April 2008
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State senator arrested for DUI
By the Honolulu Advertiser
State Senator Ronnie Menor, D-17th (Mililani, Waipi'o), was arrested at 12:30 a.m. this morning for alleged drunk driving, police said. He posted $500 bail and was released at 2 a.m. Police said Menor, 52, was arrested on the H-1 near the Lunallilo onramp. His blood alcohol level was not released, and no other information is available at this time. Menor's district includes a portion of Waipahu, a portion of Mililani and a portion of Mililani Mauka. Menor may be best known as the driving force behind the controversial gas cap law, which was repealed after eight months. He's also the chairman of the Energy and Environment Committee and serves on the Health Committee and Ways and Means Committee.
Oil-tax backers turn to public
By the Denver Post
A final proposal to raise taxes on the oil-and-gas industry in Colorado will most likely go to the ballot through a citizen initiative and not come out of the legislature, a state lawmaker said Wednesday. Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, said she was moving away from her long-awaited plan to push for a severance-tax increase in the legislature. Instead, Curry said she has worked with Gov. Bill Ritter's office and with a coalition of environmental and higher-education advocates that has already pitched its own severance-tax proposal to come up with a compromise proposal. That proposal, she said, could be filed as early as today.
Begich enters race for US Senate
Mayor says trips around state convinced him he could beat Stevens
By SEAN COCKERHAM, Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich said Sunday he's made up his mind to run against U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens in the fall election. Begich's decision, which he will formally announce today at events in Anchorage and Fairbanks, surprises no one. He formed an exploratory committee in late February and has been sounding like a candidate as he's traveled the state since. "What I've been hearing is people are truly ready for change," the Democratic mayor said Sunday. "They want to see something different." Begich, 46, said he will not resign as mayor during the campaign.
Legislators ordered audit of Superferry
By by Derrick DePledge and Treena Shapiro, Honolulu Advertiser
The state auditor has released a report that said the state may have compromised its environmental policy under pressure from Hawaii Superferry executives concerned about financing for the interisland ferry project. The auditor, in a report released Thursday, found that an internal deadline by Superferry for financing for ship construction "drove the process" and led the state Department of Transportation to bypass an environmental review. The state Supreme Court ruled last year that the state was wrong to exempt the project from an environmental review, which led to public protests and legal challenges that halted ferry service.
Rossi, Gregoire raising money for governor's race at record clip
By Ralph Thomas, Seattle Times
If money is any indication, this year's race for governor is going to make the 2004 contest look like a low-key affair. At this point in 2004, Democrat Christine Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi had each raised about $1.5 million in campaign donations. They went on to raise more than $6 million each and their combined total was nearly double the previous record for a Washington governor's race. They are hauling in campaign cash at a much faster clip for their rematch. As of March 31, Gov. Gregoire had raised nearly $4.7 million and Rossi had raised $3.8 million, according to new filings this week with the state Public Disclosure Commission.
Flake not so frugal with travel as tax-funded trips add up
Anti-pork lawmaker: Trips worth public dollars
By Diana Marrero, Arizona Republic
Rep. Jeff Flake has built a reputation in Washington as a fiscal conservative by berating his colleagues for wasting taxpayer money. But he's not against traveling the globe on the taxpayer's dime. Flake, who says the trips are necessary for members of Congress, recently took his wife, Cheryl, on a weeklong trip to Brazil, which included visits to the beach-studded city of Rio de Janeiro and the lush rain forests of the Amazon. Flake, R-Ariz., traveled to Brazil on official congressional business with five other lawmakers to learn more about global warming and ethanol production. The February trip was one of at least a dozen he has taken at taxpayer expense in the past five years, more than any of the state's seven other representatives, according to House public records. But he is hardly a prolific traveler compared with other members of Congress, records show. In a three-year period, former Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., took 28 government-financed trips, the most of any member of Congress from 2003 to 2006.
Legislators pile projects onto capital budget
By WESLEY LOY, Anchorage Daily News
People in Eagle River wanted $1.2 million to buy a derelict shopping center and turn it into sort of a town hall. Sure, the money's yours, said lawmakers considering next year's state budget. Folks in Fairbanks wanted an extra $4 million to finish renovating the University of Alaska's Tanana Valley campus downtown. Done, said the lawmakers. In Washington, D.C., a nonprofit group called Arctic Power wanted an extra $130,000 to lobby Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Here you go. That's how it went Thursday in the state Capitol -- one request after another heard and granted, the redwood-sized budget growing like a weed. At the start of the day, what's known as the capital budget stood at 208 pages and more than $2.5 billion.
Right-to-work ballot battle builds
Organizers file signatures despite officials' calls to drop dueling initiatives
By Tim Hoover and Chris Osher, Denver Post
Organizers of a ballot initiative to make Colorado a right-to-work state filed signatures Wednesday to put the issue before voters in November despite pleas from Gov. Bill Ritter and others to stand down. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said that he now believed it was too late to stop a showdown between business and labor at the ballot box in November and that he would focus his efforts on urging voters to defeat all the proposals backed by business groups and unions. "A couple of times we were quite close to getting everyone to put down their weapons and back off, but obviously that time has passed," Hickenlooper said. "The next step will be to get people to just say no to all the initiatives." The initiative, which is backed by a group called A Better Colorado, would ask voters to amend the state constitution to say that union membership and the payment of union dues or fees could not be mandatory. Unions have opposed the measure and have filed their own ballot proposals.
Feds defend Arpaio on crime sweeps
Immigration officials say sheriff is following law
By Daniel González, Arizona Republic
Top federal immigration officials on Friday defended Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's recent crime sweeps, rejecting critics' arguments that the sheriff is violating an agreement that allows deputies to enforce immigration laws. The officials made their remarks as 38 new officers at five Arizona law-enforcement agencies were sworn in to enforce federal immigration laws. The federally trained officers are members of the Phoenix Police Department, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Pima, Pinal and Yavapai county sheriff's offices. Now, with more than 200 trained officers and jail officials, Arizona has the most of any state in nation.
Lawmaker acts to revive Ketchikan bridge
By the Anchorage Daily News
Ketchikan's nationally derided "bridge to nowhere" project might be on the road to new life in the state Capitol.Ketchikan Republican Rep. Kyle Johansen, who co-chairs the House Transportation Committee, is pushing legislation directing the state to sell $45 million in bonds to partially pay for a high bridge across the Tongass Narrows waterway to Gravina Island. Few people live on the island but it's home to Ketchikan's airport, which is served by boat. In recent years, budget earmarks the Alaska congressional delegation lined up to pay for the Ketchikan bridge as well as the Knik Arm bridge in Anchorage became symbols of government waste and spawned a nickname that stuck like tar - "bridges to nowhere."
By the Honolulu Advertiser
State Senator Ronnie Menor, D-17th (Mililani, Waipi'o), was arrested at 12:30 a.m. this morning for alleged drunk driving, police said. He posted $500 bail and was released at 2 a.m. Police said Menor, 52, was arrested on the H-1 near the Lunallilo onramp. His blood alcohol level was not released, and no other information is available at this time. Menor's district includes a portion of Waipahu, a portion of Mililani and a portion of Mililani Mauka. Menor may be best known as the driving force behind the controversial gas cap law, which was repealed after eight months. He's also the chairman of the Energy and Environment Committee and serves on the Health Committee and Ways and Means Committee.
Oil-tax backers turn to public
By the Denver Post
A final proposal to raise taxes on the oil-and-gas industry in Colorado will most likely go to the ballot through a citizen initiative and not come out of the legislature, a state lawmaker said Wednesday. Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, said she was moving away from her long-awaited plan to push for a severance-tax increase in the legislature. Instead, Curry said she has worked with Gov. Bill Ritter's office and with a coalition of environmental and higher-education advocates that has already pitched its own severance-tax proposal to come up with a compromise proposal. That proposal, she said, could be filed as early as today.
Begich enters race for US Senate
Mayor says trips around state convinced him he could beat Stevens
By SEAN COCKERHAM, Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich said Sunday he's made up his mind to run against U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens in the fall election. Begich's decision, which he will formally announce today at events in Anchorage and Fairbanks, surprises no one. He formed an exploratory committee in late February and has been sounding like a candidate as he's traveled the state since. "What I've been hearing is people are truly ready for change," the Democratic mayor said Sunday. "They want to see something different." Begich, 46, said he will not resign as mayor during the campaign.
Legislators ordered audit of Superferry
By by Derrick DePledge and Treena Shapiro, Honolulu Advertiser
The state auditor has released a report that said the state may have compromised its environmental policy under pressure from Hawaii Superferry executives concerned about financing for the interisland ferry project. The auditor, in a report released Thursday, found that an internal deadline by Superferry for financing for ship construction "drove the process" and led the state Department of Transportation to bypass an environmental review. The state Supreme Court ruled last year that the state was wrong to exempt the project from an environmental review, which led to public protests and legal challenges that halted ferry service.
Rossi, Gregoire raising money for governor's race at record clip
By Ralph Thomas, Seattle Times
If money is any indication, this year's race for governor is going to make the 2004 contest look like a low-key affair. At this point in 2004, Democrat Christine Gregoire and Republican Dino Rossi had each raised about $1.5 million in campaign donations. They went on to raise more than $6 million each and their combined total was nearly double the previous record for a Washington governor's race. They are hauling in campaign cash at a much faster clip for their rematch. As of March 31, Gov. Gregoire had raised nearly $4.7 million and Rossi had raised $3.8 million, according to new filings this week with the state Public Disclosure Commission.
Flake not so frugal with travel as tax-funded trips add up
Anti-pork lawmaker: Trips worth public dollars
By Diana Marrero, Arizona Republic
Rep. Jeff Flake has built a reputation in Washington as a fiscal conservative by berating his colleagues for wasting taxpayer money. But he's not against traveling the globe on the taxpayer's dime. Flake, who says the trips are necessary for members of Congress, recently took his wife, Cheryl, on a weeklong trip to Brazil, which included visits to the beach-studded city of Rio de Janeiro and the lush rain forests of the Amazon. Flake, R-Ariz., traveled to Brazil on official congressional business with five other lawmakers to learn more about global warming and ethanol production. The February trip was one of at least a dozen he has taken at taxpayer expense in the past five years, more than any of the state's seven other representatives, according to House public records. But he is hardly a prolific traveler compared with other members of Congress, records show. In a three-year period, former Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., took 28 government-financed trips, the most of any member of Congress from 2003 to 2006.
Legislators pile projects onto capital budget
By WESLEY LOY, Anchorage Daily News
People in Eagle River wanted $1.2 million to buy a derelict shopping center and turn it into sort of a town hall. Sure, the money's yours, said lawmakers considering next year's state budget. Folks in Fairbanks wanted an extra $4 million to finish renovating the University of Alaska's Tanana Valley campus downtown. Done, said the lawmakers. In Washington, D.C., a nonprofit group called Arctic Power wanted an extra $130,000 to lobby Congress to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Here you go. That's how it went Thursday in the state Capitol -- one request after another heard and granted, the redwood-sized budget growing like a weed. At the start of the day, what's known as the capital budget stood at 208 pages and more than $2.5 billion.
Right-to-work ballot battle builds
Organizers file signatures despite officials' calls to drop dueling initiatives
By Tim Hoover and Chris Osher, Denver Post
Organizers of a ballot initiative to make Colorado a right-to-work state filed signatures Wednesday to put the issue before voters in November despite pleas from Gov. Bill Ritter and others to stand down. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper said that he now believed it was too late to stop a showdown between business and labor at the ballot box in November and that he would focus his efforts on urging voters to defeat all the proposals backed by business groups and unions. "A couple of times we were quite close to getting everyone to put down their weapons and back off, but obviously that time has passed," Hickenlooper said. "The next step will be to get people to just say no to all the initiatives." The initiative, which is backed by a group called A Better Colorado, would ask voters to amend the state constitution to say that union membership and the payment of union dues or fees could not be mandatory. Unions have opposed the measure and have filed their own ballot proposals.
Feds defend Arpaio on crime sweeps
Immigration officials say sheriff is following law
By Daniel González, Arizona Republic
Top federal immigration officials on Friday defended Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's recent crime sweeps, rejecting critics' arguments that the sheriff is violating an agreement that allows deputies to enforce immigration laws. The officials made their remarks as 38 new officers at five Arizona law-enforcement agencies were sworn in to enforce federal immigration laws. The federally trained officers are members of the Phoenix Police Department, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Pima, Pinal and Yavapai county sheriff's offices. Now, with more than 200 trained officers and jail officials, Arizona has the most of any state in nation.
Lawmaker acts to revive Ketchikan bridge
By the Anchorage Daily News
Ketchikan's nationally derided "bridge to nowhere" project might be on the road to new life in the state Capitol.Ketchikan Republican Rep. Kyle Johansen, who co-chairs the House Transportation Committee, is pushing legislation directing the state to sell $45 million in bonds to partially pay for a high bridge across the Tongass Narrows waterway to Gravina Island. Few people live on the island but it's home to Ketchikan's airport, which is served by boat. In recent years, budget earmarks the Alaska congressional delegation lined up to pay for the Ketchikan bridge as well as the Knik Arm bridge in Anchorage became symbols of government waste and spawned a nickname that stuck like tar - "bridges to nowhere."
