Columnists
Care Calculations
Home-based care can keep the elderly out of nursing homes. But that isn't stopping some states from making cuts in the program.
Special Reports
Massachusetts
Plan Would Mandate Restaurant Calorie Posting
Boston Globe
Major restaurant chains would be required to prominently post the calorie counts for all their offerings under a far-reaching anti-obesity campaign planned by Gov. Deval Patrick's administration. The plan, if approved by the state's Public Health Council, also calls for public schools to measure the height and weight of first-, fourth-, seventh- and 10th-graders and calculate whether a child is overweight.
The Southwest
Law Enforcement ‘Surge’ Planned for Border
New York Times
The soaring level of violence in Mexico resulting from that country's drug wars has led the United States to develop plans for a “surge” of civilian and perhaps even military law enforcement should the bloodshed spread across the border, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. The criminal activity in Mexico has caused more than 5,300 deaths in the last year.
Washington State
Floods Bring Evacuations, I-5 Shutdown
Seattle Times
Unprecedented flooding caused officials to urge the evacuation of nearly 40,000 people and disrupted travel as swollen rivers covered parts of Interstate 5 and inundated homes and businesses in virtually every county in western Washington. Tacoma declared a civil emergency, and a 20-mile stretch of I-5 was shut down.
Posted Wednesday, Jan. 7
Texas
State Drops Plan for $175 Billion Transportation Network
Dallas Morning News
After six years of bold plans, big talk and fierce pushback, the Texas Department of Transportation announced that the Trans-Texas Corridor is dead, burying with it Gov. Rick Perry's visionary but controversial idea to string the state together with some 4,000 miles of highways, toll roads and rail lines. The plan called for $175 billion in spending over the next 50 years, with private companies footing huge portions.
Michigan
Tougher Rules Slashing Welfare Rolls
Detroit News
Stricter state eligibility rules and tougher enforcement have caused a 19 percent drop in welfare cases, even as the economic recession deepens and the jobless rate climbs. State officials say the rules put in place over the past year and a half have reduced the Family Independence Program caseload, which peaked at nearly 90,000 cases in March of 2007, to 72,708.
The West Coast
Mystery Illness Killing Hundreds of Pelicans
Orange County Register
Pelicans suffering from a so-far-mysterious malady are crashing into cars and boats, wandering roadways and turning up dead by the hundreds along the West Coast from southern Oregon to Baja, Mexico, bird rescue workers say. More than 100 of the birds have been rescued along the California coast.
The Nation
Most Coal Ash Dumps Unregulated, Unmonitored
New York Times
The coal ash pond that ruptured and sent a billion gallons of toxic sludge across 300 acres of Roane County in east Tennessee last month was only one of more than 1,300 similar dumps across the United States—most of them unregulated and unmonitored—that contain billions more gallons of fly ash and other byproducts of burning coal. Experts say federal regulation say could have prevented the spill.
California Sues over San Francisco Bay Oil Spill San Francisco Chronicle
California Attorney General Jerry Brown filed a lawsuit seeking millions of dollars to recover the clean-up cost of the massive November 2007 oil spill resulting from the collision of a ship with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog.
Posted Tuesday, Jan. 6
Massachusetts
Governor Scrambles to Curb Rising Health-Care Costs
Boston Globe
Gov. Deval Patrick accelerated his administration's efforts to control spiraling statewide health-care costs, warning that rising premiums threaten to crush families and businesses and doom Massachusetts' groundbreaking experiment with universal insurance. Patrick said officials are considering using state insurance regulations to block excessive health-care premiums.
From Governing: Does Massachusetts have the right Rx for the country?
Maryland
E-ZPass Charges, Truck Toll Hikes Sought
Washington Post
Maryland's 530,000 E-ZPass users will be paying monthly service charges to use the electronic toll-collection technology and tolls on big trucks will rise if a package of fee increases proposed by the state's Transportation Authority is approved this month. The authority's "cost recovery effort" is expected to generate $60 million a year and is meant to offset a 6 percent drop in revenue from July to November.
California
Gay Marriage Opponents: AG ‘Profoundly Wrong’
San Francisco Chronicle
California Attorney General Jerry Brown was "profoundly wrong" and "invented an entirely new theory" when he urged the state Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8's same-sex marriage ban on the basis that voters can't be allowed to overturn fundamental liberties, attorneys for the measure argued.
Posted Monday, Jan. 5
California
Energy Efficiency Rules Planned for Flat-Screen TVs
Los Angeles Times
That 52-inch, flat-screen television may have a terrific picture, but it's an energy hog. California regulators are getting ready to curb the growing power gluttony of TV sets by drafting the nation's first rules requiring retailers to sell only the most energy-efficient models starting in 2011, a move opposed by the consumer electronics industry.
Massachusetts
Police Balking at Enforcing New Marijuana Law
Boston Globe
As Massachusetts officially decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, many police departments across the state were essentially ignoring the law, saying they would not even bother to ticket people they see smoking marijuana. Police say the voter-passed law, calling for $100 citations for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana, was so poorly written that it cannot be enforced.
Wisconsin
Pipeline Owner to Pay $1.1 Million for Environmental Violations
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Enbridge Energy Partners, owner of a 321-mile oil pipeline in Wisconsin, will pay $1.1 million to settle state officials' allegations that the company broke numerous environmental laws during construction across 14 counties in 2007 and 2008. The Department of Natural Resources said company workers illegally cleared or disrupted wooded wetlands and used practices that degraded land, streams and other property.
California
State Controller Suffered Mild Heart Attack
San Francisco Chronicle
State Controller John Chiang has been released from a Texas hospital after being diagnosed as having suffered a mild heart attack and showing "excellent" response to treatment, his spokesman said. Chiang, 46, was hospitalized with chest pains Dec. 26 in Fort Worth, where he was visiting his brother.
Posted Friday, Jan. 2
Michigan
State Shedding Thousands of Tech Jobs
Detroit News
Michigan's deepening economic troubles are casting a shadow over the state's technology industry, hampering the growth of high-tech startups and prompting established companies to trim workers. Within the past year, the state has lost 6,100 technical and scientific jobs, including engineers, computer programmers and researchers, according to Michigan Department of Labor and Growth data.
The Nation
States Balk at Cost for Federal Sex-Offender Law
Dallas Morning News
An effort to create uniform nationwide standards for keeping track of sex offenders has stalled largely because states can't or won't pay the millions of dollars costs to comply with the new federal guidelines. So far, not one state has complied with the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. States that don't comply will lose 10 percent of some federal grant money.