Skip to content

Featured States News

RootsWire is a new collaboration of bloggers aggregating their sites into a nation-wide news reporting system.

No Days Off Radio at 4 PM

July 3, 2009 by Kenneth

Kenneth's picture
Original Author: 
Susan S

Michael’s back! Yes, after a three week absence, Michael Shaw (Bagnewsnotes) will be back with “Pictures of the Week.” The pictures will be posted here soon. Tune in to share your thoughts.

We’re still waiting to hear if Craig Latimer, chief of staff to the late Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections Phyllis Busansky, will be joining us. The topic will be the pending appointment of Phyllis’ replacement. As you may know, the governor gets to make this appointment. Most of Phyllis’ supporters would like to see Craig Latimer carry out her vision for the office. The previous occupant, Buddy Johnson, himself a political appointee, did serious damage to the public’s faith in the voting process in Hillsborough County, so this choice is very important.

Other possible replacements are Republican State Senator Victor Crist and Democrat Lee Nelson.

Tune in to blogtalkradio here. The call-in number is (347) 539-5919.

Shooting at Clarendon Apple Store

July 3, 2009 by Blue Virginia

Original Author: 
noreply@blogger.com (Lowell)
Needless to say, this is not good (nor something we see very frequently in Arlington):
An unidentified man fired at least one shot at the Apple Store Clarendon in Arlington, Virginia shortly after the store opened Friday morning, wounding at least one...
For more, see DCist and the Washington Post.
An Arlington police dispatcher said the victim suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Helicopter and K-9 units are conducting a sweep of the area in search of the suspect.

The suspect is described as a black male of medium build, between the ages of 35 and 45, with facial hair. He was last seen fleeing on foot, wearing a dark baseball cap, a light colored short sleeve shirt and light colored pants.
P.S. I live in Clarendon and bought my wife an IPod at that store, so this hits a bit too close to home...

Get Yer Souvenir IOUs Today!

July 3, 2009 by Calitics

Calitics's picture
Original Author: 
David Dayen
Bloomberg reports that people are lining up for those souvenir Arnoldbucks.

Controller Chiang said the warrants can be transferred between individuals, setting up the possibility that a secondary market for the IOUs may develop. Already ads are appearing on Web sites such as Craigslist offering cash for the IOUs at below face value.

In such a transaction, the person who gets the IOU would get most of the cash they were due the state, while the person buying the IOU might then hold onto it until maturity and earn the face value plus the 3.75 percent interest.

At least one person offered to buy an IOU at more than face value as a keepsake.

"I am interested in purchasing a 'State of California IOU' as a souvenir," the ad reads. "I figure it would be an interesting thing to have around when my grandchildren are fighting over my stuff after I'm dead and gone. I will pay two times face value (up to $100, or $50 face value) for a warrant/IOU."

Of course, after July 10, the deadline that banks like BofA and Wells have given for exchanging these IOUs for cash, souvenirs may be the only value for these IOUs for a few months.

"They Called Him a Coward..."

July 3, 2009 by Blue Virginia

Original Author: 
noreply@blogger.com (Lowell)
This is utterly pathetic, but sadly so typical of the "Don't-Tread-on-Me" waving (note the photo from this "UNABASHEDLY PRO-LIBERTY" blog) "teabagger" crazies.
...Yesterday a bunch of Tea-Party-folks gathered outside Perriello's office to voice their displeasure. They'd been enflamed by a couple of local Rush-Limbaugh wanna-be radio hosts and they came out with their signs and their megaphones.

Farm Bureau confident climate change bill going nowhere

July 3, 2009 by Bleeding Heartland

Bleeding Heartland's picture
Original Author: 
desmoinesdem
A friend sent me an e-mail she received from the Iowa Farm Bureau. Excerpt:

Mary Kay Thatcher, AFBF director of public policy, tells Agriculture Online that Farm Bureau doesn't anticipate the massive climate change bill passed by the House last week to pass the Senate this year.

And the New York Times reported Tuesday that opposition from Farm Bureau and other agricultural groups threatens to kill the bill in the Senate. The Times reports that groups such as AFBF wield greater clout in the Senate, because members there must be protective of an entire state, rather than a small congressional district.

Here are the links to the Agriculture Online piece and the New York Times article.

The American Farm Bureau Federation lobbied members of the U.S.

Prop 8 Remains in Force, Judge Wants Speedy Trial

July 3, 2009 by Calitics

Calitics's picture
Original Author: 
Brian Leubitz
Saying that he wants the case to proceed beyond his court quickly, Judge Vaughn Walker denied a request for a preliminary injunction against Prop 8.  

Walker on Thursday rejected a request from the Boies/Olson team that he suspend enforcement of the gay marriage ban while the challenge to it proceeds.

He said he agreed with California Attorney General Jerry Brown and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that allowing gay marriages to resume now would create unnecessary confusion for the state and same-sex newlyweds if Proposition 8 is upheld down the road.

But Walker added that he wants to put the case on an accelerated timetable because it involves serious civil rights issues. He directed lawyers for the two couples and the ballot measure's sponsors to report back to him in writing by Aug. 7 with the issues they agree on up front and those that would need to be resolved at trial.
***

Celebrate the 4th of July with New Latin Radio Show

July 3, 2009 by Vivirlatino

Vivirlatino's picture
Original Author: 
Maegan La Mala

radioI’m a fan of Latin Alternative and rock music pero have struggled to find a radio show that caters to my tastes (the exception is la Nueva Alternativa on WBAI pero my mami vieja as can’t usually stay up late enough to listen).

Just in time to celebrate the 4th bi-culturally comes “The Latin Alternative” from WEXT 97.7 (Albany, NY).

“There is something amazing about a radio station in Albany launching the nation’s first syndicated Latin-alternative radio show. In my childhood growing up in a small town outside of Albany, I couldn’t wait to leave the area and move to a bigger city that had a Latin alternative music scene,” says show co-host Josh Norek. “Ironically, now I live in Los Angeles and it’s an adventurous radio station in upstate New York that has taken the lead and launched the first syndicated show for the genre.”

GOP's 2010 hopes all depend on corruption

July 3, 2009 by New Mexico FBIHOP

New Mexico FBIHOP's picture
Original Author: 
LP
The Republican Party suffered an historic defeat in 2008 in New Mexico, mostly because of the failed economic policies of George W. Bush.

In 2010, the GOP is looking for a sort of a comeback, with statewide positions up for election including the big prize, that of governor. But, as this story from CQ Politics shows, it isn't clear what ideas the Republican Party has besides focusing on corruption.

That is, besides saying such things as "Marines took Iwo Jima. We need the Marines to take Santa Fe" as Republican Allen Weh said in a recent stop in Roswell. Or rescinding environmental rules to help business (read: oil and gas industries).

But they are just the same, tired ideas that lost them big nationwide in 2006 and statewide in 2008 (and remember, Heather Wilson, arguably the GOP's best politician of the last decade, narrowly won over Patricia Madrid after Madrid ran a less-than-spectacular campaign in 2006).

Nothing new is covered in the CQ Politics story -- which is the Republican Party's problem.

Uruguayan Bishop Resigns over Gay Sex Scandal

July 3, 2009 by Vivirlatino

Vivirlatino's picture
Original Author: 
Jennifer Woodard Maderazo

mons_barbosa_vcgI guess the bishop of Minas, Uruguay, Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, 65, thought it would safe to report extortion attempts against him to police without anyone knowing what the alleged extorters were threatening to reveal: that he was having sex with other male members of the clergy as well as two prisoners he had hired to help out around his office. How silly of him.

Pope Benedict XVI dismissed the bishop of Minas (Uruguay), Francisco Domingo Barbosa Da Silveira, who denounced an extortion that left uncovered he was having homosexual relations, informed today the Vatican.

In a brief bulletin the press office of the Vatican informed that the pontiff has received the resignation in accordance to the paragraph 401.2 of the Code of Canon law, the fundamental law that applies to the catholic Church.

GOP Hurls Worst Insult at Tom Perriello Ever: "Daily Kos Cred"

July 3, 2009 by Blue Virginia

Original Author: 
noreply@blogger.com (Lowell)
Even worse than the usual adjectives - "socialist," "liberal," "tax and spend liberal," "commie," "Democrat" (without the "ic" at the end), "terrorist," etc. - Republicans use to "insult" Democrats, there's one that is particularly even by their own standards.

Romero hits Chavez on term limits

July 3, 2009 by New Mexico FBIHOP

New Mexico FBIHOP's picture
Original Author: 
LP
Former Senate Majority Leader Richard Romero sent out an e-mail to supporters yesterday in honor of the upcoming 4th of July holiday (it's tomorrow, have you bought your fireworks yet?).

In it, he hit incumbent mayor Martin Chavez again -- this time on the issue of term limits.

One of the sacred causes of our democratic system of government has been the establishment of term limits. Chief executives such as the president and governor are limited to two terms because the designers of the law knew the importance of limiting centralized power.
Romero said that if elected mayor that he will "lobby the Legislature to amend the state constitution to ensure term limits are brought back to the Mayor of Albuquerque's office."

Chavez, of course, successfully challenged term limits last year. This allowed him to run for an unprecedented third term as mayor. Though Chavez has yet to announce his intention to run, he has already qualified for the ballot and for public financing.

If Chavez wins again, it would be his fourth term since 1993. Only a four year term by Jim Baca interrupted Chavez's mayoral incumbency.

Waxing America's picture

Wisconsin Obesity. Who Cares? You Do.

Original Author: 
paul soglin

The latest report from theTrust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) on obesity shows Wisconsin has the 25th highest rate of adult obesity in the nation, at 26.0 percent and the 12th lowest of overweight youths (ages 10-17) at 27.9 percent.

That prompted one Boop to comment, "This is still a free country (I think). People are still responsible for their own choices of food and beverages they consume."

Yes it is a free country but your neighbors' dietary habits have a major impact on your pocketbook. Even if you have little regard for their health, disease and disability associated with obesity is a cost you share, whether it is lost productivity, increases in the cost of health care or tending to orphaned kids you pay.

It reminds me of the motorcycle helmet debate - a rider should be free to ride helmetless and become a vegetable. And then when the insurance runs out after hundreds of thousands of dollars in surgeries, we contnue to pay for the expensive life time of nursing care.

Open thread on July 4 activism

July 3, 2009 by Bleeding Heartland

Bleeding Heartland's picture
Original Author: 
desmoinesdem
Iowa communities of all sizes will hold public celebrations of Independence Day this weekend. Most of the parades take place on July 4, but a few cities, such as West Des Moines, schedule a parade for the evening of July 3. As I wrote here a year ago, I encourage Bleeding Heartland readers to volunteer with your local Democrats on this holiday. Parades are a fun way to spend an hour or two with like-minded people in your area.

I'll be walking with the Polk County Democrats in the Windsor Heights parade on Saturday. I haven't decided what to write on my hand-made sign. In past years I've tried to express my values without a partisan slant: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women!) are created equal..."

Some environmental organizations, including Repower America, are encouraging people to "declare their energy independence" on the 4th of July.

This thread is for any comments on your plans for the holiday. Please also post any suggestions for a good parade sign.

If you're traveling this weekend, drive safely and consider "ecodriving" to improve your mileage.

Want Happy Latino Teens? Stop Forcing Assimilation.

July 3, 2009 by Vivirlatino

Vivirlatino's picture
Original Author: 
Maegan la Mamita Mala

020For as far back as I can remember, I was told, by the words and actions of my parents that assimilation was the key to success. Success meaning a good education, a good job and acceptance by those around me. Comprehensive immigration reform, browned as Latino, is telling the undocumented the same thing. If they want to be successful and be accepted by others they must assimilate, learn English and everything will be alright. Look at the case of Walter Lara, he’s an “all-American” success story that other immigrants are expected to live up to. And if they can’t?

Success doesn’t equal happiness or health, however. A recent study shows that Latino youth who are taught to embrace their bi-cultural status, that is their Latinidad as well as their experiences living in the United States, make them happier, healthier, smarter and less likely to “do bad things”.

RFK, Jr on the Heartbreaking Tragedy of Mountaintop Removal

July 3, 2009 by Blue Virginia

Original Author: 
noreply@blogger.com (Lowell)
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s op-ed in the Washington Post this morning, entitled "A President Breaks Hearts in Appalachia," is a must read. Calling it - correctly - an "Appalachian apocalypse," RFK, Jr. rails against a practice that has "demolished 500 mountains -- encompassing about a million acres -- buried hundreds of valley streams under tons of rubble, poisoned and uprooted countless communities, and caused widespread contamination to the region's air and water."
Waxing America's picture

Paddling the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi to Look for America

Original Author: 
paul soglin

Madison's own Intrepid Traveler, Nina Camic, back from the Isle of Skye, is kayaking closer to home than usual: the Wisconsin River. Accompanied by her Huck Finn-like "occasional traveling companion," Ed, Nina is slowly paddling to the Mississippi, seeking food, drink and Wi-Fi along the way, as well as a good place to camp by the River each night.  Blogging every day, her photos and essays are treats for us armchair travelers. She was in  Muscoda Thursday. Don't fail to check out where she makes her landing next.

- Barry Orton

Smoking rate declines in Iowa

July 3, 2009 by Bleeding Heartland

Bleeding Heartland's picture
Original Author: 
desmoinesdem
I mentioned in this post that it's been a full year since the Iowa Smokefree Air Act went into effect. The public smoking ban was one of the most controversial bills considered during the 2008 legislative session, and advocates praised the law's success at a press conference this week.

According to a recent Iowa Department of Public Health survey, 14 percent of Iowans smoke. In 2007, IDPH research estimated the smoking rate at 19 percent. That's a significant decline, suggesting that around one-quarter of Iowans who smoked in 2007 have since quit. The $1 a pack tax hike on cigarettes approved in 2007 was probably a major factor in this trend as well.

The overwhelming majority of Iowa businesses are complying with the smoking ban, according to a June 30 press release from the IDPH. A little more than 1 percent of Iowa businesses with employees (1,015 to be exact) have received a "Notice of Potential Violation" from the IDPH. Of those, approximately half are bars and restaurants.

Politicians using Facebook to get feedback

July 2, 2009 by New Mexico FBIHOP

New Mexico FBIHOP's picture
Original Author: 
LP
Marjorie Childress noted at NMI how Albuquerque mayor Martin Chavez was getting a lot of feedback on Facebook for a certain status update:
Marty Chavez is proposing that the state liquor regulators allow bars to stay open an hour after they close to let their patrons drink coffee and soft drinks or eat food to improve their sobriety and to also allow for a place to hang and wait for a taxi or ride.
So far there are 38 comments and 35 people "like" the status update. This is his most popular status update.

The mayor is clearly embracing social media (Chavez was at the Albuquerque tweetup earlier this week).

Congressman Martin Heinrich has more followers than Chavez, but his Facebook posts don't get as many comments. It may be because Chavez has a little more personal voice in his comments than Heinrich.

The same goes for Heinrich's colleague, Congressman Ben Ray Lujan.

Sounds Like Someone Needs A Diaper Change

July 2, 2009 by Blue Virginia

Original Author: 
noreply@blogger.com (aznew)
Another day, another pointless e-mail from the RPV about Creigh Deeds, once again alleging that Creigh is refusing to take a position on several national issues. The e-mail also makes some juvenile allegations about Creigh and Gov. Kaine that are laughably idiotic and internally inconsistent, for example, both accusing Deeds of “keeping mum” about Kaine’s travels for the DNC and “throwing his mentor under a bus.” He couldn’t have done both now, could he?

More to the point, is this really what the RPV wants to discuss with the voters? If so, why?
AdaptiveThemes