offenders
to register.
For a story in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
headlined Public Rushes Sex-Offender Site, click
here.
Georgia's online sex-offender registry has drawn a record
number of visitors this month — probably because the
recent kidnapping and murder of a 9-year-old Florida girl
has jarred people into wondering just who's living near them,
a Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman
told AJC writer Jill Young. For Georgia registry go to www.ganet.org/gbi.
and click on sex offender.
For a story on three sex-offenders who've slipped
out of Floyd County, Kentucky, click here
for a story from The Floyd County Times.
For the national sex offender registry clearinghouse, listing
all states' registries, click
here.
Georgia bill shields info on elected officials;
'lockdown' blocks union, public access
A broad new exception to Georgia's public records
law could make it nearly impossible for citizens to learn
where elected officials live or how to reach them by telephone.
The House bill would block disclosure of personal
information about elected officials and employees of every
state and local government agency in Georgia. Home addresses,
telephone numbers and Social Security numbers would be among
the protected data, writes
Alan Judd of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Though the bill does not specify which documents
would be shielded from the public, it could allow officials
to keep their addresses secret even on their annual financial
disclosure statements. Those filings, which can reveal conflicts
between an official's public actions and private holdings,
require hundreds of the state's top elected and appointed
officials to list the real estate and businesses they own,
Judd writes. Hollie Manheimer, executive director of the Georgia
First Amendment Foundation, an open government advocacy
group, told Judd, "It essentially is a lockdown. And
it doesn't seem ...necessary in all, if any, cases. The broadness
is the thing to fear. It can be manipulated to hide whatever
the public employer wants to."
The bill, which is ready for Gov. Sonny Perdue
to sign into law, is one of numerous secrecy measures introduced
during this year's legislative session, including a measure
which would allow government agencies to negotiate private
development deals in secret and another which would allow
state university foundations to withhold donors' names from
the public.The public records exception bill, sponsored by
Rep. Austin Scott (R-Tifton), could cloud the transparency
afforded by numerous government documents filed by elected
and appointed officials, he writes.
Minnesota newspaper appeals
case; open meeting law, confidentiality request at issue
The Minnesota Supreme Court
will again be asked to determine the power of local officials
to close public hearings under an exception to the state's
Open Meeting law.
A Court of Appeals panel ruled against the Brainerd
Dispatch last week in a case that challenged
the Brainerd City Council's use of the attorney-client privilege
to discuss a threatened lawsuit, reports
The Associated Press.
The Dispatch publisher, Terry McCollough, told
the newspaper's reporters he will appeal the case to the state's
highest court. The Supreme Court isn't required to review
the appellate court's decision. That ruling upheld a district
court's dismissal of the lawsuit against the City Council.
The council met in closed session in July 2003 about a possible
lawsuit from a peace group that had been denied permission
to march in the local Fourth of July parade, writes AP
Judge Natalie Hudson wrote for the Court
of Appeals, "The need to have confidential discussion
with specifically appointed counsel and to discuss strategies
to defend against potential claims and avoid financial damages
outweighs the purposes of the Minnesota Open Meeting Law in
this case."
Mark Anfinson, the paper's attorney, said the
ruling could allow public bodies to go into private session
more frequently when controversial issues arise and prompt
threatened lawsuits. "It knocks a significant tooth out
of the smile of the Open Meeting law." In 2002, the Supreme
Court narrowed the ability of government bodies to close public
meetings, ruling that the Prior Lake City Council broke the
law when it met privately to discuss a legal threat on a pending
matter. An attorney for the city said last week that the latest
ruling was consistent with the Prior Lake case.
Tennessee House approves meth-free measure;
similar to effective Oklahoma law
The Tennessee House has joined the Senate in
unanimously approving the "Meth-Free Tennessee Act of
2005," aimed at ending the state's status as leader in
the Southeast in illegal methamphetamine manufacturing.
The Senate concurred in a minor House amendment
later in the evening, clearing the bill for a ceremonial signing
tomorrow by Gov. Phil Bredesen. The bill was drafted by a
task force the governor appointed last year, writes
Tom Humphrey of The Knoxville News Sentinel.
The bill is similar to a law in Oklahoma credited with reducing
that state's illegal meth labs by 82 percent within a year.
House sponsor Rep. Charles Curtiss, D-Sparta, said 1,594 meth
labs were found in Tennessee last year, 75 percent of all
those discovered in the southeastern United States.
The bill would move certain cold medicines behind
pharmacy counters. The pharmaceuticals are a key ingredient
in meth. It also would limit the amount of pseudoephedrine-based
medicine that people can buy and requires identification to
get it. The state Pharmacy Board will decide which cold medicines
need to be restricted, Humphrey writes.
Curtiss told reporters if the 82 percent reduction
in Oklahoma happens in Tennessee,"That means we'll be
down to 319, and we'll have effectively cleaned up 1,200 meth
labs without spending a dime.It's going to curb the clandestine
labs in our state. It's not going to stop meth abuse. Meth
is now coming out of Mexico into our country just like cocaine."
For The Associated Press version of this
story, click here.
For a story on South Carolina's efforts to deal with a growing
meth problem written by Brock Vergakus of The (Myrtle
Beach) Sun, click here.
W. Va. Senate approves
casino gambling; sponsor predicts 'excellent' chance of passage
Legislation to legalize casino-style table gambling
at West Virginia’s four racetracks remained on a hot
streak yesterday, winning passage in the state Senate.
The bill goes to the House of Delegates, where
lead sponsor Sen. Andy McKenzie, R-Ohio, said of its chances
for passage, “I think they’re excellent.”
Senators rejected several Republican amendments, including
one by Sen. Steve Harrison, R-Kanawha, to require a statewide
referendum on whether to allow the four host counties to vote
to authorize table games at their local tracks, writes
Phil Kabler of The Charleston Gazette.
Harrison told reporters just before his amendment
was defeated, “I don’t think anyone can credibly
argue that casino gambling won’t have a statewide impact.”
Also rejected were amendments to put the state’s share
of table gambling profits into special revenue accounts, first
to offset the sales tax on food, and second, to offset state
gasoline excise taxes. The Senate adopted an amendment by
Sen. Don Caruth, R-Mercer, to set aside a portion of the state’s
profits to offset counties’ regional jail expenses.
Senators also approved an amendment to raise the annual table
game license fee for each track from $25,000 to $150,000.
The additional $125,000 per track would be divided among the
state’s Regional Economic Development Authorities.
For The Associated Press version, click here.
N.C. tobacco farmers
plot new course; some see same level but fewer producers
With the end of price supports and restrictions
on how much they can grow that came with last year’s
tobacco buyout legislation, Western North Carolina’s
nearly 4,000 growers will have to decide what they’ll
do.
Eddie Shelton, a Madison county farmer who usually
grows about 50 acres of tobacco but is cutting back to 40
this year, told
John Boyle of the Asheville Citizen-Times,
“I’m just like everybody else — I’m
really concerned about making a living the next 10 years.
You’re afraid to spend any money on anything to be able
to farm any better because you just don’t know what’s
going to happen.” Shelton says he’s selling close
to the same number of tobacco seedlings this year as in past
years, an indication that growers will stay in the business.
But he expects burley production to be more concentrated among
fewer producers.
Shelton welcomes the end of having to lease
land and pay quota holders for their pounds — usually
30 cents to 35 cents a pound. But production costs such as
labor and fertilizer likely will not decrease, and the tobacco
he grows will be totally dependent on the free market. Shelton
told Boyle, “The only thing that really worries me,
with the support price being gone, you’re really not
sure you’re going to be able to sell the tobacco you
grow. They may not take it all.”
Madison County had about 900 farmers who grew
tobacco last year, a number likely to dwindle considerably,
according to Charles Zink, county executive director for the
Farm Service Agency, a division of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture that has administered the
tobacco program for decades. Zink told the newspaper, “The
older ones are pretty much getting out. There’s others
saying if there’s a market closer, they’ll stay
in it.”
Aaron Martin, district director for the Farm
Service Agency western region of 11 mountain counties, which
includes about 3,500 tobacco growers, says it is the end of
an era. Martin told boyle, “You’ll see the numbers
shrink greatly. There will be far fewer growers, and the ones
that do grow will grow a lot more acres. So tobacco production
will be concentrated more in the Asheville, Buncombe, Madison
areas. A lot of the older growers, the money they get, that’ll
end (their growing careers).”
Judge fines British American
Tobacco quarter-mill for 'egregious lack of candor'
A federal judge has fined a British tobacco
company $250,000 for an "egregious lack of candor"
in violating an earlier order in the Justice Department's
lawsuit against the cigarette industry.
The fine, imposed by the judge, Gladys Kessler
of the U.S.
District Court, grows out of the efforts of the
company, British American
Tobacco, to keep a potentially damaging memorandum
out of the racketeering trial of cigarette manufacturers,
reports
The Associated Press.
Judge Kessler said the company acknowledged
last month that it had falsely claimed that an executive was
able to answer questions from government lawyers about parts
of the memorandum that had been publicly revealed. The judge
had earlier ordered the company to make available an executive
who could talk about the memorandum.
Justice Department lawyers have been seeking
the 1990 memorandum for two years, believing it could strengthen
their argument that tobacco companies committed fraud by lying
about the dangers of smoking and hiding that information from
the public. The memorandum by a London lawyer, Andrew Foyle,
advises an Australian subsidiary of the company on whether
it should keep or destroy internal paperwork in light of increasing
litigation.
Six institutions receive
grants to digitize historical twentieth-century newspapers
Six institutions will receive a combined $1.9
million in grants, announced
the National Endowment for the Humanities
and the Library of Congress, as part of the
National Digital Newspapers Program, an effort
to develop a free, Internet database of U.S. newspapers now
in public domain.
"Newspapers are among the most important
historical documents we have as Americans. They tell us who
we were, who we are, and where we're going," said NEH
Chairman Bruce Cole.
The institutions include: the University
of California, the University of Florida
Libraries, the University of Kentucky Research
Foundation, the New York Public Library, the University
of Utah, and the Library of Virginia. The institutions
will each digitize 100,000 or more pages of the most historically
significant newspapers from 1900-1910 in their respective
states, writes the NEH. Once finished, the papers will be
available through the Library of Congress’ website.
“It will be available to the American public for free,
forever,” said Cole.
The six awards were made as part of the We the
People initiative, announced by President Bush in 2002. The
initiative recognizes any project that seeks to advance understanding
of American culture and history. The Digital Newspaper Program
is an outgrowth of the U.S. Newspaper Program,
an effort by individual states to microfilm local newspapers,
which will soon be completed.
Wyoming's budget surplus
tops states; energy-dependent states lag behind
Record budget surpluses in Wyoming have prompted
an unprecedented spending spree by lawmakers the past two
sessions.
Spurred by a huge windfall from mineral taxes,
especially on natural gas, lawmakers boosted state spending
on government operations from $1.6 billion to $2.5 billion
in two years, an eye-popping 56 percent jump, writes
Robert W. Flack of The Associated Press.
Wyoming is among a handful of states that are
outperforming the rest of the nation, said Arturo Perez, fiscal
analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The others include Alaska, Montana, South Dakota, West Virginia,
Delaware and Florida.
Perez told Flack, "States that are heavily
dependent on energy, more so than other states, have gotten
by to a much better degree, and the energy prices being the
primary reason for that. But on a percentage basis, no other
state came close to matching Wyoming's surplus this past year."
Just six years ago, Wyoming faced a $127 million deficit budget.
State officials were quick to point out that a significant
amount of the extra money also was socked away in savings,
allocated toward replacing dilapidated schools and public
buildings and shared with income-strapped cities and towns
for street, water and sewer repairs.
Humane Society asks Louisiana Supreme Court
to uphold parish’s cockfighting ban
The Humane Society of the United States
has filed a brief with the Louisiana Supreme Court, asking
the court to uphold a Caddo Parish ordinance that bans cockfighting.
Louisiana is one of two states in the union where cockfighting
is not banned, but the Parish has banned it since 1987. Local
promoters and operators of cockfighting pins are challenging
the ordinance, saying local authorities can’t prohibit
animal fights, writes
the Humane Society.
"The plaintiffs are attempting to strip
local authorities of their home rule authority, and to pave
the way for the reintroduction of cockfighting in all of the
Louisiana communities that have specifically outlawed this
abhorrent practice," said Jonathan R. Lovvorn, vice president
of animal protection litigation for the Humane Society.
“Cockfighting is an arranged fighting
match between two specially bred roosters often enhanced with
steroids and other drugs who maim each other until one is
declared the winner,” says the Humane Society. “The
birds are often fitted with specially designed knives that
are attached to their talons. Roosters—winners or losers—often
die as a result of their injuries from the fight.”
Va. gov. goes 'to Big-eared
bat' to add flying rodent to 'state animals' ranks
Virginia, nicknamed the "mother of presidents,"
soon may be the father of bats.
Gov. Mark R. Warner made it official yesterday
when he signed into law the bill making the Virginia big-eared
bat the official bat of the commonwealth, writes
Michael Hardy of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
In a statement accompanying his signing, the Democrat offered
some doggerel to explain his decision. "We have a state
dog and a fish and a bird. And of the fossil I'm sure you
have heard. So why not a bat? What's wrong with that? The
state beverage is no more absurd."
The endangered cave-dweller from Southwest Virginia
won the votes of state lawmakers last winter when they added
the critter to the state's pantheon of official flora and
fauna, writes Hardy. There are about 1,500 to 2,200 big-eared
bats in Virginia. The brown, fuzzy big-eared bat - smaller
than a sparrow - also takes flight in the mountains of West
Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina. The legislation becomes
law on July 1, making Virginia only the second state designating
an official bat. Texas also has an official one: the Mexican
free-tailed bat, he writes.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Environmental activists plan summer protests
against mountaintop-removal mining
Environmental activists from around the country
are being urged to descend on Central Appalachia this summer
for a series of protests against mountaintop-removal coal
mining.
Called “Mountain Justice Summer,”
the four-month campaign is modeled after protests more than
a decade ago against logging old-growth forests in Northern
California, writes
Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette.
The event is being sponsored and promoted by a Tennessee-based
affiliate of the controversial group EarthFirst.On
Thursday, Coal River Mountain Watch, based
in Whitesville, W.Va., is hosting a kickoff rally. Group officials
told Ward none of West Virginia’s major environmental
organizations has signed on as a sponsor of Mountain Justice
Summer, but they support the campaign's goal of stopping large-scale
strip mining.
Judy Bonds of Coal River Mountain Watch, which
supports the project’s goals but is not a sponsor, told
Ward, “It is more a campaign than it is a coalition
of groups.” J. John Johnson, a Knoxville, Tenn. resident
and volunteer with EarthFirst, agreed: “Mountain Justice
Summer is more of an amorphous movement than a tight organization.”
Organizers are asking for volunteers to protest
mining operations. A notice on their Web site says, “We
see our call to action as an emergency plea, in desperate
circumstances — to ratchet up the resistance to the
atrocity of mountain range removal before it’s too late.
Mountain range removal is the ultimate theft of a people’s
heritage, the destruction of entire watersheds and the annihilation
of one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. And,
the perpetrators are turning it into the biological equivalent
of a parking lot.”
To view Mining Central Appalachia's mountains:
Writers lament it, some residents praise it, an item
in the March 25 Rural Blog on a Harper's
article about the mining practice, written by University
of Kentucky English professor Erik Reese click here.
Reese was interviewed today on XM Satellite Radio
by Bob Edwards. To listen, sign up for a free trial on the
XM Web site, www.xmradio.com.
Mountain tourism on the
map: National Geographic charts Appalachia’s best attractions
The Appalachian Regional Commission
has helped states throughout the mountainous region build
roads and other infrastructure, and provide high-speed Internet
access. Now the agency is turning its attention to another
economic development tool -- tourism.
As reported earlier by several local and regional
newspapers, ARC paid the National Geographic Society
to develop a "geo-tourism" map promoting a mix of
more than 350 attractions reflecting the diversity of the
13-state region. Pam Ramsey of The Associated Press
writes
that the attractions range from the mainstream to the obscure,
from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown,
N.Y., to what's billed as the oldest continuous flea market,
in Ripley, Miss.
Also featured, writes Ramsey, are Civil War
sites, museums, parks, hiking trails, festivals, historic
districts, spas and resorts, celebrity birthplaces, prehistoric
Indian mounds and notable farms. The ARC said in a recent
news release, "This map delivers a taste of Appalachia's
distinctive culture and heritage to a wide audience, exposing
this 'undiscovered national treasure' to many first-time visitors."
Anne Pope, ARC co-chairwoman, told the AP the
goal is to spur economic growth by drawing tourist dollars
to Appalachia. The region covers all of West Virginia and
parts of Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi,
New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Tennessee and Virginia. In a 2003 report, the ARC said tourism's
overall economic impact on Appalachia was $29.1 billion and
the industry employed a total of 601,431 workers. The map
was also the subject of Louisville Courier-Journal
columnist Byron Crawford's Sunday column.
Denied state funding,
Kentucky agency folds; aim was to brings jobs to the mountains
The East Kentucky Corp., created
by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1990, is closing its doors
after being shut out of the new state budget.
The purpose of the now defunct agency was to
bring jobs to the mountains. But, executive director Tom Jones
said in a news release, "We are out of money to continue
operations. We have not received state funding for almost
two years and did not receive funding in the recently enacted
state budget." The agency will close on Thursday, writes
the Lexington Herald-Leader.
East Kentucky Corp. was a mix of public money
with private donations from several large companies that had
made fortunes from Eastern Kentucky's natural resources. After
a slow start, the agency recently boasted of recruiting 27
new companies with 4,130 jobs to 20 counties in the region.
It also raised more than $1 million in private funds for small-business
loans, writes the Herald-Leader.
EKC had mostly relied on state funds for its
annual $500,000 budget. In 2003, however, the state Senate
eliminated funding for EKC, which was saved from folding last
year by donations from some member counties. Gov. Ernie Fletcher
had renewed $480,000 in funding in his initial proposed budget
this year, but the funds were not included in the final version.
EKC board chairman Lewis Warrix expressed gratitude to counties,
cities, private individuals and corporations who supported
the agency, the Herald-Leader reports.
Meth-lab aftermath; 30
percent of meth-lab busts involve rural children, mothers
The spreading and profoundly destructive nature
of methamphetamine is becoming more evident as social service
agencies deal with jittery babies, mistreated toddlers and
strung-out mothers in the aftermath of law enforcement crackdowns
on the insidious substance.
"The meth epidemic took root on the West
Coast and is worsening in many big cities nationwide. But
its heartbreaking toll is evident in the towns and small cities
of America's heartland -- Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee,
Arkansas, Oklahoma and Indiana," writes
David Cary of The Associated Press.
Nationally, authorities have dismantled more
than 50,000 clandestine meth labs since 2001, writes Cary,
including some 4,000 in Iowa. Roughly 30 percent were "mom
and pop" labs in homes where children live. According
to Holly Hopper, chairwoman of the Kentucky Alliance
of Drug Endangered Children, Kentucky law enforcement
officials found 110 children in 2003 in the same locations
as meth labs. Seizures of meth labs soared from 66 in 1999
to more than 500 in 2004, according to Kentucky State
Police statistics.
Thousands of children, nationwide, have been
taken away from their meth-abusing parents, placed with relatives
or shifted into already overloaded foster care systems, Cary
writes. Scores have been injured, a dozen or more killed;
thousands have been born with traces of meth in their bodies.
Dr. Rizwan Shah, a pediatrician at Blank Children's
Hospital in Des Moines, saw her first meth-exposed
child in 1993 and has studied more than 500 of them since,
becoming a respected expert on the phenomenon. Some of these
children, she said, suffer serious brain damage .Others experience
long-lasting development problems, while many will grow into
adults without serious health consequences.
Texas official admits
missteps that helped railroads in unsafe crossings lawsuits
The Texas official overseeing rail crossings
has made comments in court proceedings that many in the rail
industry "would consider me their friend." That
may not be surprising given what the official, Darin Kosmak,
has done to help railroads fight lawsuits brought by accident
victims, reports The New York Times.
"At the behest of the rail industry, Kosmak
on about 100 occasions over the last 11 years signed sworn
statements about warning signs at railroad crossings, according
to court testimony. The affidavits were mostly drafted by
the rail industry, which then used them in case after case
as a critical defense against claims that unsafe crossings
had caused deaths and serious injury, court records show,"
writes
Walt Bogdanich. According to his testimony, Kosmak recently
admitted that his sworn statements misrepresented -- unintentionally,
he says -- what he knew about those crossings.
The Texas case comes amid criticism of how the
government oversees rail safety, as well as an increase in
the number of deaths at grade crossings last year. An inspector
general's report, made public last month, cited substantial
safety problems at the nation's big railroads and raised questions
about federal regulation of the industry, Bogdanich writes.
Carl V. Crow, a lawyer in Houston, told Bogdanich,
Kosmak's admission could have repercussions for similar lawsuits
in Texas, where more than 5,000 people have been killed or
injured at grade crossings in the last 20 years. Kosmak acknowledged
problems with the affidavits in several legal proceedings.
Crow told him the affidavits, were "devastating"
to accident victims. He said, "People get killed at their
crossings, and they had this guy for 11 years who looked like
a guy wearing a white hat out of Austin, just doing his civic
duty."
North Carolina farmers get the goat: Leaner
meat, better pasture management
Several farmers in Hendersonville, N.C., have
started raising a type of livestock whose meat is considered
to be the most popular meat in the world: goats.
Hendersonville farmers have started raising
Boer goats after a rise in the immigrant population, reports
Jennie Jones Giles of the Times-News. The
latino and Muslim populations have both increased, and along
with them the demand for goat meat, especially around religious
holidays, said a retired high school agriculture teacher,
Carroll Parker.
The meat is much healthier than beef because
it’s leaner and has less cholesterol, Parker said. To
better manager their pastures, farmers can place goats and
cattle together and the goats will eat weeds and plants that
the cows will not. Dairy goats can also be used for pasture
management, but they require much more work than meat goats,
he said. One difficulty in successful goat raising is fencing,
Parker explained, especially if you raise cattle and goats
together. "The fences have to be strong enough to keep
the goats in and the predators out," Parker said.
According to the University of Kentucky's
Department of Agriculture,
Kentucky has also increased goat production and is ranked
fifth in the nation. For The Associated Press
version of the story, click here.
Earth to gas tank: Kentucky
farmers filling up on soybean-produced biodiesel
Diesel fuel made with soybeans produced at a
Union County farm is being pumped at a Paducah service station,
the first site in Western Kentucky to offer the alternative
fuel to retail customers.
Soybean Board spokeswoman Jamie
Morgan said biodiesel has been sold in only six or seven other
places in Kentucky, reports
The Associated Press, including stations
in Lexington and Northern Kentucky. Proponents say biodiesel
costs about three to five cents more per gallon, but burns
cleaner and improves engine lubrication.
Andy Sprague, a farmer in Sturgis, opened a
small bio-diesel plant in January. Sprague each day produces
about 2,500 gallons of B2, a blend of two percent biodiesel-fuel,
AP reports. He sells the fuel to Mid West Terminal
in Paducah, but before last week it had gone solely to farmers
and select customers. Now the fuel is available at the Kentucky
Tobacco Outlet, which recently starting pumping bio-diesel.
The station's owner, Bob Hill, told reporters the fuel can
be used in any diesel engine. The Mid West Terminal, Hill
said, "wanted somebody to take the initiative to start
retailing it. I said I'd be willing to do it because it's
something that will help the farmers and the environment."
National Park Service
fills holes, prepares abandoned rail line in Tennessee for
trail
At what point is a mud hole more than a mud
hole? The answer, writes
Morgan Simmons of the Knoxville News-Sentinel,
can be found along the abandoned Oneida & Western Railroad
bed in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation
Area, where pools of ink-black water collect after
every rain like medieval moats.
This winter the National Park Service filled
in the worst of these wet areas with $14,000 worth of gravel.
In all, 13 mud holes were eliminated on almost five miles
of the O&W between Zenith and the O&W bridge. At 100
feet long, 30 feet wide and three feet deep, the biggest of
these resembled catfish ponds. At times, the nine-person crew
had to wear waders, writes Simmons.
The O&W receives more use, and more varieties
of use, than any other trail in the Big South Fork. In addition,
it passes through one of the most historically rich river
gorges in the park. The O&W stretches 15 miles through
the southern end of the park, and being an old railbed, has
a virtually flat grade. Horseback riders use it as part of
the Cumberland Valley Loop, and the trail is popular among
mountain bikers, hikers and all-terrain vehicle users, he
writes.
Wally Linder, head of trail maintenance for
the Big South Fork, told Simmons the compacted dirt and poor
drainage of the sunken railroad bed helped to create the monster
mud holes. "You can see where some of the holes were
so deep, the horses have worn new trail to get around them,"
Linder said. "Putting this gravel down is one of the
best things we've done for the park." The O&W runs
parallel to North White Oak Creek, a major tributary of the
Big South Fork of the Cumberland River. In addition to beaver
and various game fish, North White Oak Creek also is home
to a federally endangered mussel species known as the Cumberland
Elktoe. Park biologist Steve Bakaletz said re-surfacing the
O&W will significantly reduce the amount of sediment that
washes into the stream.
Bakaletz told Simmons, "The mud holes were
an environmental problem. The work here will help water quality
and make the trail more accessible to nonmotorized use."
Under the Big South Fork's new general management plan, motorized
vehicle use on the O&W would continue from the east as
far as the O&W bridge. West of the bridge the trail only
would be open to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders,
he writes.
Plan
to wipe out exotic deer sparks debate; officials say endangering
native species
Rare species of deer called fallow and axis
deer, introduced for hunting six decades ago, are popular
with tourists eager to see wildlife at Point Reyes
(California) National Seashore. But park rangers
see them as an invasive species threatening native deer and
elk, devouring excessive amounts of vegetation, hurting agriculture
and possibly spreading disease, writes
Terence Chea of The Associated Press.
Now Point Reyes officials want to eliminate
more than 1,000 nonnative deer, using shotguns and contraception,
from the 71,000-acre national park about 40 miles north of
San Francisco, writes Chea. Park Superintendent Don Neubacher
told him, "We think the timing is pretty critical to
control the population and keep them from spreading widely
throughout the state of California." The park's draft
plan calls for eradicating the two exotic species by 2020.
After the 60-day public comment period ends on April 8, the
park is expected to issue a final plan late this year or early
next year, and start eliminating the deer in 2006.
But, the idea of killing these deer has prompted
intense debate among wildlife biologists, conservationists,
dairy ranchers and animal activists, Chea writes. Park scientists
and some environmentalists say the invaders must be eliminated
to protect the native ecosystem. Gordon Bennett, chairman
of the Sierra Club's Marin County group,
told him, "Protecting native species and biological diversity
should be the park's prime priority. These exotic species
are basically agents of genocide. They displace and occupy
the habitat of native species."
But many nearby residents and animal rights
advocates argue that the animals shouldn't be killed just
because they aren't natives. Elliot Katz, president of In
Defense of Animals, based in Marin County, told Chea,
"I think it is being both cruel and insensitive to say
just because they're not native we should kill them."
Dozens of residents voiced their opposition to shooting the
deer at a recent meeting at Point Reyes. Ilka Hartmann, who
lives in the northern California coastal community of Bolinas,
told officials, "I don't agree with killing the deer
at all. I think it should not be an option. These are beautiful,
majestic animals that were brought here against their will
to be hunted."
Survey says many smokers still confused, uninformed
about dangers of the habit
A recent study from Rutgers University
and the National Cancer Institute has found
that many smokers don’t understand the risks of developing
cancer from smoking, says the American Cancer Society's
web
site.
The study, published in Tobacco Control,
surveyed over 6,000 people, including 1,245 current smokers.
About 21 percent of smokers thought their risk of developing
lung cancer was a little higher than a nonsmoker, 23 percent
thought it was twice as high, and 23 percent thought it was
10 times higher or more. In reality, a smoker’s risk
of developing lung cancer is 10-20 times higher than a nonsmoker,
depending on how many cigarettes the smoker uses and how long
he or she has smoked. Around 36 percent of smokers thought
that developing lung cancer depends on genes more than any
other factors, but ACS statistics say tobacco smoking is directly
responsible for over 87 percent of lung cancer cases.
Lead study author Neil Weinstein, PhD, wasn’t
surprised. "It's a continuing challenge, not only in
smoking but in all sorts of health behaviors, to help people
realize the size of the risk, not just that there is a risk,"
said Weinstein, a professor in the Human Ecology department
at Rutgers and an associate member of the Arizona
Cancer Center.
The study shows that despite many public campaigns,
people are still confused about the dangers of smoking. "One
big issue is that even if we can get people to acknowledge
that smoking is not healthy, we can't assume that smokers
agree that it's unhealthy for them," Weinstein said.
"They find various reasons for thinking that the way
they smoke and the kind of cigarettes they smoke and all kinds
of other pseudo-factors mean that it's not as bad as for other
smokers."
Minnesota ranks No. 1 in high-school diplomas,
among top 10 in college graduates
The U.S. Census Bureau will
announce today that Minnesota -- rural, isolated and cold
-- is the No. 1 state in share of residents with high-school
diplomas, and has moved into the top 10 in percentage of adults
with college degrees.
Minnesota demographer Tom Gillaspy told
David Peterson of the Minneapolis Star Tribune
the precise rankings are less important than the evidence
that a "cold state at the end of the road" is still
managing to attract the bright young minds that are key to
a region's future prosperity. Other Midwest states know that's
nothing to take for granted. Michigan has struggled, for instance,
and so has Iowa, which drew nationwide headlines this winter
for a proposal that would have offered young people tax incentives
to live there.
The new data from the Census Bureau are based
on an agency survey and aren't quite as rock-solid as the
census itself, which takes place every 10 years, writes Peterson.
There are larger margins for error, enough that Gillaspy doesn't
put too much stock in a state's precise ranking. The results
have less to do with the quality of any state's schools, he
said, than migration patterns and a state's racial and ethnic
mix.
Gillaspsy told the newspaper, "One reason
we look as good as we do is that we're not very diverse."
Nationally, the recent wave of Latin immigrants flooding Sun
Belt states has been far less educated than native-born Americans.
As for the state's apparent success in raising its collective
education level so far this decade, Gillaspy told Peterson,
"If we've seen big increases, it's wonderful news. I
don't want to say I'm skeptical, but this is a small sample,
and I'd want more data to reach a firm conclusion."
Progress and Freedom Foundation urges high
court to support broadband competition
The Supreme Court will begin oral arguments
this Tuesday on the regulation of broadband networks, which
could help overturn a circuit court decision that rejected
efforts to promote broadband competition.
The Progress & Freedom Foundation’s
senior fellow, Kyle Dixon, writes
that he hopes the court will overturn the decision in Brand
X v. FCC and encourage businesses to invest in broadband
networks: "Consumers benefit most when companies battle
to build them the most sophisticated networks possible, not
when regulators let companies free-ride on existing networks.
. . . Should the FCC lose in Court or on remand to the 9th
Circuit, the result would saddle broadband with regulatory
costs, uncertainties and economic distortions, further delaying
real choice for consumers."
Dixon is also highly critical of the Communications
Act, and he and other PFF fellows are working to develop reform
called the Digital Age Communications Act. The group’s
goal is to have model legislation ready for Congress this
fall.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Weekly newspaper in London,
Ky., closes; competed with CNHI thrice-weekly
The weekly Laurel News Journal newspaper
in London, Ky., abruptly ceased publication yesterday.
Publisher Melissa Newman said to the Lexington
Herald-Leader that owner Terry Forcht told staffers
of the decision at a meeting yesterday. Newman said, "It's
devastating to the staff." There were nine employees
at the eight-year-old paper, which had a paid circulation
of 4,600, the Herald-Leader reports.
Forcht, who also has ownership interests in
weekly newspapers in Corbin and Somerset and in banks and
other businesses, was not available for comment. The newspapers
compete with dailies owned by Community Newspaper
Holdings Inc. The Laurel News Journal competed with
The Sentinel-Echo, a 9,800-circulation CNHI
paper that publishes three times a week.
Newspaper industry watching
Greensboro's online experiment; next-wave reporting?
It's a journalist's job to ask questions, but
they're usually aimed at outsiders. At The News &
Record, a 93,000-daily circulation newspaper in Greensboro,
N.C. area, reporters and editors are asking tough questions
about the Landmark Communications Inc. paper
itself, writes
Ellen Simon of The Associated Press.
The biggest questions: If the paper needs to
change to survive, what changes should be made? What can it
do to make itself the electronic equivalent of town square?
"Seeking the answers, the paper has launched an audacious
online experiment," writes Simon, The News & Record's
Web site features 11 staff-written Web journals, or blogs,
including one by the editor to address readers' questions,
criticism and to discusses how the paper is run.
That puts the paper ahead of even much larger
news organizations, notes Simon. The newspaper's blogs range
from "just-the-facts, ma'am," to slightly spicy.
There's a page for reader-submitted articles, another for
letters to the editor. The Web site hosts online forums on
23 topics, including safety at a local high school, FedEx
Corp.'s move to the area and cameras at local stoplights.
Cameras monitor road conditions. The site posts up-to-date
public records on property ownership, marriages and divorce.
"When the paper's overhaul is complete,
it may be a model for the sort of 21st-century paper that
many journalism big thinkers have been talking about for the
last few years," wrote the industry-watching magazine
Editor & Publisher. E & P writes,
"Greensboro will be the first place where this conceptually
newfangled newspaper actually exists." The Houston
Chronicle, The Oregonian in Portland,
(Raleigh) News & Observer and USA
Today have all called News & Record editor John
Robinson to discuss what his paper is doing.
Simon asks, "Why the interest?" Declining
circulation, criticism of everything from the obsession with
celebrity trials to coverage of the 2004 election, plus a
series of scandals involving reporters who made up facts has
led to industry-wide soul-searching, she answers. For the
Greensboro News & Record Web site, click here.
COAL
Mining Central Appalachia's mountains: Writers
lament it, some residents praise it
The controversial practice of mountaintop-removal
mining in Central Appalachia continues to receive attention
in national publications, but the latest article, by a Kentuckian,
notes what outsiders often miss or choose to ignore –
that people in the region, where opposition to strip mining
helped pass a federal law controlling it, appear to have embraced
what the writer calls the practice’s most radical form.
The latest article is 19,000 words in the April
issue of Harper’s magazine, not yet
available online at www.harpers.org.
It is written by Erik Reece, an English professor at the University
of Kentucky, who runs a summer environmental writing
program at UK’s Robinson Forest, a preserve in the Eastern
Kentucky Coal Field. His piece follows a cover story in last
month’s Washington Monthly by Clara
Bingham about Jack Spadaro, the former mine inspector who
has become a leading foe of mountaintop removal.
Reece’s narrative focuses on the now-aptly
named Lost Mountain, which is being mined. He begins at a
time in 2003 when the mining has been permitted but not started,
and the mountain, Lost Creek and its tributaries are still
home to the huge diversity of plant and animal species that
distinguish the Southern Appalachians. But he also writes
about a hearing on mining regulations at nearby Hazard, dominated
by supporters of the industry.
The predominant opinion at the hearing was exemplified
by Paul David Taulbee, a retired miner who said at a 2003
hearing on mine regulations that if local people could be
freed of such rules and “develop to the fullest extent,”
Appalachian natives who had moved north for jobs would come
home. Taulbee won a standing ovation when he said, “The
only way to stay in the mountains is to mine
the mountains!”
Reece writes, “I could tell him that surface
mining accounts for only 5,000 jobs in all 30 counties of
Eastern Kentucky, averaging out to 167 jobs per county. I
could tell him that the old deep-mining jobs aren’t
coming back, and the people who left for Cincinnati and Cleveland
might not want to, either, especially if they were coming
back to wasted mountains and dead streams. I could tell him
that if coal hadn’t brought prosperity to the mountains
in the last 90 years, it isn’t likely to do so. But
Taulbee isn’t going to listen to me. I’m an outsider,
as he had said, the worst kind of elitist, who thinks a mountain
is more important than someone’s job. The miner’s
wife had asked, ‘When are you going to start thinking
about us instead of the environment?’ But perhaps the
harder question is this: When in Appalachia are we going to
start thinking about both at once?”
Harlan County gets ATV
tourism grant; boost for ailing coal-county economies?
Harlan County, Kentucky has received a grant
to capitalize on a new breed of tourists flooding into the
mountains to ride four-wheelers across seemingly endless miles
of abandoned roads left behind when mining companies pulled
out.
Local leaders have developed a plan to turn
the roads that wind around steep ridges and mountaintops into
an off-road paradise. Now state officials have stepped forward
with a $50,000 federally funded grant to help with the cost
of
the initiative, writes
Roger Alford of The Associated Press.
Darrell D. Brock Jr., head of the Governor's
Office for Local Development, went to the county
to announce the Federal Highway Administration's
recreational trails program. Brock said the hope is that the
tourism initiative will beef up an ailing coalfield economy.
Already, people from across the nation are coming to Harlan
County to ride the rugged trails, writes Alford.
Brock, who went on a trail ride after the check
presentation, told Alford, "It's awesome. You've got
views for miles in every direction. It doesn't get any better
than this." While many other places in Kentucky frown
on off-roaders, Harlan County welcomes them, said Judge-Executive
Joe Grieshop. He thinks the tourism potential could help spark
an economic revival in the county where unemployment is rampant,
Alford writes.
The grant will be used to develop a trailhead
and recreational vehicle parking area in Evarts, the coal
town closest to the mountaintop mines that are home to most
of the off-road activities, writes Alford. The city council
passed an ordinance a year ago to give ATV riders the freedom
to "ride through the city and not be ticketed."
Preston McLain, president of the ATV club Harlan County
Ridge Runners, told AP some of the Eastern Kentucky
back roads wind through the mountains for 100 miles or more,
linked through a network of abandoned surface mines.
Extension of mine-reclamation tax being considered
in West Virginia House
An expiring coal tax to fix a multimillion-dollar
deficit in the state’s abandoned mine cleanup fund would
be extended 18 months under a measure proposed by the West
Virginia House Finance Committee.
Lawmakers increased the reclamation tax from
3 cents to 14 cents in 2001 to help reclaim strip mines abandoned
or unreclaimed by bankrupt coal operators. Under the "7-up
plan," half of the tax was meant to be permanent, while
the remaining 7 cent tax was scheduled to expire in April,
writes
Erik Schelzig of The Associated Press.
"The plan was based on soft numbers because
a thorough inventory hadn’t been done at the time,"
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary
Stephanie Timmermeyer told Schelzig, "We feel that we
have a valid number now because we’ve done formal engineering
and design studies at the sites." About 255 of more than
600 abandoned mine reclamation projects remain to be addressed
by the DEP, including 149 of those on land and 106 involving
water.
The estimated cost to complete those projects
by September 2008 is $46 million. But, Timmermeyer told AP,
"There’s an estimate of $4 million worth of forfeitures
that occur every year." The bill would have extended
the tax for another 24 months, but, she said, "after
18 months the fund becomes stable and we can handle this backlog."
The bill would require the DEP to determine whether it would
be more efficient for coal operators to post reclamation bonds
to cover the total cost of reclaiming sites instead of the
per-ton tax, and will be asked to determine the feasibility
of creating a water-quality trust fund for abandoned sites.
DRUGS
W.Va. counties creating meth-lab tip-lines;
effective tool in meth war, say police
Hoping to tap into the eyes, ears and noses
of local residents, Putnam County, West Virginia, Sheriff
Mark Smith has announced a drug-activity tip line. Putnam
County residents can leave anonymous tips for police to investigate
methamphetamine makers or other suspicious drug activity,
writes
Charles Shumaker of The Charleston Gazette.
Smith said he hopes for the same success that
adjoining Kanawha County police have experienced with their
line. Since Smith took office, writes Shumaker, deputies have
discovered and dismantled a dozen meth labs. The county lies
between the cities of Charleston and Huntington.
Smith told reporters, “It’s probably
going to overwhelm us at first. We’ll get calls that
will be unfounded but I’m sure others will be good tips.”
No one will answer or trace calls to Putnam County’s
tip line. Only police officials will review the messages.
Smith added, “We don’t need your name or your
number. We just need your information.” A few days after
introducing their own tip-line earlier this month, Kanawha
County law enforcement officials reported more than 60 calls.
Jackson County sheriff’s officials also announced a
tip line this week.
Local Iowa meth laws
in limbo; must choose to move ahead or wait for state law
About two dozen Iowa cities and counties that
adopted their own ordinances restricting access to a common
cold medicine used to make methamphetamine must now decide
what to do before a new state law takes effect. Some local
governments have meth laws scheduled to take effect in the
next few weeks. Bob Brammer, a spokesman for the Iowa attorney
general, told
The Associated Press. The locals must decide
whether to move ahead with enforcement of those laws or wait
until the state law, which will supersede local ones, takes
effect May 22.
The state law will allow stores to sell only
single packages of liquid, and liquid gel, capsules containing
less than 360 milligrams of pseudoephedrine -- about the amount
found in packages of children's cold medicines. Retailers
would have to keep the products locked up. Packages containing
more than 360 milligrams and any non-liquid pseudoephedrine
medications would have to be bought from a pharmacy.
All buyers would have to show identification
and sign for their purchase. David Vestal, a spokesman with
the Iowa State Association of Counties, said
some local governments aren't sure what their next move should
be. Vestral told AP, "There's a window there that there's
some confusion of what will go on, or what should go on."
Lawyers, law students
join to fight illegal drugs; interns will help prosecutors
University of Kentucky law
students will team up with law professionals to help combat
a growing drug problem in rural Kentucky, thanks to some special
federal funding.
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and UK President Lee
Todd have announced $1 million has been earmarked for the
UK College of Law Rural Drug Prosecution Assistance Project,
writes
Delano R. Massey of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Students will work as summer interns in offices for commonwealth's
attorneys, U.S. attorneys, the state attorney general and
circuit court judges. The program provides some stipends.
The project also offers salary grants and tuition aid for
graduates to work with the legal system.
McConnell told Massey he tries to help UK's
law school from time to time by earmarking federal funds for
projects that "seem to make a lot of sense." McConnell
told him, "This rural drug enforcement effort seems like
something the school feels will provide, not only an opportunity
for students, but to actually fight a real problem out there
that's a scourge to rural Kentucky -- that's methamphetamine
and OxyContin."
In 2000, federal agents in Kentucky seized 104
labs that were making methamphetamine, according to a report
from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
By 2003, the report said, that number had climbed to 476.
Last year, 377 meth labs were seized. Meanwhile, the state
continues battling with the misuse of prescription drugs.
According to the most recent study, 19,366 dosage units of
diverted pharmaceutical drugs were confiscated in 2003, he
writes.
UPDATES
Family of shooting victim blasts tribal leaders
for hospital absence, media ban
Relatives of two shooting victims have criticized
tribal authorities on the Red Lake Indian reservation for
not visiting injured students in the hospital -- and for imposing
restrictions on media visiting the reservation.
The reservation is a sovereign nation, and outsiders
are subject to the laws of the reservation's tribal council.
Darrell Auginash, the uncle of recovering shooting victim
Ryan Auginash, told
Shannon Prather and Mara Gottfried of the St. Paul
Pioneer Press about the five teens being treated
at hospitals in Bemidji, Minn., "We need our tribal leaders
to come here, too, to see these guys. They haven't been here
yet, and there's other people hurting in Fargo."
Francis "Chunky" Brun, father of slain
security guard Derrick Brun, defied a tribal ban on media
and invited a reporter and photographer to the Brun home in
Red Lake to show the community where his son lived, worked
and died, write Prather and Gottfried. Family members have
called the ban condescending, unnecessary and illegal. They
said opening up the reservation to media scrutiny could lead
to potential solutions. Tribal leaders said they have worked
to balance the dissemination of information while guarding
tribal customs and family privacy throughout the week. They
have promised to allow more access to the reservation. Reporters,
still limited in where they can go, will be allowed to be
outside a few funerals and wakes as determined by the families.
Red Lake Tribal Council Chairman
Floyd Jourdain Jr. also said the leaders have been in contact
with victims and their families and have made trips to visit
the five hospitalized boys. Jordain told Prather and Gottfried,
"People want to blame the government or somebody. That's
a natural part of the grieving process. It's a very complex
situation. We have traditional customs. We have procedures
we follow when we have deaths." For another Pioneer Press
story on the shootings, headlined Despair, hopelessness
a daily struggle for children of Red Lake, click here.
No hunting ruling, but Va. judge says preserve's
shooting plans not zoning violation
Virginia hunters have won a minor victory in
their fight with some county officials over whether they can
shoot clay targets on a hunting preserve.
Nelson County’s circuit court judge yesterday
rejected the county's argument that plans by a hunting preserve
to target shoot before a pheasant hunt violated zoning laws,
writes
Carlos Santos of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Circuit
Judge J. Michael Gamble did not address the larger question
in the ongoing dispute between the county and Orion
Sporting Group LLC about the right to hunt, guaranteed
under an amendment to the Virginia Constitution. The Nelson
County Board of Supervisors had sought a temporary injunction
against Orion to prevent the company from allowing clients
to shoot clay targets as a warm-up before a driven pheasant
hunt to be held tomorrow, writes Santos.
John W. Zunka, a lawyer for the county, argued
that the "warm-up shoot and practice . . . is exactly
a use of this land denied by the supervisors. It's an attempt
to come through the backdoor." Orion is charging that
the county's action infringed on the constitutional right
to hunt, claiming that education, training and practice are
all part of a hunt. That argument will be heard at a trial
scheduled for next month, he writes.
Group wants Columbia, S.C. to consider smoking
ban in restaurants, bars
You may not be able to light
up in Columbia, S.C. bars and restaurants, if a group of health
advocates and anti- smoking lobbyists gets its way, reports
John C. Drake of The State.
Renee Martin, executive director of the South
Carolina Tobacco Collaborative, told Drake, “We’re
focusing on educating the community about the hazardous effects
of secondhand smoke. Ultimately, we would like to approach
Columbia City Council with an ordinance.”
Dozens of cities and states have banned smoking in public
places, particularly in bars and restaurants. In many places,
the decisions have been controversial and spurred lawsuits,
but the national movement to make public, enclosed spaces
smoke-free, continues to expand, Drake writes.
Local restaurant and bar owners said the decision
should be left up to individual businesses but said they understood
the concerns. The local family-dining chain Lizard’s
Thicket went smoke-free about two years ago. Bobby
Williams, president, said it was a business decision. Few
people sat in the smoking section, but there were times where
no seating was available in non-smoking areas. Williams told
Drake, “It was ridiculous to have a portion of my restaurant
empty while there were people waiting to sit down. The smokers
complained, but they all came back.”
Bluegrass farmers and
their expensive equipment become targets of thieves
Police in Clark
and Montgomery counties in east-central Kentucky are stepping
up patrols in rural areas because thieves are targeting farms.
"The thieves aren't just taking small tools of the trade.
They're taking high tech farm equipment," reports
WKYT-TV. Two-time victim David Adams "looked through
his 75-acre farm and found much of his equipment missing."
he told the Lexington station, "It's kind of devastating.
Most of what you've worked for -- someone breaks in and steals
it. . . . They stole about $30,000 worth of equipment. That's
hard to replace."
Sheriffs in Clark
and Montgomery counties consider the thefts a growing problem,
and think the equipment is being sold out of state, the station
reported. "Police say the thieves are bold, hitting some
farms far off the main road," it said. "One question
authorities are trying to answer is how thieves were able
to get the tractors out seemingly so easily. Police tell 27
Newsfirst the thieves brought in trucks and loaded the tractors
onto them in the middle of the night."
‘Sparrow hawk’
breached nuclear plant security; fed, cleaned and sent back
to wild
A nuclear weapons plant facility near Oak Ridge,
Tenn., doesn't welcome uncleared visitors, but a sparrow hawk
defied the odds and lived to tell her feathered friends.
The American kestrel, a pigeon-sized bird of
prey, was found a few weeks ago inside a World War II-era
facility known as Beta-1. The building originally was used
to enrich uranium for the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan,
writes
Frank Munger of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Nobody knows how the hawk bypassed security, but apparently
landed in an oil pan and got her feathers sullied to the point
that she couldn't fly, Munger writes. Larry Brantley, an industrial
hygienist, was first to spot the bird, and Ron Wilson, the
building manager tracked her down. Wilson told the newspaper
he used a welder's glove and managed to grab the bird and
put her to a cardboard box with bedding. "She wasn't
used to people trying to handle her, and she hissed a little
bit. But she didn't try to bite me."
Brantley took the hawk to the Clinch
River Raptor Center in Clinton, where she was given
a few baths and de-oiled with citrus cleaner. The bird, nicknamed
"Beta," feasted on mealworms and mice from Oak
Ridge National Laboratory's genetics research facility.
Beta was then returned to the site where she was found, and
released to the wild. Wilson, who did the honors, told the
newspaper "She perched on my finger for a couple of minutes,
just kind of posed there and then took off. That was great.
It was one of those things that helps your soul."
Thursday, March 24, 2005
'Sovereign nation' trumps First Amendment in
Red Lake; local editor gets in
Out-of-town journalists covering the recent
killings by a Red Lake, Minn., high school student have run
into a harsh reality. They have to enter an Indian reservation,
and thus are subject to the laws and limitations of a “sovereign
nation.”
The Reporters Committee for Freedom
of the Press reports,
“Photographers with The Associated Press
and Getty Images were handcuffed, detained
and had their photographic equipment confiscated by tribal
authorities after taking pictures of a roadside memorial"
for the nine killed and seven injured.
Tribal police thought a gun was in the photographers'
vehicle and had their firearms drawn when detaining the photographers,
AP reported. AP lawyer David Tomlin said the equipment was
returned later. Tomlin criticized the detention as "over-the-top,
dangerous and unprovoked." Tomlin said AP is considering
legal action.
The First Amendment and federal laws are difficult
to enforce on tribal lands because of tribes' political status
as sovereign nation, AP reported. Richard Prince of The
Maynard Institute for Journalism Education said
reporters who arrived at the remote crime scene received a
quick lesson in tribal sovereignty. "Red Lake’s
status as a closed reservation gives the band unusual authority
to restrict the movements of non-band members, including reporters."
Editor Molly Miron of the 10,000-circulation
daily Bemidji Pioneer "was one of the
few journalists allowed into the reservation before it closed
its borders," Editor & Publisher
reported,
because, as Prince noted, "she had developed a relationship
with the residents."
Survey finds many states worried about funding
for No Child Left Behind goals
Many states have serious doubts about whether
they can meet the full requirements of the No Child Left Behind
Act, according to a new survey’s results.
Those doubts are the gravest when it comes to
helping struggling schools reach proficiency, writes
Greg Winter of The New York Times. The Center
on Education Policy conducted the survey. It found
that three-fourths of school districts said student performance
on state exams was improving and that achievement gaps between
students, especially between whites and minorities, was narrowing.
However, four-fifths of the states said they weren’t
receiving enough funding to accomplish the law’s other
goals.
The law requires that each state make progress
every year, in the hopes all students will attain proficiency
by 2014. States set the benchmarks, Winter reports, and each
year they are higher than the previous year. If the schools
don’t meet those benchmarks for two consecutive years,
they fall into the “needing improvement” category
and students may transfer out of the school.
The director of No Child Left Behind for the
Chicago public school system, Xavier Botana, said the city’s
students have record test scores in for multiple grades and
subjects, and that their results often outpace their counterparts
in Illinois. But, 340 of the 613 Chicago schools are classified
as “needing improvement,” because they fall short
of Illinois’ academic benchmarks. "We've made what
are remarkable strides, but that's the problem with N.C.L.B.,"
Botana said. "It assumes you're going to hit the same
benchmark at the same time as everyone else, regardless of
where you started. And we started a lot further back than
other people."
For The Associated Press's
version of the story by Ben Feller, click here.
Environment uniting left and right; can green
be a bridge between red and blue?
Environmental issues are bringing together conservatives
and liberals who agree on little else, providing common ground
in an increasingly polarized nation, and some Republicans
and Democrats see environment-related agreements as a way
to build broader consensus writes
Paul Nussbaum of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Rep. James Saxton of New Jersey, one of the
most pro-environment Republicans in Congress, told Nussbaum,
"I have formed relationships with members of the other
party based on our interest in the environment. I'm still
on the conservative side, and they're still what I'd call
liberal, but we now have a kind of bond." Pro-gun hunters
and antiabortion evangelicals are making common cause with
pro-abortion-rights, gun-control liberals on land conservation,
pollution, and endangered-species protection, he writes.
Deb Callahan, president of the League
of Conservation Voters, told Nussbaum, "We've
heard a lot about the death of environmentalism, but I think
what we're seeing is the rebirth of environmentalism. We're
going back to where we were in the 1970s. We're building a
populist movement." Ernest Cook, senior vice president
and director of conservation finance for the Trust
for Public Land, told Nussbaum conservative voters
who typically oppose increased government spending or tax
increases often support spending for land preservation because
it "delivers tangible results, close to home." He
noted 97 of the nation's 100 fastest-growing counties voted
for Bush last November, but many of those same counties recognize
"a great need to set aside land for conservation purposes."
Robert J. Brulle, associate professor of sociology
and environmental policy at Drexel University,
told the newspaper, "You have a new politics overlaid
on the old that talks about the environment. About 70 percent
of the issues still break down along the old lines, but for
30 or 40 percent of them, the traditional left-right dichotomy
doesn't work anymore. The strangest bedfellows I've ever seen
are Earth Firsters and evangelical Christians."
Coal firms want taxes
repaid; West Virginia could pay $500 million if companies
win
West Virginia could end up repaying hundreds
of millions of dollars in coal taxes if a group of mining
companies succeed in a case making its way through the state
Supreme Court.
The coal operators say they should not have
to pay West Virginia severance taxes on coal they export,
writes
Ken Ward, Jr. of the Charleston Gazette.
Some of the state's largest coal producers, including subsidiaries
of Consol Energy Inc., Arch Coal
Inc. and Massey Energy, are pursuing
the case. They are represented by Charleston lawyer and former
state tax commissioner Herschel H. Rose III, writes Ward.
Tax Department officials estimate the refund alone could add
up to $400 million to $500 million. Katherine Schultz, a senior
deputy attorney general representing the agency, told Ward,
“This is a substantial amount of revenue. It would be
devastating.”
Kanawha Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman previously
rejected the industry’s effort to seek refunds for taxes
paid back to 1997. The companies have appealed to the Supreme
Court. The justices have agreed to hear the case, but have
not yet scheduled an argument. If the companies win, the state
could be on the hook for refunds and lose any future severance
taxes on exported coal, writes Ward.
The U. S. Department of Energy
says exported coal represents only about 10 percent of West
Virginia’s annual coal production. The state accounts
for more than a third of all U.S. coal exported. Generally,
West Virginia mining companies pay a severance tax at a rate
of 5 percent of the gross income from the sale of the coal.
The state imposes a minimum severance tax of 75 cents per
ton of coal, he writes.
North Carolina tobacco-tax
hike may backfire; cut-rate outlets lure travelers
North Carolina, a sort of East Coast Cigarette
Machine for travelers looking for cheap smokes, could lose
millions of dollars in interstate trade if it increases its
tax on cigarettes sevenfold, retailers warn.
“Interstate 95 stretches from Maine to
Miami, and JR Outlet, halfway through North
Carolina, is the smoker's filling station, a multimillion-dollar
argument against raising the cigarette tax,” writes
Mark Johnson of the Charlotte Observer’s
Raleigh Bureau. “Smokers from all over ... wheel off
the highway, (to) one of three JR locations in the state,
drawn by white billboards with blue and red letters, ‘Cheap
Cigarettes,’” he writes.
Of the estimated 78.5 million cartons of cigarettes
to be sold in North Carolina this year, the three JR locations
are expected to account for at least 6.1 million, writes Johnson.
If the General Assembly raises the cigarette tax from a nickel
to 35 cents a pack, as Gov. Mike Easley has proposed, no business
will feel the pinch more than JR, he writes.
Pro-tax-increase lawmakers say it will generate
more revenue and help reduce teen smoking. Businesses that
rely on tobacco sales, however, warn that higher cigarette
taxes will drive down purchases and tax revenue and give North
Carolinians, who already buy lottery tickets in other states,
another reason to cross the state line for shopping. Lew Rothman,
president of New Jersey-based JR, told the newspaper, "Everybody
talks about how much they'll raise in tax, but what they don't
do is subtract what they're going to lose."
Agriculture regulation bill gutted in S.C.
Senate; GOP claims 'liberal power-grab'
The South Carolina Senate Agriculture Committee
gutted a bill to prevent local governments from passing regulations
tougher than state rules to control or bar agriculture operations,
including large hog and chicken facilities.
Local governments worried the legislation would
take away their ability to regulate bars, strip clubs and
other types of businesses, reports
The State. Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter,
told the Columbia newspaper, it “is the most liberal
power grab I’ve ever seen.”
Instead, the committee approved an amendment
that would let local governments impose wider distances between
poultry operations. The legislation means that those setbacks
would more closely mirror what’s in place for hog farming
operators. For instance, writes The State, a small poultry
operator could not build a new facility within 600 feet of
neighboring property lines if local governments adopt them.
Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, told the newspaper existing
facilities would be grandfathered. (The Associated
Press contributed to the story.)
Tennessee surveyor employs
helicopter to haul trees down mountain
East Tennessee logging has gone airborne. "It
once was the job of mules and skids, but today the task of
moving logs from the mountainside to the lumbering site is
called 'heli-logging," writes
the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
The use of a helicopter reduces the time needed
to log a tract and also reduces the environmental damage,
the newspaper reports. Joe Bible, a Newport surveyor, used
a helicopter earlier this week to move hardwood logs from
a mountainside to nearby site for several reasons. "Your
logs come out clean, and that means they don't dull the blade
when they are cut. Those logs bring a better price."
Helicopter use also cuts the logging time for the 50-acre
site to two days compared to a year if bulldozers and logging
trucks had been used, he said. Bible paid $300 per thousand
board feet to fly out the logs, compared to a cost of $175
to $200 if log trucks had been used, but, he he explained,
"The old way meant building roads and water breaks."
Large hardwood companies have begun using helicopters
because of the environmental impact left by road construction.
To reach the site where Bible is working by logging trucks
would have required the construction of three miles of road;
two miles over private property and an additional mile through
the Cherokee National Forest. "I was
having trouble getting an easement from the government, so
I decided to use a helicopter," he told the News-Sentinel.
TVA rate hikes likely
from new board; chairman cites fuel, clean-air costs
One of the first tasks of a new, part-time Tennessee
Valley Authority board when it takes office in May
will be to decide how much of a rate increase to impose.
According to current board members, higher rates
likely will be needed because of rising fuel costs and the
increasing cost of cleaning emissions from TVA's coal-fired
plants, writes
Rebecca Ferrar of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough Jr, told Ferrar, "I'm sure
the board will have to take rate action. This board has not
raised rates this fiscal year. Being realistic, clean air
comes with a price and utility rates are going up to pay for
it."
TVA directors did not indicate how much rates
could go up. The federal utility last increased residential
and commercial power rates in October 2003 by 7.4 percent
and lowered industrial rates by 2 percent. TVA Director Bill
Baxter said another job of the new board will be to appoint
an interim CEO. That candidate likely is Tom Kilgore, TVA's
new president and chief operating officer, who has succeeded
the retiring Ike Zeringue, Ferrar writes.
Virginia court hearing
lawsuit over ‘constitutional right’ to shoot clay
pigeons
A dispute over the ‘right’ to shoot
clay pigeons as part of the state constitutionally protected
‘right to hunt’ in Virginia is being argued in
a county circuit court.
A hearing on an injunction in the matter is
set for today in Nelson County Circuit Court, writes
Carlos Santos of the Richmond Times-Dispatch
"What started out as an ordinary zoning tiff in Nelson
County has turned into a yearlong emotional debate on the
constitutional right to hunt in Virginia," he writes.
The debate pits the county against Orion Sporting
Group LLC over the right to practice shooting at
clay targets before an upland game-bird hunt.
The controversy began to unfold early last year
when Orion was denied a conditional-use permit by the Nelson
County Board of Supervisors to operate a shotgun-sports
center as part of its licensed hunting preserve. Neighbors
of the hunting preserve, located near the small town of Wingina
on the James River, had vented their concerns to the Board
of Supervisors about noise, safety and other issues. The shotgun-sports
center would have allowed clients to shoot at clay targets
-- small platelike discs that simulate the flight paths of
game birds, writes Santos.
Nelson County Supervisor Connie Brennan, who
was then chairman of the board, told Santos, "The decision
was made based on the fact it was not compatible with the
comprehensive plan. It didn't fit in with the community. This
is a land-use issue. It's not about guns. It's about land
use." Orion disagrees. Morris Peterson, a managing director
and one of the owners of Orion, told him, "We couldn't
have found a more remote location in all of Nelson County.
On top of that, we were enticed and cajoled by the Board of
Supervisors to stay in the county."
Orion filed suit last March claiming the denial
violated the right to hunt, guaranteed under a law passed
in 2000 in a statewide referendum. The law states Virginia
residents have the constitutional right to "hunt, fish
and harvest game."
$30 million unfrozen
for arms destruction preliminary work at Kentucky depot
The Department of Defense
has released $30 million for design work and preliminary
construction at the proposed chemical neutralization plant
at Blue Grass Army Depot near Richmond, Ky.
The move will allow Bechtel Parsons
Blue Grass, the contractor, to continue work through
Sept. 30. An additional $40 million was released for the depot's
sister site in Pueblo, Colo., and orders halting work on design
and construction there were lifted, writes
Peter Mathews of the Lexington Herald-Leader’s
Central Kentucky Bureau.
But one prominent critic, Craig Williams of
the Berea-based Chemical Weapons Working Group,
called the day's events a sign the Pentagon has shifted its
top priority from protecting the public to saving money. Williams,
in describing the infusion of money to Matthews, said, "Basically,
this is life support. You're buried alive in a 6-foot pit,
and somebody drills a hole and puts a straw in it so you can
breathe."
A Pentagon spokeswoman could not be reached
for comment. In a memorandum announcing the release of the
funds, acting Undersecretary of Defense Michael Wynne called
for a redesign to shave hundreds of millions of dollars off
the projected cost of the Kentucky and Colorado plants. Wynne
wants their costs brought in line with estimates from 2002,
which were derived before any design work was done.
Tennessee floating ‘hog-dog
rodeos’ ban; animal rights advocates decry cruelty
Tennessee already outlaws dog fights, cock fights,
bullfighting and bear fighting. Soon, the Volunteer State
may add hog-versus-dog fighting to the list.
Animal welfare advocates are pushing a proposal
in the General Assembly to outlaw hog-dog contests before
they become widespread in Tennessee, writes
Bonna de la Cruz of The Tennessean. In so-called
''hog-dog rodeos,'' wild pigs, their tusks blunted with bolt
cutters, are put in a ring with ferocious dogs, often pit
bulls or American bulldogs. Dogs are judged by how quickly
they take down the hogs, she describes.
Ron Fox, assistant director of the Tennessee
Wildlife Resources Agency told the newspaper wildlife
officials have heard rumblings of these contests in East Tennessee,
where boar hunting is popular. Laurie Green of Nashville,
founder of the Southern Alliance for Animal Welfare,
told the Nashville newspaper, ''The object is to tear up the
pig. People who find pleasure and fun in that, I would put
on the same level as someone who would sexually molest a child.
It's the sickest thing to find pleasure watching an animal
suffer and die.''
Some East Tennessee hunters are afraid laws
such as this one someday will lead to a hunting ban. Rodney
Burris, 40, of Benton in East Tennessee, is vice president
of the Cherokee Houndsman Association. Its
members hunt wild boar in the Cherokee National Forest.
He told de la Cruz, ''Our biggest fear is they keep adding
animals to the list. That could lead up to non-hunting."
Several thousand wild boar roam Tennessee forests from the
North Carolina border to the Catoosa Wildlife Management area,
Fox said.
Sherry Rout of Memphis, a southern representative
for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals, told de la Cruz the blood sport stems
from the still-legal pastime of hog hunting using dogs to
find, chase, corner and sometimes take down the hog. The Tennessee
bill would make it illegal to own or train a hog for the purpose
of fighting, baiting or injuring another animal for amusement
or sport.
Omaha tipster reports
dogfight; three pit bulls confiscated in area 'crackdown'
Nebraska Humane Society officers
recently found two pit bulls bleeding and seriously injured,
a strong indication, they say, the illegal sport of dog-fighting
is still a serious problem in the state.
"The pit bulls, found in pens ... with
recent face and neck injuries, (but) are expected to live.
Those dogs and another pit bull were removed from the home
(where the pens were located)," writes
Jason Kuiper of the Omaha World-Herald. Mark
Langan, vice president of field services for the Humane
Society, told the newspaper the owner explained to
police and Humane Society officers the dogs accidentally escaped
from their pens while being fed and he was trying to break
up their fight. A caller phoned the society's tip line and
reported the fight.
Langan told Kuiper, "This is an example
of what can happen when the public calls in tips. At least
these three dogs will not be fighting in the future."
The Humane Society has been running ads for the past week
to encourage citizens to call them with information about
possible dog-fighting actvities as part of a crackdown. In
the recent case, the owner couldn't provide proof of ownership
and had no records of licensing and vaccinations. The owner
was ticketed for three counts each of no proof of ownership
and no vaccinations. Langan said more charges may be filed.
American Indians give
'warrior tribute' to former W.Va. soldier/POW Lynch
As the sun crept over a saguaro, and wildflower-studded
mountain, near Phoenix, Ariz., named after her best friend
and fallen comrade, Army Spc. Lori Piestewa, former POW Jessica
Lynch was awarded a warrior’s medal of valor.
The Native American Veterans Council
presented the award to Lynch as part of a ceremony to honor
Piestewa and mark the two-year anniversary of the ambush of
the women’s unit in southern Iraq, reports
The Associated Press. Lynch, a former Army
supply clerk from Palestine, W. Va., said of Piestewa, “She
was a very strong-minded woman. Her strength rubbed off on
me.’’
Lynch and Piestewa served together in the 507th
Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas. Piestewa
died and Lynch was captured when their unit was ambushed March
23, 2003, near Nasiriyah. When the details of the ambush were
recalled during the ceremony, Lynch shook her head. Afterward,
she told reporters, “It is hard because I think back,
it reminds me of my last days with Lori.’’
Piestewa, a member of the Hopi tribe, is believed
to be the first American Indian woman killed while fighting
for the U.S. military. Lynch said she wouldn’t have
survived if not for Piestewa. “She taught me to be an
individual, to never give up.’’ Hundreds attended
the ceremony and commended the women’s bravery, including
members of area churches, American Indian officials and politicians.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Iowa becomes latest state to battle meth by
restricting access to cold medicines
A law proclaimed to be the toughest in the nation
against the rural scourge of methamphetamine -- and certain
to bring changes to the sale of certain medicines in Iowa
stores -- has been signed by Gov. Tom Vilsack.
Stores have a two-month grace period to comply
with the new law regulating sales of pseudoephedrine, the
main ingredient in the manufacture of methamphetamine, writes
Jonathon Roos of The Des Moines Register.
Sen. Keith Kreiman of Bloomfield, Democratic
co-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee told Roos, "They
have 60 days to get it off the shelves or face the penalties."
Iowans will have to show identification and sign their names
to buy any medicine containing pseudoephedrine, and they will
have to go to the pharmacy for most products. Many stores
and pharmacies have already moved medicine behind the counter.
Some places will stop selling certain types altogether to
avoid keeping customer logs, writes Roos.
Vilsack, who was joined by Attorney General
Tom Miller, Des Moines Police Chief William McCarthy and other
law enforcement officers from across the state at a bill-signing
ceremony on the west steps of the Capitol on Tuesday, said,
"The people of Iowa, in supporting the toughest and smartest
bill in the country, have sent meth makers everywhere a clear
message: ‘We will do whatever is necessary to protect
our children and to protect our state.' "
State officials predict that Iowa will see an
even larger reduction in meth labs than Oklahoma, which has
seen a 50 percent drop in labs since enactment 11 months ago
of a law curtailing sales of pseudoephedrine products. Iowa
ranks second in the nation, after Missouri, in meth lab incidents.
Last year, about 1,400 meth labs and dump sites were discovered
in Iowa, a state record, he writes.
West Virginia Senate passes meth bill without
major amendments; House action next
The West Virginia Senate has unanimously passed
a bill that aims to control over-the-counter medicines and
other items needed to manufacture methamphetamine, but the
narrow defeat of amendments seeking to add some penalties
may signal more debate when the legislation reaches the House,
The Associated Press reports.
Senate Bill 147 seeks to halt the spread of
makeshift drug labs in West Virginia by limiting the availability
of cold medicines that contain pseudoephedrine -- a crucial
ingredient of the illegal narcotic,
writes Erik Schelzig.
Senate Minority Leader Vic Sprouse sought to
add penalties for methamphetamine laboratories within 1,000
feet of a school, injuries suffered by first responders to
a lab and possessing pseudoephedrine with the intent to manufacture
drugs near a school, writes Schelzig. Sprouse, R-Kanawha,
told AP, "Maybe I’m more passionate about this
because Kanawha County has such a huge problem. But let me
tell you this is coming everywhere."
Kanawha and Putnam counties have seen the majority
of lab activity in the state, but law enforcement officials
say manufacturing of the drug is spreading. Senate Judiciary
Chairman Jeff Kessler argued the amendments were not specific
enough and would create extra laws relating specifically to
methamphetamine crimes.
Two media groups ask FCC require local broadcasters
to identify pre-packaged news
A media reform group and media center have filed
a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission,
asking the FCC to investigate broadcasters who distribute
government-sponsored news without identification.
The Center for Media and Democracy
along with Free Press circulated a petition
last week calling for broadcasters, the FCC and Congress to
“stop fake news.” About 40,000 citizens have signed
it, reports
the Free Press. The groups also want to establish “citizen
agreements” with local stations, to pledge to identify
pre-packaged reports from the government. These efforts come
after a March 13 report from The New York Times,
which identified 20 federal agencies that use taxpayer funds
to pro-Bush news segments, called “video news releases,”
for local television news programs.
"Not labeling fake news produced by the
government or corporations constitutes news fraud, plagiarism,
and violates the most basic ethical standards of journalism,"
said John Stauber, the Center's executive director.
Former VP candidate Edwards starts 'Center
on Poverty' job at UNC Law School
Former North Carolina U. S. Senator and vice
presidential candidate John Edwards has a new job as head
of the University of North Carolina law school's
new Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity.
Edwards, who represented North Carolina for one term in the
Senate, began work Tuesday by moderating a panel discussion
on the importance of savings and assets in moving families
out of poverty, reports
The Associated Press.
Edwards, a Democrat, said, ``We have millions of Americans
who work full time and still live in poverty, and that is
absolutely wrong.'' The wire services reports Edwards will
earn $40,000 from the state university to head the center
and has made a two-year commitment. His salary is paid from
private funds raised by the university.
Sale of unapproved corn seed secret for months;
genetically altered but safe, say experts
The federal government kept it secret for three
months that genetically modified corn seed was sold accidentally
to some U.S. farms for four years and might have gotten into
the American food supply.
The accidental use of unapproved seed became
public when the scientific journal Nature published a story
about it yesterday, writes
Seth Borenstein of the Knight Ridder News Service.
The corn seed was probably safe. America's food supply and
plant and animal stocks weren't harmed and remain safe to
eat, according to officials of the seed company and the federal
government. But the government's secrecy about the mistake
-- one affecting the public food supply -- raises concerns,
according to one expert, writes Borenstein.
Spokesmen for the Department of Agriculture
and the Environmental Protection Agency told
the news service there was no need to notify the public because
the government had determined that the altered seed was safe.
In addition, the USDA is investigating the whole incident
involving the seed company, which faces up to $500,000 in
fines. Agriculture Department spokesman Jim Rogers told Borenstein,
"We're gathering evidence that we may need in front of
a judge. If there was a health risk, you would have heard
about it and there would have been a recall."
Syngenta, a Swiss-based company,
distributed the unapproved, genetically altered corn seed.
It mixed the seed with a nearly identical and approved corn
seed, company officials said yesterday afternoon in a news
conference. The see was modified with a gene from a pesticide-like
bacterium. Syngenta spokeswoman Sarah Hull told Borenstein,
"Most of the corn is used for industrial and animal use.
It may have gotten into the food supply, but regardless, the
proteins are deemed safe and there's no food concern."
Hull said remaining seeds have been destroyed or isolated.
Natl. Meat Assn. files appeal after injunction
keeps border closed to Canadian beef
The National Meat Association
has filed an appeal to intervene in a case that led to a preliminary
injunction blocking the reopening of the U.S. to Canadian
beef more than 30 months old. NMA said
its members can’t buy the Canadian cattle but still
must compete with those beef cuts. Beef packers won’t
survive, with “as much as $38 million is being lost
per week,” the group claimed. The brief
is available on the NMA’s website.
“Scaremongering about beef safety, using
distorted statistics and disregarding the thorough record
contributed to by distinguished international scientific experts
is unconscionable,” said NMA Executive Director Rosemary
Mucklow.
Tennessee cigarette tax hike fails on thin
margin; sponsor still hopeful 'tide changing'
Tennessee anti-smoking advocates had a brief
moment to rejoice yesterday when they were told a cigarette
tax hike had cleared the state’s powerful Senate Finance
Committee, only to learn later that votes had been miscounted.
But Sen. Rosalind Kurita said she still thinks
she might be able to get her 40-cent tax hike increase out
of the committee later in the session, writes
Matt Gouras of The Associated Press. Kurita,
who is also running for the U.S. Senate next year, told Gouras,
"We came closer than we ever have before and we're going
to do it again. The tide has changed."
Advocates were clearly buoyed by the close margin
and say they think the tax still might pass this session,
writes Gouras. Chastity Mitchell, government relations director
for the American Cancer Society, called the
morning a "roller coaster ride," adding, "I
think there is still a tremendous door open for going back,"
she told AP. "Now we have a real good idea of where everybody
stands." The group is going to continue to lobby senators
to pass the tax, last raised during a budget crisis that shut
down state government in 2002.
Government, tobacco companies
dispute possible penalties; suit moot if settled
The Justice Department and
the nation's largest cigarette makers continue to dispute
which penalties a judge overseeing a civil racketeering trial
can impose, weeks after an appeals court barred the feds from
seeking $280 billion.
But the dispute could be moot if the two sides
settle the case, which is in its sixth month in U.S. District
Court in Washington. The companies and prosecutors have met
secretly at least once with a court-appointed mediator in
an effort to reach a settlement, according to a report in
Tuesday's Wall Street Journal.
The Justice Department has defended its request
to include court-ordered supervision of tobacco companies
-- including potentially removing misbehaving executives --
as one of the penalties sought against cigarette makers. The
companies have asked Judge Gladys Kessler to strike from a
list of government witnesses a Harvard professor whose testimony
would back that request for court-ordered supervision. Tobacco
companies contended the proposal was a "new and draconian
remedy" sought too late in the trial, writes
Hilary Roxe of AP.
The department has also asked a full panel of
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to
reconsider a decision from three of its judges barring the
government from seeking $280 billion in the case.
Supporters of the government's case urged the
department to keep on pushing for sharp penalties and resist
any calls to settle. Vince Willmore, communications director
for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, told
Roxe, "The government should continue to pursue the case
aggressively with the goal of achieving these important public
health remedies, and it should reject any effort by the tobacco
industry to get off the hook with a weak settlement."
Pipe maker guilty of
environmental crimes in Texas; facing probes in other states
A foundry owned by McWane Inc.,
a major manufacturer of cast iron sewer and water pipe, has
pleaded guilty in federal court to committing environmental
crimes in Tyler, Tex.
The foundry, Tyler Pipe, was
fined $4.5 million, placed on probation for five years and
required to spend an estimated $12 million on plant upgrades,
writes
David Barstow of The New York Times.
The plea is a significant development for McWane,
which is facing a sweeping federal criminal investigation
of its plants in several states. Based in Birmingham, Ala.,
McWane already faces federal indictments in Alabama and New
Jersey, accused of conspiring to violate environmental and
workplace safety laws.
David M. Uhlmann, chief of the environmental
crimes section of the Justice Department,
told Barstow, "This is the third criminal prosecution
of McWane in the last 16 months, and the first time that McWane
has pleaded guilty and accepted responsibility for criminal
conduct." At a court hearing in Tyler, the company admitted
two felony offenses. It said it knowingly violated the Clean
Air Act by making major modifications at without installing
the necessary air pollution controls, and acknowledged knowingly
making false statements to environmental regulators, writes
Barstow.
McWane said in a written statement, "The
company assumes full responsibility for the past and is looking
forward to its future as a leader in environmental compliance,"
The company also expects to pay a $1.5 million fine to Texas
environmental regulators and a "substantial penalty"
to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Arkansas arsenal to incinerate deadly chemical
weapons 'safely' says congressman
The Pine Bluff Arsenal, in
Arkansas, will begin chemical weapons disposal operations
next Tuesday.
Operations will begin with the processing of
two M55 rockets filled with GB nerve agent, also known as
sarin. The GB M55 rockets will be moved from the arsenal's
storage area to the Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility
on Monday, reports
The Associated Press. The arsenal is one
of eight sites where chemical weapons are stored, and it holds
12 percent of the nation's stockpile. Weapons are also stored
at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky.
Randy Long, the site project manager, told AP,
"We have confirmed the readiness of our plant, processes
and people to begin safe and environmentally sound disposal
operations. Our plan is to start slowly, gradually increasing
the rate of processing to ensure successful operations for
the life cycle of the project."
U. S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., told AP he believes
the incineration process will go smoothly. "I have been
in numerous meetings with officials from both the Pine Bluff
Arsenal and the Washington Group International,
which is the organization that contracts to carry out the
demilitarization process. Both have assured me they have carefully
and cautiously completed all the testing and safety procedures
necessary to safely carry out the demilitarization process,"
Ross said. Some 3,850 tons of nerve gas and blister agents
are to be destroyed to conform to an international treaty.
Kentucky-bound sludge proposal reviewed; Nashville
not sure of disposal plan
Officials in Nashville are looking into whether
they want to allow partially treated sewage sludge from the
city to be used for strip-mine reclamation in Western Kentucky.
Sonia Harvat, spokeswoman for Nashville's Metro
Water Services, told
James Bruggers of The Courier-Journal that
the agency's attorneys are reviewing their contract with BFI,
the company that hauls sludge from two wastewater-treatment
plants, to determine "what is allowed and not allowed."
Louisville environmental attorney Tom FitzGerald,
director of the Kentucky Resources Council,
told Bruggers Nashville would share what could be potentially
costly liability if the sludge were to contaminate groundwater
in Hopkins County, Ky. In two letters to the state of Kentucky,
FitzGerald has urged regulators to scrutinize the potential
for the sludge to pollute groundwater.
At issue is a proposal by BioReclamation
LLC, of Wickliffe, Ky., to truck as much as 500 tons
of sludge a day to 300 acres about 14 miles south of Madisonville.
It would be buried in unlined trenches there for final treatment
and later dug up and used to help reclaim strip-mined land.
Bacteria that do not need oxygen would eat pathogens that
are in the sludge while it is buried, according to the proposal,
writes Bruggers.
R. Bruce Scott, director of the Kentucky Division
of Waste Management, told The C-J his staff is reviewing
the proposal to see whether it has merit. If it does, Scott
said, his staff would solicit public input before making a
decision. He also said that he was not familiar with treating
sludge in trenches. Don Bowles, who wants to use the sludge
to help reclaim mining land he owns, told Bruggers the sludge
isn't toxic.
Shooters leaving shell casings in Daniel Boone
Forest; rangers say cleanup a problem
Kentucky gun enthusiasts, looking to sharpen
their aim in the great outdoors, are inspiring a ruckus rivaling
the sounds of target practice from forest rangers.
“An explosion of spring color has taken
on a new meaning in the Daniel Boone National Forest.
Green buds on the willow and yellow flowers in the meadow
now include red, black and silver bullet casings across the
forest floor,” writes
Roger Alford of The Associated Press.
Rangers in the forest, named for a famous marksman, say warm-weather
target shooters are increasingly leaving behind heaps of shell
casings and, in some instances, live cartridges.
U.S. Forest Service ranger
John Strojan told Alford, as he sat near someone's favorite
shooting spot, "It is a problem. I don't know how much
time and resource we spend picking up areas like this."
Empty ammunition boxes had been left on the ground. A few
live rounds lay mingled among the spent cartridges, writes
Alford. Soda cans hanging on tree limbs had been riddled by
bullets. Strojan said people risk citations for leaving such
messes behind. "If you target shoot, and you leave your
targets, litter, bottles, shotgun casings, you are violating
a (litter) regulation."
The Forest Service has opened four shooting
ranges in the Daniel Boone National Forest to give people
safe places to shoot. But, Strojan told AP, people too often
drive in the forest, park on a ridge top, set up soda cans,
and start shooting, without regard to what or who might be
in the background. He told Alford, "We have people who
shoot in areas that they think are safe, but quite often they're
not safe."
Perrin de Jong, head of the environmental group
Kentucky Heartwood and an avid hiker in the
Daniel Boone, told Alford, that shooters aren't always as
careful as they should be. He said he has heard bullets whiz
through the air as he walked in the woods. He said, "It's
definitely a dangerous situation for anybody. I have definitely
been in life-threatening situations because of someone out
there shooting and didn't realize we're out there."
School library book with sexually explicit
content brings complaints from parents
Parents at East Middle School
in Shelbyville, Ky., are complaining about a book in the school
library, with some committee members calling for a book rating
system and others saying the students should have the right
to choose what they read.
The book in question, called “Alice on
the Outside,” has a main character called Alice who
asks adult family members serious questions about sex, including
how intercourse feels and masturbation, reports Terri Miller
of the Sentinel-News. Joe and Candy Riley
complained to the East Middle School’s Book Challenge
Committee. Members compromised to have the book still on loan,
but only available through the librarian’s office with
parental permission.
The Rileys say the book advocates lesbianism
and multiple sex partners, Miller writes. Some committee members
agreed they wouldn’t want their children reading it.
Sandy Phillips thinks the story is good, but the author uses
words and content she wouldn’t want her daughter to
read. "We don't use those words in our home," she
said. She also said she wished the library had a rating system
so parents knew what their children were reading.
However, teacher Suzanne Guelda said the message
is a good one, because Alice seeks advice from trusted adults
for her questions. "That was the overall theme, and I
really would hate to see it pulled," Guelda said. Librarian
Louise Watts said the students should be able to choose what
they read, Miller writes. "Reading is a choice, and as
such, I think it should stay on the shelf," she said.
"I think they have the right to make choices. It's called
intellectual freedom. We don't want to get into rating books."
North Dakota restriction
on judicial speech denied; First Amendment rights cited
A federal judge has ruled North Dakota's restrictions
on what judicial candidates can say while campaigning violates
their free-speech rights.
The rules limit candidates to discussing little
besides their resumes, and state candidates may not promise
anything other than to do the job faithfully and impartially,
writes
Dale Wetzel of The Associated Press. District
Judge Daniel Hovland told AP the restrictions "pose a
chilling effect" on efforts by judicial candidates to
express their views on problems confronting the judiciary
and how they propose to deal with them.
Hovland also told the wire service it was "clear
that a judicial candidate's speech during an election campaign
occupies the core of the protections afforded by the First
Amendment." The decision follows a Supreme Court ruling
three years ago that struck down some limits on judicial candidates'
speech in Minnesota. Hovland said North Dakota's speech restrictions
on judges were almost indistinguishable from those overruled
in the Minnesota case, he writes.
The North Dakota Family Alliance,
a group that advocates socially conservative views, challenged
the rules in federal court after several state district judge
candidates declined to respond to a questionnaire it distributed.
The alliance's director, Christina Rondeau, praised the ruling.
"The way things have been, it really made the whole idea
of being able to elect your judges almost a farce, because
you're trying to elect someone without having any real idea
about their opinions or their philosophy."
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Rural areas feel unprepared
for attacks; resources lacking to counter bioterrorism
Rural health officials believe they are woefully
unprepared to respond to a possible terror attack on food
supplies, nuclear power facilities or other targets.
"A survey of health officials in 26 states
also found that most rural areas would not be prepared for
a bioterror attack or have the resources to handle a surge
of people fleeing urban areas under assault," writes
Lara Jakes Jordan of The Associated Press.
The study, sponsored in part by the Harvard School
of Public Health and the University of Pittsburgh,
comes as the Department of Homeland Security
is proposing to award federal aid to states and localities
based on the level of threats they face, writes Jordan. Small
and rural states fear such an approach would dramatically
cut funding for their emergency responders.
Michael Meit, director of the University
of Pittsburgh's Center for Rural Health Practice
in Bradford, Pa., told Jordan, "We just want to make
sure that rural areas aren't forgotten about, and that we're
getting enough resources to be prepared at an adequate level.''
The survey looked at 26 states ranked among the highest and
lowest in a 2003 assessment of bioterrorism preparedness.
It also examined which states received funding from the Cities
Readiness Initiative, a pilot program by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to respond
to large-scale public health emergencies.
Of the rural states, 18 percent received high
rankings for bioterrorism preparedness and 6 percent received
the readiness funding. By comparison, 63 percent of the urban
states ranked high on the preparedness list, and 75 percent
got the funding. The survey noted that water supply and energy
sources, including nuclear plants, usually are based in rural
communities.
Rural areas contending
with rise in homelessness; cities spilling over, say advocates
Homelessness is no longer just an urban phenomenon.
It is spilling over into rural areas.
“When she moved into the homeless shelter
in rural Ponchatoula, La., Nicole Henderson thought it was
temporary. That was two years ago, when the House
of Serenity opened. Henderson, now 22 years old,
and her three children, have been living there on and off
ever since,” writes
The Associated Press. "The floors are
unfinished. Mold is all over the bathroom ceiling. The refrigerators
are chained and padlocked. But at least there are rooms, and
a roof." The Hendersons, AP notes, are far from the only
residents. Twenty-nine others live there too.
Advocates for the homeless say the rural shelter
is an accurate barometer of a growing national problem. Brad
Paul, executive director of the Washington-based National
Policy and Advocacy Council on Homelessness, told
the wire service it is even more hidden in rural areas. He
says families double and triple up, or live in houses that
would be condemned in bigger cities.
Flow of illegal immigrants
‘unabated,' says report; Maryland, Va., D.C. largest
influx
Despite tighter border enforcement and an economic
slump after Sept. 11, 2001, the number of illegal immigrants
in the United States has continued to grow steadily, with
many moving into states that traditionally have small foreign-born
populations, according to a new report released yesterday.
Based on Census Bureau and
other government data, the Pew Hispanic Center,
a private research group in Washington, estimated the number
of undocumented immigrants at 10.3 million as of last March,
an increase of 23 percent from the 8.4 million estimate in
2000, writes
Sylvia Moreno of The Washington Post. More
than 50 percent of that growth was attributable to Mexican
nationals living illegally in the United States.
Most of the overall growth has been in states
that previously had small foreign-born populations, including
Arizona and North Carolina, as well as the Washington metropolitan
area. The combined population of illegal immigrants in Maryland,
Virginia and the District increased almost 70 percent from
an estimated 300,000 in 2000 to about 500,000 in 2004, said
demographer Jeffrey S. Passel of the Pew Hispanic Center,
writes Moreno.
The reason, Passel told Moreno, is simple. "What
drives the growth in immigrant populations in general is employment
opportunities," especially in fields that do not require
formal education. The report comes on the eve of a mini-summit
in Texas tomorrow during which President Bush, Mexican President
Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin are scheduled
to discuss immigration, among other topics, she continued.
Johanns supports Bush, says big farm subsidies
shouldn’t trump rural development
Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns supported
President Bush’s plan for the federal deficit, which
proposes trims to some rural programs next year, at “The
State of 21st Century Rural America: Implications for Policy
and Practice.”
At the conference, sponsored by the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation, Johanns said Monday that
rural development and nutrition programs shouldn’t face
further cuts as a trade-off for large federal crop subsidies,
reports
Jake Thompson of the Omaha World-Herald.
(Site requires free registration.) "The president's
got the right idea here," Johanns said. "You've
got to deal with the deficit, or there won't be economic prosperity
for any of us."
Bush’s cuts include stringent payment
limits and cutting subsidy payments for crop farmers from
$360,000 to $250,000, reports Thompson. He also wants to close
loopholes for large Southern cotton and rice farming operations,
which allow them to get millions of dollars of federal funds.
Chuck Hassebrook, head of the Center for Rural Affairs
in Lyons, Neb., said Johanns’ test would be whether
he fights for the proposed payment limits. He expressed concern
for funding in rural areas, because many people involved with
rural development know the federal government has played a
key role in shoring up small towns, Thompson reported.
Johanns touted Bush’s first-term record
for rural investment, noting $14.7 billion federal investment
in housing, which helped over 170,000 rural families. He added
that $22.2 billion went to rural infrastructures like electricity,
water and getting high-speed Internet access to over 1.3 million
rural homes and businesses. This is one newpaper's perspective
on the Kellogg conference. IRJCI Interim Director Al Cross
filed his report in yesterday's blog.
ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY
FCC could suspend regulations that force utility
company to sell 'naked' DSL
The Federal Communications Commission
could suspend four states' public utility regulations
that force BellSouth to sell “naked” DSL, digital
subscriber lines sold separately from local phone service,
said a source familiar with the situation. Phone service and
DSL have been inextricably linked in the past, reports
Ben Charny of CNET News.com.
The possible ruling would affect millions of
homeowners in California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana.
BellSouth’s supporters have previously warned of the
possibility of different state regulations for naked DSL,
which could slow the growth of broadband.
New broadband technology
in Nebraska sparks debate in state legislature
New technology to bring high-speed Internet
access to Nebraska has fueled a debate in the state legislature
over whether or not it would succeed in bringing broadband
to rural areas, and whether or not it would give an unfair
competitive advantage to public utilities. If implemented,
it could make Internet connection available by plugging a
computer into an electrical outlet.
The service, called broadband over power lines,
is being studied by the Omaha Public Power District
to see if it works, according to OPPD spokesman Mike
Jones. It may not be cheaper than other broadband services,
writes
Leslie Reed of the Omaha World-Herald, and
in fact DSL prices in highly competitive markets are often
lower.
Special equipment is needed to boost signals
and route them around transformers, Reed writes, so it may
not be the solution to getting high-speed Internet access
to remote homes and businesses. It also may offer an unfair
advantage to public utilities, which have tax advantages and
public financing, over private companies, Reed writes.
ACCESS TO RECORDS
Governments want right
to sue open-records seekers; libertarians strongly oppose
North Carolina cities and other government agencies
want the authority to sue citizens who ask to see public records.
They are pursuing that authority in two ways,
writes
Martha Eisley of the News & Observer
of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, N.C., "First, lawyers
for local governments and the University of North
Carolina are talking about pushing for a new state
law allowing pre-emptive lawsuits against citizens, news organizations
and private companies to clarify the law when there is a dispute
about providing records or opening meetings."
"Second," she continues, "the
city of Burlington is appealing a ruling last year by the
state Court of Appeals that said the government can't take
people to court to try to block their access to records or
meetings. Citizens can sue the government over records, the
court said, but not the reverse."
North Carolina's League of Municipalities
supports Burlington. Ellis Hankins, the league's executive
director, told Eisley, "It makes sense to ask a court
what the law is when there's a dispute about the Open Meetings
Law, just like when there's a dispute about anything else."
The cities say they are not interested in punishing people
who criticize policies or demand information. They want to
use an ordinary tool often deployed in other kinds of legal
disputes, a "declaratory judgment," to let judges
settle public access disagreements.
Urging the Supreme Court to forbid pre-emptive
government lawsuits are news organizations and civil rights
advocates on the political left, right and center, including
the state's newspapers and broadcasters, the conservative
John Locke Foundation, and the liberal American
Civil Liberties Union. For The Charlotte
Observer version click here.
Record 4 million FOIA requests filed in 2004;
most to SSA for family histories
Americans made more than 4 million requests
to the federal government under the Freedom of Information
Act in 2004, a new high for requests in a single year.
Harry Hammitt, who publishes Access
Reports, a newsletter on freedom-of-information laws,
told
Martha Mendoza of The Associated Press, "Four
million requests in a year is pretty impressive, and it shows
that the Freedom of Information Act is a vibrant and important
tool.”
Most of the increase was due to the 1.5 million
requests received by the Social Security Administration,
which reported twice as many requests in 2004 than in 2003.
Administration spokesman Mark Hinkle told AP, "The majority
of our requests are for family members who are tracing their
family tree." Hammitt told the wire service, because
as many as 80 percent of last year's requests were routine
queries for family, personal or medical records, the public
should not assume they led to the release of the historic,
political or declassified files people often associate with
the act. Requests last year increased from 3.26 million in
2003, according to a survey of reports from more than 70 federal
agencies and departments.
Open records copies:
Many free, some costly and restrictive, Iowa investigation
shows
Iowa newspapers and Drake University
journalism students have found the cost of open government
may vary from free to more restrictive but is cheap compared
to the costs of governing in secret. “It costs 15 bucks
to get a copy of a police incident report from the Des
Moines Police Department. The same type of report
costs 25 cents at the Denison Police Department,”
writes
Collene Krantz of The Des Moines Register.
An investigation by 15 Iowa newspapers and Drake
University journalism students found 66 percent of the law
enforcement agencies in the state charge nothing for their
incident reports. Altogether, 58 percent of the offices provided
small numbers of photocopies free of charge to office visitors.
As the Des Moines and Denison police departments illustrate,
however, when copying fees are levied, the range can vary
widely.
The investigation found that when offices charged
photocopying fees, the average per-page amount was 25 cents.
When flat fees were charged for copies, regardless of the
number of pages, the average was $4.86. Attorney General Tom
Miller told the newspaper he was impressed that more than
half of the offices visited by the newspaper provided copies
of the records for free. "We think at most it should
be 50 cents a page, and I think it's best to have much less
than that," Miller told Krantz."We recommend to
not charge if it's a few pages."
The investigation was conducted by the Ames
Tribune, Burlington Hawk Eye, Cedar
Rapids Gazette, Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil,
Des Moines Register, Dubuque Telegraph Herald,
Fort Dodge Messenger, Iowa City Press-Citizen,
Mason City Globe-Gazette, N'West
Iowa Review of Sheldon, Ottumwa Courier,
Quad-City Times of Davenport, Sioux
City Journal, Storm Lake Times and
Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier.
FAITH AND VALUES
Church reverses ban on
aid groups; pastor apologizes for stand on Catholics
The pastor of a Church of God announced from
the pulpit Sunday that the Charlotte church will continue
supporting two ministries it had decided to quit helping.
He also later apologized for comments he wrote about Catholicism.
The Rev. Loran Livingston, though, had told
Religion Editor Ken Garfield of The Charlotte Observer
the church would no longer support Charlotte Rescue
Mission, citing in part the involvement of three
Muslim students who helped serve a meal there. "I'm apologizing.
I'm telling all the people for the hurt, 'I'm sorry.'... As
long as we can, we're going to help until the Lord tells us
to redirect our wealth."
Livingston's apology, covered by Garfield in
the church sanctuary, partially reverses an earlier church
decision. The Pentecostal mega-church had recently decided
to quit backing four local ministries over interfaith issues.
In a March letter announcing plans to cut church ties with
the food pantry, Central Church of God minister of evangelism
Shannon Burton wrote, "We feel we should abstain from
any ministry that partners with or promotes Catholicism, or
for that matter, any other denomination promoting a works-based
salvation." The charity targeted by the letter had received
support from 10 to 15 Roman Catholic parishes, plus Jewish
and other faith groups.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte
responded, in part, to Burton's letter: "This apparent
attempt to divide the faith community is most unfortunate."
The Rev. Tony Marciano, executive director of Charlotte Rescue
Mission, told the newspaper that Burton said the church could
no longer support the agency after it allowed the three Muslim
students from UNC-Charlotte to volunteer
at the uptown ministry.
Kentucky casino efforts
get boost from legal opinion; church group cries foul
A new attorney general's opinion could give
momentum to the movement to bring casino gambling to Kentucky.
"Attorney General Greg Stumbo reversed
four opinions of previous attorneys general, finding yesterday
that state legislators can expand gambling without amending
the constitution,"
write Janet Patton and Jack Brammer of the Lexington
Herald-Leader. A constitutional amendment would require
voter approval. Stumbo's opinion, reflecting what he said
when he was House floor leader, said lawmakers could institute
casino gambling without voter approval.
The racing industry, which wants slot machines
at race tracks, hailed the opinion. The Rev. Nancy Jo Kemper,
executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches,
which opposes expanded gambling, criticized the opinion as
"an attempt to let gambling interests buy the legislature
with campaign contributions. It reflects Stumbo's own political
ambition and willingness to defy the people of this state
for greed."
The attorney general's opinion does not have
the force of law. But, Stumbo said, "It is clear from
this debate that the framers of the constitution did not intend
for this language to prohibit other types of gaming."
Stumbo says he expects the gambling issue to rise again during
the 2006 session of the General Assembly. He told the newspaper,
"This issue of expanded gaming is not going to go away,
not when we've got those casinos on our borders, not when
we're losing $400 million a year in tax revenue."
Gaming bill advances in West Virginia; opponents
want statewide referendum
Supporters of legalizing table gaming at West
Virginia’s four race tracks will roll the dice today,
betting on a bill supporting gambling that's scheduled to
be on the Senate Judiciary Committee agenda this afternoon.
Committee Chairman Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall,
said, “I haven’t done a headcount myself, but
[the bill’s supporters] think they have the votes.”
The bill would authorize referendums to legalize table games
such as poker and blackjack in the four counties with racetracks,
writes
Phil Kabler of the Charleston Gazette. Action
on the bill has been anticipated throughout the session. It
was delayed last week after Senate Democrats gave priority
to a bill that would prohibit third-party bad-faith lawsuits
against insurance companies, she adds.
That bill is expected to be up for a final vote
on the Senate floor later this week. The lead sponsor, Sen.
Andy McKenzie, R-Ohio, said he believes there are enough votes
to pass the measure. He told Kabler yesterday, “I think
there will only be two issues. One is local referendum or
statewide. The other issue is how the revenues are divvied
up between all of the people that want to grab some of the
money.” Gambling opponents hope to amend the bill to
require a referendum statewide, rather than in the four host
counties.
LOGS
& HOGS
Georgia may permit dive
for old logs; enviros oppose; timber industry says it's rare
wood
A century after loggers stopped using Georgia's
rivers to move their product, the state Legislature is considering
a bill to let divers extract sinkers: the lost logs that have
been resting on river bottoms.
Environmentalists oppose the practice —
called deadhead logging — which has been illegal in
Georgia since 1998. They say removing the large logs will
stir up massive amounts of silt, ruining fish habitats and
polluting the water, writes
Stacy Shelton of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Deadhead loggers and others who specialize
in the rare, old-growth wood that once covered the Southeast
say the submerged logs are buried treasure and that careful
techniques can protect the environment. Some are willing to
pay the proposed annual permit fee of $10,000 to search two
river miles. That's equivalent to what developers pay to strip
125 acres of land to build a subdivision or shopping center,
writes Shelton.
Ryan Lee of Riverwood Flooring
in Cairo told the newspaper the submerged logs are worth it.
"It's virgin-growth timber. . . . We'll never see trees
like that again." His South Georgia company pulls logs
out of Florida rivers, where deadheading has been legal since
1998.
It is a big pig, but
not that big; National Geographic downsizes 'Hogzilla’s'
legend
Hogzilla, the carcass, did not quite measure
up to Hogzilla, the legend, made famous by a single, frequently
e-mailed photograph, according to a documentary shown on the
National Geographic Channel.
“But to fans of the supposedly 12-foot-long,
1,000-pound wild hog, shot on a South Georgia farm near the
town of Alapaha last June, the important thing was that Hogzilla
existed,” writes
Shaila Dewan of The New York Times. They
did not mind that a team of scientists who exhumed the carcass
estimated that the pig was only about 8 feet long and 800
pounds, she continued. Darlene Turner of Jernigan's Trustworthy
Hardware in Alapaha, which does a brisk business
in Hogzilla T-shirts, said, "I was not at all disappointed.
I actually thought it was about nine foot."
The owner of fish farm where the hog was shot
and the employee, who downed the beast, had a rebuttal to
the show, The Times reports, They say the hog shrunk after
being buried for six months. Scientists tested and concluded
Hogzilla was a mix of wild boar and a domestic breed. Its
tusks, measuring nearly 33 inches together, set a North
American Safari Club International record. John Mayer
II, one of the scientists in the documentary, said in an interview
that he believed Hogzilla had to have been pen-raised, because
of its size and because its tusks could only have grown that
long in a protected environment.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Johanns defends Bush’s
rural policies at Kellogg Foundation seminar
Sharply divergent views of public policy about
rural America were on display today at a Washington, D.C.,
seminar sponsored by the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation. One came from Rick Foster,
a foundation vice president; the other came from new Agriculture
Secretary Mike Johanns, the two-day seminar’s keynote
speaker.
Rural America has proven its political importance
but is not getting the rewards, Foster said. “It has
elected the president in the last two elections, and probably
will elect the next two, and yet has a problem getting the
rural agenda on the platform.”
But Johnanns said the Bush administration gave
the country a rural policy and revived a rural dialogue “that
had stalled for a decade.” He cited research showing
that in some ways, rural economic growth is outpacing the
rest of the nation.
Asked to explain Bush’s proposed cuts
in farm subsidies and rural development, Johanns said the
federal budget deficit “is a very serious problem,”
noted Bush’s goal of cutting the deficit in half in
five years and said, “For the long-term economic stability
of our country, the president’s goal is the right goal.”
He said the administration has a strong commitment
to rural-development programs, and said its rural proposals
will help local communities use federal money more efficiently.
Bush has proposed major cuts and consolidation of community
development block grant programs, which Johanns said were
“a tremendous resources” for his efforts to help
rural communities when he was governor of Nebraska.
Asked how he could assure that the restructuring
of those programs would be appropriate for rural communities,
he promised to listen to specific complaints. “If you
have concerns, head my direction,” he said, adding later
that if his listeners took one message from his appearance,
it should be “My door is always open.”
RADIO
Real local news: Rarer
but still there; some stations still do obituaries, birthdays
Rural ‘hometown’ radio stations,
once prolific and profuse boosters of all things local, have,
in recent decades, lost much of their 'homey' flavor, giving
way to the wave of mega-chain-owned, often cloned, more packaged
or networked programming with little indigenous content or
interest. But, out there in the hinterlands, a few stalwarts
remain, against the tide, and those faithful few are special.
Tim Jones of the Chicago Tribune writes:
“Some days there are a half-dozen, while
on others there might be only one or two. Some days there
aren't any. But at 8:30 every morning, the newscaster at radio
station KVFD-AM in Fort Dodge, Iowa sets aside time to read
the local obituaries. These few moments usually draw one of
the biggest — if not the biggest — audiences of
the broadcast day.” Travis Reeves, KVFD's
general manager told Jones, "A lot of people feel it's
distasteful," but "When you live in this town and
you see the same faces every day, when somebody's gone it
makes a difference and should be noted."
In small, isolated communities across Iowa,
at stations too tiny to draw the serious attention of giant,
publicly traded radio conglomerates, the old ways of broadcasting
defy the cookie-cutter realities of homogenized modern radio,
Jones writes. While a growing number of stations are simply
automated cash registers with antennas, small stations that
did not get gobbled up in a corporate rush to enhance the
earnings of distant shareholders maintain an ongoing conversation
with their listeners. They read obituaries, sometimes as often
as five times a day.
Mark Saylor, news director at KSIB-AM
in the southwestern Iowa community of Creston, told Jones,
"A lot of old people like to tune in to make sure they're
not on the list." They make birthday announcements, including
Dorothy Carrithers', in the tiny southeast Iowa town of Morning
Sun, population 872. Carrithers turned 104 on Feb. 9. John
Kuhens, general manager of KILJ-AM-FM in
Mount Pleasant, Iowa, told Jones, "We're the closest
thing to Hollywood that a lot of people in rural Iowa will
ever see."
Every weekday, small stations read the lunch
menus of the local public schools. They exchange pineapple
upside-down cake recipes and pass along gossip from neighboring
towns. Live coverage of local sports can mean junior high
and high school volleyball, even wrestling matches, he writes.
FCC promises to address regulation concerns
from low-power FM broadcasters
Low power FM broadcasters praised the Federal
Communications Commission for its latest efforts
to promote LPFM. Last February the FCC held a forum in which
LPFM broadcasters explained how current FCC rules hinder the
service’s development. Departing FCC Chairman Michael
Powell promised to address the LPFM community’s issues
“as soon as possible," reports
the Free Press.
LPFM radio stations, which broadcast at 100
watts or less, are licensed to community groups, churches
and schools, the Free Press reports. The Prometheus
Radio Project worked with the FCC to get the radio
stations approved in 1999 and 2000.
A chief concern among the LPFM community is
the proliferation of FM translators, which compete for the
same radio spaces, the Press writes. Translators repeat signals
from full power stations or satellite feed, but LPFM stations
provide local programming. Right now, FCC rules favor allotting
radio space to whoever gets in first. In 2000, Congress cut
the number of channels for LPFM, and required the FCC to see
if its original rules would create interference with full
power broadcasters. Congress is now considering restoring
the channels, the Press writes.
COAL
MSHA chief sought private
industry job six months before leaving government post
The Bush administration’s first federal
mine-safety chief sought an industry job six months before
he formally left the government just after last year’s
election, according to records Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston
Gazette obtained under the federal Freedom of Information
Act.
"Dave D. Lauriski, then-assistant secretary
of Labor, discussed potential jobs with three different companies
or industry groups, according to the records," Ward writes.
Starting in May 2004, Lauriski recused himself from any actions
involving the three firms, the records show. The Gazette filed
public records requests for the recusal documents in December
and again in January. Labor Department officials provided
the records last week.
Department officials refused to name the two
companies or groups where Lauriski did not end up taking a
job. Lauriski did not announce he was leaving his $135,000-a-year
job at the Mine Safety and Health Administration
until Nov. 12, 10 days after the election, Ward writes. When
Lauriski’s resignation was announced, labor department
officials refused to provide any details of any recusal letters
he signed while he was job hunting. Eryn Witcher, a department
spokeswoman, would say only that Lauriski “followed
all ethical requirements.”
A week before the election, Lauriski denied
reports from government sources he had informed Labor Secretary
Elaine Chao that he would not return if Bush won a second
term. Lauriski said in an Oct. 26 statement, “I am busy
continuing to lead this agency toward improved health and
safety performance. I’ve made no decisions, nor have
we discussed my future regarding the agency.” During
the campaign, Democrat John Kerry and Kerry supporters within
the United Mine Workers were critical of
Lauriski and of his ties to the mining industry, Ward notes.
Ex-mine inspector wins community-service award
from Appalachian Studies Assn.
Jack Spadaro, the federal coal-mine inspector
who repeatedly took on his bosses and their political overseers,
accepted the Helen Lewis Community Service Award at the annual
conference of the Appalachian Studies Association
Saturday.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration
demoted and transferred Spadaro after he resigned from a team
investigating the 2000 Martin County, Ky., coal-slurry spill,
and said MSHA was trying to cover up its lack of action against
previous violations at the Massey Energy impoundment. An internal
review by MSHA “confirmed the allegations at the heart
of Spadaro’s concerns,” but the agency’s
inspector general has delayed a release of a report on the
allegations, Ken Ward Jr. of the Charleston Gazette
reported last year.
To a standing ovation from those attending the
conference at Radford (Va.) University, Spadaro
said his “only purpose in raising Cain” was to
hold accountable a company that has “one of the worst
environmental records” in the coal industry and “got
away with” the spill, which the Environmental
Protection Agency called the worst environmental
disaster ever in the southeastern United States. Spadaro also
railed against mountaintop-removal mining, laying out some
statistics for the scholars and activists in the audience.
He said the mining practice has stripped 380,000
acres in West Virginia, 320,000 in Kentucky and 90,000 in
southwest Virginia, created the largest earthen structures
in North America (valley fills using the rock and dirt taken
from the mountaintops), buried or severely damaged 1,900 miles
of streams and increased sedimentation in 1,200 more miles.
At current rates, he said, in the foreseeable future 2,500
square miles of land and 3,500 miles of streams “will
be destroyed . . . and one of the most precious ecosystems
in the world will be completely lost forever.”
Mining
interests say mountaintop removal creates badly needed
jobs
in the region and provides land for other
uses:
Horses feed in fields
atop Appalachia's old coal mines; rivaling Bluegrass pastures?
Pastureland in Appalachian Kentucky sitting
atop old coal mines is now providing another natural resource
for yet another of the state’s signature industries.
“Horses stand at attention in grassy fields,
heads held high in a warm breeze, while colts prance about
in a postcard-perfect scene. What sounds like a description
of Central Kentucky's Bluegrass country is actually in the
heart of Appalachia, where mining companies in search of coal
have turned once-rugged mountaintops into prime grazing land,”
writes
Roger Alford of The Associated Press.
Brian Combs, a University of Kentucky
agricultural agent, told Alford, "The land is just so
vast. Horses can just graze and graze and graze." Through
the mining process, thousands of acres that were once dense
forests, mountain peaks and steep valleys are now grasslands
that provide a nearly perfect habitat for horses, writes Alford.
The result is a fledgling equine industry in mountain communities
where horses were once rare.
No one knows the exact size of Eastern Kentucky's
mountain region horse population, but the American
Horse Council estimates it is now home to about 12,000
of the state's 180,000 horses. Combs told Alford, "People
are running horses on some of these reclaimed strip mines
by the hundreds. If reclaimed surface mines are properly maintained,
they provide more than enough forage. In some places, you
have free-range grazers."
Coal companies have long been criticized for
taking the tops off mountains in Eastern Kentucky and southern
West Virginia. But, writes Alford, it's the process of restoring
the land after the coal is extracted that has made the mountaintops
a grazing haven. Coal company crews plant various grasses
on the land in hopes of preventing erosion. In addition to
horses, farmers are increasingly putting their cattle, goats
and sheep on the mountaintop pastures. And among wild animals,
coyotes, deer and elk have found a home there, he writes.
Minister, ex-miner, killed
in overweight coal truck crash; echo heard in government?
The death of a minister and ex-coal miner, killed
in a crash with an overweight coal truck near Inez, Kentucky
has caused echoes in the halls of state government, more than
150 miles away.
Lee Mueller, Eastern Kentucky Bureau chief for
the Lexington Herald-Leader, writes
of Rev. Lonnie Preece, “He had picked up garbage from
nearby relatives and hauled it to Martin County's collection
center … just west of Inez. Then Preece, 55, pastor
of the Bethel United Baptist Church, headed
back home.” Charles Wiley Jr., 27, driving an overloaded,
westbound coal truck, swerved suddenly into Preece's lane
and collided head-on with his pickup.
Because the March 7 tragedy involved an overweight
truck, the crash echoed loudly in Frankfort, 165 miles away,
Mueller writes. Lawmakers were to vote on a controversial
House bill that would have unleashed new fleets of heavy trucks
hauling taxable "natural resources" on Kentucky's
highways. The 2005 legislative session resumes today, when
a House member could try to revive the bill.
If Preece's death influenced some legislators
to change their votes, family members say he would be pleased.
Ronnie Caldwell, a son-in-law who works for a Prestonsburg
bank said Preece would be "Tickled to death." Diane
Smith of Inez, a niece, told Mueller, "He was a very
good preacher, but he was a great man."
Wiley was cited for hauling 150,150 pounds of
coal on a highway with a 62,000-pound limit. Even though he
was 88,150 pounds overweight, the coal was still a foot below
the top of the bed. The coal company had loaded his truck
and he told officials he did not know how much weight he was
hauling. Appalachian Fuels official Carl
Simmons in Ashland did not return a phone call seeking comment.
ENVIRONMENT
Smokies clearing the
air with TVA help; park on 'right track,' still the most polluted
The air is a little cleaner and the view a little
brighter in the Great Smoky Mountains, but it's still considered
the most polluted national park in the country.
"Scientists monitoring the volume of man-made
smog and soot in the Smokies ...are cautiously optimistic
a turnaround is under way," writes
Duncan Mansfield of The Associated Press.
That means the more than 9 million visitors to this woodland
playground on the Tennessee-North Carolina border may breathe
a little easier at the height of summer and possibly see a
little farther on the haziest days. Full recovery for this
520,000-acre environmental barometer for the region still
may be decades away, but it doesn't seem to be curbing anyone's
enthusiasm, he continues.
Jim Renfro, the park's air specialist, told
Mansfield, "Hey, I can finally start saying one of the
places that has had some pretty tough air pollution problems,
and still does, is on the right track." The trend began
in the late 1990s - attributed largely to milder summers and
nearly $6 billion spent by the Tennessee Valley Authority
on pollution controls for its coal-fired power plants in Tennessee,
north Alabama and western Kentucky, writes Mansfield.
TVA has reduced ozone-forming nitrogen oxide
emissions by 78 percent since 1995 and installed scrubbers
that are removing thousands of tons of sulfur dioxide, a precursor
to smog and acid rain. TVA accounted for a quarter of the
2,000 tons a day of nitrogen oxide emitted in Tennessee in
1999. By 2007, TVA's share will be down to a tenth of a much
smaller total of some 1,500 tons a day.
Group battles plan to
log West Virginia’s Cheat River Canyon; home to rare
species
Allegheny Wood Products, a
logging company based in Petersburg, is planning major logging
operations in the scenic Cheat River Canyon, drawing opposition
from an environmentalist group concerned about run-off pollution.
"Some trees to be cut are readily visible
from Coopers Rock State Forest near Morgantown. Douglas Pence,
a lawyer and outdoorsman, is a member of Friends of
the Cheat, a local group that fought to control acid-mine
drainage from coal mines in Monongalia and Preston counties
for the past 20 years," writes
Paul J. Nyden of The Charleston Gazette.
Pence told Nyden his group is joining with the West
Virginia Sierra Club to fight logging along the Cheat.
Allegheny Wood Products, which has been involved
in another protracted battle over logging in pristine areas
with Friends of Blackwater, recently acquired
5,000 acres of wooded land along the Cheat River. Pence told
Nyden the area is also home to two federally-listed endangered
species, the Indiana Bat and the Cheat Three-Toothed Snail.
The state of West Virginia tried to buy the
property as a wildlife management area, but Allegheny Wood
Products was able to outbid the state, Nyden writes. Pence
told him AWP’s logging plans will upset a habitat “already
heavily impacted by acid mine drainage” and create new
problems. Pence told the newspaper, “Look at the impact
logging and surface mining has had in Southern West Virginia.
Every spring, (some places along the river) are flooded due
to the inability of the hillsides to absorb the water runoff.”
The newspaper was told Donna Record, AWP’s spokeswoman,
was out of town and unavailable for comment. AWP President
John Crites II, was not available.
Nashville wants to send
sludge to Hopkins County, Kentucky; locals displeased
Kentucky regulators are considering a proposal
to move some of Nashville's sewage sludge to Western Kentucky.
The proposal would allow as much as 500 tons
of partially treated sludge a day to be sent from two wastewater
treatment plants in Nashville to a remote area about 14 miles
south of Madisonville,
reports The Associated Press. The sludge
would be buried for final treatment and later dug up and used
to help reclaim strip-mined land.
Hopkins County sanitation supervisor Broc Oglesby
said local residents won't be pleased about it. Oglesby said
he has asked the county attorney whether local government
has any say in the matter. Louisville environmental attorney
Tom FitzGerald said a hearing isn't required, but he has asked
state officials to conduct one. BFI spokesman
David Hollinshead told reporters the company
recently stopped taking the city's sludge to a large Tennessee
landfill, where odor had been a concern. He declined to discuss
the Kentucky proposal. BFI handles Nashville's wastewater.
Sonia Harvat, a spokeswoman for Metro
Water Services in Nashville, said the agency is upgrading
its treatment system to eliminate odor from the sludge. She
said her agency allows BFI to determine the destination for
the sludge. Kentucky got the proposal March 2 from a partnership
including Greer Tidwell, a former Environmental Protection
Agency regional administrator, and Charles Martin,
a former deputy secretary of Kentucky's environmental cabinet.
Groups demand count of Chesapeake Bay fish,
examination of environmental impact
Conservationists and fishing groups have demanded
a closer look at the number of menhaden, aka bunker of fatback
fish, in Chesapeake Bay, a fish so abundant its ground up
for chicken feed.
But nobody knows how many of the fish actually
live in the bay or if the harvest in Reedville, the third
largest U.S. port in terms of landings, is big enough to harm
the bay’s environment, reports
Lawrence Latane III of the Times-Dispatch.
To find out, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission is expected to approve research money
for Light Detection and Ranging technology. Lidar can quickly
count the number of menhaden in a given area, the Dispatch
reports. The study would cost about $550,000, said the commission’s
executive director, John V. O’Shea.
Conservations say the fish are a chief source
of food for other bay fish, and they have a chief role in
maintaining water quality by filtering phytoplankton. However,
Omega Protein, a fishing company that harvests the bay’s
menhaden, said the groups are “inventing a crisis.”
The company’s director of governmental affairs, Toby
Gascon, told the Dispatch that last year, some 99,300 metric
tons of the company’s 184,000-metric-ton menhaden harvest
came from the bay. The rest came from the Atlantic Ocean.
"Here we are," Gascon said, "a fishery without
regulations whose catches are declining in the bay, and all
of a sudden there's this 'sky is falling' attitude."
OTHER NEWS
Kentucky ethanol plant
reaps profits; gasoline-price rise spurring demand
An ethanol plant near Hopkinsville, Ky., owned
by two groups of farmer investors, has turned a quick profit
amid strong demand spurred partly by rising gasoline prices.
"The Commonwealth Agri-Energy
ethanol plant, which opened a year ago, has produced 24.3
million gallons of corn-based fuel. An expansion that should
be completed by year's end will raise the production capacity
to 30 million gallons," reports
The Associated Press. Plant manager Kevin
Smith told AP, "We did better than our projections. We
figured in the first year we'd break even."
"Instead, the plant turned a $3.5 million
profit that ...will pay the entire cost of the $5.5 million
expansion," the wire service writes. The plant is owned
by the 650 members of the Kentucky Corn Growers' Association
and the 2,300 members of the Hopkinsville
Elevator Cooperative. Part of the construction cost
was financed with $9.3 million from the state's tobacco settlement
fund that helps farmers find alternatives to growing tobacco.
The wholesale price of ethanol is about $1.56 a gallon, equal
to the current wholesale price of gasoline. "As the price
of gasoline has gone up, so has the demand for ethanol,"
Smith said. "We are getting more and more inquiries …
and more and more interest."
Ethanol is mixed with gasoline and helps reduce
carbon dioxide emissions to meet federal clean air standards.
Smith said about half the plant's ethanol goes to a large
blending facility in Louisville. He said demand should increase
as smaller suppliers learn the formula for blending. In its
first year, the plant bought 8 million bushels of corn, mostly
from Christian County farmers. "That is a brand-new market
for them that didn't exist a year ago," he said, and
added the market area will expand as the plant expands.
South Dakota Indian reservation
faces water crisis; poverty complicating solutions
Some 14,000 residents of the Cheyenne
River Indian Reservation, near Sioux Falls, S.D.,
could run out of water by August because of a drought along
the Missouri River basin.
“The drought could cause the tribe problems
with health care and firefighting. The reservation's schools
and its only hospital and clinic would have to close,”
reports
The Associated Press. Wayne Ducheneaux, a
tribal official and a member of a task force working to come
up with a water plan, said, "It will be more than just
running out of water for a couple of days. There will be 14,000
people that have no water." Rebecca Kidder, a lawyer
for the tribe, told the wire service, “Poverty is complicating
the matter.” The reservation lies in two counties, among
the poorest in the state, with one of the counties among the
poorest in the nation. Kidder said, "Any time you're
dealing with that kind of poverty, there aren't as many options
for moving, or even buying bottled water. People don't have
the funds."
Gov. Michael Rounds said on South Dakota
Public Radio, "This has now become a matter
of, do we have enough water for the intakes for domestic water
supplies?" Ducheneaux said heavy mountain snow is the
only sure way to recharge the upper river basin, and that
is not likely to happen.
Tribal, state and other officials hope they
can keep drinking water flowing at least temporarily by extending
the intake farther into the river. Both counties are served
by the Tri-County Water Association. Kidder
said one plan requires four miles of pipe to extend the system's
intake into a deeper part of the river and an additional 18
miles of power lines to pump the water. The project could
cost $6 million. Extending the pipe is not a permanent fix,
however; a long-term solution could cost as much as $76 million
and take at least five years to build, writes AP.
South Carolina tells residents to put our fish
first, ask for local seafood in restaurants
To promote locally caught fish and shrimp in
restaurants, the South Carolina Seafood Alliance
has developed a marketing scheme to get customers to ask for
“South Carolina Originals, ” reports
The Associated Press.
Local fishermen said labor costs and regulations
limit where and how much they can fish, driving up the price
they need to make a living, AP reports. Restaurants who participate
get marketing assistance so customers know those businesses
are part of the project. The plan is similar to one in North
Carolina, which tried to promote locally caught blue crab
meat as “True Blue,” after foreign competition
hurt the local industry, writes the AP.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Major Virginia dailies
wrap up strong effort for Sunshine Week
The national Sunshine Week observance to promote
freedom of information got plenty of light in Virginia, thanks
to the efforts of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Roanoke
Times, both of which continued their work with stories today.
The Times had an interesting Page One story
and sidebars by Tonia Moxley about the public nature of the
e-mails of public officials, Vrginia law on the subject and
the policies of Roanoke-area officials -- some of whom don't
follow the law, which requires e-mails to be kept for three
years but lacks a penalty provision.
The Times-Dispatch has a section-front story
by Tom Campbell about America's long history of open trials
and court records, along with questions readers asked in response
to the paper's series of stories this week and answers from
Forrest "Frosty" Landon, executive director of the
Virginia Coalition for Open Government.
Tomorrow is National
Agriculture Day, so here's a farm report
Thanks to the Agriculture Weekly
Update from the Council of State Governments,
we are able to inform you that Sunday, March 20, is National
Agriculture Day. "In most places there will be little
tribute, as the success of America’s farmers is taken
for granted," CSG says. "Today’s urban population
knows little about the origins of the food and fiber that
stock store shelves. It is up to you, those with an interest
in the future of American agriculture, to get the word out."
Among
the items in this week's update was an item about the Agriculture
Department allocating
$6 million for a "Small-Scale/Limited Resource Farmers
Initiative to help small farmers implement good conservation
practices on their land. NRCS offices in Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North
Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and the Caribbean
will each dedicate up to $500,000 in program funds for the
initiative. The funds will help farmers with 100 acres or
less of cropland implement conservation practices. To be eligible,
at least 10 percent of the cropland acres must be planted
with alternative crops. Cost-share rates will be up to 90
percent for all practices."
The
CSG update also includes items and Web links on develolpment
of a home-grown slaughter industry in British
Columbia, a court
decision on confined animal feeding operations that exempts
more CAFOs but increases burdens for those not exempted, and
bills
in Missouri to relax rules on CAFOs. To subscribe to the
weekly update, go to http://www.csg.org
or click here.
North Carolina tobacco
growers finding out what the free market is like
Questions still remain for many tobacco farmers
in the wake of the $10.1 billion buyout of their federal quotas
and the end of federal price supports, but many in Western
North Carolina are getting answers to help clear away some
of their concerns.
“For tobacco growers, it’s a concept
that’s going to take some getting used to — the
free market,” writes John Boyle of the Asheville
Citizen-Times after attending a presentation about
the buyout from Keith Weatherly, state director of the Farm
Service Agency, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Starting with the 2005 crop, it will
be a totally free-market economy, as far as the production
and marketing of tobacco,” Weatherly told the farmers.
“You can grow as much tobacco as you want on whatever
farm you choose.”
Because the money is coming from tobacco companies,
some farmers fear that the companies may go bankrupt or otherwise
relieve themselves of the obligation to pay. Weatherly tried
to reassure them on that point. For a recent report on Kentucky
tobacco growers dealing with new realities, click
here.
Community-development
programs among those spared in Senate budget
U.S. senators "dealt a slap to President
Bush and the Republican leadership" Thursday night, approving
a budget for fiscal 2006 that would restore many of the cuts
Bush requested in education, Medicaid, community development
and other programs, The Washington Post reported.
The Senate added $5.4 billion for education,
$2 billion for health research, $2 billion for community development,
$855 million for first responders including law enforcement,
plus lesser amounts for other programs. Then it snubbed the
agenda of Bush and GOP leaders for deficit reduction, voting
"to increase the size of the budget's tax cuts from $70
billion over five years to $134 billion," Jonathan Weisman
wrote.
"We didn't know what we were doing,"
Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, one of five Republicans
to vote against the amendment expanding the tax cuts, told
The New York Times. The amendment, which
got five Democratic votes and passed 55-45, was sponsored
by Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky (a Hall of Fame pitcher who
made news earlier in the day with his testimony at a hearing
on steroids in baseball).
In the House budget, also passed Thursday night,
cuts "could come from agriculture, student loans, pension
programs and environmental cleanup," the Post reported.
House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said cuts in anti-poverty
programs would make way for $106 billion in tax cuts assumed
in the House budget.
Meth-ingredient control
bills moving in North Carolina, Tennessee
Bills to control access to ingredients used
to make methamphetamine, increasingly a scourge in rural areas,
are proceeding through the legislatures of Tennessee and North
Carolina after passage of similar measures last year in Oklahoma
and this year in Kentucky.
The bills "are moving easily through the
Legislature" in Tennessee, the Knoxville News-Sentinel
reports,
but have just been introduced in North Carolina and "pharmacists
worry the legislation is overkill," reports
the News and Observer of Raleigh. Lobbyists
for retailers are also complaining.
The meth problem is heading east, and North
Carolina law enforcers are bracing for an epidemic, writes
the N&O's Mandy Locke: "In 1999, officers in North
Carolina busted nine labs; in 2004, officers found 322 labs.
That number is expected to hit between 500 and 700 this year.
Officials complained that children are being exposed to meth
labs and that too many local firefighters and police are being
exposed to dangerous chemicals when they bust up a meth lab.
Darien South, a Watauga County firefighter, testified to the
horrors of meth labs Thursday, describing how fumes at a meth
lab fire he responded to scorched his lungs and temporarily
blinded him."
Tennessee environmental
commissioner leaving after a stormy two years
The boss of Tennessee's environmental, park
and conservation programs "is resigning after a sometimes
rocky two years in which a few of her actions galled environmentalists
who backed Gov. Phil Bredesen when he ran for office,"
report
Anne Paine and Natalia Mielczarek of The Tennessean.
Environment and Conservation Commissioner Betsy
Child will become president of Geothermal Utilities
LLC, a Livingston-based designer, supplier and installer
of geothermal heating and cooling systems. Barry Sulkin, director
of the Tennessee Chapter of Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility and a former employee of Child, told
The Tennessean, ''I've gotten along pretty well with Betsy,
but I've been disappointed with some of the personnel decisions.''
"One of those times was when Fran Baker,
a longtime water pollution control employee in Cookeville,
was put on administrative leave after complaints from the
business community about his manner and aggressive enforcement
actions on storm water rules," the paper said. "Child
said yesterday that Baker, who was moved to the mining division
of the water pollution office, never lost any pay. An investigation
revealed he had done nothing wrong in terms of enforcement,
but his communication skills needed improving, she said."
Some said Child, who like Bredesen came from
the health-care industry, was not a good fit for the environmental
job. "She had worked as a senior Tennessee Valley Authority
vice president and senior vice president of philanthropy for
Covenant Health, a Knoxville-based hospital system,"
the paper reported.
Friday,
March 18: No blog because of technical difficulties
Thursday,
March 17, 2005
Sociologists downbeat
on rural economy; areas need advocates, says expert
Experts testifying in Washington, D.C. this
week said people living in rural communities are struggling
in an economy that offers little in the way of good-paying
jobs.
"The loss of manufacturing jobs in many
rural areas is leaving workers with few options besides part-time,
minimum-wage jobs at Wal-Mart, Ohio University
professor Ann Tickamyer said at a briefing on the state of
rural America," writes
Erik Lacayo of Stephens Media Group's Arkansas
News Bureau in Washington. Tickamyer told Lacayo, "Many
rural places have lots of low wage jobs and high poverty."
Sociologists highlighted poverty and health
care problems facing rural America during a Capitol Hill briefing
for congressional staffers and federal agency policy-makers,
he writes. The event was organized by the Consortium
of Social Science Associations and the Rural
Sociological Society based at the University
of Missouri.
Colorado State University professor
Lou Swanson told Lacayo, "Too often we separate rural
America from the rest of the country. Rural people and places
have not had strong national policy advocates or champions."
Cornell University professor David Brown
said, "The government should work toward creating a national
policy targeted to help small communities." The average
yearly household income for rural Americans is $34,654 compared
with $45,257, the average for the rest of Americans, while
the cost of living in rural areas is not significantly lower,
he writes.
Closing small, rural
schools a death sentence for communities, study finds
The widespread notion that closing
a small, rural school does great damage to a community is
true, researchers at Cornell University say
in a report
for the Southern Rural Development Center.
"When a school goes in a
rural community, it's a death knell," researcher Thomas
Lyson said in the latest posting
on Newswise, a daily report on newsworthy
academic research. It said, "On almost every indicator
of economic and social well-being, rural communities with
their own schools fare significantly better than rural communities
that no longer have schools."
The special report was issued
with the help of Bureau of Economic Research of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the Rural School
and Community Trust. The full study was originally
published in the Journal of Research in Rural Education.
Sales-tax switch in Kansas
benefits rural areas; some seeing revenue increase
A new way of allocating sales-tax revenue in
Kansas, based on where the product is delivered rather than
where it is purchased, is benefiting rural areas of the state,
and continued opposition to the change from merchants is going
largely unheard in the state’s legislature.
“When a Kansas merchant delivers a purchased
product to a home, the amount of sales tax charged is now
based on the location of the delivery, writes
Jim Sullinger of the Kansas City Star. Also,
the city and county where that home is located gets to keep
the local portion of that tax. It was called “destination
sourcing” when Kansas lawmakers approved this collection
system two years ago, he writes.
Before, the store's location would have determined
the sales tax rate, and the city and county where the store
was located got the local share, Sullinger wrties. The new
system ignited a firestorm of protest from merchants, particularly
those who did a brisk delivery business. Figuring out how
much sales tax to charge became a lot more complicated and,
for some, meant expensive new computer software.
Those complaints led to a major effort last
year to repeal destination sourcing in the House and Senate.
Lawmakers are back in session this year, but little attention
is being paid to the issue. House Speaker Doug Mays, a Topeka
Republican, said the issue has lost “critical mass.”
He said, “The transfer of (sales tax) revenue from retail
centers to outlaying small rural counties is a major reason."
Some officials in those rural counties have seen sales tax
dollars increase more than 20 percent.
AGRICULTURE
U. S. cattle industry
expanding; beef demand up 20 percent over seven years
After eight years of cattle herd reductions,
2005 brings with it the whispers of expansion. Expansion marks
the end of the longest cattle cycle in history but it should
not mean the end of strong prices.
Kenny Burdine, livestock marketing extension
associate with the University
of Kentucky College of Agriculture, told
UK writer Laura Skillman, "The cycle is a multiyear pattern
of swings in cattle numbers that generally is tracked from
low point to low point." But Skillman says new figures
suggest the nation is entering an expansion phase. Unlike
most past cattle cycles, this one begins the expansion stage
with continued strong demand for beef. The last time cattle
entered the expansion phase with increasing beef demand was
in the 1960s. Beef demand is estimated to be up 15 to 20 percent
since 1998, she writes.
Burdine told Skillman retail prices set a record
high this past year and that means prices are signaling more
beef is needed on the market. Beef producers are starting
to respond, and expectations are that the cattle industry
will have a steady expansion phase for the next few years.
Producers are not expanding quickly, based on heifers held
for replacements, he said. Slow, controlled expansion, Burdine
explains, means smaller price swings from year to year once
increased numbers of calves hit the market. In the 1960s and
1970s, cattle prices underwent dramatic fluctuations due to
rapid expansion, he said.
The next U.S. Department of Agriculture
cattle estimates will be released in July and should
give another indication of how quickly herd expansion is taking
place across the country.
Tar Heel wineries triple;
farmers find grapes good money, but not tobacco scale
North Carolina’s burgeoning wine industry
is the focus of a new sociological study that finds the increasing
production of grapes and their resultant fermented beverage
provide much needed farm revenue -- but are still a ways from
replacing monies produced by the state's signature crop, tobacco.
"The number of wineries in North Carolina
has more than tripled in the past decade. Ian Taplin and Saylor
Breckenridge, sociologists, have documented this rapid growth
of retail wineries and commercial wine production in a study
to be published in the 2005 issue of Research in the
Sociology of Work," reports
Newswise.
The researchers looked at the quality of soil
and climate conditions, the decline of tobacco, and how a
few pioneering entrepreneurs have given the fledgling industry
its start, the news service writes. The survey of 14 North
Carolina winemakers in 2003 covered topics such as why they
decided to make wine, how they learned to grow grapes, the
size of their vineyards and the amount of wine bottled and
sold. They included vineyards making wine from muscadine grapes,
located mostly in the eastern part of the state. The study
included only bonded wineries, those wineries actually licensed
to sell alcoholic beverages.
Some small tobacco farmers have started growing
grapes, a decision made easier by tax incentives for wine
production. By switching to grape production, they can continue
to extract high value from small acreage. “Growing grapes
is a long-term investment, with new skill sets and a greater
need for marketing the end product,” Taplin writes.
“So, compared to tobacco, it will probably never be
as profitable.”
Shrimp surprise: Kentucky
budget included recipe for 'aquaculture' project
Fine print in the recently passed Kentucky budget
details money intended to benefit a British corporation with
hopes of reshaping Kentucky's landlocked agricultural economy
by breeding saltwater shrimp.
Linda Blackford and Janet Patton of the Lexington
Herald-Leader write:
“The money was slipped at the last minute into the budget
by Sen. Richie Sanders, a Republican from Franklin, which
is where the research company, Sygen International, has its
U.S. headquarters.”
The funding may expand to as much as $7 million
in the future. Supporters praise the effort "as a new
frontier of public-private collaboration in cutting-edge economic
development." But critics say the project looks more
like a corporate handout and question why the project didn't
go through normal economic development channels, write Blackford
and Patton. Normal procedures require proof that state-assisted
projects will actually benefit Kentucky's economy.
Shana Herron, an organizer with the Community
Farm Alliance, "It appears they got the money
sort of through the back door, or without a real, public discussion
. It's definitely a concern of ours when Kentucky farmers
are struggling to diversify and find new markets ... when
ag funds are going to multinational corporations that already
have a lot of resources." So far, none of the shrimp
production plans have been put in writing and none of the
three schools listed -- the University of Kentucky,
Kentucky State University or Western
Kentucky University, has seen details of what they're
supposed to do.
ENVIRONMENT
Mercury plan reverses
other chemical cuts; language hidden in new reg
Hidden inside a rule regulating nationwide mercury
air pollution, released this week by the Environmental
Protection Agency, is a legal loophole that allows
those covered by the regulation to pollute in other ways,
the Charleston Gazette reports this morning.
"The Bush administration’s touted
and long-awaited plan for the nation’s first cap on
mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants contains legal
language that frees those plants from strict limits on emissions
of dozens of other toxic pollutants," writes
Ken Ward Jr., the Gazette's longtome environmental writer.
EPA's action means utilities will not be subjected
to tough emission limits on arsenic, lead and a variety of
hazardous toxic gases, Ward writes. Technically, the EPA reversed
a Clinton administration decision to list power plants as
a major source of a long inventory of hazardous air pollutants.
If the that action had stood, EPA would be required to limit
power-plant emissions of all toxic air pollutants to those
achieved by the best-performing 12 percent of facilities nationwide.
The Bush administration needed to reverse that
action to implement its version of a mercury-emissions-reduction
program. Under the Bush rule, power plants can evade required
mercury emissions cuts by buying pollution “credits”
from other companies. John Stanton, vice president of the
National Environmental Trust told Ward, “The
delisting is important, because it allows them to trade emissions
of mercury. But, it also gives utilities a pass on all of
these other toxic emissions.”
Last August, Stanton co-authored a little-noticed
report on the issue called, “Beyond Mercury.”
In it, the group Clear the Air — a
coalition of anti-air pollution organizations — noted
that coal-fired power plants emit more than 60 toxic air pollutants.
Environmentalists' lawsuit
claims EPA not protecting Mammoth Cave
Environmentalists claim in a lawsuit that the
Evironmental Protection Agency has failed
to protect endangered animals and plants at Mammoth Cave National
Park from power plant pollution.
Kentucky Heartwood and the
Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project
filed the lawsuit,
reports The Associated Press. The plaintiffs
claim the EPA did not consult with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to determine the impact the proposed
coal-fired Thoroughbred Generating Station in Muhlenberg County
would have on the park's wildlife. A Berea woman, Elizabeth
Crowe, also is listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, which
was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.
The plaintiffs contend that the Endangered Species
Act requires such consultation before permits can be issued
for power plants. EPA spokeswoman Laura Niles declined to
comment on the lawsuit Wednesday, saying it would be premature
considering the lawsuit had just been filed.
Tracy Davids, executive director of the Southern
Appalachian Biodiversity Project, told AP, "We owe it
to our children and our grandchildren to be good stewards
of the environment and leave behind a legacy of protecting
endangered species and the places they call home. For the
wildlife at Mammoth Cave, this means protecting their air
from more dirty coal plant pollution." For the Lexington
Herald-Leader story, by Andy Mead, click here.
For The Courier-Journal's version, by James
Bruggers, click here.
OTHER NEWS
New Kentucky system tracks
prescription drugs; new weapon in war on abuse
Doctors, pharmacists and law enforcement officials
in Kentucky have a new weapon in the fight against prescription
drug abuse, especially intense in rural eastern counties.
State officials said "Kentucky is the first
state to put into operation a self-service computerized system
for tracking prescriptions of pain pills and other potentially
addictive drugs," writes
Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The system, Enhanced Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic
Reporting, or eKASPER, is the result of a $1.75-million upgrade
of a manually operated drug-tracking system established in
1999. The old KASPER system, Brammer writes, has become overloaded
by doctors, druggists and law officers requesting data to
identify possible drug abusers and traffickers.
The new, all-electronic version will allow authorized
users to request prescription data from their office computers
around the clock and receive reports within 15 minutes. Before,
requests and replies were exchanged by fax and took four hours
or longer to complete. Although more than 20 states have prescription
monitoring programs, no other state yet provides a self-service,
Web-based system, he writes.
Robert J. Benvenuti III, inspector general in
the Cabinet for Health and Family Services,
told the newspaper the new system "is the most effective
and efficient tool ever implemented to combat prescription
drug abuse in Kentucky," About 1,300 pharmacies report
all controlled substances they dispense, ranging from painkillers
such as OxyContin to cough syrups containing Codeine. For
the AP story, by Mark Chellgren, which raises some privacy
issues, click here.
Retail giant facing likely
no-go in Minneapolis suburb; rural peace cited
A probable Wal-Mart rollback
has pleased some Minneapolis area residents, concerned about
traffic congestion and disruption to their suburban lifestyle,
but the retailing giant is not happy with the rebuke.
The Ham Lake "City Council is expected
to deny a rezoning request, forcing a developer to change
or abandon plans for a 200,000-square-foot (Wal Mart) store
in the Anoka County community," writes
Darlene Prois of the Star Tribune of Minneapolis,
Minn. The action follows a town meeting that brought out hundreds
of citizens to vent disapproval of the proposed store. An
earlier planning commission meeting also drew a large and
critical crowd, she adds.
Some complained about the chain's labor relations
and business practices. Others feared disruption of rural
peace, or felt the mega-retailer would jeopardize the future
of a beloved local market. A few thought 10 Wal-Marts within
20 miles were enough, writes Prois. Council Member Jolynn
(Joey) Erikson told her, "(residents) seem to want the
city of Ham Lake to remain kind of like a park. They want
a town center, with a clock tower. They want park land there.
They didn't see a Wal-Mart." Mayor Gary Kirkeide told
Proise, "the project is just too intense for a location
adjoining a residential area and a city park."
Mankato editor 'at peace'
with cut-driven resignation, CNHI, not overall trend
Executive Editor Deb Flemming,
who is eliminating her own job at The Free Press
in Mankato, Minn., to meet staffing levels ordered by Community
Newspaper Holdings Inc., says she is "really,
really at peace with this plan" and is not bitter at
the Birmingham, Ala.-based corporation.
"This isn't a CNHI bad-guy
thing, this is an industry thing," she told Mark Fitzgerald
of Editor
and Publisher. "It's not the company you're working
for -- it's the bottom-line pressures the industry puts on
newsrooms. ... This isn't unique to Mankato, and I'm concerned.
. . . The increased pressures for profitability are coming
at the expense of our newspaper product."
Flemming was asked to cut her
30-person news staff (including 13 full-time reporters) to
the generally accepted industry standard of 1 to 1.2 staffers
per 1,000 circulation, since the daily's circulation had declined
to 22,032 from 25,449 nine years ago, Fitzgerald reports.
She said the formula should be flexible, noting, as Fitzgerald
put it, "The Free Press coverage area sprawls across
eight counties that include three colleges that generate plenty
of news."
"Every market is different," Flemming told
Susan Stranahan of CJR Daily. "And whether
you're talking newspapers, or some other profession, industry
standards are just that, standards. There's higher [standards]
and lower [standards]." CJR Daily offers this background:
"In recent years, private equity firms have invested
hundreds of millions of dollars in community newspaper groups
because the papers' large cash flows require less up-front
money, and they generate steady income." Sam Gett, who
quit as Free Press publisher last year to become publisher
of the Pocono Record in Stroudsburg, Pa.,
told Stranahan, "CNHI has to focus on short-term results,
from quarter to quarter."
Flemming, 50, a native of Waseca,
Minn., has been executive editor in Mankato since 1995. CNHI,
which Fitzgerald says is "known for running a lean operation,"
bought the paper from Ottaway Newspapers,
the community-newspaper division of Dow Jones &
Co., in 2002.
Newspapers' reports resonate
national survey on unsafe rural roads
Rural newspapers from Maine to Ohio have looked
into the local ramifications of a recent nationwide survey
indicating rural roads are disproportionately dangerous, with
more than half of fatal accidents occuring on rural, non-interstate
roads that handle just 28 percent of all traffic.
"The vast majority of Maine's deadly traffic
crashes occur on rural roads, even though only about half
of the motor vehicle accidents occur there," writes
David Hench of the Portland Press-Herald.
The high percentage of rural fatalities is largely because
the state's road system is mostly rural and because other
roads are comparatively safe - the fatality rate on non-rural
roads is the lowest in the country, he writes.
Two-thirds of Maine's roads are considered rural
and the study found that Maine has the highest percentage
of rural traffic in the nation at 58 percent. According to
state figures, half the 35,000 motor vehicle crashes in 2003
occurred on rural roads, writes Hench.
Safety officials say the report's call for making
rural roads safer is welcome here. In many cases, the state's
rural roads are not built or maintained for the level of use
they get. Gerry Audibert, safety management coordinator for
the Maine Department of Transportation, told
Hench, "The design standards are much lower (than non-rural
highways) and the maintenance and upkeep of those roads is
also less significant."
Maine has invested more in rural-road safety
during the past few years, dedicating $7.5 million each biennium
strictly for safety improvements. Major road projects include
safety upgrades as part of the project cost, he writes. The
Bangor Daily News reported 81 percent of the
state's highway fatalities occur on rural roads, the second
highest percentage in the country, and the state's traffic
fatality rate is rising. For a report on Ohio rural roads,
by the Chillicothe Gazette, click here.
Sen. Byrd ‘inclined
to run’ for re-election; GOP says veteran is vulnerable
U. S. Sen. Robert Byrd is "inclined to
run" next year for the West Virginia seat he’s
held since 1959.
Byrd, who is 87 and has spent 52 years in Congress,
told
Raju Chebium of The Associated Press, "I’m
studying about it, thinking about it, talking about it with
my friends and people in West Virginia." Byrd has been
in the U. S. Senate longer than anyone currently serving.
and has been considered virtually unbeatable in a state to
which he has directed billions of dollars in federal money,
Chebium notes.
The eight-term senator has been Senate majority
leader and the chairman of the check-writing Appropriations
Committee. He’s known for his deep knowledge of the
Constitution. But normally Democratic West Virginia voted
for President Bush in 2000 and 2004. Byrd has angered Republicans
with his opposition to the Iraq war and with his sharp criticism
of GOP efforts to change Senate debate rules.
Thursday,
March 17, 2005
Sociologists downbeat
on rural economy; areas need advocates, says expert
Experts testifying in Washington, D.C. this
week said people living in rural communities are struggling
in an economy that offers little in the way of good-paying
jobs.
"The loss of manufacturing jobs in many
rural areas is leaving workers with few options besides part-time,
minimum-wage jobs at Wal-Mart, Ohio University
professor Ann Tickamyer said at a briefing on the state of
rural America," writes
Erik Lacayo of Stephens Media Group's Arkansas
News Bureau in Washington. Tickamyer told Lacayo, "Many
rural places have lots of low wage jobs and high poverty."
Sociologists highlighted poverty and health
care problems facing rural America during a Capitol Hill briefing
for congressional staffers and federal agency policy-makers,
he writes. The event was organized by the Consortium
of Social Science Associations and the Rural
Sociological Society based at the University
of Missouri.
Colorado State University professor
Lou Swanson told Lacayo, "Too often we separate rural
America from the rest of the country. Rural people and places
have not had strong national policy advocates or champions."
Cornell University professor David Brown
said, "The government should work toward creating a national
policy targeted to help small communities." The average
yearly household income for rural Americans is $34,654 compared
with $45,257, the average for the rest of Americans, while
the cost of living in rural areas is not significantly lower,
he writes.
Closing small, rural
schools a death sentence for communities, study finds
The widespread notion that closing
a small, rural school does great damage to a community is
true, researchers at Cornell University say
in a report
for the Southern Rural Development Center.
"When a school goes in a
rural community, it's a death knell," researcher Thomas
Lyson said in the latest posting
on Newswise, a daily report on newsworthy
academic research. It said, "On almost every indicator
of economic and social well-being, rural communities with
their own schools fare significantly better than rural communities
that no longer have schools."
The special report was issued
with the help of Bureau of Economic Research of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the Rural School
and Community Trust. The full study was originally
published in the Journal of Research in Rural Education.
Sales-tax switch in Kansas
benefits rural areas; some seeing revenue increase
A new way of allocating sales-tax revenue in
Kansas, based on where the product is delivered rather than
where it is purchased, is benefiting rural areas of the state,
and continued opposition to the change from merchants is going
largely unheard in the state’s legislature.
“When a Kansas merchant delivers a purchased
product to a home, the amount of sales tax charged is now
based on the location of the delivery, writes
Jim Sullinger of the Kansas City Star. Also,
the city and county where that home is located gets to keep
the local portion of that tax. It was called “destination
sourcing” when Kansas lawmakers approved this collection
system two years ago, he writes.
Before, the store's location would have determined
the sales tax rate, and the city and county where the store
was located got the local share, Sullinger wrties. The new
system ignited a firestorm of protest from merchants, particularly
those who did a brisk delivery business. Figuring out how
much sales tax to charge became a lot more complicated and,
for some, meant expensive new computer software.
Those complaints led to a major effort last
year to repeal destination sourcing in the House and Senate.
Lawmakers are back in session this year, but little attention
is being paid to the issue. House Speaker Doug Mays, a Topeka
Republican, said the issue has lost “critical mass.”
He said, “The transfer of (sales tax) revenue from retail
centers to outlaying small rural counties is a major reason."
Some officials in those rural counties have seen sales tax
dollars increase more than 20 percent.
AGRICULTURE
U. S. cattle industry
expanding; beef demand up 20 percent over seven years
After eight years of cattle herd reductions,
2005 brings with it the whispers of expansion. Expansion marks
the end of the longest cattle cycle in history but it should
not mean the end of strong prices.
Kenny Burdine, livestock marketing extension
associate with the University
of Kentucky College of Agriculture, told
UK writer Laura Skillman, "The cycle is a multiyear pattern
of swings in cattle numbers that generally is tracked from
low point to low point." But Skillman says new figures
suggest the nation is entering an expansion phase. Unlike
most past cattle cycles, this one begins the expansion stage
with continued strong demand for beef. The last time cattle
entered the expansion phase with increasing beef demand was
in the 1960s. Beef demand is estimated to be up 15 to 20 percent
since 1998, she writes.
Burdine told Skillman retail prices set a record
high this past year and that means prices are signaling more
beef is needed on the market. Beef producers are starting
to respond, and expectations are that the cattle industry
will have a steady expansion phase for the next few years.
Producers are not expanding quickly, based on heifers held
for replacements, he said. Slow, controlled expansion, Burdine
explains, means smaller price swings from year to year once
increased numbers of calves hit the market. In the 1960s and
1970s, cattle prices underwent dramatic fluctuations due to
rapid expansion, he said.
The next U.S. Department of Agriculture
cattle estimates will be released in July and should
give another indication of how quickly herd expansion is taking
place across the country.
Tar Heel wineries triple;
farmers find grapes good money, but not tobacco scale
North Carolina’s burgeoning wine industry
is the focus of a new sociological study that finds the increasing
production of grapes and their resultant fermented beverage
provide much needed farm revenue -- but are still a ways from
replacing monies produced by the state's signature crop, tobacco.
"The number of wineries in North Carolina
has more than tripled in the past decade. Ian Taplin and Saylor
Breckenridge, sociologists, have documented this rapid growth
of retail wineries and commercial wine production in a study
to be published in the 2005 issue of Research in the
Sociology of Work," reports
Newswise.
The researchers looked at the quality of soil
and climate conditions, the decline of tobacco, and how a
few pioneering entrepreneurs have given the fledgling industry
its start, the news service writes. The survey of 14 North
Carolina winemakers in 2003 covered topics such as why they
decided to make wine, how they learned to grow grapes, the
size of their vineyards and the amount of wine bottled and
sold. They included vineyards making wine from muscadine grapes,
located mostly in the eastern part of the state. The study
included only bonded wineries, those wineries actually licensed
to sell alcoholic beverages.
Some small tobacco farmers have started growing
grapes, a decision made easier by tax incentives for wine
production. By switching to grape production, they can continue
to extract high value from small acreage. “Growing grapes
is a long-term investment, with new skill sets and a greater
need for marketing the end product,” Taplin writes.
“So, compared to tobacco, it will probably never be
as profitable.”
Shrimp surprise: Kentucky
budget included recipe for 'aquaculture' project
Fine print in the recently passed Kentucky budget
details money intended to benefit a British corporation with
hopes of reshaping Kentucky's landlocked agricultural economy
by breeding saltwater shrimp.
Linda Blackford and Janet Patton of the Lexington
Herald-Leader write:
“The money was slipped at the last minute into the budget
by Sen. Richie Sanders, a Republican from Franklin, which
is where the research company, Sygen International, has its
U.S. headquarters.”
The funding may expand to as much as $7 million
in the future. Supporters praise the effort "as a new
frontier of public-private collaboration in cutting-edge economic
development." But critics say the project looks more
like a corporate handout and question why the project didn't
go through normal economic development channels, write Blackford
and Patton. Normal procedures require proof that state-assisted
projects will actually benefit Kentucky's economy.
Shana Herron, an organizer with the Community
Farm Alliance, "It appears they got the money
sort of through the back door, or without a real, public discussion
. It's definitely a concern of ours when Kentucky farmers
are struggling to diversify and find new markets ... when
ag funds are going to multinational corporations that already
have a lot of resources." So far, none of the shrimp
production plans have been put in writing and none of the
three schools listed -- the University of Kentucky,
Kentucky State University or Western
Kentucky University, has seen details of what they're
supposed to do.
ENVIRONMENT
Mercury plan reverses
other chemical cuts; language hidden in new reg
Hidden inside a rule regulating nationwide mercury
air pollution, released this week by the Environmental
Protection Agency, is a legal loophole that allows
those covered by the regulation to pollute in other ways,
the Charleston Gazette reports this morning.
"The Bush administration’s touted
and long-awaited plan for the nation’s first cap on
mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants contains legal
language that frees those plants from strict limits on emissions
of dozens of other toxic pollutants," writes
Ken Ward Jr., the Gazette's longtome environmental writer.
EPA's action means utilities will not be subjected
to tough emission limits on arsenic, lead and a variety of
hazardous toxic gases, Ward writes. Technically, the EPA reversed
a Clinton administration decision to list power plants as
a major source of a long inventory of hazardous air pollutants.
If the that action had stood, EPA would be required to limit
power-plant emissions of all toxic air pollutants to those
achieved by the best-performing 12 percent of facilities nationwide.
The Bush administration needed to reverse that
action to implement its version of a mercury-emissions-reduction
program. Under the Bush rule, power plants can evade required
mercury emissions cuts by buying pollution “credits”
from other companies. John Stanton, vice president of the
National Environmental Trust told Ward, “The
delisting is important, because it allows them to trade emissions
of mercury. But, it also gives utilities a pass on all of
these other toxic emissions.”
Last August, Stanton co-authored a little-noticed
report on the issue called, “Beyond Mercury.”
In it, the group Clear the Air — a
coalition of anti-air pollution organizations — noted
that coal-fired power plants emit more than 60 toxic air pollutants.
Environmentalists' lawsuit
claims EPA not protecting Mammoth Cave
Environmentalists claim in a lawsuit that the
Evironmental Protection Agency has failed
to protect endangered animals and plants at Mammoth Cave National
Park from power plant pollution.
Kentucky Heartwood and the
Southern Appalachian Biodiversity Project
filed the lawsuit,
reports The Associated Press. The plaintiffs
claim the EPA did not consult with the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to determine the impact the proposed
coal-fired Thoroughbred Generating Station in Muhlenberg County
would have on the park's wildlife. A Berea woman, Elizabeth
Crowe, also is listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, which
was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.
The plaintiffs contend that the Endangered Species
Act requires such consultation before permits can be issued
for power plants. EPA spokeswoman Laura Niles declined to
comment on the lawsuit Wednesday, saying it would be premature
considering the lawsuit had just been filed.
Tracy Davids, executive director of the Southern
Appalachian Biodiversity Project, told AP, "We owe it
to our children and our grandchildren to be good stewards
of the environment and leave behind a legacy of protecting
endangered species and the places they call home. For the
wildlife at Mammoth Cave, this means protecting their air
from more dirty coal plant pollution." For the Lexington
Herald-Leader story, by Andy Mead, click here.
For The Courier-Journal's version, by James
Bruggers, click here.
OTHER NEWS
New Kentucky system tracks
prescription drugs; new weapon in war on abuse
Doctors, pharmacists and law enforcement officials
in Kentucky have a new weapon in the fight against prescription
drug abuse, especially intense in rural eastern counties.
State officials said "Kentucky is the first
state to put into operation a self-service computerized system
for tracking prescriptions of pain pills and other potentially
addictive drugs," writes
Jack Brammer of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The system, Enhanced Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic
Reporting, or eKASPER, is the result of a $1.75-million upgrade
of a manually operated drug-tracking system established in
1999. The old KASPER system, Brammer writes, has become overloaded
by doctors, druggists and law officers requesting data to
identify possible drug abusers and traffickers.
The new, all-electronic version will allow authorized
users to request prescription data from their office computers
around the clock and receive reports within 15 minutes. Before,
requests and replies were exchanged by fax and took four hours
or longer to complete. Although more than 20 states have prescription
monitoring programs, no other state yet provides a self-service,
Web-based system, he writes.
Robert J. Benvenuti III, inspector general in
the Cabinet for Health and Family Services,
told the newspaper the new system "is the most effective
and efficient tool ever implemented to combat prescription
drug abuse in Kentucky," About 1,300 pharmacies report
all controlled substances they dispense, ranging from painkillers
such as OxyContin to cough syrups containing Codeine. For
the AP story, by Mark Chellgren, which raises some privacy
issues, click here.
Retail giant facing likely
no-go in Minneapolis suburb; rural peace cited
A probable Wal-Mart rollback
has pleased some Minneapolis area residents, concerned about
traffic congestion and disruption to their suburban lifestyle,
but the retailing giant is not happy with the rebuke.
The Ham Lake "City Council is expected
to deny a rezoning request, forcing a developer to change
or abandon plans for a 200,000-square-foot (Wal Mart) store
in the Anoka County community," writes
Darlene Prois of the Star Tribune of Minneapolis,
Minn. The action follows a town meeting that brought out hundreds
of citizens to vent disapproval of the proposed store. An
earlier planning commission meeting also drew a large and
critical crowd, she adds.
Some complained about the chain's labor relations
and business practices. Others feared disruption of rural
peace, or felt the mega-retailer would jeopardize the future
of a beloved local market. A few thought 10 Wal-Marts within
20 miles were enough, writes Prois. Council Member Jolynn
(Joey) Erikson told her, "(residents) seem to want the
city of Ham Lake to remain kind of like a park. They want
a town center, with a clock tower. They want park land there.
They didn't see a Wal-Mart." Mayor Gary Kirkeide told
Proise, "the project is just too intense for a location
adjoining a residential area and a city park."
Mankato editor 'at peace'
with cut-driven resignation, CNHI, not overall trend
Executive Editor Deb Flemming,
who is eliminating her own job at The Free Press
in Mankato, Minn., to meet staffing levels ordered by Community
Newspaper Holdings Inc., says she is "really,
really at peace with this plan" and is not bitter at
the Birmingham, Ala.-based corporation.
"This isn't a CNHI bad-guy
thing, this is an industry thing," she told Mark Fitzgerald
of Editor
and Publisher. "It's not the company you're working
for -- it's the bottom-line pressures the industry puts on
newsrooms. ... This isn't unique to Mankato, and I'm concerned.
. . . The increased pressures for profitability are coming
at the expense of our newspaper product."
Flemming was asked to cut her
30-person news staff (including 13 full-time reporters) to
the generally accepted industry standard of 1 to 1.2 staffers
per 1,000 circulation, since the daily's circulation had declined
to 22,032 from 25,449 nine years ago, Fitzgerald reports.
She said the formula should be flexible, noting, as Fitzgerald
put it, "The Free Press coverage area sprawls across
eight counties that include three colleges that generate plenty
of news."
"Every market is different," Flemming told
Susan Stranahan of CJR Daily. "And whether
you're talking newspapers, or some other profession, industry
standards are just that, standards. There's higher [standards]
and lower [standards]." CJR Daily offers this background:
"In recent years, private equity firms have invested
hundreds of millions of dollars in community newspaper groups
because the papers' large cash flows require less up-front
money, and they generate steady income." Sam Gett, who
quit as Free Press publisher last year to become publisher
of the Pocono Record in Stroudsburg, Pa.,
told Stranahan, "CNHI has to focus on short-term results,
from quarter to quarter."
Flemming, 50, a native of Waseca,
Minn., has been executive editor in Mankato since 1995. CNHI,
which Fitzgerald says is "known for running a lean operation,"
bought the paper from Ottaway Newspapers,
the community-newspaper division of Dow Jones &
Co., in 2002.
Newspapers' reports resonate
national survey on unsafe rural roads
Rural newspapers from Maine to Ohio have looked
into the local ramifications of a recent nationwide survey
indicating rural roads are disproportionately dangerous, with
more than half of fatal accidents occuring on rural, non-interstate
roads that handle just 28 percent of all traffic.
"The vast majority of Maine's deadly traffic
crashes occur on rural roads, even though only about half
of the motor vehicle accidents occur there," writes
David Hench of the Portland Press-Herald.
The high percentage of rural fatalities is largely because
the state's road system is mostly rural and because other
roads are comparatively safe - the fatality rate on non-rural
roads is the lowest in the country, he writes.
Two-thirds of Maine's roads are considered rural
and the study found that Maine has the highest percentage
of rural traffic in the nation at 58 percent. According to
state figures, half the 35,000 motor vehicle crashes in 2003
occurred on rural roads, writes Hench.
Safety officials say the report's call for making
rural roads safer is welcome here. In many cases, the state's
rural roads are not built or maintained for the level of use
they get. Gerry Audibert, safety management coordinator for
the Maine Department of Transportation, told
Hench, "The design standards are much lower (than non-rural
highways) and the maintenance and upkeep of those roads is
also less significant."
Maine has invested more in rural-road safety
during the past few years, dedicating $7.5 million each biennium
strictly for safety improvements. Major road projects include
safety upgrades as part of the project cost, he writes. The
Bangor Daily News reported 81 percent of the
state's highway fatalities occur on rural roads, the second
highest percentage in the country, and the state's traffic
fatality rate is rising. For a report on Ohio rural roads,
by the Chillicothe Gazette, click here.
Sen. Byrd ‘inclined
to run’ for re-election; GOP says veteran is vulnerable
U. S. Sen. Robert Byrd is "inclined to
run" next year for the West Virginia seat he’s
held since 1959.
Byrd, who is 87 and has spent 52 years in Congress,
told
Raju Chebium of The Associated Press, "I’m
studying about it, thinking about it, talking about it with
my friends and people in West Virginia." Byrd has been
in the U. S. Senate longer than anyone currently serving.
and has been considered virtually unbeatable in a state to
which he has directed billions of dollars in federal money,
Chebium notes.
The eight-term senator has been Senate majority
leader and the chairman of the check-writing Appropriations
Committee. He’s known for his deep knowledge of the
Constitution. But normally Democratic West Virginia voted
for President Bush in 2000 and 2004. Byrd has angered Republicans
with his opposition to the Iraq war and with his sharp criticism
of GOP efforts to change Senate debate rules.
Wednesday,
March 16, 2005
NPR, Kentucky paper cite group, gone national,
helping Iraq Vet’s families
A National Public Radio (NPR)
story
on the debilitating effects on National Guard and Reserve
units fighting in Iraq, and a story on a Radcliff, Kentucky-based
support group, USA CARES, that helps veterans'
families, first reported on by The
News-Enterprise of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, provides
classic examples of how local newspapers can put a very hometown
face on the war’s wide ranging impact on the fighting
units and especially the loved-ones left behind.
USA CARES, of Radcliff, reports The News-Enterprise,
has helped 844 families and provided more than $282,000 in
aid since it began in march 2003. The relieft group began
as a regional effort, "Kentuckiana Cares.".
NPR's Howard Berkes, in his series on the Guard and Reserve
deployment, looks at the financial sacrifice some are forced
to make. Berkes cites the organization, and talks with them,
in his report.
NPR in its lead-in to Berkes
story, says, “American forces still face violent resistance.
Forty percent of the American troops there are from National
Guard and Reserve units unaccustomed to repeated and lengthy
tours of duty, putting enormous strains on their families.
The News Enterprise, in a January
article, cited as just one example, Emily Dieruf, a member
of the organization, who “understands that sacrifice
as much as anyone,” writes Erica Walsh. Dieruf's husband,
Marine Corporal Nicholas Dieruf of Lexington, Kentucky was
killed in Iraq last year. Since his death, she and her family
have worked to collect money to support families in Nicholas
Dieruf's name, writes Walsh.
When they heard about USA CARES,
she writes, the Dieruf family decided to join the organization
to reach as many military families as possible. Emily Dieruf
told Walsh, "It's so heartwarming to reach out to these
families. It gives me a reason to get up in the morning."
Burley co-op suit becomes class action;
$22.8 million center of dispute
A lawsuit brought by eight burley growers against
the Lexington-based Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative
has been certified a class action on behalf of as many as
144,000 burley growers in five states, reports the Lexington
Herald-Leader.
"But Fayette District Judge Bruce Bell
denied the plaintiffs' request for a summary judgment on the
lawsuit's core issue: a demand that the cooperative distribute
to its members at least $22.8 million in reserves it has accumulated
since 1992, writes
business editor," Jim Jordon. No date for a trial has
been set. Bell told attorneys "I think you guys need
to get together and try to resolve this thing." The lawsuit
was filed on Dec. 31, 2003, and contends that the burley cooperative
had violated its own bylaws by not distributing the reserve
to its member farmers in 1992 after it refinanced its debt
to the federal Commodity Credit Corp.
Robert E. Maclin, attorney for the eight growers,
told Jordon the co-op's board and management had acted in
"an opportunistic way" to hold onto the money while
paying fees to 25 directors, salaries to staff members and
funding "trips and junkets all over the world."
Co-op attorney John W. Bilby told the newspaper the alleged
"trips and junkets" were actually necessary travel.
Bilby also argued the co-op had been required
by the federal government to keep the $22.8 million reserve
to protect the Commodity Credit Corp. from losses on other
loans held by the co-op. Bilby told Jordon Cynthiana burley
warehouse operator Hargus Sexton was behind the lawsuit. Sexton,
he said, has been angry since the co-op bought a Cynthiana
warehouse, now known as the Burley Marketing Center,
and began charging lower fees than Sexton's United
Tobacco Warehouse. For The Associated Press
version, click here.
Georgia smoking-ban scaled
back; measure gets 'minor' revision
Smoking would be allowed in bars and restaurants
that don't serve minors under an amendment to the proposed
Georgia Smokefree Air Act, approved by a House health committee.
Stricter local smoking bans wouldn't be effected, reports
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"Supporters of the smoking ban said the
amended Senate Bill 90 is a good start," writes
Patricia Guthrie. June Deen, who heads the Georgia
Alliance for Tobacco Prevention, a broad-based coalition
of more than 300 health and government groups, private businesses,
the American Lung Association, the American
Heart Association and the American Cancer
Society, told Guthrie, "We're very happy. It
sets a floor and not a ceiling [of restriction] and that's
what we are after."
The original bill would have banned smoking
in all enclosed public places in the state. In addition to
allowing smoking in some bars and restaurants, the new version
switches oversight from law enforcement to the Department
of Human Resources. Should the statewide smoking
ban become law, it wouldn't override existing or future local
ordinances that are more restrictive, writes Guthrie. The
bill, which has been approved by the Senate, goes next to
the House Rules Committee. Committee Chairwoman Sharon Cooper
(R-Marietta) said the amended version addressed the health
concerns of second-hand smoke while preserving the Republican
philosophy of less government intrusion.
Rep. Stacey Reece (R-Gainesville), one of the
bill's sponsors in the House, compared the strategy to liquor
laws. The state sets a policy prohibiting sales to people
under age 21 and local municipalities can adopt ordinances
— such as designating entire counties dry. About two
dozen cities or counties have approved smoking ordinances.
Enviros criticize new EPA mercury rule; groups
cite pollution, health risks
Environmental groups nationwide say new Environmental
Protection Agency rules designed to cut mercury pollution
from coal-fired power plants come up short in reducing the
pollutant, and don't adequately protect the public's health.
Meanwhile power companies defend the rules, saying the regs
will help them meet the first EPA deadline.
“If you go fishing in Herrington Lake,
or in Lake Cumberland, be careful about who eats your catch,”
writes
Andy Mead of the Lexington Herald-Leader,
environmental reporter for the Kentucky newspaper The reason,
he writes: "Fish in those and other Kentucky waters have
accumulations of mercury in their tissue at levels high enough
that more than one meal a week can cause nerve and brain damage
in children under 6, and can be passed from mothers to unborn
children. Mercury can also be transmitted to infants through
breast milk."
The federal EPA yesterday announced steps to
cut down on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants,
which are a major man-made source of the element. Overall
emissions of mercury have dropped substantially in Kentucky,
mostly because of changes in a couple of other industries.
But Kentucky power plants release a little less than 2 tons
of mercury a year, making the state eighth in the nation in
emissions. Under the new EPA rule, the number would drop to
just more than 1.5 tons by 2010, and to six-tenths of a ton
after 2018.The rule was widely criticized by environmentalists,
who said it would not take enough mercury out of smokestacks
quickly enough, writes Mead.
Tom FitzGerald of the Kentucky Resources
Council, told Mead, "Fishing ... should not
be an activity where one has to pause and think of the long-term
health consequences." The EPA should have stuck with
an earlier plan that would have treated mercury as a toxic
substance to be dealt with with the best possible technology,
FitzGerald added. Instead, some utilities will be able to
meet the 2010 level of mercury emissions by going ahead with
current plans for scrubbers designed to reduce emissions of
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
Both LG&E Energy, which
owns Kentucky Utilities, and East
Kentucky Power Cooperative said emission controls
already in the works would allow them to meet the first EPA
deadline. LG&E spokesman Chip Keeling told the newspaper,
"Beyond that, we'll have to wait and see whether we will
have to take additional steps." The new EPA rule also
includes a "cap and trade" program that allows some
power plants to buy or sell mercury emission credits. For
details on the new EPA rules from the Knight-Ridder
News Service, click here.
For another report on environmentalists reaction, by James
Bruggers of Louisville's The Courier-Journal,
click here.
For a national story on critics reaction by John Heilprin,
The Associated Press, click here.
For the West Virginia perspective, in a report by Ken Ward
Jr. of The Charleston Gazette, click here.
For the Virginia perspective, click
here, for a story by Richmond Times-Dispatch
reporter Rex Springsteen.
Prehistoric remains found
near Mammoth Cave prompt call for further study
Activists who for years have fought the development
of a new industrial park near Mammoth Cave National
Park are renewing their call for a full environmental
and archaeological study after prehistoric Indian remains
were found on the site, reports The Associated Press.
The artifacts were discovered after workers
accidentally punched an opening in a previously unknown 2,000-foot-long
cave. Officials broke ground on the Kentucky Trimodal
Trans-park last year and are hoping it could someday
span 4,000 acres and include rail access and a new airport,
writes
AP.
Environmentalists say the find underscores the
need for a large-scale environmental and archaeological study
at the transpark. Some are calling for construction to stop.
Roger Brucker, a board member of Louisville-based Karst
Environmental Education and Protection, a group opposed
to the project for years, told the wire service, "They
ought to ... do the work they are required to do to protect
Mammoth Cave National Park."
But officials from the group developing the
industrial park argue the already completed studies are enough.
Curtis Sullivan, chairman of the transpark authority board,
called the Intermodal Transportation Authority,
told AP, "I view this as a delaying tactic ... we've
far exceeded what needs to be done." Top political leaders
in both parties have backed the project, being developed by
a partnership of three cities, eight counties and the Bowling
Green Chamber of Commerce. Supporters say the park
could create up to 7,550 jobs for the region. The fight could
end up in court. For a story on developments at the Kentucky
Trimodal Trans-park, from the Bowling Green Daily
News, click here.
Federal complaint filed
over N.C. school superintendent's race
The 4 1/2-month standoff over the state school
superintendent's election jumped to the federal courts Tuesday
when a Republican sued to keep two newly approved laws from
applying to the race, reports The Associated Press.
Gary D. Robertston
writes, “The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court
in Raleigh, asks a federal judge to block the Legislature
or state elections officials from declaring a winner in the
race at least until 11,000 provisional ballots cast in the
wrong precinct on Election Day are removed from the vote totals.”
Democrat June Atkinson leads Republican Bill Fletcher by 8,535
votes, but no winner has yet been finalized due to Fletcher's
protest about the provisional ballots.
The Republican-majority state Supreme Court
agreed last month with Fletcher that those out-of-precinct
ballots were unlawful and told a trial court to come up with
a way to remove them from the count. But Democrats in the
General Assembly have since passed two laws that order the
provisionals included in the totals and set down rules by
which the Legislature can decide the race, writes Robertson.
The lawsuit, filed by Marcus Kindley, chairman
of the Guilford County Republican Party,
argues that those laws "cannot be constitutionally applied
retroactively to the elections of 2004." Doing otherwise
"violates fundamental principles of due process and equal
protection" guaranteeed under federal law and the U.S.
constitution, according to the suit.
Kindley's lawyer, Marshall Hurley of Greensboro,
told Robertson, "It's fundamentally unfair to tailor
procedures after a contest has arisen." He also noted
the laws aren't valid yet because the U.S. Justice Department
must certify they do not violate the federal Voting Rights
Act of 1965. No date has been set for a hearing on whether
to issue a temporary restraining order against the defendants
named in the suit, who include the State Board of
Elections, Gov. Mike Easley, Attorney General Roy
Cooper, legislative leaders and Atkinson.
North Carolina judge
rules in favor of citizens trying to get town records
A North Carolina judge has ruled in favor of
citizens of a Moore County town who sued to see public records
they said officials kept under wraps, reports The
News & Observer.
'Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm Jr. ruled
the town of Whispering Pines had broken North Carolina's open
meetings and public records laws,"writes
Matthew Eisley, of the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill area newspaper.
Lamm ruled the Town Council kept improper minutes of three
meetings in 2003, and failed to give proper notice of three
meetings. He also said the council had illegally withheld
several public records.
Businessman Joe Stout and four other Moore County
residents have battled a local government they believe makes
bad decisions in secret. They disagreed with the town's hiring
of a police chief, which occurred without a public vote although
the law requires it. They sought dozens of public records
and eventually got all but a few, though often after unexplained
delays.
Stout told Eisley, "I'm tickled to death
with the ruling. This type of secrecy has to be stopped. Leaders
of the town of 2,100 people just north of Southern Pines see
it differently. Council members Don Delauter and George Pence
said the protesters' win will keep good candidates from running
for the body. Pence, the council's mayor pro tempore, told
the newspaper, "There was never any intent to hide anything.
"We're all human. We're all going to make mistakes. It's
such a waste of time and money."
Vermont man loses custody
of goats after trail of death in multiple states
A man who allegedly left a trail of dead goats
through at least four states has lost custody of his 200-plus
remaining animals pending the outcome of an animal cruelty
case in Ohio,
reports Kelley Schoonover, of The Associated Press.
"Christopher Weathersbee, 64, fled to West
Virginia with 16 of his goats, including a dead one he'd been
storing in a freezer, in late February amid an impoundment
and seizure by Scioto County, Ohio, humane agents," writes
Schoonover. Two weeks later, another goat was dead and the
rest were taken by the Jackson County Animal Shelter. The
West Virginia seizure was upheld by Jackson County Magistrate
Tom Reynolds, who said "the animals ...are neglected,
deprived and in need of medical care ..."
Weathersbee first came to the attention of humane
officials in 2001, Schoonover wrties, while living in Corinth,
Vt., when he started seeking assistance for his more than
300 goats. Dana Starr with the Central Vermont Humane
Society, told AP, Weathersbee wanted to start a no-kill
goat shelter where he could produce cheese and wool, and applied
for loans, grants and even petitioned the governor for help.
Starr told AP, "He couldn't afford to feed
them, and couldn't understand why others didn't aid him."
In the meantime, she said, Weathersbee allowed the animals
to breed and multiply. "Consequently, the animals started
starving." The humane society seized 44 goats last year
and Weathersbee was charged with multiple counts of animal
cruelty.
Kentucky widow charged
in 86 cattle starvation deaths; 30 others needy
A Lewis County, Kentucky woman faces 86 counts
of animal cruelty for allegedly allowing her cattle to starve
to death, reports The Associated Press.
Dorena Sue Hord, 61, of Tollesboro, was charged
last week after someone called the sheriff's department to
report seeing dead cows on her farm. Lewis County Sheriff
Bill Lewis said an investigation found that the animals died
from starvation, not disease. County officials have been scrambling
to come up with enough food for more than 30 cattle still
living on Hord's farm, AP writes.
Lewis said he-doesn't believe Hord acted maliciously
to kill the cattle, which were valued at $70,000 to $80,000.
He old AP, "It was unintentional. She's a widow woman,
and she just couldn't handle that many cattle." The sheriff's
office has coordinated with the Lewis County Solid Waste Department
in bringing hay to the surviving cattle.
Season brings swans;'
columnist paints portrait of winter's winged wonders
“Winter's swan song in Kentucky and Southern
Indiana offers a picture of grace and tranquility to those
lucky enough to see the show,” observes
Byron Crawford in another masterful tone poem to Kentucky
life, in his column for The Courier Journal.
“For nearly a month, Wayne and Ella Clements
have been photographing a small flock of wild whistling or
tundra swans that have taken up temporary residence on their
two-acre lake just south of Danville, Ky, he writes. Wayne
Clements told the Louisville newspaper's preeminent portraitist
of all things Kentucky, "We had 14 in here, then they
went to 11, and then dwindled down to four that I thought
were going to stay," . "But I haven't seen them
for three or four days." The swans may yet return for
an encore, but might have already left for their permanent
homes in the far North, notes Crawford.
Biologist Brainard Palmer-Ball of the Kentucky
Nature Preserves Commission, told Crawford, "What
the tundra swans do is come out of the prairie provinces of
Canada and cut across the Great Lakes, then they cut across
the bay areas of Delaware-Maryland-Virginia and into the Carolinas,
and we get a little bit of the southern edge of that flight."
Crawford paints the tundra swan as having, "a
black bill and feet and a straighter neck than its cousin,
the more commonly seen, slightly larger mute swan -- which
has an orange bill, bends its neck in a graceful curve and
may have a wingspan of up to 8 feet." He also notes,
"Although a few domesticated mute swans are sometimes
seen year-round on lakes in cemeteries and parks, and at some
private impoundments around Kentucky and Southern Indiana,
the expanded breeding population of wild mute swans in the
backwater marshlands of the Great Lakes has produced increasing
winter migrations to (the area) since the late 1970s."
(Bloggers note: A rare gift it is for those who escape
the mayhem to witness these wistful winged wonders.)
Tuesday,
March 15, 2005
EPA plan to cut mercury from coal-fired power
plants draws fire
The U.S. government is expected to announce
its first plan to cut toxic mercury pollution from coal-fired
power plants today, reports the Duluth News Tribune.
The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
rules are expected to allow power companies to trade pollution
"credits" to meet a national goal of cutting emissions
in half by 2010.
"The new rules are either the first step
toward less mercury contamination ...or a major mistake that
benefits the nation's coal industry," writes
John Myers.The electric utility industry and Bush administration
officials in the (EPA) are touting the regulations as a realistic
way to reduce the mercury produced when coal is burned --
the largest source of human-caused mercury in the United States,
he adds.
The plan is expected to reduce overall mercury
levels by about 50 percent by 2010 and 70 percent by 2018.
Frank Maisano, spokesman for the Electric Reliability
Coordinating Council, a Washington, D.C. industry
group that represents coal-burning power plants told Myers,
"This will be the first regulation ever on power plant
mercury emissions. It's a dramatic step forward in getting
mercury under control."
The General Accountability Office
says the new rule doesn't do enough to solve the mercury problem.
The EPA's inspector general has said the administration overlooked
health effects in developing the new rules. Sarah Welch, mercury
expert for the Izaak Walton League of America,
told the newspaper, "There are too many loopholes that
will keep it from protecting people's health." Welch
added, "Our own PCA commissioner said ...to the EPA it's
time to stop burying our head in the sand and time ...to set
an example on this. We can't wait for some global treaty or
a real federal plan.... The health of our people and our fishing
tradition and tourism economy depend on it."
Study grades nation's
education schools as 'poor,' detached from local needs
American colleges and universities do such a
poor job of training the nation's future teachers and school
administrators that 9 of every 10 principals consider the
graduates unprepared for what awaits them in the classroom,
a new survey has found with nationwide, urban and rural ramifications,
reports The New York Times.
"Nearly half the elementary- and secondary-school
principals surveyed said the curriculums at schools of education,
whether graduate or undergraduate, lacked academic rigor and
were outdated, at times using materials decades older than
the children whom teachers are now instructing," writes
Greg Winter. More than 80 percent of principals said the education
schools were too detached from what went on at local elementary
and high schools.
Arthur E. Levine, president of Teachers
College at Columbia University, told Winter, "I
thought there were problems in the field. But I didn't realize
the depth ofthe problems." In the report, Dr. Levine
said he and other experts had focused their efforts on finding
education schools capable of producing excellent principals,
superintendents and other administrators. They found none
in the entire country. Much of the problem, the report said,
stems from what Dr. Levine called "the consumer mentality"
dominating the nation's education schools., writes Winter.
The report concluded principals and superintendents
need to be better trained which puts added pressure on already
faltering education schools. Federal law is now demanding
students make measurable academic progress, where local districts
once set the bar, more states have adopted uniform exit exams
that students must pass in order to graduate, and the population
itself is changing, with more immigrants whose English is
limited. For a reaction from the American Association
of Secondary School Principals, click here.
For a study on how higher education may buffer older adults
from cognitive declines, click here.
Iowa House approves crop
bill; local governments can't ban certain planting
The Iowa House of Representatives has approved
a bill that pre-empts local governments from banning the planting
of certain crops, such as seeds that have been genetically
modified, reports The Des Moines Register.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Sandy Greiner,
a Keota Republican, at the request of the Iowa SeedAssociation.
It was approved by a vote of 70-27 and sent to the Senate.
Greiner said the intent of the bill was simple: to give the
Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
final authority on seed grown in Iowa, writes
Jerry Perkins.
Clarifying that the state is the final authority
would prevent local governments from barring the planting
of genetically modified, organic or any other type of seeds,
Greiner told Perkins, "I can see where we could have
corn planted specifically for use in ethanol production, and
one or two people could get it banned in the whole township
because they are worried that it would cross-pollinate with
their crops."
Greiner said she's been accused of promoting
large agribusinesses with the bill. But, she told the newspaper,
"I'm standing up for small farmers." Critics of
the bill are misrepresenting it, she added, by saying it would
prevent the planting of organic or identity-preserved crops.
Kentucky county to study
ban on hog farms; bureau calls for no more regs
Some farmers in Hickman County, Kentucky have
asked officials to reconsider a ban on hog farms, reports
The Associated Press.
Hickman County Judge-Executive Greg Pruitt said
he's been contacted by about a dozen farmers who favor repealing
the local ban. Pruitt said he also has received a request
from the county's Kentucky Farm Bureau to
not regulate the hog industry any more than the state regulates
it, writes
AP
Past hog farm deals led officials to pass a
restrictive ordinance banning the practice, but Pruitt said
that was before new technology made the farms less of a nuisance,
writes the wire service. State regulations placeseveral restrictions
on those who run hog farms, including a requirement that they
inject chemicals into the soil to balance the pH levels caused
by manure. The issue of allowing hog farms came up at a fiscal
court meeting last week, sparked by a Henry, Tenn., businessman
who said he is looking for farmers to raise hogs.
Jimmy Tosh of Tosh Farms said
he wants to contract farmers to care for hogs and raise them
in large barns until they are ready to be slaughtered and
processed. Tosh said, "One of the reasons we're looking
at Kentucky is it has a more favorable sales tax than in Tennessee."
Plus, he said, hog farmers "are lots easier to recruit"
in Kentucky. Other counties in western Kentucky that already
have hog farms include Graves and Carlisle. For the original
story in The Paducah Sun, click here.
Site requires free registration.
Rural women,‘vanishing
group,’ recall farm life; professor mines memories
A South Carolina college has begun mining a
growing but rarely sought or stockpiled gem; the memories
of elderly women raised on rural family farms and their experiences
in a vanishing landscape, reports The State.
“Mary Webb Quinn, a daughter of Spartanburg
County sharecroppers, decided at the age of 10 that there
was a world beyond the farm, writes
Carolyn Click of the Charleston newspaper. That moment came
during the Great Depression when the school superintendent
walked into Quinn's classroom and handed a paycheck to her
fourth-grade teacher, Click writes. Quinn told her, “I
remember he just opened my eyes, and I thought, ‘Well,
for this you get paid, and this is what I want to do. I want
to be a teacher.”
Ruth Hatchette McBrayer told the newspaper a
different story. She decided to stay on her Cherokee County
farm after the death of her husband in 1947. “All the
men in the community believed that I would fail and they would
own the property,” she recalled. But McBrayer said she
“worked night and day” and became one of the region’s
most successful peach growers,” Click writes.
Melissa Walker, a history professor at Spartanburg,
S.C.'s Converse College, has mined what she
believes is a rich vein of history in the oral accounts of
rural, Southern women... that has largely disappeared from
the South Carolina landscape, writes Click. Walker included
interviews with McBrayer and Quinn in her book, “Country
Women Cope with Hard Times: A Collection of Oral Histories,”
published by USC Press in 2004. She said, “We tend to
have a sense that life was much simpler then.”
Nature Conservancy protecting
gorge; ‘ecological treasure trove’
A group of conservationists has put money behind
their preservationist creed and purchased a scenic gorge in
the Cumberland Plateau, land they say is ecologicallly rare
and a part of the state’s history, reports The
Knoxville News Sentinel.
“The wind howled and the snow swirled
as icicles the size of walrus tusks crashed to the ground,
writes
Morgan Simmons. “It was weather like this that carved
the sandstone in Pogue Creek. Every bend in the trail brought
something new: a rock amphitheater the size of a four-car
garage or a 200-foot bluff overlooking the Cumberland Plateau
all the way into Kentucky.”
The Nature Conservancy recently
purchased the 3,720-acre Pogue Creek tract as part of its
efforts to protect biologically significant lands. The property
consists primarily of a deep gorge carved by Pogue Creek,
a tributary of the Wolf River, Simmons writes. A 1,541-acre
tract of land near Jim Creek just west of Pogue Creek was
also purchased by the group. That property has been added
to Pickett State Forest, and the conservancy's goal is to
place Pogue Creek under similar state management for public
recreation.
The Nature Conservancy purchased the property
from a group of investors for $4.25 million. Scott Davis,
state director of the conservancy's state chapter told Simmons,
''Protecting this area is vital to Tennessee's natural heritage.
Pogue Creek is an important part of the larger Big South Fork,
Pickett State Park and Forest complex.'' Alex Wyss, Cumberlands
program director for the conservancy, told the newspaper,
''You have to remind yourself you're in Tennessee and not
somewhere in Utah.''
Neighborhood drowning
in state regs trying to build water system
Homeowners in a rural Harlan County, Kentucky
neighborhood have run afoul of state regulations by trying
to keep clean water pumped into their homes, reports The
Harlan Daily Enterprse.
Apparently, creating one of the state's smallest
water systems, which serves 23 families, is more complicated
than laying water lines and installing meters, writes
Adrienne Steinfeldt. The Kentucky Division of Water
informed residents last month the water district doesn't meet
state regulations because it doesn't have a licensed manager
to do water sampling.
Community members searching for a solution to
their dilemma have asked the Cumberland City Council to annex
their homes and operate the water system, Steinfeldt writes.
Gilley Hollow hooks into and buys water from the Cumberland
water system. Jewell Ison, who had to rely on foul-tasting
well water before the water district was created 10 years
ago, told the newspaper, "I'd rather not be annexed,
but I'd do anything to keep my water."
Ison and her husband have been doing the chlorine
testing, collecting payments and paying the city of Cumberland
for water the homeowners buy in bulk. A company does monthly
bacteria testing, with homeowners splitting that cost. However,
Maleva Chamberlain, spokeswoman for the Division of Water,
told Steinfeldt the water district is required to have a certified
operator . That violation alone is punishable by a $25,000
fine and up to a year in jail. For the AP version, click here.
ARC promotes region’s
history, culture to world with map of sites for visitors
The Appalachian Regional Commission,
or ARC, is promoting the farm museum and 355 other Appalachian
sites to a worldwide audience, reports The Herald-Dispatch.
"People grinding corn by hand and stitching
quilts are among the sights visitors can take in at the Heritage
Farm Museum & Village in Huntington, W.Va.," writes
Raju Chebium of the Huntington newspaper. Visitors also can
see farm animals such as cows, donkeys and roosters, walk
through a re-created village from 1850s Appalachia and stay
in one of the four bed-and-breakfasts on the 500-acre property,
he writes.
The ARCH paid the National Geographic
Society $180,000 to create the map and a Web site
listing 356 sites of historic, cultural or natural interest.
The map goes online soon and will be inserted in the April
issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine.
The idea of the map is to introduce tourists to the historic,
cultural and natural beauty of the 13-state region, and pump
much-needed tourism dollars into one of the nation’s
poorest areas, Chebium writes.
Executive Editor Paul Martin told Chebium the
magazine gets 5 million to 7 million hits on its Web site
each month and is read by about 4 million people. Heritage
Farm’s co-owner, Henriella Perry, told the newspaper,
"Every kind of business would like to have that kind
of shot in the arm. "It feels like a real honor to be
in it." West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, said
the map "will help tremendously," and, he added,
"There is an awful lot we are doing. This is just one
more tool."
Times-Dispatch columnist
sees not so 'sunny' view in media understanding
"It has been fashionable - or perhaps just
easy - to beat up on the news media for so long that we in
the media still call an old friend for help: Thomas Jefferson,"
writes
Ray McCallister in his "Point of View" column tribute
to "Sunshine Week" in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
T.J., notes McCallister, wrote: "The basis
of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very
first object should be to keep that right; and were it left
to me to decide whether we should have a government without
newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not
hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.Unfortunately, he wrote
that in 1787," he warns.
"It's been downhill ever since," writes
McCallister. "But this is 'Sunshine Week,' declared by
the news media to support attempts to develop and use so-called
"sunshine laws" in reporting on the government.
At least the news media will stick up for the news media,
if no one else will."He writes, "We all may choose
to hate the news media - more likely these days, we'll choose
to hate some news media - but more than two centuries after
Jefferson wrote the passage above, they are still the only
real check on government mistakes. Or would you prefer the
government calling the shots," he asks. "These days,
some would," he answers his own question. McCallister
cites recent nationwide survey of high school students that
showed 32 percent think the press has too much freedom. "Worse,"
he adds, 36 percent believe newspapers should get "government
approval" before publishing.
"The news biz isn't what it was in Jefferson's
day," he writes, "First, radio and TV joined newspapers.
Now cable networks and Internet sites are in. A poll last
year found 21 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds said their primary
source for presidential news was - ready? - 'The Daily Show'
or 'Saturday Night Live.' About the same number, 23 percent,
cited ABC, CBS or NBC combined. Many said they had no other
source." (Bloggers note: How often can one quote
Pogo's, "We have met the enemy and they is us.")
Newspaper's first editor
dies; 'unmatched' knowledge of community, people
Oak Ridger founding editor
Dick Smyser, whose mantra to legions of aspiring journalists
he trained was "Accuracy! Accuracy! Accuracy!'' died
Monday morning, reports The Knoxville News Sentinel.
He was 81. The cause of death was congestive heart failure.
Connie Adams, daughter of Oak Ridger founding publisher Don
McKay and a former copy editor at the newspaper told
The News Sentinels Anderson County Bureau Chief Bob Fowler,
"It's just a huge loss because I think his knowledge
of the community and the people is unmatched.''
Smyser was 24 years old when he was named managing
editor. The Oak ridger was the first privately owned newspaper
in what had been a secret city during World War II. The paper's
first edition rolled off the presses Jan. 20, 1949. For the
next 44 years, the paper became the focal point of Smyser's
life, writes Fowler. Retired physician and Smyser's longtime
friend, Dr. Ralph Kniseley, told the newspaper, "He really
bent over backwards to be unbiased in the community.''
Former Oak Ridger Publisher Tom Hill said "His
devotion, his love for Oak Ridge guided him. You could almost
say he was the conscience of Oak Ridge.'' Katherine "Katie''
Smyser McAleer, one of Smyser's two daughters, told Fowler,
"I ended up being a journalist, and I never met a journalist
I respected more than my own dad. He taught so many people
how to be decent and caring reporters.''
Monday,
March 14, 2005
Sunshine Week forum today; journalists hope
to hold back ‘the darkness’
An organization of Kentucky journalists is observing
"Sunshine Week," holding a forum today in Lexington,
focusing on a lawsuit in federal court aimed at opening the
state's juvenile courts and records to the public, reports
The Associated Press.
The forum, open to the public, will be at 7
p.m. in the first-floor conference room at the Lexington
Herald-Leader, 100 Midland Avenue. Sunshine Week,
designated by a host of national citizen and journalism organizations
nationwide, is intended to raise public awareness about openness
in government. Organizers for the Bluegrass Chapter
of the Society of Professional Journalists are hoping
to increase public awareness of the lawsuit, writes
Joe Biesk. State law has kept Kentucky's juvenile courts sealed
from the public for about two decades. The Kentucky
Press Association maintains that's unconstitutional
and brought the lawsuit in July. It was dismissed in February,
but is pending appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 6th Circuit.
Jon Fleischaker, a Louisville attorney who represents
the KPA, told him, "One of the things that we've accomplished
already is we've opened up a lot of discussion in Kentucky
about the mandatory closure law." KPA Executive Director
David Thompson has compiled and printed copies of a statewide
open records project series written and illustrated by member
newspapers and The Associated Press. Each
legislator is to receive a copy, while others are to go to
universities and journalism classes.
The KPA has also formed the Kentucky
Citizens for Open Government. Thompson told AP, "It's
something that we want people statewide to be a part of. We
want to ensure that open government remains available for
all the public." Al Cross, interim director of the Institute
for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, told Biesk,
recent court decisions and legislative actions have made it
more difficult for the news media to do its job. For more
on 'Sunshine Week' click here.
For the recent Kentucky Open Records Project Series - from
reporters and newspapers statewide, click here.
For the last part of a two-part series examining the use of
the Freedom of Information Act by U.S. citizens
and the government's willingness to make its records available,
written by AP's Martha Mendoza, click here.
Pension benefit changes
for Kentucky Legislators made 'in darkness,' says AP
The Kentucky General Assembly last week made
several quick and quiet changes to enhance benefits for themselves
in what has become know as “The Greed Bill,” that
established legislative pensions benefits in 1982, reports
The Associated Press.
"It was dark, as it usually is when these
things happen. The General Assembly was shuttling dozens of
bills between the House and Senate, notably tax and budget
legislation and an especially contentious matter about increasing
the weight limit for some trucks", writes
Mark Chellgren.
A Senate committee passed a modified version
of the bill, writes Chellgren. The proposal relating to university
employees and purchasing retirement credit emerged as a hodgepodge
of changes in retirement programs for some judges and all
legislators, he writes. For 2004, taxable income for legislators
ranged from about $33,000 to $52,000, with most in the range
of $35,000 to $42,000, according to the Legislative
Research Commission. The first pension was based
on $27,000 a year.
Donna Stockton-Early, administrator of the legislative
retirement system, told Chellgren, the changes are fair and
provide more stability for the finances of the program. "Why
should you be penalized when you're a legislator?" she
said. She noted the circumstances of the bill rushing through
from committee vote to full votes in the House and Senate
all within a few hours of the last day for bill passage of
the session. But, she noted, at least this change is pretty
much straightforward, Chellgren writes.
Deaths at railroad crossings
go up after decline, reports The Times
New federal figures show deaths at railroad
grade crossings rose 11 percent last year and the government
failed to meet its 10-year goal of no more than 300 crossing
deaths by 2004, reports The New York Times.
"Crossing deaths had been falling steadily
in recent years," writes
Walt Bogdanich. "But last year, 369 people died at rail
crossings, with three of the four major freight railroads
reporting a rise in deaths. Norfolk Southern
registered a 50 percent increase, the most of any major railroad,
with 60 deaths. Morepeople, 77, died at crossings owned by
Union Pacific, the nation's largest railroad."
More than 3,000 accidents occurred at grade
crossings last year - about one every three hours. Some rail-safety
experts say the figures suggest the railroads and the government
are not doing enough to make grade crossings safer, writes
Bogdanich. George Gavalla, a former top safety official with
the Federal Railroad Administration, told
him, "We worked hard to encourage railroads to invest
in crossing safety programs, and looking at these statistics,
I wonder if that level of investment was being maintained."
Tom White, a spokesman for the Association
of American Railroads, told The Times, "We very
much regret the increase, and we wish it had not occurred."
The rail association and the Federal Railroad Administration
said the rise in deaths needed to be viewed in the context
of heavier rail traffic last year.
Montana governor’s
call for Guard's return to fight fires sets off partisan blaze
Gov. Brian Schweitzer has touched off a political
fight with Montana Republicans after calling for the return
of the state's National Guard troops serving in Iraq to help
out in what many fear will be a record-setting wildfire season,
reports Reuters.
Mr. Schweitzer, a newly elected Democrat, infuriated
Republican lawmakers who see his request as a way to criticize
the Bush administration over Iraq, writes
the wire service. Bob Keenan, the state Senate Republican
leader, told them, "He's figured out how to use the wildfire
season to protest the Iraq war. It's an antiwar statement
and condemnation of Bush's actions."
The governor and his supporters deny those accusations
as weather experts say a seven-year drought and a severely
reduced snowpack could lead to a devastating summer of wildfires,
writes the wire service. They also worry that limited resources
stretched thinner by the National Guard's service overseas
could make it hard to combat the kind of huge blazes that
engulfed the state in 2000, when some 2,400 wildfires burned
nearly 950,000 acres of mostly public land, they write.
Bruce Thoricht, meteorologist with the federal
Northern Rockies Coordination Center , told
the news service, "Everything right now is pointing to
the possibility of a large and damaging fire season."
Governor Schweitzer told Reuters Montana would disproportionately
suffer the pain of proposed cuts in the federal budget, with
money allocated for firefighting cut in half.
Slots in Florida may
hurt Kentucky horse industry; bring expanded gambling?
Approval of slot machine gambling in one Florida
county last week could have repercussions for Kentucky's horse
industry and increase pressure on the Commonwealth to expand
gambling, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Voters in Broward County, Fla., approved a measure
that will allow slots at pari-mutuel facilities there, writes
Janet Patton. Richard Thalheimer, an economics professor in
the University of Louisville's equine business
department, told Patton, “The vote could have a ripple
effect on Kentucky racing and breeding. It's going to have
a serious, major impact on on-track revenue at Calder."
The Kentucky Equine Education Project
(KEEP), got two of the three items it wanted passed from this
session of the General Assembly. One item removed a tax that
the group says encouraged racehorse buyers to take their horses
out of state to be trained. The second was a breeders' incentive
fund, which will use the sales tax from stud fees to keep
mares from going out of state to foal.
Breeders are worried because the number of mares
that stay in Kentucky to have their foals has slipped from
a record 74 percent in 1998 to 69 percent last year. The foal
births also generate boarding fees for local farms. Thalheimer
told Patton, "Suddenly, horses bred in slot-states are
selling for higher prices because they are eligible for more
purse money." Claria Horn Shadwick, executive director
of KEEP, said, "That's precisely what Kentucky breeders
fear most. You're just going to continue to increase purses
in another jurisdiction, which is going to lure away additional
horses," she said. For the Associated Press
version, click here.
West Virginia may need
to boost gaming to keep edge in revenue fix
West Virginia has grown to be a mecca for risk
takers in the gaming world, and with surrounding state’s
eyeing expanded gambling measures, The Washington
Post reports, the 'Mountain State' may have to up
the ante to keep its elevated revenue fix.
“Just past the Maryland line, a little
more than an hour from Washington, Charles Town Racing and
Slots glows with the artificial light of the resurrected,"
writes
Elizabeth Williamson. Ten years ago, the track was defunct,
shuttered when county voters rejected slot machine gambling.
A year later, persuaded by poverty, politicians and Penn National
Gaming, which would buy the track only if slots won the day,
residents reversed themselves, she writes.
For two decades, W.Va. lawmakers have passed
legislation turning this poor and rugged state into a regional
gambling destination. Next to income and sales taxes, gambling
is the biggest contributor to the state budget, Williamson
writes. Now with gaming initiatives in Maryland, Pennsylvania,
Delaware and Kentucky, West Virginia wants to up the ante,
she notes.
If a new bill is passed by the legislature as
expected, West Virginia would rival Las Vegas in its variety
of gambling options. Supporters say roulette and blackjack
will keep out-of-town visitors coming. Opponents say gambling
profits are not the way to bankroll a state. Sen. Andy McKenzie
(R-Wheeling), who supports the table games measure, told The
Post, "Once you start down the road, it's hard to stop."
When as much as one-fifth of the budget comes from gambling,
he added, "it's difficult to eliminate."
Rural New York hospitals
try old style cures to keep themselves afloat
Rural hospitals in upstate New York are dipping
into nontraditional medicine as a means of broadening their
medicinal services and resulting revenues, reports the Rochester
Democrat and Chronicle.
“To help ensure its future, Clifton Springs
Hospital is dipping into its past,” writes
Joy Davia. The hospital, founded in 1850 as a water cure facility,
tapped into the sulfur springs running beneath its campus.
This enabled the hospital to add the baths to The Springs
of Clifton, its 5-year-old facility that has services you
won't find at most hospitals, such as body wraps, acupuncture,
hypnotherapy — even manicures and pedicures, she writes.
It's not a matter of nostalgia. Creation of
The Springs is just one example of what rural hospitals are
doing to stay financially afloat. All hospitals — big
and small — operate on thin margins that make financial
viability a struggle, especially with increasing costs and
shrinking reimbursements for services, Davis writes.
But, she explains, rural hospitals face smaller
volumes, have a harder time recruiting doctors and have an
inability to offer the kind of surgical specialty services
that are profitable. They are often a rural area's main source
of emergency, pediatric and basic medical care, as well as
its largest employer. When they struggle, or are at risk of
closing, the whole community feels the pain, she writes.
Christian groups reach
out to addicts, target drugs in Eastern Kentucky
The Christian Appalachian Project
has announced plans to invest $1 million to open long-term
rehabilitation centers in Eastern Kentucky to help drug abusers
break their addictions, reports The Associated Press.
Bill Mills, president of the ministry that has
fed and clothed the poor in Appalachia for 40 years, said
churches and other Christian organizations are stepping forward
to deal with the region's drug problem, writes
Roger Alford. He told Alford, "Substance abuse is
a plague upon our Eastern Kentucky communities. It is the
most dominant and devastating of the problems we face today."
While Christian groups support the work of federal
and state agencies that are working to combat the drug problem
through law enforcement and government-funded treatment centers,
writes Alford, the Rev. Doug Abner told him they're opening
drug rehabilitation centers, taking part in anti-drug rallies,
reaching into their pocketbooks to help pay for detoxification,
starting neighborhood watch programs, monitoring drug cases
from arraignment to sentencing in local courts, and working
one-on-one with recovering addicts to encourage them to stay
drug-free.
Abner said residents in Perry County opened
Joshua's Dream Foundation, an organization
that provides free rehabilitation for drug addicts, soon after
prescription drug abuse reached "epidemic" proportions
in the Hazard area.
Program targets rural
teen drinking; adults' lax attitude blamed for high usage
A study done last year in a rural Pennsylvania
area school district showed almost 29 percent of all ninth-graders
used alcohol on a regular monthly basis. For high school seniors,
that number jumped to 43 percent, reports the Pittsburg
Post-Gazette.
Those numbers were enough to persuade Pennsylvania's
Liquor Control Board to give the community
part of a federal, $1 million grant to fight underage drinking
in rural areas, writes
Paula Reed Ward. Pennsylvania, with the largest rural population
in the country, was one of four states chosen to participate
in this program, made available by the U.S. Department
of Justice. Illinois, New Mexico and Nevada also
are included, she writes.
Carrie Bence, Indiana's enforcement project
coordinator, told Ward, though underage drinking is a problem
in every community there are some aspects of it that are unique
to rural areas. Among those are the lack of safe alternatives
for minors and permissive attitudes by adults toward underage
drinking. P.J. Stapleton, a member of Pennsylvania's Liquor
Control Board (LCB), told her, parents will allow their children
to drink in their homes because they figure that at least
then they know what their kids are doing.
The report shows minors in rural communities
drink alcohol at rates 33 percent higher than their urban
and suburban counterparts. They also have a 30 percent higher
rate of binge drinking. Mary Beth Wolfe, a staff member of
the LCB, said the program is to punish the children who use
alcohol and those who provide it to them. She said, "Law
enforcement is one of the best limiters of underage drinking
across the country."
As family farms diminish,
children's weight increasing, new study shows
New research appears to dispell a long-held
belief in farm communities and other rural towns, that heavy
chores, wide expanses of land and fresh air make for leaner,
stronger, healthy children, reports The Associated
Press.
“In the mountains of Western Pennsylvania
and in other rural communities like it, many health officials
say the tide of obesity is rising faster than anywhere else,”
writes
Charles Sheehan. Michael Meit, director of the University
of Pittsburgh Center for Rural Health Practice, told
Sheehan, reaction to this apparent contradiction, "Whatever
the situation was, rural areas are leading the way. Nnow they're
ahead of the curve. Something's happened." Researchers
are not ready to point a finger at any one culprit for rural
obesity, but they have some theories. For one thing, with
fewer family farms and more mechanization, children are not
burning many calories, but they're still eating high-calorie
meals.
The Center for Rural Pennsylvania
released the study that used state health figures to compare
the body-mass index of seventh-graders in urban and rural
communities - more than 25,000 students in all. About 16 percent
of urban students qualified as obese. In rural school districts
20 percent of students were considered obese. Researchers
found that during the years of the survey, between 1999 and
2001, the number of obese students in rural school districts
rose about 5 percent, more than twice the rate of their urban
counterparts. The same trends are being reported from New
Mexico to Michigan to West Virginia. Dr. Darrell Ellsworth,
director of cardiovascular disease research at the Windber
Research Institute told AP, "It is accelerating."
.
Iowa corn growers hope
to turn fuel on its ear; ethanol, boom or bust?
Small-town residents and rural bankers are financing
ethanol plants to rebuild their local economies, reports The
Wall Street Journal. And, early signs indicate their
investments may be growing.
"Last year, truck driver Dean Rogers, of
Nevada, Iowa made the biggest investment of his life. He scraped
together $25,000 for a stake in a plant that turns corn into
a gasoline substitute called ethanol," writes
Scott Kilman.
Rogers, 61, told Kilman, "It's a big chunk
of change. I'm hoping it will be a big part of my nest egg."
He's among thousands of farmers, teachers, merchants and retirees
who've raided their savings to join the biggest investment
movement in rural America for decades, he writes. Driven in
part by hopes of reviving weak local economies, the investors
and rural lenders are pouring billions of dollars into ethanol
plants.
The financial results have been positive. With
the price of gasoline up, ethanol has leaped 40 percent in
two years. Meanwhile, the Chicago Board of Trade
is poised to launch a futures contract in ethanol, writes
Kilman. Midwestern plants built by farmer co-ops and private
companies, at a cost of $50 million to $125 million, are showering
their hometown investors with benefits.
Communities are offering tax deferrals, building
roads to plant sites and floating bond issues for construction.
Banks are offering loans to buy stock, sometimes not requiring
investors to put up money. Twenty-five ethanol plants are
under construction, adding to 83 in operation, a third of
which are less than three years old. A single builder in Minnesota
has 42 more plants on the drawing board.
With conservative tide
and newsmaker, now 'everything's coming up Kansas'
What do you do when your state image is not
only lacking, it's invisible? It helps when your state is
centered in the tidal wave of shifting rural American political
sentiments, and you get national focus from a few major news
stories, good and bad, reports The New York Times.
“About 18 months ago, government, economic
and marketing officials from around the state of Kansas gathered
in a series of meetings to address what a top tourism official
called the ‘volatile, emotionally charged subject’
of the state's national image. Their findings were exceptionally
bland,” writes
Jesse McKinley. Scott Allegrucci, the state's director of
travel and tourism development, told McKinley "The image
of Kansas wasn't negative, it was blank. The biggest response
to Kansas was no response."
But, writes McKinley, now, thanks to the tide
of attention turned toward conservative rural American support
in the November election results, Kansas has been claiming
a much greater place in the national consciousness: through
its association with conservative politics, and, he notes,
"through a bushel of headline-hogging news stories that
came flying, twisterlike, out of the state over the last month."
One was the case of the B.T.K. killer, who the
police say has confessed to murdering 10 people over nearly
three decades, he writes. Then, Steve Fossett landed a glider-like
aircraft called the Global Flyer in Salina, Kan., and became
the first pilot to circumnavigate the globe solo in a single
nonstop flight. At the celebration afterward, Gov. Kathleen
Sebelius tapped into the rising Kansas-as-the-center-of-the-universe
spirit by saying that the world begins and ends in Kansas.
Kentucky county school
team,‘Rebels,’ picks new flag with no stars or
bars
A new flag has been chosen as a symbol for the
Casey County High School Rebels, in Liberty, Kentucky, reports
The Advocate Messenger.
The old flag has interlocking Cs in the top
left corner and "Rebels" written at the bottom divided
by a red diagonal bar with stars. The new flag, chosen by
the school council, replaces the Rebel flag that was designed
when the school opened in 1963, writes
the Danville newspaper. Principal Tim Goodlett told the newspaper
the new design is "plain, simple and elegant."
The school's Culture and Climate Committee,
recently formed to improve school spirit and pride, is in
the process of getting new flags made to place in each classroom,
they write. Goodlett told them, "The student body seems
to be really enthused (about the new flag) and support it."
Friday,
March 11, 2005
Bankruptcy-law reform
has Iowans rushing to file
ahead of new restrictions
More Iowans are rushing to file for bankruptcy
before Congress passes legislation making it more difficult
for people to rid themselves of debt, reports The
Des Moines Registe With Senate passage of the most
thorough overhaul of bankruptcy laws in a quarter-century,
and passage expected in the House, President Bush's likely
second victory this year on pro-business legislation has promoted
a hord of consmers to run for protective bankruptcy cover,
write
Pat Johnson and Steve Dinnen.
The legislation seeks to cut down consumer use
of Chapter 7 bankruptcy, used by about 95 percent of all filers
in Iowa. Under Chapter 7, debtors can have financial obligations
wiped out after relinquishing many assets, which are then
sold. The bill would impose a means test, which would direct
more debtors to Chapter 13 bankruptcy where they would repay
more of their debt. The test would take into account the median
income for a state, which is $41,985 in Iowa, and expenses
permitted under IRS guidelines.
Iowa bankruptcy attorneys tolf the paper they
have seen a marked increase in people wanting to file now
rather than later. Des Moines lawyer Jeff Mathias said the
number of people wanting to file for bankruptcy has doubled
in the past few weeks. Between 30 percent and 40 percent of
the people he works with are over the median income range,
he said. He told the Register, "A lot of these people
want to file before the law changes." Des Moines bankruptcy
attorney John Miller has seen a similar increase. "We
have sent out letters to people that have contacted us in
the past warning them they ought to do it now," Miller
said.
Mary Weibel, chief clerk of the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court in Iowa's southern district, said she anticipates a
dramatic increase in bankruptcy filings if President Bush
signs the legislation. For a similar story by The
News & Observer, of Raleigh, N.C., click
here.
Parties split over consumer
responsibility vs. personal crisis in bankruptcy bill
Democratic U. S. Sen. Mark Dayton of Minnesota
denounced the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer
Protection Act, while Republican Sen. Jim Bunning
of Kentucky outlined his support of the bill, both issuing
statements on their Web sites. The bill passed the Senate
74-25 yesterday.
“The bankruptcy bill is an abomination,"
said
Dayton. "It does nothing to protect consumers, as its
title claims, nor does it reflect the urgent need to address
corporate bankruptcy abuse and predatory lending practices.”
He continues, “This bill attacks working Americans,
many of whom have been thrown into dire financial straights,
through no fault of their own, by uncovered medical expenses
or loss of a job. While it professes to be a consumer protection
bill, in reality, it is a credit card company profit assurance
plan.”
Bunning said
the bill will help restore “personal responsibility
and integrity to the bankruptcy system." Bunning writes,
“By passing this legislation ... we have taken a huge
step forward in our ... effort to curb abuses in the consumer
bankruptcy system and reduce the cost on America’s working
families." He continues, "Over the last 25 years
we have seen a rapid increase in individual bankruptcy filings
that have proved very costly to our economy and this bill
aims to fix that. It’s a solid victory for the American
consumer.” Bunning urged House passage so President
Bush can sign it into law.
New plant emissions
limit to cut pollutants, says EPA; will raise rates, say utilities
The Bush administration yesterday finalized
a regulation for the eastern United States that would cut
power plant pollutants that cause smog, acid rain and soot
by about two-thirds over the next decade.
Jeffrey Holmstead, the Environmental
Protection Agency's assistant administrator said
the rule will cost about $3.6 billion a year to implement
but is expected to save $85 billion in annual health benefits,
writes
Seth Borenstein of the Knight Ridder News Service.
He said it "will result in the biggest health benefit
of any EPA rule in more than a decade."
The Courier-Journal reports
residential electricity bills will rise by pennies for the
typical LG&E Energy customer over the
next three years. Chip Keeling, a spokesman for the utility,
told the newspaper, customers could pay up to 14 cents a month
more later this year, rising to 32 cents by 2008. Throughout
the eastern United States, residential electricity bills may
increase by about a $1 a month by 2020 because of the additional
pollution controls, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency reported.
The regulation is designed to reduce pollution
that travels across state lines.It applies only to 28 Eastern
and Midwestern states and the District of Columbia. Unlike
most past regulatory efforts, this rule doesn't tell power
plants how to reduce pollution. Instead, it puts caps on emissions
and lets the utilities decide how to get below those limits,
writes the C-J's James Bruggers.
The following states are affected by the new
rule: Texas, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Missouri,
Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia,
Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas,
Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New York, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and
the District of Columbia.
Phone billing vote blasted; consumers still
pay hidden costs, groups say
In a decision it described as pro-consumer,
the Federal Communications Commission has
voted to extend its truth-in-billing rules to the wireless
telephone industry, reports The Charleston
Gazette.
"But state consumer advocates who asked
the FCC to forbid misleading phone charges disagreed. The
National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates
(NASUCA) and other consumer groups called the decision, ...a
defeat in the fight to protect consumers from hidden fees
and long-distance phone charges," writes
Jim Barlow of the West Virginia newspaper.
In a case written by Patrick Pearlman, deputy
consumer advocate with the W.Va. Public Service Commission,
NASUCA asked the FCC in March 2004 to bar phone companies
from adding monthly phone charges to customer bills that sound
like government mandated fees. Those charges often go under
names such as “regulatory assessment charge” or
“regulatory cost recovery fee.” NASUCA said those
charges hey sometimes aren’t mentioned in advertising,
which makes it hard to compare rates among phone companies.
Many customers agreed, and sent comments to the FCC, writes
Barlow.
Janee Briesemeister, senior policy analyst at
Consumers Union, said in a statement, “More
than 18,000 consumers wrote in on the issue, but the FCC majority
didn’t pay attention . The FCC clearly took the side
of the cell phone companies who oppose state efforts to protect
consumers.” David Bergmann of the Ohio Consumers’
Counsel called the decision a “lose-lose for
America’s consumers.” He told Barlow, “The
FCC’s decision blocks states from taking action while
refusing to resolve a nationwide problem.”
Two of the five FCC commissioners who voted
for the decision wrote partial dissent statements, Barlow
writes. Commissioner Michael Copps noted that phone bills
have become confusing. “It’s baffling how complicated
they are. You need an accountant or a lawyer, preferably both,
to root out what you’re being charged for and why. That’s
what led NASUCA last year to file for a declaratory ruling.”
Virginia game unit shake-up sought; top managers
told, 'resign or be fired'
The leadership of Virginia's besieged game department
is under fire from a former board chairman, who has called
for the agency's top managers to resign or be removed.
"J. Carson Quarles, chairman of the department's
board from 1998 to 2002, said ... he is joining a group of
former board members and chairmen in seeking the removal of
the executive director, William L. Woodfin, and two other
department heads who used state credit cards to buy gear for
a personal safari in Africa last year," write
Michael Martz and Gordon Hickey of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Quarles also called on the Department of Game and
Inland Fisheries board to replace its chairman, Daniel
A. Hoffler, who led the safari and paid most of the trip's
expenses for the game officials.
Quarles said in a written statement obtained
by the Times-Dispatch, "From my 37 years in banking .
. . I clearly learned that when situations exist that involve
damaged public trust, negative press relations, deteriorating
staff morale and questionable management decisions, it becomes
impossible to right a ship without a management change."
Hoffer told the Times-Dispatch he won't quit as chairman and
questioned the motives of Quarles, a Republican campaign contributor
who was replaced on the board by Gov. Mark R. Warner, a Democrat.
Hoffler said, "I'm very disappointed that a former chairman
would blindside the department in this manner."
Quarles, a retired Roanoke businessman, said
he struggled with the decision because of his longstanding
support of Woodfin's leadership at the agency and friendships
with department officials. However, he said the agency's leaders
had reacted defensively to criticism and failed to take steps
to address legitimate concerns about the department's management.
West Virginia youth asks
state to ban hunting albino deer; lawmakers respond
A young man’s ‘rite of passage’
and his conscience have prompted a call to West Virginia lawmakers
to protect a rare specimen of wildlife, reports The
Associated Press.
"Jared Stiltner likes to hunt. The 11-year-old
bagged a doe during last fall’s youth antlerless deer
hunt," writes
Lawrence Messina. But a discovery in the woods near his rural
Wyoming County home last spring has him asking state lawmakers
to draw a line on killing albino deer.
Stiltner told lawmakers in the House of Delegates
by letter, "It just seems wrong to kill something so
rare." Game experts estimate that between one in 10,000
and one in 100,000 deer are albino. Stiltner’s cause
has prompted introduction of a House Bill, which has some
pretty potent co-sponsors, writes Messina, including his cousin,
House Majority Leader Rick Staton, as well as the House Speaker,
and the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Staton,
D-Wyoming, told Messina, "I think it’s a really
good bill. The letter that he wrote was very heartfelt. He
was very affected by seeing this."
Stiltner said in his letter the lack of melanin,
which gives skin its color, leaves albino deer with weaker
eyes and ears. Stiltner learned without natural camouflage,
the animals are more vulnerable to hunters and other predators.
"I just decided, why not try to make a law," said
Stiltner, who was on hand for the bill’s introduction
as a House page, writes Messina.
West Virginia hunting laws do not address albino
deer. Thirteen states have passed laws protecting them. The
bill would make it a crime to hunt, trap, shoot, possess or
attempt to kill an albino deer. Curtis Taylor, chief of the
Division of Natural Resources’s wildlife
section told the AP, "There’s no biological reason
to prohibit the killing of an albino deer, and no reason within
deer management."
'Total Vertical' pits
kayak teams against each other, weather in the Smokies
Three kayakers from Team Tallboy brought a different
kind of "March Madness" to the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park this week by plunging repeatedly
into icy rapids as part of a contest involving amateur athletes
from across the Southeast, reports The Knoxville
News-Sentinel.
"They braved freezing temperatures, whiteouts
and Class IV rapids near the Tremont Institute in the hopes
of seeing just how far and how hard they can push themselves
over the next few weeks, writes
J. J. Stambaugh. The month-long contest measures how many
"vertical feet" that kayak teams can rack up on
rivers in Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky,
Virginia and West Virginia.
Kirk Eddlemon, a 24-year-old University
of Tennessee geology student, and teammates Adam
Griffin and John Webb spent one morning repeatedly traversing
a stretch of steep rapids on the Middle Prong of the Little
River. 'Team Tallboy' launched its kayaks from beneath a narrow
bridge at the foot of a path that leads to the Derrick Knob
shelter on the Appalachian Trail, writes Stanbaugh.
Eddlemon told Stambugh the contest is called
Total Vertical Feet March Madness and the idea was generated
from within the close-knit kayaking community. Corporate sponsors
of the competition include a number of companies that outfit
kayakers, and some of the prizes will likely be samples of
their products.
Rural Kentucky county
courthouses to get refurbished or replaced
For many rural communities the epicenter of
law, justice, commerce, community news and gossip is the county
courthouse. Now some of these stately monuments will be getting
a face-lift or replaced.
The Lexington Herald-Leader
staff report states,
"Eighteen Kentucky counties will receive money to build
new courthouses or renovate old ones. Included in the 2005-2006
state budget is more than $217 million earmarked for capital
projects for county courthouses."
Chief Justice Joseph Lambert of Rockcastle County
told the newspaper that Kentucky courthouses handle more than
1 million cases each year. He said many of those courthouses
are too old and don't have the space or the infrastructure
to handle the caseload. Lambert said the Administrative
Office of the Courts began lobbying state legislators
for money for state courthouses in 2002.
Fourteen counties will get new judicial centers:
Adair, Taylor, Laurel, Shelby, Pulaski, Green, Washington,
Grant, Jackson, Grayson, Logan, Hart, Trigg and Boyd counties.
Robertson, Gallatin, Pendleton and Livingston counties will
receive money for additions or renovations. (Blogger's
note: We hope the money assures comfortable benches outside,
especially for seniors who want to rest a while and solve
the world's problems, usually on spring and fall Saturdays.)
Media conscience Bob
Edwards hears McCarthy Era echoes; says dissent stifled
Radio interviewer Bob Edwards said at Centre
College in his native Kentucky that the U.S. is in a period
like the McCarthy era of the 1950s, in which the government
is stifling political dissent while the news media and the
public fail to speak out in vigorous opposition, reports the
Lexington Herald-Leader.
The newspaper reports,
“Edwards, a host for XM Satellite Radio,
said the "Bush administration holds reporters in contempt"
and has become the "all-time champion of information
control." He added, "There is no appreciation by
this administration that the people have a right to know what
is being done in their name and with their dollars."
Edwards built a theme based on a quote by Bush's
former press secretary, Ari Fleischer, in the wake of 9/11:
"People should watch what they say." He also said
journalists "have done a terrible job explaining their
role to the public."
Edwards quoted Edward R. Murrow's famous TV
response to Sen. Joseph McCarthy's communist witch hunt: "We
must not confuse dissent with disloyalty," and "we
cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."
He also cited Murrow's quotation from Shakespeare to end his
report on McCarthy, 51 years ago this week: "The fault,
dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves,”
(From Julius Caesar, I, ii, 140)
Thursday,
March 10, 2005
Tobacco county's paper
reports on fight among farmers for settlement money
Turmoil is increasing on at least one of the
Kentucky county councils that, collectively, spend 17.5 percent
of the billions the state is getting from the 1998 national
tobacco settlement. This week, the weekly Casey County
News kept pulling back the curtain, and we encourage
journalists elsewhere to do likewise.
”The gloves came off at the Casey
County Agriculture Development Council meeting [last]
Wednesday night as accusations of mismanagement and personal
attacks flowed freely,” Editor Donna Carman reported
in this Wednesday’s paper. “And it's not the
first time.”
Under questioning by Board Chairman Marion
Murphy, the president of the Casey County Cattlemen's
Association, which administers three of the five
programs the council has started for local farmers, acknowledged
that only one person “evaluates the applications submitted
by farmers,” Carman wrote. ”Murphy has questioned
the distribution of funds, saying there are instances where
certain people have received money in multiple programs while
others who are waiting for funding have received none.”
He also charged, and the cattlemen denied, that they had given
money to some farmers who don’t even own cattle and
that some recipients hadn’t received required training.
Council member Betty Lou Weddle said more programs
are needed that could help more than a few farmers. “How
can we help the tobacco farmer when people are getting money
who’ve not grown a stalk of tobacco?” she asked.
As the debate grew more heated, member Cheston Wilson told
Murphy and the cattlemen, “Things are getting too personal
and you should quit attacking each other. When we enter these
doors, we’re supposed to be trying to do the best we
can to help the farmers we represent.”
Murphy accused the cattlemen of mismanagement
and tried to push through rule changes, such as requiring
that all applicants be served before anyone can receive additional
grants, but Steve Heightchew, the county extension agent for
agriculture, said the council cannot change any rules on existing
programs. Each county has an eight-member council. The councils
are allocated 35 percent of the money the state has earmarked
for agricultural diversification, a cause that gets half the
settlement money.
Rural areas and small
towns urged to keep identities, promote 'unique' festivals
South Carolina elected officials, chamber leaders
and other community activists and leaders gathered at the
Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort for seminars
on increasing a rural community's work force, tips on tax
credits for long- term homeownership, energizing entrepreneurship
and developing thriving community festivals, reports The
Sun News of Myrtle Beach.
Festival events in rural areas provide a springboard
for economic growth and development, said experts who spoke
during the first day of the 2005 Governor's Rural Summit,
writes Tonya Root. Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland told
her, "The majority of Horry County is rural, so to come
to a rural summit is applicable. (It) has its own uniqueness
to offer. Officials at the conference said the uniqueness
of each small community can build an economic base. They told
summit attendees that leaders must capitalize on what each
community has to offer the world and promote it through various
means such as a community festival.
Gayle Bivines of the state Department
of Parks, Recreation and Tourism told the gathering,
"With the economy the way it is today, communities are
looking to develop their area and promote it as another funding
source. We want the people to come into the community to have
fun ...We want them to stay as long as they possibly can and
spend as much as they can." Annually in South Carolina,
there are more than 500 community festivals, writes Root.
Gilland said, small-town festivals are "looked
on different than the festivals at the beach. We need to grow
them and generate new festivals in the unincorporated communities."
Festivals can provide the catalyst to grow a rural community's
economic base," Bivines told the gathering. "Uniqueness
is key to a local festival ...to draw people ...find the uniqueness
of your community and not try to mimic another ...to be able
to draw from outside of your immediate community."
North Dakota child population-drop
leads nation; impacts state's rural schools
New census figures show North Dakota is losing
more children than any other state. Richard Rathge, director
of the State Data Center, told Washington
Post
writer James MacPherson, "What we're seeing is a
tremendous loss of youth. Young adults and young families
are leaving."
From 2000 to 2004, North Dakota's population
of children ages 5 to 17 dropped about 14 percent and the
number of newborns dropped about 8 percent. The number of
newborns in one year alone, 2003 to 2004, dropped 1.5 percent
- and the highest percentage in the nation, MacPherson writes.
Census Bureau figures show
the state grew in population in 2004 for the first time since
1996. It added 966 people for a total of 634,366. But, Rathge
said North Dakota's birth rate has declined nearly every year
since 1982. Fargo, the state's largest city, has seen a 1.5
percent growth in young adults over the past few years, but
most of them are not starting families, Rathge told MacPherson.
The town of Calvin, where Tony Nieman is mayor,
exemplifies what is happening: Young adults and young families
with children are moving away to escape the harsh farm economy,
MacPherson writes. Starting this fall, the city's 25 elementary-age
children will go somewhere else to learn. There aren't enough
to keep the school open. Tom Decker of the Department
of Public Instruction, told MacPherson three other
schools in the county will be shuttered this year because
of declining enrollment, and five other districts are consolidating
their schools. Elroy Burkle, superintendent of the Calvin
school, told the Post, "If you look at the schools that
have closed or are closing, the bulk of them were based on
an agriculture economy."
Georgia meth bust is
largest in East; highly addictive form 'ice' found
Federal authorities have seized 174 pounds of
the highly potent crystal methamphetamine and $1 million in
cash in a Lawrenceville, Georgia drug-bust, reports The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“It was the largest seizure of crystal
meth, or ‘ice,’ on the East Coast and the nation's
15th-largest, writes
Lateef Mungin and Bill Torpy. Police told the newspaper it
points to another facet in the drug problem exploding across
metro Atlanta. Sherri Strange, Atlanta's top Drug
Enforcement Administration agent, told Mungin and
Torpy, "The Atlanta area is seeing an onslaught of Mexican
methamphetamine ...in its more addictive form, ice. I can't
emphasize how dangerous ice is."
U.S. Attorney David Nahmias referred the constant
flow of meth imported from Mexico to the area as "a rising
tide in Georgia ...a tidal wave that will overwhelm us."
In December, authorities seized 20 pounds of meth and 28 pounds
of cocaine in what they called one of the largest drug busts
in Cherokee County, Ga. history, write Mungin and Torpy. In
January, authorities seized 125 pounds of crystal meth in
DeKalb County. The bust at the time was called the largest
such seizure in the Southeast. And last month, agents discovered
a meth "super lab" in a Smyrna home capable of cranking
out 10 pounds of ice a day.
Catherine O'Neil, who heads the Justice
Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement
Task Force in Washington, told the newspaper, The
large busts indicate a migration of meth "super labs"
from the West Coast. She said the major trafficking organizations,
which are predominantly operated by Mexican nationals, "realize
they can make huge profits [in the Southeast]." She added
enforcement in the West "has squeezed the balloon and
moved it East."
Federal funding cuts
could curb local law-enforcement drug inquiries
Proposed federal funding cuts would hurt efforts
by police to fight drugs in Kentucky particularly in smaller
towns and rural areas where police have fewer resources and
abuse of prescription pills and methamphetamine is rampant,
reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.
"President Bush has proposed cutting the
budget for the national High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area
program by more than 50 percent. In Kentucky, 27 counties
in the eastern and southern part of the state are in the Appalachia-HIDTA,
which provides money for task forces of federal, state and
local officers to investigate drug trafficking," writes
Bill Estep.
Bush also has proposed eliminating money that
supports local drug task forces and other crime initiatives.
The Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet
told Estep about a dozen drug task forces around the state,
state police and Lexington and Louisville police, received
more than $3.5 million total this year for drug initiatives
from that Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program.
Dave Gilbert, director of the Lake Cumberland
Area Drug Task Force and president of the Kentucky
Narcotics Officers Association told Estep losing
that money would require some task forces to lay off agents,
cut back investigations or even to shut down. Gilbert said
his own agency, which has five agents for investigations in
Pulaski, Wayne and McCreary counties, gets 75 percent of its
budget from the JAG program. Gilbert told Estep the end of
that funding would mean the demise of the task force.
East Carolina University,
in major tobacco region, may limit campus smoking
A committee at East Carolina University
chancellor will try to decide whether it is feasible
to ban smoking on certain areas of the campus in the heart
of tobacco country, reports The Associated Press.
ECU's Faculty Senate has passed a resolution
seeking to ban smoking in front of building entrances, outside
stairwells, elevator landings and partially enclosed corridors
outside of classrooms. Catherine Rigsby, chair of the faculty
said, "I think it's an important health issue for all
of us. It's very difficult to walk in and out of some of our
buildings without holding your breath," writes
AP.
Smoking now is banned in academic buildings
at the university. Some dorms have smoking areas inside. The
task force, with faculty, student and staff representatives,
is to study the logistics of the request. The faculty resolution
proposed the university designate smoking areas well away
from high-traffic areas. Georgia Childs, assistant director
for peer health said a survey done by ECU's Wellness
Education Department, showed 14 percent of 1,332
students polled were smokers. About 61 percent of those who
smoke said they were thinking about quitting.
ECU would not be the only school in the University
of North Carolina system to limit smoking. Limits
exist at UNC-Wilmington, Appalachian
State University, UNC-Pembroke and
UNC-Chapel Hill.
The Daily Reflector originated
this story. For a look at this rural newspaper, click here.
Public silenced at school
board meeting over controversial administrator
A former West Virginia House Education Chairman
may be the most talked-about man in Hampshire County, but
not at meetings of the school board that employs him.
Hampshire County School Board
attorney Norwood Bentley “successfully muzzled people
demanding that Jerry Mezzatesta (who was the subject of ethics
accusations in the legislature) be fired from his $60,000
administrative job earlier this week. Bentley said, "speaking
is a privilege offered by the board, not a public right,"
reports
The Associated Press. Bentley said, after
stopping some residents from identifying Mezzatesta or Supt.
David Friend by name or job title, “You can’t
take an employee of a school board to task in an open session.
It’s not the public’s meeting. It’s the
school board’s meeting.’’
About 100 people packed a school cafeteria when
resident Robert Lee began calling for Mezzatesta’s and
Friend’s dismissal, reports AP. Lee was beginning his
written remarks when Bentley intervened, saying Lee couldn’t
mention specific people in his comments. Bentley warned the
board it was “a libelous situation.’’ The
decision stunned those who had planned to speak, including
resident Jim Hott. “ There’s absolutely no reason
to have an open meeting if we can’t voice our opinions.’’
Tennessee
rangers, guard helicopter rescue four Appalachian Trail hikers
Four college freshmen on spring break in the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park said
yesterday they felt lucky to be alive after they were snowed
in at a shelter on the Appalachian Trail, writes
J. J. Stambaugh of The Knoxville News-Sentinel.
The four, all 19, were rescued by park rangers and a National
Guard helicopter after spending two wet, freezing nights huddled
in the Derrick Knob shelter.
One was airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical
Center in Knoxville as a precautionary measure after falling
victim to hypothermia. His three companions walked off the
trail a few hours later with words of warning for anyone planning
a trip into the mountains. One of the hikers told the newspaper,
"We weren't prepared. We may have done a few things right,
but we did a lot of things wrong. We were lucky."
The three from North Carolina State
University and one from the University of
Virginia set out Sunday from Fontana Dam to hike
the 71 miles of the trail that run through the park. By Monday
evening, writes Stambaugh, they found themselves in icy rain.
Temperatures had plummeted and the rain changed to snow that
blew into the shelter, at an elevation of 4,880 feet. By the
next morning, more than 8 inches of snow had fallen and the
group realized they didn't have much of a chance of walking
out unassisted.
Tennessee legislation
to limit sealing of court records faces more review
Guidelines to limit when records in civil court
cases can be sealed from public view have been withdrawn in
the Tennessee General Assembly for further review, reports
The Associated Press.
The Tennessee Supreme Court
issued the guidelines to restrict when judges should rule
that civil court documents be kept confidential. The legislature
had to approve the guidelines for them to take effect. Administrative
Office of the Courts spokeswoman Sue Allison told
AP, "Different legislators had different concerns about
the guidelines, so they were withdrawn for further study."
There are no written guidelines governing when
Tennessee judges may seal documents. Allan Ramsaur, executive
director of the Tennessee Bar Association,
told the wire service lawyers feared the guidelines would
have an adverse effect on settling civil cases out of court.
He said the guidelines may have made settlements and evidence
not filed with the courts subject to public review. The bar
association made those concerns known to the state Supreme
Court in September.
Frank Gibson of the Tennessee Coalition
for Open Government told AP the measure was a positive
development that fell victim to "lobbying pressure"
in the Legislature. He said the public's right to access information
that affects it outweighs whether the guidelines might reduce
the number of out-of-court settlements. "That's a very
broad concern," Gibson said. "This rule was very
specific in dealing with matters of public health, public
safety and government operations." Allison told the wire
service she did not know who would review the guidelines or
when they might be reissued.
Ex-competitors' merger
deal alters television landscape in Duluth market
Television news in northern Minnesota has been
transformed as two former competitors essentially merged services,
reports the Pioneer Press, a move another
local station is opposing.
Sarasota, Fla.-based Malara Broadcast
Group has purchased KDLH-TV, Duluth's
CBS affiliate, for $10.8 million and entered
a shared-services agreement with longtime rival Granite
Broadcasting Corp., the owner of local NBC affiliate
KBJR-TV, writes
the St. Paul newspaper.
The Federal Communications Commission
approved Granite's relationship with Malara earlier this year.
But St. Paul-based Hubbard Broadcasting,
owner of Duluth's ABC affiliate WDIO-TV,
opposes the deal and has filed objections with the FCC.
Under the deal, New York-based Granite will
provide most of KDLH's programming services, including local
news. KDLH will now offer one 30-minute local news broadcast
at 5:30 p.m. and an eight-minute news capsule at 10 p.m. John
Deushane, Granite's chief operating officer, said it no longer
made sense for KDLH to go up against the other local stations
at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. By offering a local broadcast at 5:30
p.m. and national news at 6 p.m., Deushane said, KDLH will
broaden options available to viewers.
The Duluth News Tribune said
the only on-air KDLH personalities retained were news anchor
Pat Kelly, meteorologist Erin Jordan and sports anchor Chris
Earl. Other KDLH news staff were terminated, said KDLH employees
who lost their jobs. Deushane declined to say how many people
lost their jobs. About 65 people were employed at KDLH under
its previous owner, New Vision Television
of Atlanta.
SPJ joins other groups
is supporting federal law to protect reporters' sources
Directors of the Society of Professional
Journalists voted yesterday to back federal shield
law legislation. "A federal shield law has become essential
now that prosecutors appear less constrained about hauling
journalists before courts and grand juries," SPJ President
Irwin Gratz, a radio anchor with Maine Public Broadcasting,
said in a release today. "Courts are proving little help
either, setting aside the partial protections recognized by
the U.S. Supreme Court in its Branzburg v. Hayes
ruling" of 1972.
SPJ, which has long been reluctant to seek legislative protection
for something it considers to be a constitutional right guaranteed
by the First Amendment, joins the Newspaper Association
of America, the National Newspaper Association,
the American Society of Newspaper Editors,
the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press,
The Radio-Television News Directors Association,
the National Press Photographers Association, The
New York Times, The Washington Post,
CNN, Court TV, Cox Enterprises, E.W. Scripps
and Time Inc. in supporting the legislation.
"In the months ahead, the Society will work with other
supporters of federal shield law legislation and members of
Congress to craft a law that offers the maximum protection
for journalism in all its varied forms," the release
said. "The Society will also be making its case to the
public. As Gratz points out, 'They are the ones who are served
by a free flow of information and they will feel the chill
if sources become less willing to speak and journalists afraid
to listen.'"
Worms turn, churn out compost; wigglers
whittle down county's organic trash
A Virginia county has added about 300,000 new
employees to its payroll, but they work for food as part of
the county’s waste treatment efforts, reports the Richmond
Times-Dispatch.
“(The) workers have been on the job for
the past few months, but likely won't wiggle their way onto
the county payroll. The red wigglers -- a variety of worm
-- are chowing down on discarded food products at the county's
waste transfer station, providing a valuable service by helping
divert about 200 pounds of trash a day from landfills,”
writes
Dena Sloan.
As the worms munch on discarded organic materials,
such as rice and beans, they produce nitrogen-rich droppings,
a valuable kind of compost. Steve Chidsey, Hanover County's
solid waste manager, who started the program to reduce food
refuse that winds up in landfills, told Sloan, "We always
have fun here in the world of trash. We're one with our worms.
Garbage is where it's at," he said.
The county began its worm composting program
about six months ago. The most expensive part of the project
was buying a large bin for $7,500 to hold the trash. The worms,
cost about $800 for 100,000 of them. The worm work, known
as vermacomposting, can be done inside year-round. The process
must be monitored to ensure proper temperature, and moisture
and acidity levels, it's mostly a hands-off procedure
Wednesday,
March 9, 2005
Kentucky kills truck bill, raises and lowers
various taxes, aids burley growers
The Kentucky General Assembly adjourned last
night after passing a budget and tax-reform package that included
heavy borrowing for construction projects and bonding of agricultural-diversification
funds to make up for payments that tobacco growers had been
expecting from cigarette companies last year.
The legislature also gave final passage to Gov.
Ernie Fletcher's tax-reform package, which raises the state
cigarette tax to 30 cents a pack from the current 3 cents,
the nation's lowest. Satellite TV service will be taxed for
the first time, income taxes will be cut, and alcohol taxes
will rise slightly.
And in what the Lexington Herald-Leader
called "a surprising and bitterly contested
reversal," the House killed a weakened version of a bill
it had easily passed -- one that would have legalized 120,000-pound
loads of all "natural resources," not just coal,
which has enjoyed the special weight limit on some roads for
almost two deacdes. Some lawmakers told The Courier-Journal
that the bill was hurt by a fatal accident Monday
involving a overweight coal truck.
For the C-J's rundown of the budget and tax
bill, click
here. For its meth-bill story, click
here. For a C-J column about the payments to growers,
click
here. For the Herald-Leader's story on a bill to limit
sales of junk food in schools and take other steps to fight
child obesity, which a nutritionist said could make Kentucky
a model for the rest of the nation, click
here. The legislature will return March 21 to reconsider
any bills vetoed by Fletcher, who has voiced concern about
the level of bonded debt
Meth legislation passes in Kentucky, moves
forward in West Virginia
The Kentucky legislature also gave final passage
to a bill to regulate Internet drug sales and restrict purchases
of a key ingredient in making methamphetamine, as a legislative
committee in West Virginia was advancing a similar bill in
that state.
The Kentucky measure will take effect 90 days
after the legislature adjourns, probably March 22, and will
restrict access to pseudoephedrine, an ingredient in over-the-counter
cold and allergy medicine such as Sudafed or Claritin D and
also a key ingredient of meth, The Courier-Journal
reports.
The C-J reported in December that meth has accelerated
its spread through Kentucky and that state laws aren't adequate
to stem the growth, Deborah yetter writes. The administration
had designated the bill as a priority, but final passage was
delayed until lawmakers could fix minor wording errors.
The Kentucky Retail Federation
argued the bill was too restrictive. The bill will require
tablets that contain pseudoephedrine to be kept in a secure
location, such as behind the counter or in a locked case.
The pills can be sold only at stores with a pharmacy, and
customers will have to present photo identification and sign
a log to obtain the pills from a pharmacist or pharmacist's
technician, she writes.
Meanwhile, he West Virginia Senate Health and
Human Resources Committee has moved to further restrict the
purchase of certain over-the-counter cold medicines that contain
ingredients for making meth. "Customers could only purchase
up to three packages of medicines like Sudafed a month without
a prescription. The proposal also reduces the number of controlled
cold medicines from about 250 to less than a dozen by targeting
medicines that contain pseudoephedrine and other ingredients,"
writes
Erik Schelzig of The Associated Press. According
to law enforcement officials, the yield of methamphetamine
is about equal to the amount of pseudoephedrine used in the
manufacturing process.
West Virginia State Police
Lt. Mike Goff told AP fewer medicines are being moved behind
pharmacy counters because cold remedies containing several
active ingredients are more difficult to cook down into methamphetamine.
"We’re happy with this provision because the bill
would allow us to add medicines to the list if we find they
are being made into methamphetamine," he said.
Mountain accents, class to change them, catch
attention of NBC News
NBC News visited Pikeville,
Ky., yesterday to film a segment on Eastern Kentucky's accent,
reports the town's Appalachian News-Express.
A newspaper employee was among the local residents interviewed
about having the accent, and how it can effect someone's career.
Sales representative Stephanie Treap told
the News Editor Rachel C. Stanley, "The main question
they had for me was have I ever tried to change my accent.
I told them I had thought about changing it, but . . . I've
never tried to make myself sound like a different person."
NBC News correspondent Roger O'Neil, based in
Savannah, Ga., said the story was inspired by news of a class
that began yesterday at Jenny Wiley State Park
aimed at teaching theater students how to drop their accents
at will. O'Neil told Stanley, "What interested us were
adults who feel they've either been stereotyped, or held back,
or can't do as much business as their counterparts because
of their accents."
O'Neil's report, which will air sometimes in
the next few weeks, will include a Broadway actress from West
Virginia who had to learn to drop her accent when performing.
Martin Childers, managing director of the Jenny Wiley Theatre,
told the News-Express, "That's something all professional
actors must learn to do." It is an important skill for
the Jenny Wiley Theatre, Childers told Stanley, because about
60 percent of the audience tends to be tourists, who may not
be familiar with the sound of the Eastern Kentucky accent.
(Roger O'Neil worked at NBC affiliate WSAZ-TV
in Huntingon, W.Va., one of the principal stations serving
Eastern Kentucky, in the early 70s, as did News-Express Publisher
Marty Backus.)
Press associations, AP
offering state-oriented Sunshine Week material
State press associations and bureaus of The
Associated Press are gearing up to give more localized
information to support the national Sunshine Week observance
coming up March 13-19.
The Kentucky Press Association
will provide two columns to its member newspapers, even though
it recently helped coordinate piublication of a major series
on its first open-records audit. Many newspapers published
the findings in a series that ran early February, giving Sunshine
Week a head start, wrote KPA Executive Director David Thompson
in a notice to newspaper editors.
Jon Fleischaker, KPA general counsel and chief
author of the Kentucky open-meetings and open-records laws,
has a column discussing the changes in the law between 1990
and 1992, and the importance of every citizen having a right
to an open government -- an objective of Sunshine Week.
The second column is by Robert J. Freeman, executive
director of the New York State Committee on Open Government.
It focuses on federal freedom-of-information laws and analyzes
and compares them to laws in other countries. "The time
has come for Americans to realize that our FOI laws, while
unquestionably valuable, are not as strong as they should
be," he writes.
AP has stories on its national and state budgets
for Sunday and Monday examining why freedom of information
matters to the public, because non-journalists use it the
most, how the government has tightened its controls on the
release of information since Sept. 11, 2001, and other topics.
AP's Kentucky bureau circulated editorials written in the
wake of the open-records audit.
National forest power-line
plan challenged; critics see threat to songbirds
Environmentalists say a proposal to cut another
right of way for power lines through the Daniel Boone
National Forest could open the forest to unwelcome
species that would hurt migratory songbirds.
Kentucky Heartwood is asking
the U.S. Forest Service to reconsider its
decision to allow East Kentucky Power Cooperative
to cut a 100-foot-wide swath through a section of the forest
in Rowan County, writes
Roger Alford of The Associated Press. Spokesman
Perrin de Jong said invaders, including the brown-headed cowbird,
which lays its eggs in borrowed nests, could use the passage
to prey on migratory songbirds that now nest safely in the
forest's interior.
Ben Worthington, manager of the forest, said
last month that he found no need for an environmental impact
statement because the project would not adversely effect federally
endangered or threatened species. Worthington acknowledged
that the project will increase the diversity of wildlife in
the forest, but said similar power line rights of way cut
through the forest in the past "have been without significant
effect."
Environmentalists disagree, pointing to cowbirds
to make their point. The birds, among the most abundant and
widespread in North America, lay up to 40 eggs each a year
in borrowed nests. In some cases, songbirds end up incubating
larger cowbird eggs. The cowbird fledglings grab most of the
food from the adults, causing other young birds in the nest
to starve.
Senate GOP tries to avoid filibuster against
drilling in Alaskan refuge
Senate Republicans say they are planning a legislative
maneuver to push through President Bush's plan to allow oil
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, avoiding
the threat of filibusters, which have killed the measure in
the past, reports The New York Times.
The maneuver, which senators and Congressional
aides said would be made public today as part of the Senate
budget resolution, would open the door to drilling with a
simple majority of 51 votes, instead of the 60 required to
block a filibuster, writes
Sheryl Gay Stolberg. The same move failed two years ago, but
with 55 Republican senators -- four more than before -- drilling
proponents of say they have fresh hope that Congress will
approve the plan, a central component of Bush's energy policy,
writes Stolberg.
Sen. Pete Domenici, the New Mexico Republican
and champion of the drilling provision, told The Times, "The
people who are for this, ANWR, have to have 51 votes,"
said "The people who are against it can take it out with
51 votes. All we're saying is, that seems pretty American,
pretty fair."
The move will reopen one of the most contentious
and long-running energy debates in Washington at a time when
the Senate, under a newly strengthened Republican majority,
is pushing through a variety of bills that opponents say benefit
big business, Stolberg writes. A measure that changes the
way the courts handle class-action lawsuits has already passed,
and a second bill that would make it more difficult for consumers
to use bankruptcy to escape paying debts appears headed for
passage this week.
Country Music Highway
Museum opens, noting Eastern Kentucky musicians
People know the land along U.S. 23 in Eastern
Kentucky as the coal miner’s world, plentiful with spirit
but impoverished after so long depending on natural resources
to fuel the economy.
But as of last Saturday, it will be known for
one more thing: the Country Music Highway Museum
in Johnson County, an effort to boost the region's economy
by using its musical heritage to build up tourism, writes
Loretta Tackett in The Paintsville Herald.
Paintsville Tourism has designated $45,000 a year for the
museum, which will cost $70,000 and will need an extra $25,000
to open, its manager said.
The museum highlights 12 artists, two of whom
were present at the ribbon-cutting: Crystal Gayle of Johnson
County and Tom T. Hall of Carter County. Others are: Loretta
Lynn (Gayle’s sister) and Hylo Brown, both of Johnson
County; Gary Stewart of Letcher County; Patty Loveless of
Pike County, Dwight Yoakam of Floyd County, Rebecca Lynn Howard
of Magoffin County, Ricky Skaggs of Lawrence County, Keith
Whitley of Elliott County, Billy Ray Cyrus of Greenup County
and Naomi and Wynona Judd of Boyd County.
University of Missouri
unveils new electronic newspaper; wave of future?
The world's oldest journalism school is introducing
newspaper-looking content that electronically transcends ink
and paper in a new way, reports The Associated Press.
The experiment is called EmPRINT, and analysts say it could
be what newspapers may look like in the future.
The University of Missouri's
daily newspaper, the Columbia
Missourian, will experiment on 10 consecutive
Sundays with the page-turning serendipity of stories and advertising
laid out like a newspaper but readable with clarity on computer
screens, AP writes. EmPRINT stands for Electronic Media Print.
Designer Roger Fidler also says with a smile that the spoken
version, "M-print," evokes the host school, Missouri,
and its new journalism institute, which nurtured the experiment.
EmPRINT's design is the realization of a dream
Fidler had in 1981, and cultivated through years of pioneering
new media for Knight Ridder and other sponsors.
Considered a visionary in converging newspapers with evolving
technology, Fidler is the first visiting fellow at the university's
Reynolds Institute. He said his research
on electronic papers "was a terrific fit" with Missouri's
journalism program, including a daily newspaper that is a
working laboratory for students with professional supervision
and editing. To learn more about EmPRINT, click here.
To contact designer Roger Fidler, click here.
Bath basks in 300th birthday; N.C.’s
first town kicks off year-long party
The small town of Bath was North Carolina's
first port, and produced the state's first shipyard and gristmill.
It is home to the state's first public library -- and its
oldest surviving church, reports the Raleigh News
& Observer. Now Bath is celebrating its 300th
birthday.
"It was even a haunt and hiding spot for
the pirate Blackbeard, who married one of the town's daughters.
But it was Bath's chief claim to fame -- as the first town
in North Carolina -- that prompted the people of this colonial
village to don old-timey costumes and brave windy weather
yesterday. They were celebrating Bath's 300th birthday,"
writes
J. Andrew Curliss.
The town of Bath traces its name to the times
of Rome. The state's first town was named for John Granville,
Earl of Bath, one of the later proprietors of the Carolinas
colony, Curliss writes. He was from Bath in England. That
town's name was given by Roman settlers, who enjoyed the public
baths they found there on missions. Bath, N.C., was incorporated
on March 8, 1705.
The first lots for the town were sold on Sept.
27, 1706. By October of that year, 25 people had bought lots.
In 1708, the town had 50 residents and 12 houses. The 2000
census put the population at 275. You can find out more at
www.historicbathnc.com.
Garden State moves
to protect tomato’s ‘veggie’ status; cites
court precedent
The humble tomato may technically be a fruit,
but New Jersey lawmakers, who are seeing red in the debate,
consider it a vegetable and are moving to official designate
it as such.
A legislative committee has approved a measure
designating the Jersey tomato as the official state vegetable.
Sponsors of the measure get around the fact that the tomato
is considered a fruit by using a century-old U.S.
Supreme Court ruling that slapped a vegetable tariff
on tomatoes, reports
The Associated Press. Justices on the 1887 high court
reasoned that if it's typically served with dinner, and not
as a dessert, it must be a vegetable, AP reports. Sen. Ellen
Karcher, who is co-sponsoring the Senate version of the bill
told the wire service, "Botanically it's a fruit, legally
it's a vegetable. Any of these bills that promote statewide
pride is something we should embrace."
The Jersey tomato's ride through the Legislature
began after a group of fourth-graders wrote letters urging
lawmakers to adopt a state fruit. The beloved blueberry won
out, and it - not the tomato - took its place last year as
the official state fruit. There currently is no official state
vegetable in the Garden State. (Your bloggers note all
this attention is enough to make a tomato blush.
Tuesday,
March 8, 2005
Days of high cotton
ending? GOP, constituents caught in subsidies battle
President Bush's proposal to cut billions of
dollars in subsidies to big cotton growers has struck at a
core Republican constituency, setting off a battle in GOPl
ranks that pits budget cutters and prairie-state populists
against traditional agricultural interests, reports Dan Morgan
of The Washington Post.
"The Bush plan threatens an elaborate government
safety net that is the handiwork of such legendary southern
Democrats as Lyndon B. Johnson (Tex.) and James O. Eastland
(Miss.), as well as a new generation of Republican leaders
from the region," Morgan writes.
"The move reflects growing pressure to hold down soaring
federal deficits and a recognition that even a business woven
deeply into the history, economy and politics of the South
must come to terms with dramatic changes underway in global
trade."
Underscoring that reality, the World
Trade Organization in Geneva has ruled U.S. cotton
subsidies violate global trade rules because they exceed limits
agreed to in 1944. If the United States does not correct the
situation, Brazil, which brought the complaint, could retaliate
against U.S. products.
As part of its 2006 budget proposal, the Bush administration
would trim benefits for growers of most staple crops, including
wheat, corn and soybeans, Morgan reports.
Economists and officials say the hardest hit
would be big producers of cotton in Republican strongholds
of Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia.
Large-scale operators in California and Arizona would also
be affected. The U.S. Department of Agriculture
projects cotton farmers will gobble up a quarter of farm subsidy
payments this year, with most going to a few hundred big growers.
Tobacco farmers deal
with new realities of growing the golden leaf
“A fixture on the Kentucky landscape for
nearly a century, tobacco will soon begin to disappear from
many of the state’s fields, leaving an uncertain economic
outlook for both farmers and the tobacco-dependent counties
in which many live.”
That paragraph, written by Louisville senior
Kyle Hamilton, begins a story reported and largely written
by students in the Rural Journalism class at the University
of Kentucky. They are examining the future of tobacco
farming and tobacco-dependent communities in the wake of the
end of the federal program of tobacco quotas and price supports.
“This is the biggest structural change of our lifetimes,”
University of Kentucky farm management specialist Steve Isaacs
told a crowd of wary growers in Shelbyville last month. The
UK students covered several of the meetings held by Isaacs
and colleague Will Snell, to see where tobacco and its growers
are headed.
For 65 years, the federal program limited the
amount growers could sell but set a minimum price for their
leaf. “Now they can grow all they want, but the price
will be about 25 percent less – about $1.50 a pound
instead of $2,” the story says. “That and other
changes in the tobacco market mean that some growers won’t
be growing any more.”
Hand counts at growers’ meetings indicated
that around half who attended and grew tobacco in 2004 would
grow it in 2005. “Very few said they planned to increase
production, but some of those increases will be large,”
the story says. “Most who plan to increase production
appear to be those who grew more than 10,000 pounds last year,
according to UK student Phillip Stith’s survey of 41
growers at the Tobacco Farmer Day at the National Farm Machinery
Show in Louisville.” To read the rest of the story,
click here.
Patients, journalism
students hope ‘Cancer Stories’ can help others
Cancer rates in Central Appalachia are not much
higher than for the nation as a whole, but the death rate
is higher – reflecting a lack of screening that leads
to diagnosis and proper treatment. That was one of the major
messages last month at the first conference held by the Institute
for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, on “Covering
Health Care and Health in Mid-Appalachia.” For a report,
click here.
One of the main recommendations for journalists
at the conference was to write stories about people who survived
cancer because they got colonoscopies, Pap smears or other
forms of screening that some people shun. And that could be
a secondary impact of Cancer Stories: Lessons in Love, Loss
& Hope, a project by a group of journalism students from
West Virginia University.
The book tells the stories of seven cancer victims.
“It is being released this month by WVU Press but it
has already drawn national media attention, and a student-produced
documentary of the three-year-long project released last year
won a regional Emmy,” reports
Michelle Saxton of The Associated Press.
“Although much of that attention has been focused on
the work as a product of student journalists, and the effect
on them, the larger impact may be on the medical community.”
“These journalistic works will help offer
physicians a primer on how to treat the ‘whole patient,’
who may be struggling with finances, family problems and emotional
stress, in addition to fighting a life-threatening disease,”
Dr. Eddie Reed, director of The Mary Babb Randolph
Cancer Clinic where the patients were treated, says
in the book's flyleaf.
Jennifer Roush, who wrote the story of a woman
who is battling breast cancer that has spread to her liver,
said of the physicians: “They don't get to go home with
their patients. They don't get to sit at the dinner table
with them. They don't see what happens after they walk out
of the hospital doors.” Roush, who was interviewed by
Saxton, is now features editor at the Times West Virginian
in Fairmont.
The book also highlights the challenges that
some patients in rural areas face, such as limited transportation,
which can lead to a decision “for more severe treatments
-- perhaps a mastectomy versus a lumpectomy -- because they
require fewer follow-up visits,” Saxton writes.
Illinois utility to spend $500
million on cleanup; largest penalty imposed
The Justice Department has
reached a settlement with Illinois Power
over Clean Air Act violations that would require the utility
to spend $500 million on new pollution controls and to pay
$9 million in fines, the largest penalty imposed on a power
company for excessive emissions, reports The New York
Times.
The installation of control devices at five
plants is intended to reduce overall levels of sulfur dioxide
and nitrogen oxides by 54,000 tons a year, writes
Michael Janofsky. The company agreed to spend $15 million
to work on the harmful effects of past emissions.
Thomas L. Sansonetti, assistant attorney general
for environment and natural resources, told The Times, "The
citizens of Illinois could not have asked for a better result."
The settlement was the eighth since 1999 in cases in which
the government has sued utilities for violating the "new
source review" provisions of the Clean Air Act. Seven
other cases are in litigation involving a requirement to install
pollution-reducing equipment any time plants undergo major
renovations or expansions.
The agreement was announced two days before
the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is scheduled
to complete the Clear Skies Act of 2005, which would set new
limits on pollutants and dates to meet them. Backers say it
would eliminate the need for suits that use new source review
rules to bring plants into compliance.
Rural Alaskans may get
nation's first tiny nuclear reactor; hope for cheaper rates
Because they pay sky-high rates for electricity
generated from barged-in diesel fuel, the 700 residents of
Galena, Alaska, may turn to nuclear power. “But Galena's
plant would be far different from other U.S. commercial nuclear
power plants -- at 10 megawatts, it would be downright tiny,”
writes Dan
Joling of The Associated Press.
”City officials met recently with staff
from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to
discuss licensing a plant being developed by Toshiba
Corp. that could be a test case for providing cheap
power to rural communities,” Joling reports, noting
that the smallest U.S. nuclear plants produce 470 megawatts.
“If it's successful in Galena, there are likely to be
applications elsewhere.”
“Few places are as rural in America as
rural Alaska, and options for low-cost power are few,”
Joling recounts. Galena electric customers pay 30 cents a
kilowatt hour, “compared to a national average of 8.71
cents, so they cook with propane, turn off lights and limit
television time.” The town concluded that “wind
and solar power were impractical and that coal was too costly,”
and that nuclear power would cost about 10 cents per kwh.
Toshiba officials said the reactor would be
about seven feet tall, about eight feet around and be placed
about 60 feet below ground, near the bottom of a concrete
tube. Its fuel “would stay encapsulated for 30 years,
unlike fuel at a conventional reactor that is routinely replenished,”
Joling reports.
Kentucky cigarette tax
going from 3 cents to 30; a penny for cancer research
Kentucky House Speaker Jody Richards says the
adding a penny to a cigarette-tax increase in a closed conference
committee should not complicate passage of a state budget
and tax reform today.
Under the proposal, the per-pack cigarette tax
would rise by 27 cents -- 30 cents total. The House and Senate
earlier agreed on a 26-cent increase. Gov. Ernie Fletcher
originally proposed a 34-cent total, writes
Mark Chellgren of The Associated Press. Richards
said money raised from the extra penny would be directed specifically
for cancer research at the University of Kentucky
and University of Louisville. Richards told
Chellgren, "I think our members will understand how important
cancer research is."
Even opponents of the cigarette tax increase
said the extra penny is difficult to oppose, writes Chellgren.
Rep. Rick Rand, D-Bedford, one of only four lawmakers to vote
against the tax proposal the first time around in the General
Assembly told AP, "I don't think it's going to create
that much additional heartburn."
As for political issues, Richards said he was
speaking about opposition from legislators and any fallout
that might come from voters who object to any sort of a tax
increase. The proceeds of the last penny will be equally split
among the two schools to help them create nationally accredited
cancer research centers and must also be matched with money
raised by the schools, which could be $5 million to $8 million
annually.
Kentucky wildlife chief
retiring; restored habitat, elk; angered 'deer farmers'
After nearly 12 years as commissioner of the
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources,
Tom Bennett, who oversaw the return of elk to Kentucky and
other successful efforts to expand wildlife populations, will
retire, reports The Associated Press.
Bennett, known to friends and outdoor enthusiasts
as “The Fish Commish,” said he plans to step down
June 30. Fish and Wildlife Commission Chairman
Doug Hensley of Hazard said Bennett's stewardship of the agency
will shape opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts for decades,
writes
Bruce Schreiner. Hensley cited public land acquisition, youth
hunts, urban fishing events, conservation education, public
boating access and wildlife species restoration as among Bennett's
accomplishments. Bennett, 52, told Schreiner that Kentucky's
wildlife populations have reached record highs, allowing the
commission to extend seasons. Bennett also leaves the license-financed
agency in strong financial shape.
Bennett is not in the good graces of Kentuckians
who want to raise cervids -- deer and elk -- in fenced areas,
the Licking Valley Courier of West Liberty
(no Web site) reported last week. Bennett says such operations
can spawn chronic wasting disease, similar to mad-cow disease,
posing a threat to wild cervids. The "deer farmers"
told Courier Editor and Publisher Earl W. Kinner Jr. that
the state has fewer than 100 cervid farms, down from 300 in
2002, because of Bennett. "Kentucky farmers need new
methods of making a living with the loss from tobacco,"
cervid farmer Lou Ortega of Cumberland County told Kinner.
West Virginia county
exempts bars, video-lottery sites from smoking ban
West Virginia, which has a relatively large
number of localities that ban smoking in most indoor workplaces,
has one fewer county with a smoking ban that applies to bars.
The Braxton County Board of Health
voted recently to exempt bars and video lottery establishments
from the clean air ordinance that went into effect January
1. The reprieve will expire January 1, 2007, reports
the Braxton Citizens-News.
After two members of the five-member board left
the meeting, citing other commitments, the remaining members
voted 2-1 for the exemption. Earlier, the full board voted
4-1 against a proposed exemption for restaurants with a separate
smoking section.
According to Americans for Nonsmokers
Rights, West Virginia is one of the leading states
with local smoking bans. The state has 19 counties with such
ordinances, all but one of them applying to workplaces; that
one, in Marshall County, applies only to restaurants. Now
that Braxton County has exempted bars, only three counties
(Lincoln, Tucker and Webster) now ban smoking in bars. For
a list of local smoking ordinances from Americans for Nonsmokers’
Rights, click here.
Meth makers sentenced
to life; appropriate punishment, says U.S. attorney
Two Kentuckians will serve life in prison for
conspiring to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine.
Alan R. Mann, 49, and Tiffany Arnold, 34, were
sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves. U.S.
Attorney Gregory Van Tatenhove told
The Associated Press the punishment was appropriate:
"I think we all understand how insidious this drug is,
the effect it is having on our communities," he said,
calling the cases "egregious," and noting that one
person died after taking meth Arnold distributed.
Mann was convicted of conspiring to manufacture
methamphetamine, distributing and possessing with intent to
distribute the drug, possessing the materials to make the
drug, possession of a pipe bomb and of being a convicted felon
in possession of a firearm. Arnold was convicted of conspiring
to manufacture methamphetamine, distributing the drug, and
of possessing material to make the drug.
W. Va. House OKs removal
of last segregationist language in state constitution
House of Delegates members unanimously passed
legislation Monday wiping out the last vestiges of segregationist
language in the West Virginia Constitution, sending the bill
to the Senate for consideration.
Delegate Cliff Moore, D-McDowell, one of the
bill’s three sponsors, told the newspaper, “It’s
a great feeling. I think it’s something that’s
long overdue.” Moore’s father, the late Del. Ernest
Moore, tried to wipe out all such language in the early 1990s.
A Yale University professor, however, contacted
Del. Sharon Spencer, D-Kanawha, this year and pointed out
the remaining language, writes
Tom Searls in the Charleston Gazette. Moore
praised Spencer’s diligence and said the language has
remained in the constitution because of “oversights
by many, many people.”
Another bill with racial overtones was introduced
Monday by the senior member of the House: Delegate John Overington,
R-Berkeley, writes Searls. His bill would do away with hate
crimes in the state. State law allows for enhanced penalties
for a crime committed as a hate crime for reasons of “race,
color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation
or sex ...” Overington told Searls, “A crime is
a crime regardless of what the motive is and each person should
be treated equally."
'Lizard-brain' TV: Placating
the public rather than broadcasting news
Americans get most of their information about
public affairs from local television news, which pulls in
billions from advertisers and is one of the most profitable
sectors of the entertainment industry, according to the National
Association of Broadcasters. (Bloggers' aside:
Note reference to "entertainment.")
But TV news is feeding us a diet of “sex,
celebrity, novelty and melodrama,” to mesmerize us rather
than educate us, writes
Martin Kaplan, associate dean of the USC Annenberg
School for Communication and director of its Norman
Lear Center, which recently conducted a study
that showed politics getting short shrift from television
news departments in 11 of the nation's largest TV markets.
In his article in the Sunday Los Angeles
Times, he talks about the "lizard brains"
of the public and TV news’ failure to adequately cover
politics and public issues. He cites KCBS-TV,
which rather than airing a recent mayoral debate, decided
to broadcast post-Oscar coverage from "Entertainment
Tonight."
For years until the 1980s laws governed the
radio and television airwaves, Kaplan writes, but then the
Federal Communications Commission decided
television should be treated like any other appliance. The
deregulation argument at the time was based on the presumption
that because consumers were gaining so many choices, the old
rules from an era of scarcity no longer applied. The argument
was that if people wanted public affairs, they could find
it somewhere, he writes. Television news networks were no
longer required to ask the public what programming they wanted
and no longer had to log what they aired. Now all a network
has to do to renew its license is fill out paperwork every
eight years, he writes.
“It could be that we really are happy
to see (the airwaves) strip-mined for all it's worth and to
see voters — in Tuesday's mayoral election, for instance
— divide themselves into the few who know much because
they watch public affairs programming and read newspapers,
and the many who think they know far more than they actually
do because they watch local news,” he writes.
Kentucky town makes a
Ten Most Wanted list; check bouncers, beware!
The Federal Bureau of Investigation
and the Kentucky State Police both have Ten
Most Wanted lists, including terrorists, murderers and burglars.
And Winchester, Ky., has decided to follow suit, making its
Internet version of the Ten Most Wanted list using a litany
of felonies and misdemeanors that includes writing cold checks
and receiving stolen property, reports
The Winchester Sun.
Detective Shannon Stone told the daily newspaper
that even though the people on Winchester’s list committed
much less severe crimes, they are still fugitives. "These
are people who are being sought," he told reporter Tim
Weldon. "This is our way of informing the community of
who we're looking for."
It wasn’t hard to find 10 people to post
on the list, since no one actually knows how many people are
wanted by the city police, Weldon writes. But finding 10 who
face severe enough charges for the list and who have photos
available is a little more difficult. "These are people
who have active warrants on them," Stone explained. "These
are the 10 people presumed by Winchester police to be the
most wanted.
Saturday Special:
March 5, 2005
Panelists at unique symposium
discuss ways to improve rural
Kentucky life
People from very different walks of life shared
ideas on rural communities and economies Friday at “Growing
Kentucky: New Directions for Our Culture of Land and Food.”
The symposium, which continues today, is sponsored by the
University of Kentucky’s College of
Agriculture and Gaines Center for the Humanities, with assistance
from Partners for Family Farms.
“Nowhere else can you find such interesting
viewpoints to discuss rural life,” said Cindi Sullivan
of Louisville’s WHAS Radio and WAVE-TV,
who moderated the panel on rural communities.
The symposium was occasioned in part by the end
of the federal program of tobacco quotas and price supports,
which panelists agreed would be the largest change in Kentucky
agriculture since the program was established more than 65
years ago. Some speakers said the end of the program, and
the money that growers will be paid for their quotas, create
the best opportunity yet to make realities of their dreams
of a diversified agricultural economy that supports local
communities – some of which have been very dependent
on tobacco, a crop that kept many small farms in business.
"If we want to have diversified agricultire, we
must have diversified ideas," LaJuana Wilcher, secretary of
the state Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet,
told the crowd at the opening session.
Some speakers expressed frustration that more
has not been done in the last decade, despite warnings about
the decline of tobacco and rural communities. The “right
groups” get together and talk but haven’t gotten
much accomplished because they want to protect their turf,
said rural-economies panelist Lois Mateus, senior vice president
of Brown-Forman Corp., major sponsor of the
symposium. “Everyone seems to have their own noble idea,”
Mateus said. She added that UK is best suited to lead change
because it has “troops in the field,” primarily
the Cooperative Extension Service, which
has agents who work on community development as well as agriculture,
4-H and family and consumer topics.
Mateus and Michael Childress, director of the
Kentucky Long-Term Policy Research Center,
said the key to rural economic development is a regional approach,
in which groups of counties use their existing strengths to
build an economic niche. One example of that is the houseboat
industry that has developed along Lake Cumberland, in the
towns of Somerset, Monticello and Albany, said Al Cross, interim
director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and
Community Issues, who has lived and worked in the
towns.
Cross noted that the industry developed without
much government help, and Childress said regional cooperation
faces obstacles because Kentucky has many counties where judge-executives
and mayors fail to coordinate. He and others said a key to
rural economic development is local leadership. Mateus called
for “more imaginative action in Frankfort and Washington.”
Childress said the urgency for rural development
is increasing, noting that Kentucky’s 58 most rural
counties have become more dependent on transfer payments,
which include all forms of government benefits. Such payments
accounted for 25 percent of the counties; income in 1990,
and rose to 30 percent by 2002, he said. That trend was a
corollary to another troubling trend in rural Kentucky, a
widening wage gap with urban areas. Childress said that trend
continues to make rural people migrate to urban areas.
Cross urged those at the economies session to
seek coverage and commentary from their local newspapers and
broadcast stations of the issues discussed at the conference,
making them relevant to local concerns. He and other speakers
voiced concern that the decline of rural economies is leading
to a decline in the sense of community in rural areas, as
residents travel to larger towns and regional centers for
shopping and services.
Kentucky's internationally reknowned
poet, essayist and farmer, Wendell Berry attended both panels,
which began in the morning and were repeated in the afternoon.
During discussion in the afternoon panel on communities, he
mentioned the importance of keeping the wealth of the country
in the country. “We need to teach the country person
how they can take back their wealth,” said Berry. (He
and Kentucky authors Davis McCombs and Barbara Kingsolver
read from their works at a Friday evening session.)
Cross said in concluding the economies panel that
he hoped some of the tobacco growers who will be getting large
checks for their quotas will invest their money in their own
communities.
David Wagoner, a farmer from Nicholas County on
the economies panel, said individuals hold they key to small-town
economies. Samuel Stokes of the National Park Service
said likewise during the communities panel, reminding attendees
that agricultural community is more than just land. “It’s
everything together that makes the rural community so special.
But especially, it’s the people in the community that
make it what it is,” said Stokes, who is chief of the
park service's Rivers, Trails and Conservation Program.
Wagoner is trying “community supported agriculture,”
in which community members sign pledges before the growing
season to buy certain shares of a local farm’s production,
and wants his farm to be both economically and ecologically
sustainable. “We do well to be economically sustainable,”
he said.
Jess Miller, a UK student and Gaines Fellow on
the communities panel, said she is a member of Community
Farm Alliance and is committed to eating locally
grown food.
Environmental lawyer Hank Graddy, of the Cumberland
Chapter of the Sierra Club, called for conservation
and preservation during the communities panel. “Growth
is both good and bad and it’s our job to determine the
difference,” he said. “We need growth that enhances
the quality of life.”
Several attendees said the College of Agriculture,
which in the past has often been indetified with large farming
interests, broke new ground by co-sponsoring the symposium.
Mike Mullen, the college’s associate dean for academics,
said during the economies panel that the college is considering
a sustainable-agriculture curriculum and is moving 11 acres
on its farm to “organic and sustainable production.”
College Dean Scott Smith said in opening the conference that
it was "critical to our planning and our ability to serve
the future of the commonwealth."
Brittany Johnson of the Rural Journalism class
at UK contributed to this report.
Friday, March 4, 2005
Traditional town meetings
best form of government; every resident a legislator
Many aspects of life have changed over the past
two hundred years, but one thing hasn’t changed in New
Hampshire since 1805: True democracy in the form of a town
meeting, writes
New Hampshire Agriculture Commissioner Stephen Taylor.
In his Weekly Market Bulletin,
Taylor summarizes the main points of Frank Bryan, a farmer
and University of Vermont political science
professor who lectured recently about the value of town meetings.
Such meetings insure that everyone knows what’s happening
in the community and what the community expects of each person,
Bryan said. “Of all forms of government around the globe
only the New England town meeting automatically makes all
voters of a community into real legislators…”
he said.
The pressure of growing communities has made many
towns switch to council-manager forms of government, but “a
well-run meeting (with) a strong tradition of public participation”
is the best form of government anywhere, Bryan said.
To see a recent Washington Post
story about the power of New England town meetings, check
the Rural Blog item from Wednesday, March 2.
Minnesota Senate passes anti-meth bill; retailers
protest medicine restrictions
Sweeping new restrictions on sales of a popular
cold remedy that contains a key ingredient in methamphetamine
have been unanimously approved by the Minnesota Senate, despite
protests from some retailers, reports the Star-Tribune.
Beginning 30 days after enactment of the bill,
sponsored by Sen. Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, only licensed
pharmacies in Minnesota would be allowed to carry over-the-counter
remedies containing pseudoephedrine or ephedrine, writes Conrad Defiebre
of the Minneapolis newspaper.
The widely used nasal decongestants would be reclassified
as controlled substances. Consumers still wouldn't need a
prescription to buy the drugs, best known under the brand
names Sudafed and Actifed, but would be required to sign a
pharmacist's log and prove they are at least 18 years old.
Buyers would be limited to two packages of the medication
each month, writes Defiebre.
Such curbs on an over-the-counter remedy would
be practically unprecedented in Minnesota. But proponents
argued it is the only proven means of countering a methamphetamine
epidemic that has shattered families and communities, especially
across rural America. Berglin told the newspaper, "We want
something that will work. This will save lives and reduce
pain and suffering."
Pseudoephedine and ephedrine tablets are indispensable
ingredients for methmakers, whose clandestine laboratories
have become acute hazards for fires, explosions and environmental
contamination. Minnesota police have raided more than 300
meth-labs in the past decade, he writes. For the Pioneer
Press version, by Rachel E. Stassen-Berger, click
here.
Federal meth site clean-up
guidelines, funding for health effects research sought
Even as law enforcement cracks down on hidden
labs cooking up methamphetamine across the country, there's
no consensus on how to handle the drug's toxic byproducts,
reports The Associated Press.
A U. S. House of Representatives bill, introduced
by Reps. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y., Bart Gordon, D-Tenn.,
and Ken Calvert, R-Calif., would ask the Environmental
Protection Agency to set voluntary standards for
cleaning such sites and to fund research on the health effects,
particularly on children and first-responders, reports AP.
Experts say little is known about how long meth-related
contamination lasts, how best to clean up, and how toxic byproducts
effect people on or near polluted sites. Drug Enforcement
Agency figures show that in Kentucky, the meth problem
took root and grew fastest in poor, rural areas, where the
number of lab seizures multiplied from 104 in 2000 to 579
in 2004.
Alleged meth lab shut down
third time; close to school and day care
For the third time since 2003, an illicit methamphetamine
lab near an elementary school and a day-carecenter in Oak
Ridge, Tenn. has been busted, reports the Knoxville
News-Sentinel.
Anderson County Sheriff Bill White said an active
lab for manufacturing the illegal drug was found in the kitchen,
writes
Bob Fowler. White said in a media release, "(These) meth labs
have been of particular concern due to the close proximity
to (the school) and a day care center (with) the possibility
of the students being exposed to the lab.”
Meth labs are considered explosive, toxic and
environmental hazards. White noted 10 arrests have been made
at the same house in recent months for numerous reasons, including
drug possession. He said after the second meth lab bust at
the same home, the home owner’s son, who was 15 at the
time, was removed and placed in foster care. Law enforcement
agencies are seeking federal indictments against three individuals,
Fowler writes.
W. Va. racetracks push 'table
games' as hedge against out-of-state competition
Representatives from West Virginia’s four racetracks
and allies descended on the Capitol yesterday to urge lawmakers
to legalize casino-style table games as a hedge against out-of-state
competition, reports The Herald-Dispatch.
Bipartisan bills would allow the racetrack host
counties to hold local elections on whether table games, such
as blackjack, should be allowed at the tracks. Speaker Bob
Kiss, D-Raleigh, was one of seven co-sponsors of the House
version, writes the
Huntington newspaper.
Several hundred racetrack workers, executives
and local government officials rallied for the bills and lobbied
lawmakers to support them. Advocates believe the games will
stem the loss of gamblers and revenue to other states. Slot
machines at the tracks last year netted the state $371 million
in lottery revenue. But, The Herald-Dispatch reports, Pennsylvania
is poised to switch on thousands of slots this year, and Maryland
legislators are negotiating a compromise bill to legalize
the machines there.
West Virginia Racing Association
President John Cavacini told the crowd table games would give
the Mountain State’s tracks an edge over Pennsylvania
and other competitors. "We had the product, and the neighboring
states had the population, but these other states have seen
our success, and are now threatening our jobs and our revenue."
Delegate Kelli Sobonya, R-Cabell, opposes the
table game bill, saying it strengthens the state’s reliance
on an unstable source of revenue. She told the newspaper,
"When citizens voted for the lottery amendment in the ‘80s,
they never imagined it expanding into lottery machines and
casinos opening next door." Some legislators want a statewide
referendum on the table games. Del. Dale Stephens, D-Cabell
said allowing table games in (the host) counties affects residents
in all 55 counties. "That money is used in the state budget.
I think it is a situation where the people of West Virginia
as a whole should decide."
Robot explores fire-damaged
coal mine; machine may help miners avoid risks
Federal mine safety officials gathered yesterday
at a Pikeville coal mine, operated by Alliance Resource
Partners, to tout the work of a robot used to explore
hazardous conditions in mines and to speculate about the future
of mining holds for such machines, reports The Associated
Press.
Crews worked after the robot's exploratory tour
to stabilize the mine following the fire that started Christmas
Day before returning it to production on Feb. 21, writes
Roger Alford. The robot maneuvered through dark portals, which
had been deprived of oxygen in an effort to smother the fire,
aiming onboard lights and cameras in all directions, scanning
for flames, monitoring for explosive methane gas, and looking
for rocks cracked and loosened by the heat. John Correll,
assistant director of the U.S. Mine Safety and Health
Administration told Alford the exercise marked the
first time a robot was sent into a coal mine ahead of humans
to make sure conditions were safe.
Alford asked, could the robot be the first of
a long line of such machines working in underground coal mines?
Correll told him, "I don't foresee a day when robots will
replace miners, but I do foresee miners using robotics to
mine coal." Correll said continuous miners, used to chew coal
from underground mines, are operated by remote control. Other
machines have been developed to dig coal from beneath highwalls
without a miner ever setting foot underground, controlled
from an above-ground computer console.
"You're never going to see total automation in
mining," said Joe Craft, president and chief executive officer
of Alliance Resource Partners, Kentucky's largest coal producer.
Mining engineers have been exploring technology from the aerospace,
manufacturing and nuclear industries to make a dangerous line
of work safer. Since 1900, more than 104,000 workers have
died in the nation's coalfields.
Kentucky legislative panel
rushes heavy-truck bill; public shut out, says paper
A Senate panel yesterday rushed out a slightly
modified bill that would put more overweight trucks on Kentucky
roads, brushing aside for the second day people waiting to
speak against it.
Rep. Ancel Smith, D-Leburn, who sat in the audience
with a half-dozen of his Letcher County constituents told John Cheves
of the Lexington Herald-Leader, "I've never
seen a bill so bad, hated by so many people, get pushed through
the legislature so hard." The full Senate is expected to vote
today on House Bill 8, which would let gravel trucks rumble
over the roads at 60 tons, 50 percent heavier than the state's
general 40-ton limit.
The Courier-Journal
reports that Tom FitzGerald, director of the Kentucky
Resources Council, told the Louisville newspaper
the bill is poorly written and could force coal haulers to
start paying for maintenance on public roads. Currently, only
coal trucks can travel at 60 tons, prompting complaints of
inequity from politically powerful road builders who need
gravel.
The Senate Transportation Committe, in a brief
meeting, changed the bill in hopes of pacifying cities angry
over the prospect of huge gravel trucks roaring through neighborhoods.
But lobbyists for the cities told Cheves the hastily prepared
changes solve nothing. The revised bill tries to limit 60-ton
trucks to designated coal-hauling roads most common in Kentucky's
rural counties, rather than allow new gravel-hauling roads
to be established in cities, he writes. For the Courier-Journal
version, click here.
National study says most
traffic deaths occur on rural roads; 7 out of 10 in Ky.
A study by a private safety group says people
are being killed on rural, non-Interstate roads at more than
double the rate for all other routes, and it blames narrow
roads, sharp curves and a lack of money for safety improvements,
reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The Road Information Program
(TRIP) says that 52 percent of traffic deaths nationwide between
1999 and 2003 happened on rural, non-Interstate roads and
highways. Traffic on these roads accounted for only 28 percent
of travel, writes
the newspaper. In 2003, there were 2.72 deaths per 100 million
miles traveled on non-Interstate rural roads compared with
.99 deaths per 100 million miles on all other roads. The study
was prepared by TRIP, a Washington-based group.
Seven out of 10 traffic deaths in Kentucky occurred
on country roads even though bustling interstates and big
city highways have more traffic, the study said. The death
rate on non-interstate, rural roads and highways was three
times higher than other state roads from 1999 to 2003, and
the fifth highest in the nation. The report appears to counter
claims by the Kentucky State Police and transportation
officials who have maintained not wearing seat-belts is the
major contributing factor in fatalities.
Only 44 percent of Kentucky's roadway travel occurred
on these roads, which had a fatality rate of 3.32 deaths per
100 million miles driven. All other roads, by contrast, had
a .95 rate. A partial explanation, the group said, is that
rural roads are more likely to be poorly designed and have
narrow lanes, limited shoulders, sharp curves, exposed hazards,
pavement drop-offs and steep slopes.
South Carolina prosecutor
defends decision to withhold 911 tapes from paper
This week a South Carolina prosecutor, who withheld
911 tapes for a shooting from the local newspaper, defended
his decision to the state Supreme Court, reports
The Associated Press.
One lawyer, Derk Van Raalte, said the tapes would
have jeopardized the right to a fair trial for four men accused
in 2000 of beating Edward Snowden before police shot him.
The Charleston Post and Courier asked for the 911 tapes after
prosecutor Ralph Hoisington declined to prosecute the officers
who shot Snowden. Newspaper lawyer John Kerr said the tapes
are public documents.
Big
trees put down roots in Kentucky; foresters take stock of
embattled giants
As winter melts away to spring, Kentucky's foresters
will be checking many of the state's champion big trees to
make sure they are still standing and healthy, reports The
Courier-Journal
Diana Olszowy of the Kentucky Division
of Forestry told
columnist Byron Crawford, "Some of these big old guys can't
take as much as they used to. We just remeasure these every
five years from when they are listed and it could be that
tornadoes, wind storms and ice storms have taken tops out.
Some could have been harvested and some may have just died
and blown over."
The longtime state and national champion Kentucky
coffee tree in Morgan County was destroyed last year by arson,
Crawford notes. A former state champion Osage orange in Madisonville
was lost in a storm, and the giant Bourbon County state champion
bur oak that measures nearly 27 feet in circumference has
lost part of its majestic 103-foot crown, Crawford writes.
In some cases such damage may be enough to disqualify
a big tree as a champion. Currently the Kentucky Division
of Forestry has no champion Kentucky coffee tree, black oak,
scarlet oak, shagbark hickory, Ohio buckeye, black maple,
red mulberry, umbrella magnolia, pumpkin ash, swamp privet,
water hickory, silverbell, sourwood or winged sumac. Six national
champions More than 90 species are included in the list of
reigning state champion big trees, and six of the Kentucky
champions also hold the title of American Forest national
champions. Do you have a 'champion tree?' To find out click
here, or call
(800) 866-0555.
Another official bans contact
between public employees and the press
The mayor of Phoenix, Oregon, has forbidden any
elected officials and public employees to discuss city business
with reporters. All questions are to go to her office alone,
reports The Associated Press.
In the same vein, Mayor Vicki Bear chided a reporter
for trying to contact a city employee without going through
her first. When a Daily Tidings reporter
tried to keep a scheduled meeting with a city planner, Bear
emailed saying: “"When I said that there is a contact
person for media that is exactly what I mean. That doesn't
mean that you turn around and contact the city's planning
dept." Bear said her goal in the decision is to keep a single
media contact, and that she as mayor was the most likely person.
Something similar happened in Baltimore, Maryland,
when the Gov. Robert Ehrlich barred any state employees from
talking to two reporters from The Baltimore Sun.
His reason, he said, was that the reporters were not objectively
covering his administration. The paper sued, saying the decision
violated journalists’ First Amendment rights. A federal
judge ruled in favor of Ehrlich, however, saying the paper
“wrongly asserted a greater right to access to government
officials than private citizens have,” AP reports.
‘Bubba,’ the
leviathan lobster, to live on; zoo to immortalize colossal
crustacean
A gigantic lobster that may have survived two
world wars and Prohibition before being plucked from the ocean
will live on - but only as a shell of its former self, reports
The Associated Press.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium
plans to keep the shell of the 22-pound lobster, named Bubba,
and use its remains to educate school children, said Rachel
Capp, a zoo spokeswoman. Typically, it takes a lobster about
five to seven years to grow to a pound. Some estimated Bubba
was about 100 years old, but Marine biologists said 30 to
50 years was more likely.
Some of Bubba's meat will be sent to labs for
testing to determine why he died. Bubba spent a week at a
fish market after he was pulled from the waters off Nantucket,
Mass. He died Wednesday, after being moved from the fish market
to a quarantine area at the zoo's aquarium. Plans were to
send him to an aquarium at a Ripley's Believe It or
Not museum. Randy Goodlett, a marine biologist and
former curator and director of the zoo's Aqua Zoo, said Bubba
likely died because something was slightly off in the salt
water mixture it was living in and he suffered stress from
being moved so many times.
Thursday, March 3,
2005
New York Times / CBS
News poll finds Bush priorities 'out of step' with public
Americans in most of the country do not share
President Bush's priorities on either domestic or foreign
issues, are increasingly resistant to his Social Security
revamp plans and are uneasy with his ability to make the right
decisions about the retirement program, according to a New
York Times / CBS News poll released
today.
"The poll underscores just how little headway
Mr. Bush has made in his effort to build popular support as
his proposal for overhauling Social Security struggles to
gain footing in Congress," write
Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder. At the same time, there has
been an increase in respondents who say that efforts to restore
order in Iraq are going well, even as an overwhelming number
of Americans say Bush has no clear plan for getting out of
Iraq, they write.
On Social Security, 51 percent said permitting
individuals to invest part of their Social Security taxes
in private accounts is a bad idea, even as a majority agree
the program would become insolvent near the middle of the
century if nothing is done. The number who think private accounts
are a bad idea jumped to 69 percent when respondents were
told the private accounts would result in a reduction in guaranteed
benefits. Forty-five percent said Bush's private account plan
would actually weaken the nation's retirement system, write
Nagourney and Elder.
A majority of those surveyed said they would
support raising the amount of income subject to Social Security
payroll tax above its current ceiling of $90,000. The survey
indicates strong resistance to other stated options to repair
the system, in particular to raising the retirement age or
making participation voluntary. In spite of the president's
argument citizens should be given more control over their
retirement savings, almost four out of five respondents said
it was the government's responsibility to assure a decent
standard of living for the elderly.
The poll was the first conducted by The Times
and CBS News since the president's inauguration. It comes
after six hectic weeks for the administration, with successful
elections in Iraq but also the toughest period Bush has encountered
on Capitol Hill, as he has struggled to win support for social
security reforms, the signature proposal of his second term.
Hearing
canceled on 'greased' trucking bill; public input unlikely
A Kentucky Senate committee yesterday ignored
requests from a crowd that came to speak and abruptly called
off a widely anticipated public hearing on a bill that would
put more overweight trucks on Kentucky roads, reports the
Lexington Herald-Leader.
Sen. Brett Guthrie, R-Bowling Green,
told writer John Cheves the Senate Transportation Committee
will meet and vote on the controversial bill on short notice
during a break in Senate floor activity sometime during the
next few days. House Bill 8 could be put to a vote by the
full Senate within minutes if it is approved in that impromptu
meeting, making public comment on the measure unlikely.
Guthrie said he is talking to Transportation
Cabinet officials about possible changes, such as
limiting where overweight trucks could travel, so he was not
ready for a vote yesterday. Guthrie told reporters after the
meeting, which dealt with several unrelated measures, "We're
running out of time."
Opponents of the bill, many from Eastern Kentucky
who drove through snow to attend, said they were disappointed
by the cancellation but they also expected it. The bill is
backed by Leonard Lawson, a road builder reliant on gravel.
Lawson's family has given $76,000 to state legislative campaigns,
plus $96,000 total to the state Democratic and Republican
parties. Lawson did not return a call from the newspaper to
his Lexington office.
Letcher County Judge-Executive Carroll Smith
told Cheves, "The wheels seem pretty well greased. Even
if you could get your hands on this bill, it would probably
squirt right out, like a fish." The bill would expand
the number of 60-ton trucks on the road. Critics say the massive
rigs threaten motorists and pedestrians and cost taxpayers
millions of dollars a year in road repairs. Currently, only
coal trucks are allowed to run at 60 tons, 50 percent above
the usual limit. The bill would authorize trucks hauling other
"natural resources" to do the same.
To see the list of road segments in the extended
weight coal haul road system click here.
To call and comment on the legislation to your state senator
call 1-800-372-7181. For The Courier-Journal
report on the trucking bill, click here.
Kentucky Senate may increase
cigarette tax 1 cent to battle cancer
Top Kentucky senators from both parties say
they support adding another cent to the cigarette tax to help
pay for cancer research at the state's two largest universities,
reports The Courier-Journal.
The House and Senate previously approved a tax-restructuring
bill that would raise the cigarette tax from 3 cents per pack
to 29 cents. That bill has been referred to a conference committee
to resolve differences between the two chambers passed, writes
Tom Loftus. The committee is scheduled to begin working on
final versions of the bills today. Senate President David
Williams, R-Burkesville, and Senate Democratic Leader Ed Worley
of Richmond told the C-J they support raising the tax to 30
cents per pack.
The extra penny would, according to legislators,
raise $5 million to $6 million a year for cancer research
at the University of Louisville's Brown Cancer Center
and the University of Kentucky's Markey Cancer Center.
The House version sets out $2.5 million to each research center.
But the Senate has directed that money to other parts of the
budget. Dr. Alfred M. Cohen, director and chief executive
officer of the Markey Center, told the newspaper both research
centers would greatly benefit from the money.
"This approach of earmarking part of the
cigarette tax for cancer research has been extremely successful
in other states. For us to get a recurring source of state
funding for research would be transformational in our ability
to support young faculty committed to cancer research and
improving the health of Kentuckians," he said. Sen. Tim
Shaughnessy, D-Louisville, wants two cents added to the tax
so that each center would get more than $5 million a year.
For the Lexington Herald-Leader version of
this story, click here.
Southern state senate
proposes rural center to keep “bright minds” in
Alabama
Alabama’s state Senate is considering
a bill to help bring more jobs and a higher quality of living
to rural areas, reports The Huntsville Times.
That bill would propose a Center for
Rural Development to focus on rural economic growth,
writes
Taylor Bright. Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe is one supporter
of the bill. "Rural Alabama is changing," he said.
"It's falling more and more behind the urban areas of
Alabama." Auburn University ranked all of Alabama’s
counties with an economic vitality index, and 37 of the lowest
38 counties were rural, Bright writes. "We want to do
something to keep bright minds in rural Alabama," Barron
said.
Director of Finance for the Southwest
Georgia Regional Development Center, Suzanne Angell,
said the emphasis of the Georgia center is to deal with planning
and zoning issues, historic preservation, and transportation
issues. Angell sad the Georgia center had a $4 million a year
budget. The Vice President of the North Carolina Rural
Economic Development Center in Raleigh, N.C, Elaine
Matthews, said that center also took about $4 million each
year. The Louisiana Governor’s Office of Rural
Development had a budget of $7.5 million a year,
but that will be cut in half, Bright writes.
Minnesota smoking ban
in ashes; house panel 'no' vote stops bill for now
A Minnesota House panel apparently has quashed
a statewide smoking ban, reports The Pioneer Press.
"The measure, which would have banned smoking
in restaurants but not bars, was voted down in the House commerce
committee on a voice vote. Although no legislation is truly
dead until the end of session, one of the bill's key House
sponsors wasn't optimistic,” writes
Rachel E. Stassen-Berger of the Minneapolis – St. Paul
newspaper.
Rep. Doug Meslow, a Republican, told Stassen-Berger,
"It is going to be very difficult to continue to bring
it forward.” Meslow said ban backers have yet to assess
their next steps. Proponents told her if the measure doesn't
become law this year, it will be back. Sen. Scott Dibble,
DFL-Minneapolis, the chief backer of a Senate smoking ban,
told the newspaper, "The momentum is tremendous."
Two Senate committees have passed a more expansive
smoking ban tp prohibit smoking in all of the state's bars
and restaurants. That measure awaits a vote by the full Senate,
but Dibble told the Pioneer-Press he is not sure if that vote
will happen now. "We are taking some time to consider
our options."
Current Minnesota law bans smoking in most workplaces
but not bars and restaurants. Recently, many Minnesota cities
and counties have passed smoking bans to close that gap.
Meth lab bill nears final
passage; measure also goes after Internet drugs
A bill aimed at curbing Kentucky's growing methamphetamine
problem and regulating prescription drugs sold over the Internet
moved closer to becoming law yesterday, reports The
Courier-Journal.
"Senate Bill 63 passed the House 97-0 and
is expected to pass the Senate and receive Gov. Ernie Fletcher's
signature. Originally two bills, the combination represents
Kentucky's broadest drug-control bill in recent years, supporters
said," writes
Deborah Yetter.
House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown
told Yetter, "This may be, in my opinion, the most important
bill we pass this session." The bill will require pharmacies
to keep cold and allergy medication with pseudoephedrine behind
the counter or in a locked cabinet. Pseudoephedrine is a key
ingredient for making meth. Customers will be limited to buying
medications containing 9 grams of pseudoephedrine per month,
or about 300 Sudafed tablets, and will be required to show
an ID and sign a log.
The bill also will strengthen a law used to
prosecute meth manufacturers, create a law making it illegal
to make meth in the presence of children and hold meth makers
liable for the cost of cleaning up labs. The measure also
will help the state regulate Internet pharmacies that sell
drugs without valid prescriptions. Felecia Peacock of Bowling
Green, a former meth user who works at a halfway house for
recovering addicts, told the C-J she thinks the legislation
will help curb meth abuse.
But, Peacock told the newspaper, to combat the
problem effectively, she said, the state must also expand
resources for treatment. "This war on drugs is definitely
something that we're losing," she said. For The
Associated Press report, click here.
W.Va. law officers warn
met labs use household items beyond cold medicines
Controlling access to Sudafed and other cold
medicines could help slow the spread of methamphetamine labs
in West Virginia, but law enforcement officials warn that
several other commonly available household goods are also
used to make the drug, reports The Associated Press.
The Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney’s
office is distributing a poster to retailers outlining some
of the items, which purchased frequently or in large quantities
could indicate they are being used to cook methamphetamine,
writes
Erik Schelzig. A state "Meth Summit" scheduled by
law enforcement officials this spring will address other ingredients
used in drug-making.
W.Va. State Police Lt. Mike
Goff told Schelzig, "If someone (buys) gallon jugs of
iodine or (hundreds of) boxes of matches, it’s a pretty
good indication they are up to no good." AP reports,
he strike plates of match boxes contain red phosphorous, which
is a key ingredient in the state’s prevalent "Red
P" method of making the drug .Police say they often find
the piles of unspent matchbooks at clandestine lab scenes.
Goff told the wire service, "Even if you are a heavy
smoker, you usually don’t need this many matches. You’d
probably invest in a lighter."
Legislation to curtail the availability of ephedrine
and pseudoephedrine, which serve as the main ingredients for
meth cooking, have been introduced in both houses of the W.Va.
legsilature, writes Schelzig. A joint House-Senate committee
is scheduled to hear a presentation on the proposal today.
The legislation would create reporting requirements for certain
cold medicines and cap the monthly amount of pseudoephedrine
individuals would be allowed to buy at 9 grams, or about 15
20-pill packs per month.
Federal judge orders
U.S. not to reopen border to Canadian cattle
A federal judge in Montana issued a preliminary
injunction today blocking Monday's planned reopening of the
United States to live Canadian cattle under 30 months of age,
the Billings Gazette reports.
District Judge Richard Cebull ruled quickly
after hearing from lawyers from the Agriculture and Justice
departments and "attorneys for a national cattleman's
group," Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund
United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA), which
is based in Billings, the paper says.
Cebull "ordered attorneys to agree within
10 days to a proposed schedule for holding a full trial with
testimony from experts and cross-examination on the cattlemen's
request for a permanent injunction," Jim Gransbery writes.
"Whether attorneys for USDA could or would appeal the
injunction to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco
was unclear at midday. . . . Cebull said that a request for
stay to the Ninth Circuit would not affect his injunction.
He said he wanted to hear testimony from experts in order
'to clear up some significant issues'."
R-CALF USA had asked Cebull to block implementation
of a USDA ruling that found only a "minimal risk"
of mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, from
Canadian cattle. "Live cattle imports which were halted
in May 2003 when a BSE-infected cow was identified in Alberta,"
Gransbery recalls. "In January, two other cases of BSE
in Canada were reported."
Va. tax cut may affect
West Virginia; state fears revenue loss in border counties
Only one of the states bordering West Virginia
taxes food sales, and now that state, Virginia, is moving
to lower its food tax, prompting concerns of a shopping money
migration, reports The Charleston Gazette.
The Virginia House of Delegates agreed to lower
that tax earlier this week. The Senate has already passed
the proposal and the governor has indicated he will sign the
legislation,
writes Tom Searls. The move has West Virginia border counties,
where food is taxed 6 percent, bracing for potential sales
losses. West Virginia lawmakers say with gasoline already
about 10 cents a gallon cheaper in the Old Dominion, state
residents already drive across the border and fill up their
tanks.
Starting July 1, when Virginia drops its state
food tax from 4 cents to 1.5 cents on the dollar — local
governments have the option of adding another 1 percent —
they believe some folks will stock up on groceries, too. Delegate
Eustace Frederick, D-Mercer, told Searls, “You can’t
blame them. That’s quite a bit of money.” How
much of a loss remains to be seen. Mark Meacham, president
and CEO of the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce
told The Gazette, “It’s very difficult to say.
The border counties, once again, potentially will be affected
by it.”
An Ohio University study several
years ago showed $36 million in sales in just one Ohio county
came from a neighboring W.Va. county across the river. That
equated to about 200 jobs. Sixty percent of the population
of West Virginia lives in border counties with about 70 percent
of the state's wealth, he writes.
Newspaper advertising
rises 4.2 percent in fourth quarter, says N.A.A.
Newspaper advertising expenditures for the fourth
quarter of 2004 totaled $13.7 billion, a 4.2 percent increase
over the same period a year earlier, according to preliminary
estimates from the Newspaper Association of America.
Additionally, writes
Sheila Owens, advertising expenditures continued to grow rapidly
on newspaper Web sites, totaling $416 million in the fourth
quarter, a 24 percent increase from the same period a year
ago. The combined print and online advertising expenditures
for newspapers totaled $14.1 billion, a 4.7 percent increase
from the same period a year ago.
Among the major print components, classified
advertising led the way with a 5.2 percent spending increase
to $5.1 billion. National ad spending increased 3.6 percent
to $2.2 billion and retail spending rose 3.7 percent to $6.5
billion. Within the classified category in the fourth quarter,
recruitment advertising jumped 19.1 percent to $1.4 billion.
Real estate ad spending continued to be strong, increasing
7.7 percent to $1.3 billion. Automotive dipped 6.2 percent
to $1.6 billion. All other classifieds were up 4.9 percent
to $876 million, writes Owens.
NAA President and CEO John F. Sturm said, “Fourth
quarter ad performance was solid across the three major categories
in what has otherwise been a spotty advertising market recovery.
Of particular note is the strong growth in newspaper Web site
advertising, which we are reporting separately for the first
time. Publishers are reaching longtime readers in new ways
and attracting new readers by extending their trusted masthead
news brands to the Internet."
Rural Nevada areas seek
hunters' cash to ease seasonal blahs, boost economy
As hunters turn their sights on big game each
fall, rural towns across the West look forward to a different
kind of bounty - hunters' cash to ease fall through winter's
economic blahs.
The annual spending infusion from hunters begins
in sporting good stores and through catalogs and Internet
Web sites, long before a single shot is fired or arrow launched,
writes
Sandra Chereb of The Associated Press. Ron
Carrion, owner of the Owl Club in Eureka,
a tiny, mountain outpost in the middle of Nevada, told AP,
``The impact is tremendous. Some of our best months have been
October and November,'' when deer and elk seasons are in full
swing.
The impact is felt across a wide swath of the
nation's economy, according to a study by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. Some 13 million hunters
spent $20.6 billion on trips and equipment to hunt everything
from big game to birds, squirrels and rabbits, according to
the agency's 2001 national survey. It found hunting dollars
had increased 29 percent from 1991.
A companion report by the International
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies estimated
the overall economic impact of hunting dollars at $67 billion,
by factoring in the ripple effects of such spending through
the economy. The reports, compiled every five years, underscore
what every hunter knows: Bagging an animal isn't cheap. Bob
Rudnick, an avid hunter from Gardnerville, Nev. conceded ``It's
an expensive hobby.'' (Your bloggers note the AP article
appeared in The Pahrump Valley Times, a worthy sounding
name if ever there were one. The newspaper is published in
Pahrump, Nevada.)
Native Americans didn’t
do us any favors; writer claims corn a culprit in obesity
An author of a book on food and
diet says corn, a mainstay in the country’s cuisine
since colonial days, may be a central factor in the nation’s
overweight problem, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Michael Pollan, will be among
an unusual mix of scientists and writers, farmers and chefs
who will gather Friday for the start of a two-day symposium
about the future of agriculture in Kentucky,
writes Beverly Fortune. Pollan tells Fortune he thinks
a lot about "why we are as fat as we are." It might
sound simple, but he says it's all wrapped up in corn, she
writes.
Pollan, a best-selling garden
writer and environmentalist, told the newspaper, "If
you follow the story of corn, you can figure out why we're
eating the way we are. It explains why we eat as much processed
food as we do. Why our animals are on feed lots." Pollan,
author of “Botany of Desire,” will talk about
the "cornification of America," writes Fortune.
Other speakers include chef Alice
Waters, owner of Chez Panisse, the legendary
restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., that helped create a modern
American cuisine based on fresh ingredients. Best-selling
Kentucky authors Barbara Kingsolver, Wendell Berry and Davis
McCombs will read from their works, and New York garden designer
and author Jon Carloftis will lecture.
Sue Weant, executive director
of Partners for Family Farms told Forutne,
"With the loss of tobacco as a major crop in Kentucky,
we have to come up with new replacements. There's no silver
bullet that's going to replace tobacco. It's going to have
to be a lot of things." For
more information, contact Dan Rowland, hisdan@uky.edu, or Lisa
Broome-Price, lbroome@hotmail.com, at the Gaines
Center, 859-257-1537; Tanner at bonniet@uky.edu or 859-257-3887; or Sue Weant
of Partners for Family Farms at msdweant@aol.com or 859-233-3056.
UFCW petitions for second
unionization of a Canadian Wal-Mart
A Windsor, Ontario Wal-Mart will try to form
a union for the second time, said the United Food
and Commercial Workers. The UFCW filed on behalf
of the Wal-Mart employees with the Ontario labor board, reports
The New York Times.
A union representative who led the drive, Andrew
MacKenzie, said the union delayed applying for two weeks when
it found out that a unionized store in Jonquiére, Quebec,
would be closing, the Times writes.
A spokesman for Wal-Mart Canada, Andrew Pelletier,
said the company would challenge the union petition because,
Pelletier says, the group wants to exclude 50 of the store’s
200 workers from the vote. The store had a union once before,
but employees voted to remove it in 2000.
Wal-Mart has become a driving force in the economics
of many American rural towns. A Colorado Wal-Mart Tire &
Lube Express voted against a union last week, rejecting what
would have been the first union inside any U.S. Wal-Mart store,
Jon Sarche of The Associated Press reported.
‘Potty-mouth’
chicken puppet prompts recall, public squawk feared
It's a cute chicken puppet manufacturers planned
for Easter baskets, but it has a 'fowl' mouth, reports the
San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News.
“Put your hand in its head and squeeze
the box. It's supposed to say 'cluck.'' What it says certainly
rhymes with cluck, but the 'cl' part doesn't really come through,”
writes
Dan Reed
It sounds more like the word a construction
worker might yell if he hit his thumb with a hammer. Or even
what a chicken might say if it sees a farmer with a hatchet,
Reed writes. The apparent 'speech slur' is why the potty-mouthed
bird, which recently arrived with Easter shipments, was recalled
this week from Safeway stores nationwide.
It's unknown who is behind the 'clucking,' writes
Reed. The hand puppet was made in China for the Korean company
Fine Toy. Safeway spokesman Brian Dowling
told the newspaper the store "Out of an abundance of
caution, removed it.'' (The full story - hot-linked above
- features an audio link that allows you to judge for yourself.)
Wednesday, March
2, 2005
Federal judge orders
U.S. not to reopen border to Canadian cattle
A federal judge in Montana issued a preliminary
injunction today blocking Monday's planned reopening of the
United States to live Canadian cattle under 30 months of age,
the Billings Gazette reports.
District Judge Richard Cebull ruled quickly
after hearing from lawyers from the Agriculture and Justice
departments and "attorneys for a national cattleman's
group," Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund
United Stockgrowers of America (R-CALF USA), which
is based in Billings, the paper says.
Cebull "ordered attorneys to agree within
10 days to a proposed schedule for holding a full trial with
testimony from experts and cross-examination on the cattlemen's
request for a permanent injunction," Jim Gransbery writes.
"Whether attorneys for USDA could or would appeal the
injunction to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco
was unclear at midday. . . . Cebull said that a request for
stay to the Ninth Circuit would not affect his injunction.
He said he wanted to hear testimony from experts in order
'to clear up some significant issues'."
R-CALF USA had asked Cebull to block implementation
of a USDA ruling that found only a "minimal risk"
of mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, from
Canadian cattle. "Live cattle imports which were halted
in May 2003 when a BSE-infected cow was identified in Alberta,"
Gransbery recalls. "In January, two other cases of BSE
in Canada were reported."
Eclectic bunch to probe
future of Kentucky's rural culture Fri. and Sat.
Kentuckians
concerned about the state's rural culture after the federal
tobacco era can join educators, poets, novelists, chefs, artisans,
economists, journalists, students, community leaders and several
prominent thinkers and writers in a unique symposium at the
University of Kentucky March 4 and 5.
"Growing
Kentucky: New Directions for Our Culture of Land and Food"
is the first joint effort by two parts of UK that most folks
rarely say in the same breath: the Gaines Center for
the Humanities and the College of Agriculture.
Partners for Family Farms is also a co-sponsor
of the symposium, which will explore future visions for Kentucky
agriculture and rural communities within the context of rural
economies experiencing transition and new directions.
Barbara
Kingsolver, Wendell Berry, Michael Pollan and Davis McCombs
are among the prominent writers who will share insights and
participate in panel discussions during the symposium.
Other featured panelists are chef Alice Waters, designer Jon
Carloftis, musician Mike Seeger, chef Ouita Michel, musician
Ron Pen and the Reel World String Band will perform both traditional
and new music. The symposium's final event will be the
Phyllis Pray Bober Memorial Feast created by the undergraduate
Fellows of the Gaines Center for the Humanities, and presented
by chef Ouita Michel and the staff of the Holly Hill Inn.
The feast will celebrate Kentucky food and music.
"When
we think of Kentucky's rich cultural heritage of music, literature,
and food it just makes sense that a conference exploring the
future of agricultural communities should include the best
and brightest minds from all these different areas," said
Bonnie Tanner, assistant extension director for family and
consumer sciences in the College of Agriculture.
"Food
& Arts," "Land Use," "Food Marketing," and "Environmental
Journalism" are some of the topics that will address an interlocking
set of themes on improving local economies while integrating
food systems into communities. In addition to presenting lectures
and readings, speakers will engage with about 100 local and
national participants to create a new vision for Kentucky's
heritage of food and culture.
"Growing
Kentucky" is the latest in a series of symposiums that each
year honor the life and work of Joy Bale Boone, Kentucky's
first poet laureate, who knew well the state's rural culture.
"Our aim with this symposium is to consider all aspects of
the state's rural agricultural communities - the economic,
the environmental, the social, and the spiritual," said Dan
Rowland, Gaines Center director. "By bringing together a broad
spectrum of talent and expertise from both agriculture and
the humanities we hope to achieve some innovative outcomes
from this event, which is the first of its kind for Kentucky,"
said Scott Smith, dean of the College of Agriculture.
For
more information, contact Rowland, hisdan@uky.edu, or Lisa
Broome-Price, lbroome@hotmail.com, at the Gaines
Center, 859-257-1537; Tanner at bonniet@uky.edu or 859-257-3887; or Sue Weant
of Partners for Family Farms at msdweant@aol.com or 859-233-3056.
Utah delays 'No Child'
challenge; guv meets with Bush and education chief
Republican legislative leaders in Utah will
delay action on a bill that has attracted nationwide attention
as a bellwether challenge to President Bush's signature ‘No
Child Left Behind’ education law.
The bill would order state officials to give
higher priority to Utah's educational goals than to compliance
with the federal education law, known as No Child Left Behind.
The Utah House approved it unanimously on Feb. 15, and the
Senate gave its unanimous support in a preliminary vote on
Monday.
But, Sam Dillon of The New York Times
writes
that Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who returned from a Washington
visit that included meetings with Bush and Secretary of Education
Margaret Spellings, persuaded Republican legislative leaders
to move final consideration of the bill into a special legislative
session this spring. The delay will give Huntsman, a Republican
who has sharply criticized the federal law but also is close
to Bush, time to continue seeking more flexibility for Utah
in enforcement of the law, his office said. The governor's
staff has been negotiating with federal education officials
since late January.
The bill is one of the most assertive of a dozen
or more proposals before state legislatures that protest the
federal law, arguing in various ways that its language and
regulations have intruded on states' rights to control local
schools. Aides to the governor told The Times the Legislature's
consideration of the bill in recent weeks had been useful
in persuading federal officials to reverse course in disputes
over some aspects of the federal law, including teacher certification
issues.
Clean-coal technology
comes on line at East Kentucky Power Cooperative
The first coal-fired power plant in 15 years
in coal-rich Kentucky officially goes on line today. East
Kentucky Power Cooperative's $400 million E.A. Gilbert
Generating Unit near Maysville has the capacity to produce
268 mega-watts of electricity, or enough to power the homes
in 30 cities the size of Maysville, writes
Andy Mead of the Lexington Herald-Leader.
.
The new plant uses a clean-coal technology called
circulating fluidized bed. The coal is burned at lower temperatures,
and limestone is fed into the boiler. The result, East Kentucky
Power says, is much less air pollution than conventional coal
plants -- 98 percent less sulfur dioxide and one-fifth the
nitrogen oxide, he writes. Spokesman Kevin Osbourn told Mead,
"It will be the cleanest coal-fired unit in Kentucky."
Kentucky has 21 coal-fired plants. Many have
more than one generating unit. (The new Gilbert unit, for
example, joins two conventional coal-fired units.) The newest
coal-fired plant in the state -- a Trimble County unit, the
majority of which is owned by LG&E Energy
-- started operating in 1990, he writes. Diana Andrews, assistant
director of the Kentucky Division for Air Quality told the
newspaper there probably are several reasons for the long
stretch without a new coal-fired plant. "I would think
need would be one reason. We had sufficient power, or thought
we did. And I'm sure funding has a lot to do with it."
West Virginia to study
aluminum in water; coal industry wary of enviros
Over the next two years, West Virginia’s
Environmental Quality Board is expected to
rewrite the state’s water quality limits for the toxic
metal aluminum, reports the Charleston Gazette.
“But who will design the scientific study
board members hope will guide their decision?
Who will pick the consultant who does the study? Who will
attend meetings of a board committee that is examining the
issue?” asks writer
Ken Ward Jr.
If the coal industry has its way, he writes,
the public will have little involvement in such matters. Jason
Bostic, a lobbyist for the West Virginia Coal Association,
said environmentalists should not take part, because they
opposed any change in the aluminum limits. Bostic said following
the last board meeting, “I’m a little concerned
that we need to include people that were at the outset opposed
to the idea that we needed to re-examine the criteria at all."
The panel has already held one meeting that
was not publicly announced or open to citizens. Last week
the group held a brief public meeting. Now board members are
waiting for an Ethics Commission opinion
they hope will free them from complying with the state Open
Governmental Proceedings Act. The commission’s Open
Meetings Committee will consider the matter Thursday.
Advocates say Virginia's
largest power company destroying unique park trail
Virginia’s largest utility is facing angry
accusations it's permanently scarring a cherished public park
used by thousands of residents in Northern Virginia, reports
the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Dominion Virginia Power’s
effort to clear trees and other growth from its right-of-way
along the W&OD Trail -- about 45 miles, or one-tenth of
1 percent of the company’s property-- has stirred park
advocates and residents who complain Dominion is engaging
in overkill, writes
Paul Bradley. Advocates say the company is felling healthy
trees that pose little threat to power lines along the trail
snaking from Arlington County through Fairfax County to western
Loudoun County. Dominion has more than 4,500 miles of high-voltage
transmission lines across the state, bringing electric power
to its 2 million customers, he writes.
Jack Nelson heads a group attempting to persuade
Dominion to scale back its work. He told Bradley, "There
doesn't seem to be any balance. They are just cutting everything."
The Times-Dispatch reports that Dominion is well within its
legal rights to do the work unfettered. Dominion officials
say the work follows the dictates and state and federal regulatory
agencies intent curtailing power outages caused by trees coming
into contact with power lines. But for some the work has become
a moral question.
Barbara Hildreth, a longtime park advocate who
heads a task force trying to devise rules for tree-cutting
along the trail, told the newspaper, "This trail is unique
for Dominion. It's the only co-located trail and utility in
the country. It deserves to be treated uniquely." John
Smatlak, Dominion's managing director for electric transmission
told the newspaper they are already treating the trail differently
than the rest of its transmission network. "We have an
advance team that walks the trail with the park authority.
We recognize that the trail is a unique asset and we are willing
to leave more trees."
Iraq, Part 1: Vermont
town meetings feature discussion, discontent, resolutions
Annual town meetings around Vermont are passing
resolutions calling for the return of U.S. troops from Iraq,
reports The Washington Post.
"In Norwich, a resolution calling for the
return of U.S. troops from Iraq was the 31st item on the town
meeting agenda. After a day of balloting, it passed,"
writes
Jonathan Finer. In Strafford, it passed with hardly a whisper
of dissent. And in Bethel, a mill town considered conservative
by this blue state's standard, residents narrowly endorsed
a version of the measure, against the urging of a Vietnam
veteran and a soldier who returned last week from the war,
he writes.
Town Meeting Day, a New England tradition that
dates to the 17th century, has been hailed as a paradigm of
representative democracy. Voters in 56 Vermont towns, more
than one-fifth of the state's 246 municipalities, became perhaps
the first in the country to participate in a formal referendum
on U.S. involvement in Iraq, he writes. Thirty-nine towns
passed a version of a resolution asking state legislators
to study the local impact of National Guard deployments, the
congressional delegation to reassert state authority over
Guard units, and the federal government to bring U.S. troops
home from Iraq.
Three towns tabled the resolution; four rejected
it, including Underhill, where 53 of its residents out of
a population of 3,000 are deployed with the Guard, according
to the Associated Press. A petition drive
by local activists placed the initiative before dozens of
this year's annual meetings.
Frank M. Bryan, a University of Vermont
professor told The Post, "Vermont's always had a penchant
for shooting its mouth off, and I mostly mean that in a positive
way.” Bryan is the author of the book "Real Democracy:
The New England Town Meeting and How it Works." The resolution
is nonbinding and carries no formal weight. Vermont has one
of the nation's highest per-capita rates of Iraq casualties
and National Guard deployment, and has paid a heavy price
since the conflict began. Of the 11 Vermonters killed, four
were serving in the Guard. For The New York Times
version of the story, click here.
Iraq, Part 2: Armor saves four soldiers in
Iowa unit from weekend blast
Armor on Humvees, a sore point
earlier during the war in Iraq, is being credited for saving
the lives of soldiers, including four from Iowa caught in
an explosion Sunday, reports the Des Moines Register.
Iowa National Guard
spokesman Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood told
writers Erin Jordan and Colleen Krantz that one guard officer
was killed when a homemade bomb struck his Humvee in Iraq
this past weekend, but four other guardsmen survived the blast
because the Humvee was protected with an armor kit like those
produced at an Iowa facility.
Fred Smith, deputy director of
the Ground Systems Industrial Enterprise,
based at the Rock Island Arsenal in Iowa, has filled orders
for more than 12,000 armor kits, which include a 165-pound
to 175-pound steel door with bullet-resistant glass and steel
panels for the back and sides of the Humvee.
The wife of one of those injured
Sunday told the newspaper the situation would have been worse
if the Humvee had not been armored. Army
spokeswoman Nancy Ray told the Register that Humvees used
in Army missions are now all protected with some degree of
armor. This wasn't the case when the United States invaded
Iraq.. The "up-armoring" process began in 2003,
when the Army contracted with factories, such as the Rock
Island Arsenal, to manufacture armor kits that could be added
to the Humvees in Iraq.
Iraq, Part 3: Journalist
Sy Hersh slams Bush and war at West Virginia stop
Standout investigative reporter Seymour Hersh
told a standing-room only crowd in Charleston, W. Va., last
night that President Bush and his administration are driven
by an unyielding neoconservative ideology, and have repeatedly
misled the public about their plans for war in Iraq and beyond.
The Pulitzer Prize winner said the president’s
plans in the region go beyond Iraq and include bringing the
administration’s brand of pro-American democracy to
Iran and Syria. Hersh, 67, spoke at the Festival of Ideas
sponsored by The Charleston Gazette and West
Virginia University. The audience included Democratic
Gov. Joe Manchin and his wife, the Gazette reported.
Hersh told the audience the president’s stance,
“You’re either with us or against us ... more
than anything else has marked his regime.”
Hersh has won more than a dozen awards and prizes
for his investigative reporting. His work uncovered the My
Lai massacre in Vietnam, the CIA’s bombing of Cambodia,
Henry Kissinger’s wiretapping and a CIA plot that helped
bring down Chilean President Salvador Allende. His speech
last night shared the topic of his most recent book, Chain
of Command, based on articles he wrote for The
New Yorker magazine about the Sept. 11 attacks, the
Iraq war and the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal.
Hersh speaks at 7:30 tonight at Bellarmine
University in Louisville.
Heavy trucks could enter
Kentucky towns under bill reaching critical phase
A controversial bill that would put more overweight
trucks on Kentucky roads, set for a Senate committee hearing
and vote today, would affect cities and suburbs, not just
rural counties, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.
"Currently, only coal trucks are allowed
to exceed the 40-ton weight limit on state roadways, by up
to 50 percent, and only while hauling on a network of approved
routes. So far, that web of highways is concentrated in the
coal fields of Eastern and Western Kentucky," writes
John Cheves.
But House Bill 8 would expand the weight exemption
to other rigs hauling "natural resources" such as
gravel, sand and oil. As a result, any road that carries at
least 50,000 tons a year of those minerals in regular trucks
could be added, almost automatically, to the network open
to overweight trucks, Cheves writes. That has some urban officials
worried about the prospect of 60-ton gravel trucks thundering
down Main Street chewing up asphalt and threatening motorists
and pedestrians.
Jackie Covington, road supervisor in Scott County
told Cheves, "Rock quarries run trucks through here all
the time. You let them add a lot of weight to their loads,
and our side roads are going to get torn up just like those
highways out in Eastern Kentucky." According to the Kentucky
Transportation Center, 2,700 miles of roads could
be affected. Only some are currently in the network.
For the Courier-Journal version
of this story by Alan Maimon, click here.
For a special report by Maimon and Elizabeth Beardsley on
the potential impact of the bill click here.
Kentuckians attend high court’s commandments
debate; nation watching
Nearly 300 southeastern Kentucky residents are
in Washington, D.C. today for the U.S. Supreme Court arguments
in a dispute that grew out of Ten Commandments displays in
McCreary and Pulaski counties, joined with a similar case
from Texas, reports The Courier-Journal.
The Kentucky dispute began in rural McCreary
County, in the Daniel Boone National Forest on the Tennessee
border, when two residents objected to Judge-Executive Jimmie
Greene's decision to hang the commandments on a wall in the
county courthouse and the Kentucky chapter of the American
Civil Liberties Union filed suit, writes
Michael A. Lindenberger of the Louisville newspaper.
A similar courthouse display in adjoining Pulaski
County also was challenged, and the cases been merged. Greene
has said he allowed the commandments to be posted as part
of a general redecoration. The display offended Louanne Walker,
now 57, one of the original plaintiffs. Walker, who is not
going to the hearing, told Lindenberger, "I absolutely
believe in the separation of church and state.”
David Howe, 69, the second plaintiff in the
case, said he is not anti-religious but was offended when
the county displayed the Decalogue. He told Lindenberger,
"I have no qualms about religions whatsoever, but just
don't push it in my face. And putting it up on a public building,
that's pushing it into my face."
It is only the second time that the high court
has agreed to consider whether public displays of the Ten
Commandments are legal, writes Lindenberger. In the other
case, the court ruled in 1980 that a Kentucky statute ordering
all Kentucky schools to display the Ten Commandments violated
the Constitution.
Reformers ask FCC to
deny TV-newspaper combine in Columbus, Ga., market
Free Press, a national nonpartisan
group seeking media reform, petitioned the Federal
Communications Commission to turn down Media
General’s request to avoid ownership rules.
The company, based in Richmond, Va., wants to operate a television
station and a newspaper in the same market, which ownership
laws prohibit, writes
Free Press.
The station, WRBL-TV, is in
Columbus, Ga. Four months after buying the station, MG also
bought the Opelika-Auburn News, the sole
daily paper in Lee County, Ala., 30 miles away from the station.
Angela Campbell, an attorney with the Institute
for Public Representation, which is representing
the Free Press, said, "If one company is awarded a near-monopoly
on local news, viewers will only get one point of view."
IPR filed a similar challenge last year, when Media General
wanted to operate a television station and daily newspaper
in Florence, S.C. Free Press is also represented by the Media
Access Project, a non-profit, public interest telecommunications
law firm, Free Press reports.
Tuesday, Mar. 1, 2005
Democratic outsiders
rise to power on grass-roots appeal in Southern states
There’s continued dissonance and disarray
among some Democrats in Dixie, where gubernatorial winners
in November have had their party-leadership picks rebuked
in favor of populists with statewide, grass-roots appeal,
reports The Washington Post.
“Democrats didn't have a lot to smile
about in November, particularly in the South, where North
Carolina Gov. Mike Easley was one of the party's few bright
spots, easily winning reelection,” writes
Terry M. Neal. But Easley found himself rebuffed by the state's
Democratic Executive Committee recently. The governor's choice
for state party chairman was rejected in favor of party activist
Jerry Meek.
In the News & Observer
of Raleigh, reporter Rob Christensen called Meek's election
"a rebuke to Gov. Easley and party insiders." Meek
accused the governor and the party's power structure of being
unresponsive to local party activists. Meek reportedly told
a packed room at N. C. State University after
the vote, "I believe our party has lost touch with the
local party. I'll create a party of inclusion where grass-roots
workers have a real say and power isn't just limited to the
Raleigh insiders."
A few weeks before Meek's election, Democrats
in Arkansas bucked the system, too, writes Neal, by ousting
two-term incumbent state chairman Ron Oliver for Jason Willett
of Jonesboro. Willett, too, argued the party had ignored its
grass-roots base.
Neal asks, “So why should anybody care
about some inside politics stories from Arkansas and North
Carolina? Because in some ways they mirror what happened on
the national level with the election of Howard Dean as chairman
of the Democratic National Committee. And,
he writes, because they underscore a restive force that could
reshape Democratic Party politics. Dean has called "for
'bottom-up reform' of the Democratic Party and the further
empowerment of grass-roots activists," writes Neal.
Proposed changes stall
Kentucky meth legislation; allergy pills sales at issue
A bill aimed at curbing the production of methamphetamine
in Kentucky stalled in the House yesterday over two proposed
amendments backers say would gut the legislation.
Deborah Yetter of The Courier-Journal.writes,
“The delay prompted a rash of lobbying from sheriffs
and police who say amendments to Senate Bill 63 would allow
meth manufacturers to get more of the certain cold and allergy
medications they need to make the illegal drug.”
Lt. Gov. Steve Pence told Yetter he is frustrated
by the sudden appearance of the amendments. "We're so
close here," said Pence, who also is state justice secretary.
The bill could come up for a vote today after House leaders
speak with Rep. Frank Rasche, D-Paducah, about whether his
amendments would weaken Kentucky's battle against meth.
The bill seeks to limit the sale of Sudafed
and similar drugs that contain pseudoephedrine, a chemical
used to make meth, writes Yetter. Rasche's amendments that
would allow the sale of cold and allergy medicine in more
places and restrict sales based on the chemical composition
of rather than the number of tablets.
Restrictions in the bill have been opposed by
retailers and others, including the Schering-Plough
Corp., which makes Claritin-D, an allergy medicine
that contains pseudoephedrine. Rasche said he filed the amendments
as a consumer advocate, although he said he has not been contacted
by any consumers.
Putting a face on meth
addiction: the story of one young man’s downward spiral
Matt Brown is facing a 20-year prison sentence
for burglary and theft, crimes he committed while high on
methamphetamine, writes
the Ledger Independent. At an age when many
people are starting their career or leaving college, Brown,
then 22, was beginning his downward spiral after getting hooked
on meth.
"I think it's worse than crack cocaine,"
Brown told the Maysville, Ky., paper's reporter Danetta Barker.
"You get high and stay high for so long. It's the one
drug I had the most trouble with; seems like you can't get
off it." He was arrested for meth possession last April,
but instead of being put in jail, he was turned over to the
Buffalo Trace-Gateway Area Narcotics Task Force,
said his attorney Bryan Underwood.
A task force representative said it receives
permission from local prosecutors to work with people charged
with drug crimes as informants. Brown never admitted to working
as an informant for the agency but did say he felt used by
the system. "I'm sure the task force knows what they
do," Brown said. "They want to use you, then when
you are used up, they lock you up." Brown will be eligible
for parole in four years. If he is paroled, he said he would
like to enter a rehabilitation center, Barker writes.
FCC to review decision
on sale of radio stations over 'character test' issues
The Federal Communications Commission,
in an abrupt about-face, has decided to reconsider a decision
that allowed a prominent Oklahoma politician convicted of
perjury and obstruction of justice to sell a group of radio
stations, reports The New York Times.
“The decision to approve the sale was
considered by some media experts to be a significant deregulation
of the broadcast ownership rules,” writes
Stephen Labaton, because the agency has long required those
who fail a character test to forfeit their radio licenses
to the commission. The test requires truthfulness in dealing
with the government and is an integral part of the media rules,
because owners of radio licenses hold a public trust and are
obliged to act in 'the public interest,' he writes.
The FCC had never considered a conviction of
perjury before a federal agency. But the commission has revoked
licenses for a variety of other crimes, from sexual abuse
of a minor to fraud to dealing in illegal narcotics, Labaton
writes. The four radio stations were being sold for $2.2 million
by companies controlled by Gene Stipe, who for many years
was among the most powerful Democrats in Oklahoma. Stipe pleaded
guilty in 2003 to three criminal counts in an illegal scheme
to funnel more than $245,000 into a failed House of Representatives
campaign. He was sentenced to five years' probation and six
months' house arrest.
Commission chairman Michael K. Powell appeared
to ratify the decision, when one of his senior aides told
a lawyer who was critical of the deal that Powell would not
seek a review of the decision by the full commission. Powell
has announced his intention to leave the agency next month.
Jonathan S. Adelstein, one of the Democratic commissioners,
told The Times, "This deal demands a lot more scrutiny
than it's gotten, and I now expect that it will get the review
that it deserves."
‘Micro radio’
getting big attention in licensing race; churches buying up
In the airwaves race for low-wattage radio stations,
churches appear to be the big winners in a grab for ‘micro
radio’ station licenses, reports the San Francisco
Chronicle.
“Community activists cheered when the
federal government began offering licenses for low-power radio
stations five years ago. But now, some are wondering what
happened to what they envisioned as an end-around to big media
domination of the airwaves,” writes
Joe Garofoli.
After years of fighting legal battles for left-leaning
"pirate" broadcasters, he writes, advocates pictured
a sea of under-100-watt stations (many in suburban and rural
areas) where low- income folks and communities of color could
grab a tiny slice of a radio dial now dominated by conglomerates,
forming a 'programming rainbow,' diverse community-focused
formats rarely heard on big-city stations. But, Garofoli writes,
low-power frequencies have been gobbled up by Christian organizations.
Church groups make up roughly half the 344 applicants licensed
by the Federal Communications Commission.
Kai Aiyetoro, chief financial officer with the
National Federation of Community Broadcasters
in Oakland, when asked about the apparent lack of diversity
in licensing, told Garofoli, "The churches have been
much more organized in applying for and getting these stations.
There's no system of state organizations out there encouraging
nonprofits and community groups to get their licenses. But
the churches, if they hear about a frequency opening up, they
spread the word to each other."
A bill introduced this month by Republican Sen.
John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Sens. Maria Cantwell
of Washington and Patrick Leahy of Vermont could make it easier
for low-power stations to crack the big-city market by requiring
less frequency space on the dial between stations.
New biotech corn gets
close look; U.S. believes it's safe, will investigate anyway
The government is again investigating the safety
of genetically engineered corn, reports The Des Moines
Register. This time, the issue isn't a variety that
spawned nationwide food recalls in 2000, but a variety developed
by Des Moines-based Pioneer Hi-Bred International
and Dow AgroSciences. The new variety produces
corn resistant to rootworm, writes
Philip Brasher.
The new product also contains a protein that
takes longer to break down in a human's gut than many other
proteins. That's a characteristic of foods that can cause
allergic reactions, Brasher writes.
Doug Gurian-Sherman, a former Environmental
Protection Agency scientist who doesn't believe the
EPA should approve the new corn variety, told Brasher, "At
this stage, any kind of reasonably cautious approach would
say hold off on their protein until we get data that is more
definitive." Gurian-Sherman is now senior scientist with
the Center for Food Safety, an advocacy group
critical of agricultural biotechnology. The EPA believes the
corn is safe, as does the Food and Drug Administration.
However, the EPA is convening a panel of scientific advisers
to look into the companies' data.
Second house in Kentucky
OKs cigarette-tax hike and aid to tobacco growers
The Kentucky legislature is poised to pass a
budget and tax package that would raise the state's 3-cents-a-pack
cigarette tax to 29 cents and redirect money earmarked for
agricultural diversification to make up the possible loss
of the final payment tobacco growers were expecting from cigarette
companies.
Last night, the state Senate "left untouched
the House proposal to tax cigarettes at 29 cents a pack,"
as well as a higher tax on another famous Kentucky product,
whiskey, reports
The Courier-Journal. "A half-gallon
of whiskey would cost about $1 more, a $12.99 bottle of wine
would go up by about 50 cents, and a 12-pack of beer by about
25 cents," Tom Loftus writes. "And lawmakers agreed
to make permanent a 1-cent increase in the state gasoline
tax." The bill now goes to a conference committee.
After some initial misgivings, the Senate also
adopted the House plan to divert money from the Agricultural
Development Fund, created with half the state's money from
the national tobacco settlement, to cover the final payments
tobacco growers were expecting from cigarette manufacturers
in the "Phase II" settlement between the companies
and tobacco-growing states. A North Carolina judge said the
companies did not have to make the payments because the federal
government has ended its program of tobacco quotas and price
supports and will pay growers for quotas with money from the
companies. The case is on appeal.
Newspaper editorials and commentaries said the
legislature was being short-sighted. bill now goes to a conference
committee. "If Kentucky wants the jobs and businesses
of the future, it needs to get moving. As last week's events
showed, it's not. Lawmakers were falling all over themselves
to assure tobacco farmers that they would get payments of
$114 million," a Courier-Journal editorial
said.
The Kentucky Farm Bureau lobbied
to keep funding for diversification and said the Phase II
makeup money should come form the state General Fund, but
President Sam Moore said in a commentary in the Feb. 15 Lexington
Herald-Leader that the legislative plan would "provide
a remedy for the . . . greed" of the cigarette companies,
which sued "to reclaim money already pledged and paid
into the (Phase II) trust." Moore said he hoped growers'
anger "won't spill over into a blame game directed toward"
members of the state's congressional delegation, who "gave
their all" to win the buyout for growers.
Virginia justice says
libel case could have 'chilling' effect on political speech
Virginia Supreme Court Justice Donald W. Lemons
yesterday questioned what he called the "chilling effect"
a rare libel suit could have on citizens' right to political
speech and their willingness to participate in politics, reports
the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
“Lemons' comments were in response to
oral arguments in the Virginia Supreme Court involving a case
in which a public official sued a private citizen for libel
and won in a lower court. Legal experts believe this is the
first lawsuit of its kind in Virginia,” writes
Osita Iroegbu. Justice Lemons asked the attorney for Colonial
Heights Mayor J. Chris Kollman III, "Are all cases of
disgruntled politicians going to end up in the court system?"
Kollman won a libel case in 2003 against a Colonial Heights
resident.
Lemons also questioned whether the suit could
discourage potential politicians, asking, "We talk about
chilling political speech, but what about chilling people
from joining politics if this is the kind of thing they are
going to have to put up with the eve before the election?"
He was referring to newspaper ads that ran just two days before
city council election where Kollman said he was not given
enough time to respond.
In 2003, Kollman sued resident Claude E. Jordan
Sr. for $1.35 million for making false and defamatory statements
in two newspaper ads. A jury awarded Kollman $75,000 in compensatory
damages and $125,000 in punitive damages. Jordan, who argued
that his ads were protected by the First Amendment, appealed
to the Virginia Supreme Court. The court is expected to rule
on both appeals next month.
Baptists rescind invitation
to minister for controversial views on Christianity
The Kentucky Baptist Convention
withdrew a speaking invitation to a well-known pastor and
author after his latest book raised the possibility that people
could be saved without becoming Christians.
“The convention had heavily promoted the
planned speech by Brian McLaren of Maryland at an evangelism
conference, which concludes today at Valley View Baptist
Church in Louisville. But church leaders withdrew
the invitation late last month,” writes
Peter Smith of The Courier-Journal.
Convention executive director Bill Mackey said,
"I respect Dr. McLaren greatly and have appreciated his
insights on reaching people in today's culture." But,
he told Smith, McLaren's "position diverges too greatly
to be appropriate for this conference." McLaren, pastor
of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Maryland,
was listed in a recent Time magazine article
as one of America's 25 most influential evangelicals.
McLaren is considered a leader of what is known
as the "emergent church" movement, writes Smith.
In a book published last year, "A Generous Orthodoxy,"
he wrote that not all people may need to be Christians to
be followers of Jesus. Some people, he suggested, may be able
to be "Buddhist … (or) Jewish or Hindu followers
of Jesus." Convention President Hershael York, a professor
at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
in Louisville told Smith that view was "clearly out of
line. The one thing Kentucky Baptists agree about is the exclusivity
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That means Jesus Christ is
the only way of salvation."
West Virginia reporter
wins national award for corruption stories
News stories by Charleston Gazette
reporter Eric Eyre, which led to the removal and conviction
of a former West Virginia House Education Committee Chairman,
have been ranked among America’s top education writing
in 2004, reports
the newspaper. The Education Writers Association
announced that Eyre has won the organization’s top prize
for investigative reporting at newspapers with circulation
under 100,000. The award will be presented at a May 7 conference
in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Eyre discovered last year that chairman Jerry
Mezzatesta, D-Hampshire, was taking a large county school
salary, funneling state money to his county school system
in violation of an ethics agreement, and had taken part in
a scheme to falsify letters to conceal his ethical misconduct.
Mezzatesta was removed as chairman, defeated for re-election,
and convicted of a criminal offense.
Eyre automatically becomes eligible for EWA’s
grand prize, the Fred M. Hechinger Award For Distinguished
Education Reporting. A native of Broad Axe, Pa.,
Eyre joined the Gazette staff in 1998 and has won 16 national
journalism honors since then.
Tuesday, Mar. 1,
2005
Democratic outsiders
rise to power on grass-roots appeal in Southern states
There’s continued dissonance and disarray
among some Democrats in Dixie, where gubernatorial winners
in November have had their party-leadership picks rebuked
in favor of populists with statewide, grass-roots appeal,
reports The Washington Post.
“Democrats didn't have a lot to smile
about in November, particularly in the South, where North
Carolina Gov. Mike Easley was one of the party's few bright
spots, easily winning reelection,” writes
Terry M. Neal. But Easley found himself rebuffed by the state's
Democratic Executive Committee recently. The governor's choice
for state party chairman was rejected in favor of party activist
Jerry Meek.
In the News & Observer
of Raleigh, reporter Rob Christensen called Meek's election
"a rebuke to Gov. Easley and party insiders." Meek
accused the governor and the party's power structure of being
unresponsive to local party activists. Meek reportedly told
a packed room at N. C. State University after
the vote, "I believe our party has lost touch with the
local party. I'll create a party of inclusion where grass-roots
workers have a real say and power isn't just limited to the
Raleigh insiders."
A few weeks before Meek's election, Democrats
in Arkansas bucked the system, too, writes Neal, by ousting
two-term incumbent state chairman Ron Oliver for Jason Willett
of Jonesboro. Willett, too, argued the party had ignored its
grass-roots base.
Neal asks, “So why should anybody care
about some inside politics stories from Arkansas and North
Carolina? Because in some ways they mirror what happened on
the national level with the election of Howard Dean as chairman
of the Democratic National Committee. And,
he writes, because they underscore a restive force that could
reshape Democratic Party politics. Dean has called "for
'bottom-up reform' of the Democratic Party and the further
empowerment of grass-roots activists," writes Neal.
Proposed changes stall
Kentucky meth legislation; allergy pills sales at issue
A bill aimed at curbing the production of methamphetamine
in Kentucky stalled in the House yesterday over two proposed
amendments backers say would gut the legislation.
Deborah Yetter of The Courier-Journal.writes,
“The delay prompted a rash of lobbying from sheriffs
and police who say amendments to Senate Bill 63 would allow
meth manufacturers to get more of the certain cold and allergy
medications they need to make the illegal drug.”
Lt. Gov. Steve Pence told Yetter he is frustrated
by the sudden appearance of the amendments. "We're so
close here," said Pence, who also is state justice secretary.
The bill could come up for a vote today after House leaders
speak with Rep. Frank Rasche, D-Paducah, about whether his
amendments would weaken Kentucky's battle against meth.
The bill seeks to limit the sale of Sudafed
and similar drugs that contain pseudoephedrine, a chemical
used to make meth, writes Yetter. Rasche's amendments that
would allow the sale of cold and allergy medicine in more
places and restrict sales based on the chemical composition
of rather than the number of tablets.
Restrictions in the bill have been opposed by
retailers and others, including the Schering-Plough
Corp., which makes Claritin-D, an allergy medicine
that contains pseudoephedrine. Rasche said he filed the amendments
as a consumer advocate, although he said he has not been contacted
by any consumers.
Putting a face on meth
addiction: the story of one young man’s downward spiral
Matt Brown is facing a 20-year prison sentence
for burglary and theft, crimes he committed while high on
methamphetamine, writes
the Ledger Independent. At an age when many
people are starting their career or leaving college, Brown,
then 22, was beginning his downward spiral after getting hooked
on meth.
"I think it's worse than crack cocaine,"
Brown told the Maysville, Ky., paper's reporter Danetta Barker.
"You get high and stay high for so long. It's the one
drug I had the most trouble with; seems like you can't get
off it." He was arrested for meth possession last April,
but instead of being put in jail, he was turned over to the
Buffalo Trace-Gateway Area Narcotics Task Force,
said his attorney Bryan Underwood.
A task force representative said it receives
permission from local prosecutors to work with people charged
with drug crimes as informants. Brown never admitted to working
as an informant for the agency but did say he felt used by
the system. "I'm sure the task force knows what they
do," Brown said. "They want to use you, then when
you are used up, they lock you up." Brown will be eligible
for parole in four years. If he is paroled, he said he would
like to enter a rehabilitation center, Barker writes.
FCC to review decision
on sale of radio stations over 'character test' issues
The Federal Communications Commission,
in an abrupt about-face, has decided to reconsider a decision
that allowed a prominent Oklahoma politician convicted of
perjury and obstruction of justice to sell a group of radio
stations, reports The New York Times.
“The decision to approve the sale was
considered by some media experts to be a significant deregulation
of the broadcast ownership rules,” writes
Stephen Labaton, because the agency has long required those
who fail a character test to forfeit their radio licenses
to the commission. The test requires truthfulness in dealing
with the government and is an integral part of the media rules,
because owners of radio licenses hold a public trust and are
obliged to act in 'the public interest,' he writes.
The FCC had never considered a conviction of
perjury before a federal agency. But the commission has revoked
licenses for a variety of other crimes, from sexual abuse
of a minor to fraud to dealing in illegal narcotics, Labaton
writes. The four radio stations were being sold for $2.2 million
by companies controlled by Gene Stipe, who for many years
was among the most powerful Democrats in Oklahoma. Stipe pleaded
guilty in 2003 to three criminal counts in an illegal scheme
to funnel more than $245,000 into a failed House of Representatives
campaign. He was sentenced to five years' probation and six
months' house arrest.
Commission chairman Michael K. Powell appeared
to ratify the decision, when one of his senior aides told
a lawyer who was critical of the deal that Powell would not
seek a review of the decision by the full commission. Powell
has announced his intention to leave the agency next month.
Jonathan S. Adelstein, one of the Democratic commissioners,
told The Times, "This deal demands a lot more scrutiny
than it's gotten, and I now expect that it will get the review
that it deserves."
‘Micro radio’
getting big attention in licensing race; churches buying up
In the airwaves race for low-wattage radio stations,
churches appear to be the big winners in a grab for ‘micro
radio’ station licenses, reports the San Francisco
Chronicle.
“Community activists cheered when the
federal government began offering licenses for low-power radio
stations five years ago. But now, some are wondering what
happened to what they envisioned as an end-around to big media
domination of the airwaves,” writes
Joe Garofoli.
After years of fighting legal battles for left-leaning
"pirate" broadcasters, he writes, advocates pictured
a sea of under-100-watt stations (many in suburban and rural
areas) where low- income folks and communities of color could
grab a tiny slice of a radio dial now dominated by conglomerates,
forming a 'programming rainbow,' diverse community-focused
formats rarely heard on big-city stations. But, Garofoli writes,
low-power frequencies have been gobbled up by Christian organizations.
Church groups make up roughly half the 344 applicants licensed
by the Federal Communications Commission.
Kai Aiyetoro, chief financial officer with the
National Federation of Community Broadcasters
in Oakland, when asked about the apparent lack of diversity
in licensing, told Garofoli, "The churches have been
much more organized in applying for and getting these stations.
There's no system of state organizations out there encouraging
nonprofits and community groups to get their licenses. But
the churches, if they hear about a frequency opening up, they
spread the word to each other."
A bill introduced this month by Republican Sen.
John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Sens. Maria Cantwell
of Washington and Patrick Leahy of Vermont could make it easier
for low-power stations to crack the big-city market by requiring
less frequency space on the dial between stations.
New biotech corn gets
close look; U.S. believes it's safe, will investigate anyway
The government is again investigating the safety
of genetically engineered corn, reports The Des Moines
Register. This time, the issue isn't a variety that
spawned nationwide food recalls in 2000, but a variety developed
by Des Moines-based Pioneer Hi-Bred International
and Dow AgroSciences. The new variety produces
corn resistant to rootworm, writes
Philip Brasher.
The new product also contains a protein that
takes longer to break down in a human's gut than many other
proteins. That's a characteristic of foods that can cause
allergic reactions, Brasher writes.
Doug Gurian-Sherman, a former Environmental
Protection Agency scientist who doesn't believe the
EPA should approve the new corn variety, told Brasher, "At
this stage, any kind of reasonably cautious approach would
say hold off on their protein until we get data that is more
definitive." Gurian-Sherman is now senior scientist with
the Center for Food Safety, an advocacy group
critical of agricultural biotechnology. The EPA believes the
corn is safe, as does the Food and Drug Administration.
However, the EPA is convening a panel of scientific advisers
to look into the companies' data.
Second house in Kentucky
OKs cigarette-tax hike and aid to tobacco growers
The Kentucky legislature is poised to pass a
budget and tax package that would raise the state's 3-cents-a-pack
cigarette tax to 29 cents and redirect money earmarked for
agricultural diversification to make up the possible loss
of the final payment tobacco growers were expecting from cigarette
companies.
Last night, the state Senate "left untouched
the House proposal to tax cigarettes at 29 cents a pack,"
as well as a higher tax on another famous Kentucky product,
whiskey, reports
The Courier-Journal. "A half-gallon
of whiskey would cost about $1 more, a $12.99 bottle of wine
would go up by about 50 cents, and a 12-pack of beer by about
25 cents," Tom Loftus writes. "And lawmakers agreed
to make permanent a 1-cent increase in the state gasoline
tax." The bill now goes to a conference committee.
After some initial misgivings, the Senate also
adopted the House plan to divert money from the Agricultural
Development Fund, created with half the state's money from
the national tobacco settlement, to cover the final payments
tobacco growers were expecting from cigarette manufacturers
in the "Phase II" settlement between the companies
and tobacco-growing states. A North Carolina judge said the
companies did not have to make the payments because the federal
government has ended its program of tobacco quotas and price
supports and will pay growers for quotas with money from the
companies. The case is on appeal.
Newspaper editorials and commentaries said the
legislature was being short-sighted. bill now goes to a conference
committee. "If Kentucky wants the jobs and businesses
of the future, it needs to get moving. As last week's events
showed, it's not. Lawmakers were falling all over themselves
to assure tobacco farmers that they would get payments of
$114 million," a Courier-Journal editorial
said.
The Kentucky Farm Bureau lobbied
to keep funding for diversification and said the Phase II
makeup money should come form the state General Fund, but
President Sam Moore said in a commentary in the Feb. 15 Lexington
Herald-Leader that the legislative plan would "provide
a remedy for the . . . greed" of the cigarette companies,
which sued "to reclaim money already pledged and paid
into the (Phase II) trust." Moore said he hoped growers'
anger "won't spill over into a blame game directed toward"
members of the state's congressional delegation, who "gave
their all" to win the buyout for growers.
Virginia justice says
libel case could have 'chilling' effect on political speech
Virginia Supreme Court Justice Donald W. Lemons
yesterday questioned what he called the "chilling effect"
a rare libel suit could have on citizens' right to political
speech and their willingness to participate in politics, reports
the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
“Lemons' comments were in response to
oral arguments in the Virginia Supreme Court involving a case
in which a public official sued a private citizen for libel
and won in a lower court. Legal experts believe this is the
first lawsuit of its kind in Virginia,” writes
Osita Iroegbu. Justice Lemons asked the attorney for Colonial
Heights Mayor J. Chris Kollman III, "Are all cases of
disgruntled politicians going to end up in the court system?"
Kollman won a libel case in 2003 against a Colonial Heights
resident.
Lemons also questioned whether the suit could
discourage potential politicians, asking, "We talk about
chilling political speech, but what about chilling people
from joining politics if this is the kind of thing they are
going to have to put up with the eve before the election?"
He was referring to newspaper ads that ran just two days before
city council election where Kollman said he was not given
enough time to respond.
In 2003, Kollman sued resident Claude E. Jordan
Sr. for $1.35 million for making false and defamatory statements
in two newspaper ads. A jury awarded Kollman $75,000 in compensatory
damages and $125,000 in punitive damages. Jordan, who argued
that his ads were protected by the First Amendment, appealed
to the Virginia Supreme Court. The court is expected to rule
on both appeals next month.
Baptists rescind invitation
to minister for controversial views on Christianity
The Kentucky Baptist Convention
withdrew a speaking invitation to a well-known pastor and
author after his latest book raised the possibility that people
could be saved without becoming Christians.
“The convention had heavily promoted the
planned speech by Brian McLaren of Maryland at an evangelism
conference, which concludes today at Valley View Baptist
Church in Louisville. But church leaders withdrew
the invitation late last month,” writes
Peter Smith of The Courier-Journal.
Convention executive director Bill Mackey said,
"I respect Dr. McLaren greatly and have appreciated his
insights on reaching people in today's culture." But,
he told Smith, McLaren's "position diverges too greatly
to be appropriate for this conference." McLaren, pastor
of Cedar Ridge Community Church in Maryland,
was listed in a recent Time magazine article
as one of America's 25 most influential evangelicals.
McLaren is considered a leader of what is known
as the "emergent church" movement, writes Smith.
In a book published last year, "A Generous Orthodoxy,"
he wrote that not all people may need to be Christians to
be followers of Jesus. Some people, he suggested, may be able
to be "Buddhist … (or) Jewish or Hindu followers
of Jesus." Convention President Hershael York, a professor
at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
in Louisville told Smith that view was "clearly out of
line. The one thing Kentucky Baptists agree about is the exclusivity
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That means Jesus Christ is
the only way of salvation."
West Virginia reporter
wins national award for corruption stories
News stories by Charleston Gazette
reporter Eric Eyre, which led to the removal and conviction
of a former West Virginia House Education Committee Chairman,
have been ranked among America’s top education writing
in 2004, reports
the newspaper. The Education Writers Association
announced that Eyre has won the organization’s top prize
for investigative reporting at newspapers with circulation
under 100,000. The award will be presented at a May 7 conference
in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Eyre discovered last year that chairman Jerry
Mezzatesta, D-Hampshire, was taking a large county school
salary, funneling state money to his county school system
in violation of an ethics agreement, and had taken part in
a scheme to falsify letters to conceal his ethical misconduct.
Mezzatesta was removed as chairman, defeated for re-election,
and convicted of a criminal offense.
Eyre automatically becomes eligible for EWA’s
grand prize, the Fred M. Hechinger Award For Distinguished
Education Reporting. A native of Broad Axe, Pa.,
Eyre joined the Gazette staff in 1998 and has won 16 national
journalism honors since then.
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