Sex offender twice named 'doctor of the day' by
the Texas Legislature
He was convicted of having an improper
relationship with a 17-year-old female patient
By the Associated Press,
Houston Chronicle
A Fort Worth doctor twice honored by the Texas House of
Representatives as the "doctor of the day" is a registered sex
offender convicted of an illicit relationship with a
17-year-old. Dr. Nilon Tallant, 75, was introduced by lawmakers
at the Capitol in 2006 and again in January of this year's
session, even though one legislator said he warned others about
the physician's past sex offense after his first appearance. "I
don't think anybody that's a convicted sex offender should have
a medical license in Texas. Period," said Republican Rep. Phil
King, of Weatherford, who introduced Tallant in the House
chamber in April 2006.
Atheist group sues over Dakota Boys, Girls Ranch
By Blake Nicholson, The Forum
The nation’s largest group of atheists and agnostics is
suing North Dakota officials, saying public money is being used
to religiously “indoctrinate” young people at the Dakota Boys
and Girls Ranch. The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion
Foundation filed the lawsuit in federal court in Bismarck on
Tuesday against Lisa Bjergaard, director of juvenile services
for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and
Daniel Richter, director of Ward County Social Services. The
lawsuit lists the plaintiffs as Dorothy Manley of Mandan, and
Ken and Judy Mischka of Valley City. The ranch’s Web site says
it has been affiliated with two Lutheran groups, the Lutheran
Church Missouri Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, in providing services to troubled young people, with
facilities in Minot, Fargo and Bismarck. The lawsuit alleges
that referrals are funded by taxpayer money, and that the ranch
“attempts to modify behavior by directing children to find faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Judge order's ex-governor's son, wife, to prison
in tax case
By Chet Brokaw, Rapid City Journal
A New Underwood rancher and his wife must go to prison for
violating terms of their probation by not paying federal taxes,
a federal judge ruled Monday. Randy and Mary Miller appear to
believe they are above the law, and they have done nothing to
repay the Internal Revenue Service since they were originally
convicted four years ago, U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann
said during the hearing. Randy Miller is the son of former Gov.
Walter Dale Miller, who attended Monday's sentencing hearing.
The judge said he originally gave the Millers a lenient
sentence, but they have failed to file income tax returns or
make any effort to pay back taxes. "It's not a good idea to
repay leniency or mercy with an in-your-face attitude," Kornmann
said. "I believe the defendants ... believe they are above the
law, and they are not." Randy and Mary Miller pleaded guilty in
2003 to federal tax charges. He also admitted to illegally
selling mortgaged wheat. He spent 16 months in prison, she was
placed in home confinement for six months and they both
eventually were placed on probation.
GOP officials tell Bohlinger to stay away
Lieutenant governor no longer a
Republican, convention organizers say
By CHARLES S. JOHNSON, Billings Gazette
Guess who's not coming to dinner at the state Republican
Party convention Friday night? Not welcome at the dinner is Lt.
Gov. John Bohlinger, who still calls himself a Republican
despite being elected on the 2004 ticket headed by Democratic
Gov. Brian Schweitzer. Bohlinger was snubbed by GOP officials
Tuesday when his executive assistant, Jackie Williams, called
the state headquarters to buy two dinner tickets for him. Chris
Wilcox, the Republican Party's executive director, called back
to tell Williams that tickets to the event were no longer
available. He also told the aide that Bohlinger would be not
invited to the convention, nor welcome, because he's no longer a
Republican, the lieutenant governor said. "To me, it's pretty
cut and dried," Wilcox said. "He filed for office as part of a
Democratic ticket. This is about Republican candidates and
values and promoting our candidates."
Hutchison hints at 2010 run for governor
But nothing will get her into presidential
race, she tells builders group
By BRENDAN McKENNA, Dallas
Morning News
Even though she abruptly backed out of the 2006 race for
governor, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison may still have her eye
on a certain mansion in Austin. Speaking at a gathering
Wednesday of Texas chapters of Associated Builders and
Contractors, Ms. Hutchison, a Republican, hinted she might run
for governor in 2010. The builders, unhappy with the current
crop of declared GOP candidates for president, asked Ms.
Hutchison what might induce her to run for that office. Her
response was prompt. "Nothing," she said to laughter from the
crowd.
Legislator gunned down on streets of Monterrey
The shooting happened in the heart of the
tourist and hotel zone and just a few blocks from the state
Capitol
By Sean Mattson, San Antonio
Express-News
A Nuevo León state lawmaker was shot dead Tuesday at a busy
downtown intersection here in an apparent drug-related killing,
police said. Mario César Ríos Gutiérrez, 44, a legislator for
the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was killed and
his driver wounded about 2 p.m., a police spokesman said. It was
the latest in a wave of killings that has rattled Monterrey, an
industrial metropolis 140 miles south of Laredo that until this
year largely had escaped ongoing regional drug violence. The
shooting happened outside Monterrey's City Hall, in the heart of
the tourist and hotel zone and just a few blocks from the state
Capitol.
Constiutional amendment making health care a
right clears first hurdle in Oregon House
By Don Colburn, The Oregonian
A resolution that would amend the Oregon constitution to
make health care a right cleared a House committee Wednesday for
a possible vote by the full House. House Joint Resolution 18A,
sponsored by Rep. Mitch Greenlick, D-Portland, is similar to a
ballot initiative that failed to get the required 145,000
signatures to get on the ballot last November. The resolution
declares health care "an essential safeguard of human life and
dignity" and "a fundamental right." The bill is short on
specifics, requiring the Legislature to "establish by law a
system designed to provide to every legal resident of the state
access to effective and affordable health care on a regular
basis." The House Committee on Ethics, Elections and Rules
passed the resolution, 5 to 2.
Western governors continue to focus on global
warming
By CHET BROKAW, Bismarck Tribune
The Western Governors' Association will focus on global
warming, ways to produce cleaner energy and reducing the impact
of climate change, the group's new chairman, Wyoming Gov. Dave
Freudenthal, said Tuesday. The association wrapped up a
three-day conference after hearing from two experts who
explained some of the ways global warming will harm the
environment and what can be done to reduce it. Much of the
conference dealt with proposals for reducing the release of
greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. "I think it's clear to
anyone who has been at this conference and other conferences
that this is the issue of our time," Freudenthal said. "It makes
no sense for us to ignore what is essentially a 900-pound
gorilla on the public policy basis."
