State and Local

Utah governor blocks Italian nuclear waste shipments into state

2008-04-28T14:28:00Z

In a wise reversal of policy, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman stated Thursday that he will block the shipment of Italian nuclear waste to a desert dump site in his state.

The governor had wanted the federal government to determine where to dispose of foreign waste, but said he changed his mind because the feds have been slow to adopt any policy of blocking foreign waste shipments into the U.S. and because room for waste is limited.

The U.S. has enough problems figuring out a way to store its own nuclear waste. The last thing we need is to get into the business of being a global dumping ground for countries and companies like EnergySolutions, which asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to store about 1,600 tons of low-level waste from Italy at a dump some 70 miles outside of Salt Lake City.

Maryland crabs make room for dessert

2008-04-25T13:26:00Z

The past four weeks were busy legislative weeks in Maryland as lawmakers in Annapolis debated which dessert should be named the official state dessert.

After much heated discourse over the fate of Maryland's identity, the legislature presented a bill which elevated the Smith Island Layer Cake to iconic status to Maryland's Governor, Martin O'Malley, to sign yesterday.

He was bribed into signing when the bill's sponsors presented him with two nine-layer yellow cakes with chocolate frosting. The bribe proved too much to resist. O'Malley, helpless in the presence of the chocolate monstrosity, signed the bill into law.

Bay Weekly summed the heated debate up nicely:

"In the midst of decrying taxes, circumscribing windmills and regulating recycling, Maryland state government took time out for cake. They weren’t on a break, however. The delegates and state senators of Maryland cut their forks through eight layers of chocolate-frosted yellow cake to determine whether Smith Island Cake deserves the title of State Dessert.

This frosted piece of legislation may seem like a debate more suited to after-dinner conversation. But for all who spoke at the hearings for House Bill 315 and Senate Bill 287, Smith Island Cake is serious business.

“In the Senate you only had two [state title] bills; one was the cake bill and one was the walking bill,” explained HB 315 sponsor Delegate Elmore. “In the House, you had the cake bill, the walking bill, the bee bill, the American Indian bill, the charter bill and two or three more projects. I think the chairman [Peter Hammen], thought we had too many bills or whatnot. We’re a little slow, but it’s better than no vote at all.”

“Frankly I was reluctant to introduce this, but I saw the light,” Senator J. Lowell Stoltzfus told the committee. Responding to claims that the bill was trivial, Stoltzfus pointed to precedent. “We have a state cat and a state bird. What could it hurt to say, now we have a state cake? A delicious, delectable cake.”

New Florida law would grant cops right to impound cars playing loud music

2008-04-24T12:59:00Z

Sarasota, Florida - A new law, up for a final vote next month, would grant police in Sarasota the authority to impound vehicles found playing their stereos too loud and charge up to $650 in fines for repeat violators.

Not surprisingly, the law has proven controversial. On one side of argument, there's the older residents in the community that complain about the ubiquitous culture of pimped out audio systems whose bass shakes the windows of homes as the Fast and the Furious lookalike cars drive by. They applaud the effort to get the volumes down to a reasonable level that doesn't disturb anyone else and have called the law "long overdue."

On the other side, there's the younger residents, who spend thousands on car audio components to hear their music at peak volumes, showcase their financial success or to just vie for attention via thundering bass and super-chromed rims. They feel the punishment exceeds the crime and have been voicing their disgust over the law in online forums.

The concern of these "scafflaws" is joined by other citizens who feel the new law grants local police too much discretionary authority which may be used to harass or intimidate younger adults or minority groups. Under the law, police can stop drivers if they can hear the music 25 feet away.

Granting citations to residents for noise violations isn't new to Sarasota. Last year, the police department issued 282 citations for loud stereos. Each citation costs drivers $74.50, an amount increased by up to 770 percent under the proposed law - plus any charges related to towing and impound.

If you haven't decided by now which side of the argument you side with, consider this scenario: It's 3 am and you're almost home from a long drive. You've been visiting your family in Atlanta and are exhausted. To avoid falling asleep at the wheel, you open the windows and crank up the music volume. As you drive past the center of town, you pass a police car. You're not speeding, but within seconds you see the flashing lights pull up behind you and you begin slowing down and pulling to the shoulder of the road.

The officer informs you that your volume is too loud. You try to explain, telling him that the reason the volume is so high is to avoid falling asleep and crashing into a small house. He curtly tells you you should've gotten a hotel along the way, issues you a ticket for $650 dollars, and calls a tow-truck to tow your car away. An hour later, you're stranded on the road and forced to call a cab for a ride to the impound lot where you pay $100 to get your car back. By the time you get home, it's 5 a.m. and you're down $750, a night's sleep, and notice a scratch on your bumper from the tow truck.

Granted, no one wants to be woken up by loud noise at 3 am but we're all forced to live with such disturbances. Garbage trucks smash metal bins at 6 am, buses roll by vibrating windows and doors, sirens wail at all hours, Harley Davidson motorcycles thunder by, and kids scream at one another before the birds have begun chirping wildly. Should we fine all of them? Of course not. And even if we do selectively punish those who make a racket without serving a civic need, the punishment should fit the crime. So if a cop isn't going to issue a $650 speeding ticket to a reckless driver, he shouldn't have the authority to fine and confiscate the car of a music enthusiast - however vain and inconsiderate that person may be.

Florida teaching water conservation through playing cards

2008-04-21T13:24:00Z

City officials in Boynton Beach, Florida are attempting to curtail water use through an innovative program that distributes playing cards containing water conservation tips to fifth grade students enrolled in the WaterWise Conservation Program.

Administrators are hoping that the 52 water conservation tip card decks will help people remember to save water. Tip examples include recycling used pet water to water plants, watering grass only after it begins to wilt, and washing cards in grassy areas so water flows into the soil instead of down storm water drains.

The City purchased 10,000 card decks for $19,000 derived from water use fees. It's too early to tell if the cards are helpful, but if they aren't, it's likely because there's no need to memorize the tips on the cards to play a card game. Now if a game like Trivial Pursuit in which advancement in the game is based on the ability to correctly answer questions was amended to include the conservation tips, students would have more incentive to remember the details that city officials hope they do.

State governors meet to combat climate change at Yale

2008-04-16T14:08:00Z

Governors from across the United States will meet at Yale University this week to review state-level programs to combat global climate change and to develop a strategy for future action.

Governors M. Jodi Rell of Connecticut, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, Jon Corzine of New Jersey, and Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas will be in attendance along with Quebec Premier Jean Charest. About a dozen other governors are exploring whether their schedules will permit participation, but given Schwarzengger's ability to draw a crowd and the fact he will be delivering an address at the conference, it's likely they will find a way to get there.

The main goal of the conference is to advance the implementation of a national greenhouse gas emissions cap and trade system stimulated by mandatory greenhouse gas limits set by states. The states involved, of which there are 28, plan to use the system to combat global warming and eventually link the US cap and trade market with the international markets already in existence.

In the absence of federal regulations to impose limits on greenhouse gas production, the state governments have taken it upon themselves to self-regulate and in banding together, to create national standards.

The governors will meet privately for high-level discussions on climate change tomorrow and address the general public on April 18th.

Nobel Laureate Dr. R. K. Pachauri, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will address the gathering. Several former EPA administrators, including Christine Todd Whitman and Carol Browner, will also be part of the dialogue.

President Bush has always opposed mandatory greenhouse gas emission limits although his policies in the arena have evolved over the years. Originally, Bush rejected the entire premise of global warming. Over time, the policy shifted to acceptance that global warming does exist and is exacerbated by human acts.

This afternoon, Bush plans to announce plans for a national greenhouse gas curtailment policy. A staunch opponent of any mandatory emissions cap, the President will lay out a strategy for limiting greenhouse gas emissions through voluntary measures, mostly in an attempt to prevent Congress or the nation's governors from imposing tougher sanctions on emitters.

Pope's visit to D.C. will cost the city millions

2008-04-15T15:36:00Z

The Pope's three day visit to Washington, D.C., which begins today, is expected to cost the city about $2.2. million to provide security, close streets, and clean up after the parades.

Carrie Brooks, a spokeswoman for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty of Washington, said that the city had tried to get back from the federal government what it planned to spend on the Pope, and that it had “also reached out to the archdiocese to discuss cost-sharing.”

The event and its associated costs begs the question of whether or not a city government should be shelling out costs to provide secret security forces to protect a religious leader. We'd love to hear your thoughts on this issue.

Hat's off to VT state employees for foregoing a pay raise

2008-04-14T15:57:00Z

Vermont's statewide elected officials will forgo a salary increase next year, after being urged to do so in order to cope with budgetary shortfalls by Gov. Jim Douglas.

Under the move, over 350 executive-branch employees - including the Governor - earning more than $60,000 a year who are not eligible for collective bargaining agreements will not be receiving any pay raises.

Gov. Douglas and his staff have urged state employees working for the Legislature, the judiciary and other constitutional offices not under the state executive branch to follow suit.

An interesting perspective on the Iraq War

2008-04-14T14:43:00Z

Michael Honeycutt, an Iraq War veteran, wrote an interesting column about the dangers of pulling out of Iraq too early that deserves some recognition. The message of the column resonated quite clearly: victory in Iraq is possible and essential.

We've excerpted the highlights below:

"All we ask is that the our political leaders not pull the rug out from under us and, more importantly, out from under the Iraqi people now that real progress is finally being made.

I was on the ground in Iraq for 16 months, and in that time I talked to hundreds of Iraqis. Some didn't like us; some wanted us to leave, but most did not. What they wanted was for America to live up to its word. They wanted us to rid the country of terrorists and militias so that they could live in peace.

They were willing to help us, but they are not a stupid people. They know that if they commit to the American side and the Americans abandon them as we did in 1991, it means death for them and their families. They know this, and it is real. It is not an abstract idea for them.

Most Iraqis don't support Al-Qaida and the militias, but when our commitment to stay in Iraq and finish the job is in doubt -- as it was when Sen. Harry Reid went on TV and said, "this war is lost" -- Iraqis are going to hedge their bets. They may not support the militias, but when they are betting their lives, most of them are not going to commit to America unless they are assured that America is committed to them."

We all know a little something about hedging our bets. Whether its casually applying for jobs in case you don't get that big promotion, writing music scores while studying to be an accountant, or flirting with another before ending a relationship, all of us are prone to hedging our investments in time, energy, and resources. It's the essence of good politics.

Time and time again, we hear the old adages: don't burn your bridges. You can catch more flies with honey. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. So why should we expect anything other than hedging from the average Iraqi citizen whose bared witness to terrorist attacks against Iraqi civilians and officials and watched those who rose up against Saddam Hussein be slaughtered after the U.S. pulled out of the region in 1991?

We can't. And the sad truth is - whether you supported the war from the beginning or not - if Iraqis perceive the political will of the U.S. to continue operations in Iraq on the wane, they will increasingly hedge their bets in an attempt to obtain power for themselves or to gain political favor with the most powerful groups. The latter might just align the country around the insurgent groups the way Palestinians aligned themselves with Hamas.

Free speech group grants "muzzle award" to NY DMV

2008-04-14T14:20:00Z

The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression - a U.S. free-speech advocacy group - gave their annual "muzzle" awards to free speech violators last week. At the top of the list of award recipients was the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles for attempting to recall a "GETOSAMA" license plate issued to a retired New York police officer.

The New York DMV called the license plate "lewd, lascivious, derogatory to a particular ethnic group, or patently offensive" in its recall. In the end, the officer was allowed to keep the plate as part of a first amendment lawsuit settlement against the state.

In case you missed the originial story when we covered it back in , we've reprinted it for you below.

NY DMV Recalls "Get Osama" License Plates
by Andrew B. Einhorn Nov 20 2007, 05:27 PM

Arno Herwerth, a retired New York Police Department sergeant, ordered personalized "GetOsama" license plates from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to make his thoughts about the terrorist known. The plates arrived and a short time later, Arno received a letter in the mail from the Long Island DMV recalling the license plates. But what had Arno done wrong?

According to CBS News 2 HD, The letter from the DMV stated that they "prohibit the issuance of any license plate combination that is, in the discretion of the commissioner, obscene, lewd, lascivious, derogatory to a particular ethnic group or patently offensive.'"

Arno told CBS News 2 HD he's been the victim of government censureship and he's right. According to the DMV's own policy statement, there's nothing wrong with the license plate. Osama does not constitute an ethnic group; he's an individual, and a murdering one at that. Making a statement that a mass murderer should be brought to justice is hardly the same as placing racial slurs on your tags. As for obscene, lewd, lascivious, or derogatory, it's difficult to see how the word "get" could fit those descriptions. It's ambiguous at best, although Americans can likely derive the meaning from Bin Laden's iconic symbolism as an international terrorist. And if they didn't get the license plate's meaning, they'd just have to read Arno's rear "Kill Osama" windshield message (there's one on the side window too). Will the DMV try to force him into cleaning his car next?

It's unfortunately the folks at the New York DMV couldn't focus on a more worthy application of their working hours; like making sure New Yorkers didn't have to spend so much of their working hours in line at the DMV.

Florida close to allowing guns near the workplace

2008-04-11T13:46:00Z

On Wednesday, the National Rifle Association won a long-standing lobby to allow Floridians to bring guns to work.

The Florida Senate approved a bill by a 26-13 vote that prohibits businesses from barring employees or customers from bringing firearms with them and leaving them in locked vehicles. The bill will be sent to Florida's governor Charlie Crist for final authorization.

Gov. Crist said he anticipates signing the bill (HB 503):“The Second Amendment is very important. I understand there are competing interests, but people being protected is most important to me."