Archived articles for
the week of
September 22 - 26, 2008

• Don't blame cities for climate change, see them as solutions
Cities are being unfairly blamed for most of humanity's greenhouse gas emissions and this threatens efforts to tackle climate change, warns a study in the October 2008 issue of the journal Environment and Urbanization.

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• Eco-towns should cut carbon footprint by two thirds
Residents of the planned eco-towns should be encouraged to reduce their 'ecological footprint' by two thirds, a new report suggests. The town should have space to grow their own food, include space for eco-friendly retailers and ensure that facilities such as shops, primary schools and post offices are within a 10-15 minute walk.

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• Michigan Senate votes to allow killing of wolves
The Michigan Senate has voted unanimously to let farmers kill gray wolves caught in the act of attacking their livestock - assuming the state removes the wolf from its threatened species list.

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• Green-aware people 'key drivers of global warming'
People who believe they have the greenest lifestyles are often the main culprits behind global warming, say researchers who claim that many ideas about sustainable living are a myth.

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• Environment chief lied to Congress: Senator Boxer
The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lied to Congress about his rejection of a request from California meant to curb global warming emissions, Senator Barbara Boxer said on Tuesday.

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• State OKs protection of wildlife from drills
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission on Tuesday adopted rules to protect wildlife from drilling operations — one of the most contentious pieces of the commission's nine-month overhaul of state regulations.

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• Group sues to protect prairie dog
An environmental group is suing the federal government to gain more protections for the Utah prairie dog. WildEarth Guardians of Sante Fe, N.M., says the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was wrong in deciding last year not to change the classification of the animals from "threatened" to "endangered."

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• Justice Department asks court to relist wolves
The Northern Rockies gray wolf, hailed as a recovery success story just six months ago, appears headed back to the list of threatened and endangered species. In a motion filed Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice asked a federal court in Missoula for a "voluntary remand" of the delisting decision — in effect asking the court to give the rule back to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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• Environment will take back seat to economy, says oil patch czar
The United States will likely soften its stance on environmental issues tied to the much-criticized oil and gas industry as that country faces tough economic times, according to the new face of Canada's energy lobby organization.

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• Cap And Trade: Nation's First Carbon Emissions Auction is Set for Sept. 25
A coalition of 10 northeastern states, including Maryland and Delaware, will take steps this week to check global warming.

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• Genetic Engineering Promises to Improve Medicine, Food, and the Environment
The multiple benefits of animal biotechnologies are closer to being realized thanks to efforts today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

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• What's the cost of global warming?
Let us assume global warming is happening. Let us assume too that it is doing so at a rapid pace. What should we do about it?

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• 740-acre housing concept gets first approval
After four months of deliberations by Lancaster county leaders, the "largest residential development ever considered" has gotten through the first stage of approvals. That's what planning commission chairman David Jones called the rezoning, which was sent to the Lancaster Board of Supervisors with a recommendation for approval.

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• Passaconaway’s descendants struggle to protect sacred site
When oral tradition and spiritual practice come up against the dominant society’s ideas about property rights and land use, who gets to decide what is historical fact, what is legend and what is sacred?

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• Altoona heightens pressure on landowner
After building a sewer pipe across private property about four years ago in the city's River Prairie development, the city now is seeking an easement across the land through eminent domain.

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• Lawmaker wants to reverse eminent domain law
A Republican state representative from Rapid City, Gordon Howie, says he's preparing a bill that would reverse a new eminent domain law. The 2008 Legislature passed a measure to make it easier for the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad to acquire land for a proposed coal train expansion project.

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• Fort residents on hotel plan: 'No, no', 'no and never'
Worried about being gentrified out of their neighborhood and angry at a plan engineered elsewhere to rezone their world, residents and businessmen of the Fort mixed soaring rhetoric and pep rally techniques to tell city planners to go away and leave them alone.

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• Goose Rocks Beach property owners want answers from town
Some residents of Goose Rocks Beach say they’re concerned their property rights aren’t being respected and that the town isn’t doing enough to protect them. Resident Parker Dwelley said he and other residents have met to discuss issues such as trespassing and the sheer volume of people now using the beach.

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• Six-year-old Collier land dispute elevates to new level
A landowner, an earth mining company, and Collier County have gone to court over the county’s 2002 plan to slow rural growth. At stake is whether the county will be saddled with a $91.5 million property rights claim and whether earth mining will be allowed on land that environmental groups say should be preserved because of its importance for endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers and Florida panthers.

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• California tribe fears losing land if dam is raised
The federal government is considering enlarging a dam to boost the state‘s water supply, which would flood what little land remains above water where a Native American tribe has fished and farmed for centuries.

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• The cheapest beachfronts around
Strathmere residents who refuse to grant easements on their beachfront might have been surprised to learn Monday the township considers the land virtually worthless. The township asked beachfront property owners in Strathmere to sign over permanent easements granting public access and allowing the state to dredge sand onto the depleted shoreline.

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• State weighs ownership of water rights
A state agency is considering taking ownership of water rights, posing what one Western Slope water official said could become a major issue for the state’s water policy.

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• Plan for 247 acres of Burlington, MA land up for debate
247 undeveloped acres sit tucked in the elbow of Routes 3 and 128 in Burlington, Massachusetts. These are hiking and mountain biking trails, trees and shrubs, and wildlife, land the town took by eminent domain nearly 20 years ago to protect its watershed.

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• Victorious Senate Democrats Could Target Eminent Domain
New York: A Democratic takeover of the Senate in November could result in changes to the state's eminent domain law, possibly complicating several of the city's largest development projects.

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• Ethanol no friend to Ontario’s meat sector says economist
Ontario pork and beef producers, already bleeding red ink for several years, can expect no light at the end of the tunnel, according to a recent report released by the George Morris Centre in Guelph. Subsidized ethanol production in the province will place the red meat sector at such a competitive disadvantage that severe downsizing will be the only viable option.

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• First Wind spinoff to build RI offshore wind project
The office of Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri announced today it has chosen Deepwater Wind to lead the development and construction of the state’s $1 billion offshore wind energy project. Deepwater Wind is an offshore wind development company formed by Newton-based First Wind Holdings Inc. and other investors.

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• Drill plans too loaded with politics
Congress might lift the decades-old ban on offshore oil drilling by next week, but don't expect it to affect gas prices anytime soon. Lawmakers have been waging a political game over oil drilling since midsummer. Republicans, hoping anger over $4-a-gallon gasoline would reverse their bleak political fortunes, began a coordinated election-year campaign to "drill here, drill now."

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• Gas Shortages Plague Southeastern U.S.
The average cost of a gallon of gas nationwide has now declined for seven straight days, but don't tell that to the people of Georgia or Tennessee. Parts of the southeastern United States are seeing gas shortages, pump closures and long lines for what little gas remains more than a week after Hurricane Ike shut down much of U.S. gas production.

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• Chrysler Enters the Race to Introduce Electric Models
After seeming to fall behind in the race for alternative-fuel vehicles, Chrysler said on Tuesday that it would produce an electric car for sale in 2010 and follow it up with a broad lineup of battery-powered vehicles.

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• House Democrats will allow offshore drilling ban to expire
After months of high-pitched battles with Republicans over the issue of offshore drilling, House Democrats have given in and decided to allow a 26-year ban on drilling to expire at the end of the month.

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• Avoiding Ethanol
Even with an efficient Toyota Prius hybrid, J. Howard Hankins isn't getting the gas mileage he once did. "I was getting 53 miles per gallon, and now it's down to 47," said the Manheim Township resident. "No matter how I drive, I can't get it to change." He blames the drop entirely on the gasoline he buys, which contains up to 10 percent of ethanol.

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• Will Congress Extend Solar and Wind Tax Credits?
Evolution Solar Corp.'s CEO, Robert Kaapke expects 2008 to be a record setting year for both solar and wind. With the tax credits set to expire at the end of 2008, "(Solar installers) don't want to go beyond the December 31st deadline, so everybody's trying to jam-pack their orders in before the end of the year," said Kenedi of Sharp Electronics, the largest U.S. producer of solar panels.

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• Oil falls $2 after surge, bailout worries weigh
Oil fell more than $2 a barrel on Tuesday, after a record one-day rise in the previous session, depressed by doubts over a U.S. plan to rescue the financial sector. U.S. crude for November was $2.17 down at $107.20 a barrel by 1241 GMT, after rising nearly $7 on Monday. November Brent crude traded down $2.63 to $103.41.

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• Firm Hopes Algae Becomes Fuel Of Future
The green muck in your pool might someday be a source of fuel for your car, but not just yet. The surge of interest in biofuels has companies around the U.S. racing to be the first to produce cost-effective algae fuels on a large scale. Despite high hopes and decades of research, algae fuels remain mired in unforgiving economics.

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• More U.S. Commuters Turning To Mass Transit, Bikes
High gas prices are driving commuters out of their cars and onto public mass transportation across the nation, whether it is city buses or high speed commuter trains.

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• Cost of fuel 'making car sharing more popular'
  Survey shows drivers are happier to share journeys
An increasing number of motorists would car share to save money, a survey by AA Insurance shows. Nearly half (47%) of the drivers questioned said they would now consider sharing cars, with high fuel prices cited as the main reason.

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• Stock Exchanges but recovering some ground near closure
The fears caused by the gloomy global financial troubles, including the uncertainties about the US federal plan to rescue Wall Street, affected most Stock Exchanges today, with the European ones recording substantial losses earlier in the day before recovering near closing time

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• Medicare Prescription Drugs Premiums to Increase
Analysis of government data has revealed that in 2009, Medicare prescription drug-plan premiums will rise by approximately 31%. Consulting company Avalere Health LLC informed that, according to the results of their research, the average premium would go from $30 to $37 next year, which translates as a 24% increase from 2008.

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• CAFTA-DR Revisited
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer led a trade and investment mission with 17 U.S. agribusinesses to Central America to meet with 70 local companies from CAFTA-DR countries. The seven countries (the U.S., Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) signed the Central American – Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) in August of 2004. Agricultural trade was already growing between the U.S. and the six countries and has since accelerated.

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• "Founding Father" tells students about Constitution
The true cost of freedoms Americans enjoy as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution were made self evident when James Wilson, a Founding Father, "appeared" before a school assembly Tuesday.

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• Voter Registration Fraud Could Lead to Identity Theft
While pundits are concerned about voter fraud and its potential to skew election results, ID thieves are taking voter fraud in a different direction by trying to get their hands on new voters' personal information, such as Social Security or bank account numbers. Voter registration laws vary by state, which creates a confusing environment.

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• Mental Health Coverage Expanded Under Bill
Congress has passed a mental health parity bill that prohibits employers from charging higher co-pays for mental health services.

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• New national heritage area proposed
Senator Lisa Murkowski announced earlier this month that legislation to establish Alaska's first national heritage area was approved by a Senate panel. The National Park Service would administer the Kenai Mountains-Turnagain Arm National Heritage Area in Southcentral Alaska, making NHA grant funding available to community organizations for tourism and historic preservation projects.

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• El Paso Joins Fight Against Border Fence
The building of a border fence in El Paso hits a brick wall with the county now joining in the fight to stop building on private property. The border fence may be popping up in some parts of El Paso, but the county wants it out of others.

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• Science proficiency won't come easily
Maybe state and local education officials are correct. Maybe we shouldn't read too much into the statewide test results released last week measuring student proficiency in science.

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• Taxpayers to pay for pre-emptive rescue
The Bush administration's $US700 billion (it's sure to be higher) rescue package of Wall Street is back to front. The taxpayer is being ripped off. They are being asked to bail out financial institutions before they go bust. Why buy something now when you can buy it cheaper later?

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• Don't Blame High Schools
The National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) is delighted to have Strong American Schools as a partner in promoting a common agenda of closing the achievement gap and ensuring that all students receive a high-quality education. But its "blame and shame" message - while easy to reduce to a headline - ignores more complex realities and does little to advance that common agenda.

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• NAFTA & politics: Trade pact renegotiation sought
The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement became a hot issue in the Democratic presidential primaries, and some unions and other groups are pushing to make it and other free-trade agreements issues in the closing weeks of this year's presidential race.

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• Ecuador considers new constitution
A referendum vote on Sunday will decide if Ecuador adopts a new constitution—crafted by the left-leaning government of President Rafael Correa—or preserves the existing one. But in a country where presidents have fallen out of favor, and power, with relative ease, there is much more at stake in the vote than the text under consideration.

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Ecuador Constitution Would Grant Inalienable Rights To Nature

• Six powers agree draft U.N. text on Iran atomic plans
Six world powers, including the United States and Russia, have agreed on a draft resolution on Iran's nuclear program but it included no new sanctions, European officials said on Friday.

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• German leader warns U.S. superpower era is over
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck has proclaimed the Writing on the Wall for the United States: America's days as an economic superpower are over, he said Thursday.

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• Thousands Gather At U.N. To Protest Ahmadinejad
A day ahead of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's address to the U.N. General Assembly, thousands of demonstrators gathered in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza across from the U.N. for a rally to "Stop Iran now."

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• World leaders, experts urge to examine lessons of financial crisis
World leaders and experts have urged that the lessons from the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression be examined and ways be sought to avoid further financial collapse.

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• North Korea Expels U.N., to Re-Activate Nuclear Plant
North Korea expelled United Nations atomic inspectors from its Yongbyon nuclear plant and pledged to reintroduce nuclear material into the facility, which is capable of making plutonium for bombs.

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• Bush to U.N.: Keep fighting terrorism
Terrorism poses a challenge "as serious as any since the U.N.'s founding," President Bush told the General Assembly Tuesday morning. In his annual address to the world body in New York, the president reasserted the "Bush Doctrine" of fighting terrorists before they strike, and called on the United Nations to take an active role in the effort.

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• U.N. drums up support for Africa
The head of the African Union says the United Nations will reaffirm its support for an ambitious development program for Africa. The chairman of the group, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, told reporters that the United Nations would adopt a political declaration reaffirming the world's support for Africa, the Voice of America said Tuesday.

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• Canada: Energy powers inflation to 3.5 per cent, hottest since 2003: 'upward creep'
The rate of increase in the cost of living hit the highest level in more than five years last month, increasing to 3.5 per cent on an annual basis from 3.4 per cent in July, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.

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• U.S. stocks, dollar fall on bailout plan concerns
U.S. stocks, bonds, and the dollar fell on Monday as investors questioned the impact the U.S. government's $700 billion bailout for troubled banks would have on the country's economy and already strained budget.

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• Bush and the U.N.: a reluctant embrace
  The administration's attitude toward the U.N. has evolved from antipathy to engagement.
When President Bush stands at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday morning, his last speech as American president to the global forum will mark the administration's trajectory from disdain and disregard for the U.N. to pragmatic acceptance and even, according to some U.S. officials, whole-hearted engagement.

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• U.N. Agency Seeks $460 Million to Feed Ethiopians Hit By Drought, High Food Prices
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is appealing for $460 million to feed 9.6 million people affected by drought and high food prices in Ethiopia for the next six months.

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• No amnesty for Wall Street
  By Chuck Baldwin
At the time of this writing, the U.S. House and Senate are poised to pass a $700 billion bailout to Wall Street. At the behest of President George W. Bush, the U.S. taxpayers are going to be on the hook for what can only be referred to as the biggest fraud in U.S. history.

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• China Poisons Its Infant Formula
  By Phyllis Schlafly
The China infant milk scandal, even though it has so far not damaged any American babies, has exposed a major defect in the concept of free trade. It's dangerous to buy products from a nation whose economy is not based on Judeo-Christian morality.

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• A Bailout for All Our Bad Decisions?
  By Mark Sanford
I am worried for our country -- not so much because of the tumult in the financial markets but because of the federal government's response and its implications.

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• What Ever Happened to Richard the Lionheart? Britain Accepts Sharia Law
  By Selwyn Duke
It was quite a while ago that the sun set on the British Empire, and now it may be setting on British civilization as well. Writes TimesOnline.co.uk: ISLAMIC law has been officially adopted in Britain, with sharia courts given powers to rule on Muslim civil cases.

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• The continuing saga of the "poor" illegal alien
  By Lynn Stuter
Earlier this spring I wrote a series of articles — "Seattle Times Soft on illegal alien criminals," Part 1 and Part 2; and "The cost of illegal immigration" — with the spotlight shown on Ana Reyes, the Mexican illegal alien who was picked up in 2007 in Burien, Washington, outside Seattle, and deported back to Mexico along with her illegal alien sons Christopher and Carlos Quiroz, and her live-in lover Arturo Hernandez, and his brother Luis Hernandez.

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• Time for REAL Change A Congressional Rich White Guy Caucus?
  By J.B. Williams
All this recent talk about “change” got me thinking.... Maybe the time has come to establish a Congressional Rich White Guy Caucus for the purpose of defending America’s real minority group, taxpayers, currently under constant attack. Rich white guys - that top 5% of American producers that Obama’s leftists want to put out of business, just because they hate freedom, liberty and capitalism, - just because with your help, they can.

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• The real winner or loser
  By Alan Caruba
It is a truism that all national elections are crucial to the future of the nation. We choose a President and a Vice President, along with a whole bunch of other candidates whom we believe will do the best job of guiding the affairs of the nation.

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• Lying by media knows no bounds
  By Cliff Kincaid
The Washington Post gives candidates a "Pinocchio" for lying in campaign ads. But the Post, known locally as the Compost, has been telling some whoppers of its own.

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• Predictions vs. Reality in Iraq
  By Ron Paul
On September 10, 2002, I asked 35 questions regarding war with Iraq. The war resolution passed on October 16, 2002. Now today, as some of my colleagues try to reestablish credentials regarding spending restraint, I want to call attention to my 18th question from six years ago:

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• Stifling Debate
  By Fred Gielow
The science is settled, Al Gore tells us. Man-made carbon-dioxide emissions are heating up the planet. All the scientists agree. Well, like so much of what issues forth from the lips of Global-Warming Al, this isn't exactly true. Let me say it another way: it's a lie!

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• American Dream: Still valid in today's world
  U.S. economic model contributes to human betterment
  By Duggan Flanakin
President Ronald Reagan loved to say that, "America is a shining city on a hill whose beacon light guides freedom-loving people everywhere." And so it has been since the days of Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop, who on his way to the New World in 1630 added that "the eyes of all people are upon us."

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• America must never succumb to Islam’s Sharia Law
  By Frosty Wooldridge
With approximately 2.5 million Muslims in the United States, Americans find themselves gasping as to why their leaders imported such an antagonistic and anachronistic religious group into their country.

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Archived articles for
the week of
September 15 - 19, 2008

• Predicting Weather – Who To Believe
  Farmers' Almanac, birds, woolly worms or meterologists?
Hurricanes will soon be history. The annual Farmers' Almanac says we'll be talking about snow storms by December. It also says we're in for "numbing cold" this winter.

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• FDA Plans Rules for Modified Food Animals
  Guidelines to Focus on Safety Issues, Claims of Producers
The Food and Drug Administration released proposed guidelines on how to regulate genetically engineered animals, in a move that is expected to pave the way for them to enter the food supply.

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• Groups aim to spend money on fish, not court
The struggle to save salmon has stepped away from the courthouse and is shifting to the gravel riverbeds of the Columbia River basin. The Columbia Basin Fish Accords, signed in May, are designed to put more money and effort into bringing back fish runs and stop spending on courtroom battles, said Tim Weaver, an attorney who has represented the Yakama Nation on fish issues for 38 years.

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• Environmentalists balk at drilling off N.J. coast
With oil and gas drilling heating up as an issue in the presidential race, environmentalists and the governor reiterated their opposition to tapping reserves off the state's coast, saying it would endanger the environment and the tourism industry on which New Jersey is so dependent.

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• Agency wants to increase red-legged frog habitat
California's red-legged frog may be getting some of its land back. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed on Tuesday to more than triple the habitat set aside for the threatened frog, citing scientific miscalculations and political manipulation by former Department of Interior official Julie MacDonald that had greatly reduced the protected acreage.

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• Scientists study endangered kangaroo rat habitat
Scientists plan to use satellite photos to count Giant Kangaroo Rats, the first-ever monitoring of an endangered species from outer space. Scientists will examine images taken from the same satellite used by Israeli defense forces to find the circular patches of earth denuded by the rats as they gather food around their burrows. From that they plan to get the first-ever accurate population count of the rodents, a bellwether for the health of a parched plains environment.

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• Feds back down on delisting wolves
The federal government plans to withdraw a rule that removed wolves in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and parts of Utah, Oregon and Washington from the endangered species list

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• EPA would study link of soot to global warming under Carper bill
Add another pollutant to Senator Tom Carper's list of targets: soot. Scientific studies have concluded the pollutant also known as “black carbon” plays a more significant role in global warming than previously thought, according to the Delaware Democrat’s office.

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• Natives will survive climate change, study finds
As the world warms, Australian trees will grow faster and larger and become more water-efficient, research suggests. Giant, climate-controlled tents that simulate the carbon dioxide-heavy conditions expected in the second half of the 21st century have been erected over gum trees by University of Western Sydney researchers.

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• Animal Migrations and Climate Change
In their recent essay on the subject of threats to the ability of animals to successfully complete their historic annual migrations, Wilcove and Wikelski (2008) write that "in general, the threats to migrants fall into four nonexclusive categories: habitat destruction, the creation of obstacles and barriers such as dams and fences, overexploitation, and climate change." However, there is something about the several examples they report that leads us to believe that climate change should not have been included in their list of offending phenomena.

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• The bear facts
I'm a huge fan of the Rocky Truth Patrol - this newspaper's feature evaluating the claims and counterclaims of the political season - but Monday's item on polar bears got under my skin. The Truth Patrol - with the headline "Palin: No to polar bear protection" - issued a verdict of "rock solid" regarding the claim that vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin "fought against polar bear protection."

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• Moving in a Greener Direction
The dizzying array of eco-minded products and technologies - from hybrid school buses to toxin-free sink cleaners - seemed to confirm what environmentalists have long prayed for: America is on the verge of a green revolution.

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• How Much Danger in a Light Bulb?
Most scientific experiments don't begin this way. Natalie Johnson took a light bulb, placed it inside a bag, and smashed it with a hammer. One hundred more smashed bulbs and she was finally finished.

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• Too green is no good
It is too risky for the environment and the economy for Australia to take up calls to commit to cutting our greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 percent in little more than a decade. It could be even more dangerous in the unlikely event that Kevin Rudd convinced the rest of the industrialised world to sign on to such ambitious targets in the name of saving the planet.

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• Colorado to spend $1.5 million yearly to protect streams
Colorado, for the first time in its history, is infusing $1.5 million into a program to preserve water for streams. Until now the initiative has relied largely on the charity of others.

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• State outlines new ATV restrictions
  The DNR is clamping down on recreational off-road riding during the firearm season to reduce conflicts.
For the first time, riding all-terrain vehicles for fun on state forest trails will be banned during the firearm deer season this November, the state Department of Natural Resources said Thursday.

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• City Threatens Eminent Domain in New Harlem Development
Community members protested a new Harlem development project on Wednesday that is being proposed to City council. The protestors claim that the area on 126th Street and 3rd Avenue, including the N.Y. Dry Cleaning Academy where the protest was held, is subject to threats of forceful eviction for the private development using eminent domain, if they refuse to sell their land.

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• Great Lakes measure to be voted on Monday
Much-debated legislation that will block Lake Erie water diversion to other states is expected to pass Monday, U.S. Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Bainbridge, said.

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• UW Considers Condemning 2 Downtown Properties
  University Wants Land To Build Music Peformance Center
It is a seldom used power that the University of Wisconsin-Madison says it is considering using again. WISC-TV first reported on Tuesday about the possibility that the university could condemn private property owned by Brothers Bar and Grill.

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• Elderly residents resist land purchase for park
Two elderly couples are resisting efforts by the township to purchase their properties for future use as a park. A grassroots group headed by a local pastor has jumped in to defend the Umsteads and Rawns, homeowners living on Wartman Road and Koons Street, respectively. Brian Jones, pastor of Christ's Church of the Valley, says that eminent domain has been part of Perkiomen Township's plans for years.

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• The eminent domain game is rigged
Sadly for all New Yorkers, our state is the most egregious perpetrator of eminent domain abuse in our country. I should know since for the last four years I have battled the state and Columbia University - a private entity - in their threatened use of eminent domain. Columbia wants my land in West Harlem to assist the school in a planned 17-acre expansion in the Manhattanville neighborhood.

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• Eminent domain becomes pricier provision for light rail
The cost of eminent domain is going up for RTD on the West Corridor. The RTD board approved a half-million-dollar increase Tuesday night to a consulting contract with H.C. Peck & Associates for additional workload involved in the property acquisition and tenant relocation services the firm provides for the light-rail project through Denver, Lakewood, and Golden.

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• Council denies mansion landmark status
  Officials cite eminent domain concerns
With a 5-3 vote, the Naperville City Council denied landmark status to the historic Hammerschmidt mansion. "What we're looking at here is eminent domain - taking somebody's property," said Councilman Kenn Miller, who voted to deny the request.

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• Eminent Domain Issue Causes Fractious Debate
Residents and business owners concerned about losing their properties confronted city officials Tuesday over a proposed 12-year extension of eminent domain power in North Long Beach. The North Long Beach Redevelopment Plan was established in 1996 and gave the city a 12-year power of eminent domain, which allows governments to force people to sell their property for improvement projects.

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• Sheriff wants to expand ATV law
  Off-road vehicles, dirt bikes likely to make final draft
York County leaders rumbled another mile Monday night in their efforts to pass a law that would penalize those who ride all-terrain vehicles on others' land. Despite the unanimous vote for the ordinance, one County Council member questioned the need for such a law, and another admitted there might be some extra costs if it passes.

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• AG's office warns of gas-lease pressure tactics
Growing concern about tactics from gas prospectors has led to new warnings to Southern Tier residents from the state attorney general. The Binghamton office is investigating dozens of complaints about practices of landmen seeking property owners' signatures on mineral lease contracts, said Mike Danaher, assistant state attorney general in the local office.

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• Residents question plan to buy property
About a dozen residents who attended a public hearing at borough hall Monday afternoon were not as enthusiastic as Highlands officials who want to seek grant money to purchase open space on Miller Street.

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• Landowners fear setback proposal
  Gold Hill residents fret about losing some property rights
Some city property owners are afraid that a proposal to create setback limits along the Rogue River will lead to a loss of property rights. City council members today will consider a 75-foot riparian setback that would impose restrictions on riverfront development, landscaping and maintenance along the river.

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• Property rights backers favor ND hunting sale ban
North Dakota is the only state known to ban selling the right to hunt on property separately from the land itself, and some question whether the restriction is fair or legal. The ban has support from the North Dakota Stockmen's Association, but its foes predict more opposition as people learn more about it.

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• Something has to be done …
Residents of Shell Toomer Parkway and the neighborhoods branching off it said at a neighborhood meeting Sunday they were concerned about development along the road and what it might mean.

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• Shopping for Green Power? It's Buyer Beware
It's one of the latest ways big business claims to be curbing global warming: More than 750 utilities across the country now offer customers the chance to pay a premium on their electricity bills to generate "green power." But it turns out that, in many cases, most of the money goes for marketing costs, and little can be traced to the generation of additional renewable energy.

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• Oil Prices to Stabilize at $100-110 per barrel
Oil prices will stabilize at $100-110 per barrel,” President of Russia’s LUKoil Vahid Alakbarov said on 19 September. “Our company does not forecast drop in oil prices below $90 per barrel,” Alakbarov said on the air of Vesti channel.

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• Michigan lawmakers approve sweeping energy plan
Lawmakers on Thursday approved a plan that requires more electricity to come from renewable sources, raises residential rates, restricts competition among power companies and aims to make homes and businesses more energy-efficient.

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• Michigan looks to wind for power and jobs
How much land would it take to provide 10 percent of the state's electricity needs through wind energy? Picture 38,000 football fields. That's about 79 square miles that the state would need to devote to wind turbines in order to meet a so-called renewable portfolio standard of 10 percent renewable energy by 2015.

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• New fuel-cell technology could help power future vehicles
In the lab and classroom of Stanford mechanical engineering Professor Fritz Prinz, fuel cell technology is cooler than ever — literally and figuratively. In four papers presented at an Electrochemical Society conference in Los Angeles Oct. 16-21, Prinz and students are announcing innovations that drastically reduce the operating temperature of a promising type of fuel cell, an advance that could help them power future vehicles.

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• Enbridge pipeline project likely delayed until 2010
Construction of a controversial crude-oil pipeline through the midsection of Illinois by Enbridge Pipelines–Illinois could be delayed until 2010, according to company estimates.

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• Drilling issue more economic than environmental
Much ado has been made of late, pro and con, about efforts by President Bush and many Republican lawmakers to open U.S. offshore continental shelf areas and parts of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

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• Company Wants To Build Wind Farm In Coos County
  Plan Would Install 33 Turbines To Power 33,000 Homes
A company hoping to build a wind farm in far northern New Hampshire has asked the state for permission to erect 33 wind turbines. The Coos County wind farm proposed by Granite Reliable Power, an affiliate of a Connecticut company, could potentially power 33,000 homes.

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• House Adopts Plan to Ease Offshore Drilling Ban
The House on Tuesday night approved a measure that would ease a longstanding ban on offshore oil drilling and try to spur greater use of alternative fuels as Democrats and Republicans engaged in a bitter pre-election clash over America’s energy future

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• Candidates Debate Drilling Bill
In what the Democratic majority calls a historic compromise between energy needs and environmental preservation, the U.S. House of Representatives could vote as soon as Wednesday on a comprehensive bill to boost domestic oil production.

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• Two energy propositions flawed, critics say
In eco-conscious California, ballot measures that support alternative energy should be the political equivalent of apple pie - impossible to oppose. But two propositions on the November ballot that would radically change California's energy future have left a sour taste in the mouths of many environmentalists, consumer advocates, and utility executives.

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• GM reveals Chevrolet Volt, new details
General Motors Corp. this morning unveiled the production version of the Chevrolet Volt, as part of the automaker’s centennial celebration, called GMnext. “The Volt is symbolic of what General Motors stands for today. Certainly that means cutting-edge technology, exciting design, fast and efficient product development,” said GM Chairman Rick Wagoner. “The Volt symbolizes General Motors’ commitment to the future.”

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• Oil Prices Fall, Gas Prices Surge
  Accusations of gouging in wake of Ike's wrath
Hurricane Ike's rampage through the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend has resulted in a nationwide spike in gasoline prices, even as oil prices fall below $100 a barrel. What's going on?

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• Nuclear energy is enjoying a renaissance
With oil costing more than $100 a barrel, nuclear energy is enjoying a public-opinion comeback. But not everyone is warming to nuclear as the new 'green' energy. Once the stuff of disaster movies and picket lines, nuclear energy is enjoying a renaissance.

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• Save the Environment: Drill, Baby, Drill
The audience’s mantra at the Republican National Convention — “drill, baby, drill” — reflected deep frustration with Washington’s decision to lock down tens of billions of barrels of oil under American territory in an era of $4-a-gallon gasoline. Whatever the merits of his argument, Barack Obama’s response that “drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution” won’t make the sting go away as long as it costs $100 to fill the tank of a pickup truck.

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• CNN, Forbes on CUs: 'Grab them while you can'
"If there's a calm in the economic storm, it may be credit unions, whose investors are sleeping through the night," reported Susan Lisovicz of CNN Thursday during an interview with Neil Weinberg, senior editor of Forbes Magazine.

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• Hispanics See Their Situation in U.S. Deteriorating
  Oppose Key Immigration Enforcement Measures
Half (50%) of all Latinos say that the situation of Latinos in this country is worse now than it was a year ago, according to a new nationwide survey of 2,015 Hispanic adults conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center.

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• Minnesota: Rebuilt Bridge Opens
Flashing headlights and honking horns penetrated the early-morning sky as police officers and first responders led drivers in a slow procession across the new Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis. Hundreds of vehicles had lined up on both sides, some waiting hours for the bridge to open a few minutes after 5 a.m. Then they inched, bumper to bumper, onto the new $234 million, 10-lane span. The old bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River on Aug. 1, 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145.

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• Huge Election Turnout Will Test New Equipment
An expected crush of voters and a lot of new equipment await wary U.S. election workers November 4 when the United States chooses a president, officials say.

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• Supreme Court’s Global Influence Is Waning
Judges around the world have long looked to the decisions of the United States Supreme Court for guidance, citing and often following them in hundreds of their own rulings since the Second World War.

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• Appeals court upholds Arizona immigration law
A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday upheld an Arizona law that targets employers who hire illegal immigrants by revoking their licenses to do business in the state.

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• New York offers RFID-embedded driver's licenses
File this one under "driver tech" instead of "car tech." The State of New York has started offering driver's licenses embedded with RFID chips, or enhanced driver's licenses (EDLs). The news comes on the heels of New York becoming the second state to offer identification that can be shown at the border in lieu of a U.S. passport (which is also RFID-embedded).

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• U.S. mood lifts, but worries remain: Reuters poll
Americans remain worried about the U.S. economy and their personal finances, but their outlook brightened for the second consecutive month, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

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• Homeland Security unprepared for cyberthreats
When politicians got together six years ago and decided to glue together a medley of federal agencies to create the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, one of the justifications was a better focus on cybersecurity.

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• U.S. Customs and Border Protection launches WHTI advertising campaign in Canada
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection is launching a television and print advertising campaign in Canada today to remind the Canadian public about travel document requirements for entry into the U.S. that go into effect on June 1.

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• Voter Fraud And 'Activist' Schemes
The Department of Justice (DOJ) does little to attempt to assure that a voter is qualified to vote. DOJ should do little because the States, not the Feds, ought to undertake major efforts to assure the integrity of voter identification and also because DOJ is inundated with other clearly Federal demands - criminal felonies, tax litigation, all manner of Federal litigation, investigations, advice by opinions, so forth. Were it that little or no DOJ intervention were necessary to help prevent the nonqualified voter from voting. Unfortunately that is not the situation in many voting districts, particularly in some large urban areas heavily populated by immigrants and by transients (sometimes transient within the urban area).

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• Fed to mull rate cut but may hold steady course
The Federal Reserve will consider cutting U.S. interest rates to boost confidence in battered financial markets but policy-makers may keep rates on hold in the hopes that already low rates and expanded central bank lending will stabilize the economy.

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• Speaker addresses affirmative action in U.S. and around the world
When he faced the audience inside the Leesburg Public Library Sunday afternoon, Dr. Donn Davis talked about affirmative action. Although affirmative action has an policy in the United States for decades, it's not the only place to debate it as Brazil, Malaysia and South Africa encountered the policy in one form or another.

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• FEMA bashed for Hurricane Ike response
It's starting to sound like federal, state and local officials didn't have all their plans and responsibilities ironed out before Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf Coast.

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• Future Development of NAFTA Surface Freight Transportation:
  Infrastructure and Operations II
Canadian and U.S. governments are investing heavily in infrastructure programs and are developing policies to enhance transportation efficiency. However, many would argue that there is some scope to do better, particularly with respect to building capacity and moving the freight that businesses and consumers demand and depend on.

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• FACTBOX-Facts about the U.N. General Assembly
Next week world leaders gather in New York for an annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. Following are facts about the General Assembly and next week's gathering of the world's top politicians at U.N. headquarters for the so-called general debate

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• Sri Lanka govt can't change plans according to United Nations, says defence secretary
Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says the government is not ready to change its military plans to suit the United Nations or any other international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

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• Global food situation at a crossroads
  World can avert major problems but must act now
Declining agricultural productivity and continued growing demand have brought the world food situation to a crossroads. Failure to act now through a wholesale reinvestment in agriculture — including research into improved technologies, infrastructure development, and training and education of agricultural scientists and trainers — could lead to a long-term crisis that makes the price spikes of 2008 seem a mere blip.

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• U.N.-backed conference in Bologna tackles racism in European cities
A United Nations-backed conference to fight racism and discrimination in the everyday lives of people living in European cities starts in Bologna today in partnership with the European Coalition of Cities against Racism and FC Barcelona.

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• War on poverty can be won
Next week, political leaders will meet in New York to try to get the world's assault on poverty back on track. No doubt few business leaders in Australia will pay much heed to the United Nations General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals. They should. The outcome of these goals will have a profound impact on corporate Australia.

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• Europe’s U.N. human rights problem
If the E.U. struggles to achieve a common foreign policy, it is a relatively coherent bloc at the United Nations. European leaders attending the U.N. General Assembly this week should congratulate their diplomats for a massive coordination effort. There are a 1,000 EU coordination meetings a year in New York alone. But do the results match the effort?

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• U.N. adopts new approach to Security Council reform
The U.N. General Assembly has adopted by consensus a resolution under which the 192-member body decided to begin inter-governmental negotiations on expanding the membership of the Security Council. The Pan African News Agency (PANA) reports that the new approach, which was also proposed by Nigeria and some U.N. member states would commence in February, 2009.

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• Moveable Feast: A Modest Suggestion for the United Nations
The United Nations 63rd annual General Assembly starts today in New York City and it's going to last a couple of weeks. During this stupid event, traffic gets snarled, waitresses get shafted on tips, parking laws are openly mocked and, for some confused dignitaries, sinks get mistaken for bidets.

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• Global food crisis, U.N. reform, climate change top new U.N. General Assembly agenda
The U.N. General Assembly opened on Tuesday its 63rd session at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, with its new president saying that issues of global food crisis, U.N. reform and climate change are among the key themes of its one-year work.

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• U.N., Aid Agencies Withdraw from War-Battered Northern Sri Lanka
The United Nations and other aid agencies pulled out their personnel, Tuesday, from territory held by Tamil Tigers in northern Sri Lanka. U.N. agencies and about a dozen other aid groups were providing food aid, clean water, and other emergency needs to about 160,000 people who have fled their homes because of the fighting between the rebels and the military.

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• NATO Chief Says Road to NATO 'Wide Open' For Georgia
NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says the road to joining the alliance is "wide open" for Georgia - despite Russian opposition. He made the comment Tuesday during his visit to Tbilisi. He said the alliance will continue to expand.

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• Conservative Governments Don't get the Job Done on the Economy
  Layton calls for review of Canadian financial system
Today, New Democrat Leader Jack Layton called the recent financial developments in the American banking system and financial markets, a "wake-up call," calling for a review of the Canadian financial system and its regulation.

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• U.N. nuclear watchdog says Iran blocking arms probe
Iran has steadfastly blocked a U.N. investigation into allegations it tried to make nuclear arms and the probe is now deadlocked, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday.

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• Human rights situation grim in Sudan: U.N. report
Sudan's human rights situation is grim with killings of civilians by government and rebel forces and arbitrary arrests and torture for political reasons, a United Nations investigator said on Monday.

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• United Nations Secretary-General Condemns Taliban Attack on Afghan U.N. Physicians
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned a suicide attack on a U.N. convoy in Afghanistan that killed two Afghan doctors. Taliban militants claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack, in which a suicide car bomber struck the convoy in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar.

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• Political & cultural elections, & the votes that really matter
  By Selwyn Duke
To be honest, treating politics isn’t my favorite pastime. Sure, like other commentators I do it, but it’s not something I can truly sink my teeth into. I’ll explain why momentarily.

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• Eminent Domain and the Eighth Commandment
  Professor Ken Schoolland
Our parents taught us from childhood that it is wrong to take from others what doesn’t belong to us. Yet, when we grow up we learn we can get away with it as long as we have the right excuses and rationalizations.

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• Constitution is limiting document
  By Madison Taylor
In 1940, Congress established the third Sunday in May as "I Am An American Day" for celebrating U.S. citizenship. In 1952, President Harry Truman ordered the holiday moved to Sept. 17 and renamed it "Citizenship Day," to commemorate the signing on Sept. 17, 1787, of the Constitution and to recognize all citizens of the nation.

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• How many dead in Galveston
  By Alan Caruba
Here’s a question for you. Given the many people who refused to leave Galveston, Texas, how many died as the result of Hurricane Ike?

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• What's that up in the sky, a bird a plane, a UFO? Scientists: We're Stumped
  By Selwyn Duke
Writing at American Thinker, Rick Moran reports on a strange celestial object that has stumped scientists. In a nutshell, it appeared out of nowhere, its brightness varied, its distance from Earth couldn't be ascertained with any precision, it disappeared inexplicably after only 100 days, scientists have never encountered anything like it before, and they haven't the foggiest idea what it was.

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• Bring American down to the Third World level
  By Frosty Wooldridge
With our financial foundation crumbling faster than a sandbar in the path of Hurricane Ike, do Americans understand the ultimate path of America’s treacherous future?

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• The danger of vote fraud
  By Phyllis Schlafly
The most provocative line in the Democratic national platform adopted in Denver is: "We oppose laws that require identification in order to vote or register to vote." Since it's routine to show an ID in order to board a plane and do dozens of other very ordinary things, what's the big deal about showing an ID to exercise the most important privilege of citizenship?

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• Media Abet Communist Cover-Up
  By Cliff Kincaid
In a surprising admission, Barack Obama’s 40-page so-called “rebuttal” to Jerome Corsi’s book, The Obama Nation, acknowledges for the first time that the senator once had a personal relationship with identified Communist Party USA (CPUSA) member Frank Marshall Davis, a key high-level operative in a Soviet-sponsored network in Hawaii.

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• Let the bank runs begin!
  By Patrick Wood
The immediate aftermath of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy will be a massive and manic flight to liquidity and withdrawal of funds and credit from banks, S&L's, insurance companies and brokerages, leading to more failures. Nothing can stop it at this point.

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• A Spotless Sun
  By Alan Caruba
There’s a wonderful irony in the fact that, back in the 1970s, the Greens were issuing warnings and even writing books about the coming Ice Age. They would abandon this issue, based in well-known and accepted solar science, in favor of a vast international hoax alleging man-made global warming.

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• In Government We Trust? Part 3
  By Ron Paul
I’ve discussed just a few benefits of sound money in the last two weeks, and contrasted them to the perils of fiat currency. Sound money keeps government spending in check, keeps trade fair and honest, which reduces the temptations, and many underlying causes, for governments to wage wars. It also gives you the peace of mind of knowing that your savings will be able to sustain you in your retirement.

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• As the House Gets Ready to Vote on Repealing the DC Gun Ban
  Your Representative now needs to hear from you
  By Gun Owners of America
How quickly things can change. Last week, the early reports indicated that the Childers bill to repeal the DC gun ban, HR 6691, was going to be a "cake walk" in the House of Representatives.

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• An unseen enemy of freedom
  By Henry Lamb
From the highest rafters of academia comes another enemy of freedom: communitarianism. This is a belief system that opposes both authoritarianism and individualism, and promotes instead a social organization that is governed by policies designed by civil society to limit individual freedom as required for the benefit the community. Dr. Amitai Etzioni is credited with founding this communitarian movement.

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• Cause and effect: Why scientists succumb to political correctness
  By Frosty Wooldridge
Dr. Albert A. Bartlett, University of Colorado at Boulder, wrote another stunning paper concerning America’s love affair with self-delusion. Dr. Bartlett remains the premiere voice in America concerning the greatest predicament facing our civilization in the 21st century.

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• Do schools kill creativity?
  By Jason Yarmolinsky
The Technology, Entertainment, De­sign (TED) Conference is like a secret club that only the most interesting and intelligent minds in the world are allowed to join. Formed in 1984 by Richard Saul Wurman, the TED conference is an annual celebration of the advances that humanity has made that helps us understand and celebrate the world we live in. Speak­ers from around the world gather to discuss a variety of topics around a central theme and share their knowl­edge in twenty-minute presentations. Currently, 250 “TED talks” are avail­able to view for free on the TED con­ference website (www.ted.com).

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Archived articles for
the week of
September 8 - 12, 2008

• Study: Wind farm may harm bears' habitat
A U.S. Forest Service environmental impact statement, released Thursday, shows a wind power project in Readsboro and Searsburg could be harmful to bears. Despite concerns over harm to bear habitat and to birds and bats, the Forest Service has opted to keep all four possible outcomes of the windmill project available, according to Kristi Ponozzo, spokeswoman for the Green Mountain National Forest.

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• Beach restoration costs millions, could put reefs at risk in Palm Beach County
In the 18 years that Terry Brown has lived in Ocean Ridge, he has seen the shoreline that is less than a mile from his house grow and recede. Then it grows again — in a cycle he and other beach visitors have witnessed numerous times.

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• Google Earth lets user 'fly' to climate change hotspots
Google Earth and U.N. launch 3D satellite images of dramatic environment changes, reports Mike Pflanz. Armchair environmentalists can now use Google Earth to 'fly' over some of the world's most dramatic climate change hotspots and see the effects in 3D..

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• U.S. emerges green
Significant opportunities are emerging for green investors in the U.S., says the manager of Jupiter’s Ecology Fund. Charlie Thomas, who took over the management of the 20-year-old Jupiter Ecology Fund on 1 September 2003, believes the momentum of environmental issues into the mainstream in the U.S. is stimulating innovation and, ultimately, potentially exciting new investments.

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• Green Shift touted as both saviour and damnation
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion warned New Brunswickers on Thursday that the international community will punish economies that don't shift toward greener policies and cleaner fuels.

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• Survey finds 700 species of N. American fish in danger
Nearly 40 percent of the fish in North American rivers, lakes and streamsare in serious decline and at risk of disappearing, according to the most detailed survey of freshwater species conducted in nearly two decades.

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• Dangerous human-caused warming can neither be demonstrated nor measured
There is no evidence, neither empirical nor theoretical, that carbon dioxide emissions from industrial and other human activities can have any effect on global climate. In addition, the claims so often made that there is a consensus among climate scientists that global warming is the result of increased man-made emissions of CO2, has no basis in fact.

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• City, environmental group at odds over logging-rules settlement
Bellingham officials say a settlement leaving intact restrictive logging rules would avoid expensive legal fights next year and help protect Lake Whatcom. But county leaders have doubts about some of the settlement language, and they may not sign it.

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• Designers say "green" fashion sustainable
Fashion trends come and go, but "green" is here to stay, say designers and sponsors at New York's fashion shows this week.

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• ABC: Manmade Global Warming Causing Worse Allergies
Chalk this up as another attempt by the mainstream media to sway public sentiment toward global warming hysteria. According to a report on ABC’s "World News with Charles Gibson" September 8, climate change is making your allergies worse.

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• Cutthroat Trout Not Endangered
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today it has completed a status review of the Bonneville cutthroat trout, a fish found primarily in Utah and parts of Wyoming, Idaho and Nevada in the Bonneville Basin, and has determined it does not warrant listing as a threatened or endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

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• Permit would lift endangered shield
Pima County plans to apply for a federal permit by December that would allow - with detailed restrictions and monitoring - the harming or killing of endangered species in the course of legal endeavors, such as development.

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• Saving the Environment One College at a Time
Traditionally, the most green you'll find at many colleges is on the football fields. But not anymore. College students across the country are making a big effort to make their campuses eco-friendly. From ramped-up recycling efforts to installations of solar panels, colleges and students are doing their part to make campuses more green.

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• Exposing The Green Myth
The over indulgence by the chattering classes with a hidden agenda have now been exposed as con artists. Even Al Gore the “guru” of the green movement has been exposed as someone who believes in the moniker “don’t do as I do but do as I say”, when questioned on his recent acquisition of a 100-foot riverboat he responded, “Well it does run on bio diesel”. The whole “Green” movement has been exposed for what it really is, nothing more than Left-Wing propaganda and anti-Capitalist sham.

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• Students promote environmentalism
An average light bulb is just as eco-friendly as an energy-efficient light bulb - if they're both turned off. That was just one of the many interesting points mentioned during the DePauw Environmental Policy Project's presentation Tuesday.

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• Business Owners Protest Supermarket
  But Civic Leaders Support Plan for Urban Renewal
Civic leaders think the southwest corner of Elmont Road and Hempstead Turnpike, an area known as the Argo Theatre site, would be a perfect place for a 40,000 square foot supermarket to meet the shopping needs of the Elmont community. But the business owners in that area plan on fighting to keep their stores from being taken by eminent domain by the Town of Hempstead.

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• Forces dig in on both sides of 'W'
  Land measure's backers are environmental groups; opponents are diverse
With 53 days to go until the November election, the organized campaigns for and against Redwood City's controversial Measure W are lining up as environmental groups versus the chamber of commerce, little league, labor unions and a lot of other divergent groups.

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• State sought in land dispute
The Conservation Commission has turned to the state for help in getting a landowner to address environmental issues on his property. The landowner says the commission is entirely mistaken about his five wooded acres on Bear Hole Road.

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• Annexation in Darby plain
  Creek watchdogs wary of Hilliard plan that includes subdivision, high school
The largest annexation in Franklin County in six years would be in the heart of the Big Darby Creek watershed. Of the 493.6 acres that Hilliard plans to annex, all but 11 acres are in Brown Township and the Homewood Corp. owns 256 acres.

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• Eminent domain case settled on property for CTA station
The Village of Skokie has reached a settlement with Skokie Boulevard property owners over property the village seeks for a new CTA yellow line station in downtown Skokie.

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• Groups see need to preserve trails for future
Veteran mountain biker Julie Gaul looked up and down a trail in Boyce Park where dozens of volunteers were digging, raking, shoveling, clearing, carrying and building.

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• Private-land ORV tracks head to Appeals Court
  'Grandfathering' of the use is at issue in county
The Court of Appeals will decide whether county residents who built off-road-vehicle tracks on their property before 2005 have the right to keep them. That was the year Pima County adopted its off-road-vehicle-track ordinance, which requires homeowners who want to put in the tracks to get a conditional-use permit. They aren't allowed at all on properties with less than 10 acres.

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• Great Lakes water rights spill into vote
Ohio voters will determine the fate of an issue that grew out of discussions about the need to prevent water in the Great Lakes from being diverted to other states. State Issue 3 on the Nov. 4 ballot calls for a constitutional amendment to protect private property rights in ground water, lakes and waterways.

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• Silent Voices
The story of the Orland Plaza appears to be coming to an end. Mayor McLaughlin's vision may become a reality; although his vision of government of the people, by the people, for the people is blurred. His new Village Manager, Paul, The Sheriff, Grimes, is getting close to cleaning up and moving the old businesses out of town. The bulldozers may soon come in and Randy's, Orland Bakery, Pete's Barbershop, The Plaza Café, Bloomingfields ... may soon be history.

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• Atascadero to pay $50K in downtown eminent domain suit
California: The lawsuit claimed that city officials conspired to force a property sale in the downtown area. Atascadero has settled a two-year-old lawsuit that claimed key city officials conspired to force the sale of a downtown property through eminent domain proceedings.

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• Harrison land owners fight eminent domain
Several property owners in Harrison will have the chance, starting today in a Jersey City courtroom, to argue that their land should not be taken by the town through eminent domain.

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• Aussie company proposes diamond mine in Northern Colorado
DiamonEx – an Australian company – is seeking permits to search for diamonds on a 23-acre plot of land in northwest Larimer County. If created, the mine would be the only active commercial diamond mine in the United States. The company claims the site has the potential to produce tens of thousands of diamonds.

Full Story

• Judge rejects planning amendment appeal
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to get a growth management proposal on the Nov. 4 ballot. The suit by Florida Hometown Democracy Inc. challenged a Feb. 1 deadline for verifying petition signatures. The group’s proposed state constitutional amendment fell about 65,000 signatures short. The amendment would require voter approval for changes in local growth plans.

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• Man in eminent domain case ends his holdout
A man's decision to sell the last house standing in the way of a $125 million business project marks the end of a landmark legal saga about property rights and private development. The six-year battle challenged a U.S. Supreme Court decision and ultimately led Ohio to make it more difficult for local governments to seize private property under the legal provision of eminent domain. Joe Horney, the last holdout, said he's glad the litigation is over.

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• Powder Mountain sues Weber commissioners
The developers who want to turn Powder Mountain into a resort town have filed a lawsuit against the Weber County Commission, contending commissioners are illegally blocking their choices for Town Council and mayor.

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• Vote expected soon on energy bills
In a familar refrain, parties involved say a legislative vote could come soon on a controversial and complex energy package. The bills would likely boost green energy, raise customer bills and reduce competition among utilities.

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• Gas prices shoot up across Canada on Friday as U.S. refineries affected by Ike
Motorists across Canada were hit with sharply higher gasoline prices Friday as hurricane Ike shut down some refineries on the U.S. Gulf coast, a jump that Prime Minister Stephen Harper said suggests gouging may be going on in some markets.

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• Clean Energy Solution - What is Plasma Gasification?
Plasma Gasification Process (PGP) is a thermal process that involves the application of intense heat to waste materials in a completely closed, controlled, and oxygen-starved environment. This process converts waste materials into a clean synthetic gas and heat that can be used to generate electricity.

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• Energy bill: Drowning in Washington
An energy summit is taking place Friday on Capitol Hill and all 100 Senators - including the presidential candidates - are invited to attend. But with all the partisan sniping on The Hill, it's hard to tell if a comprehensive energy bill will be signed into law anytime soon.

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• A Taxing Decision for Alternative Energy
T. Boone Pickens has been expending a lot of energy boosting the "Pickens Plan" to invest in natural gas and wind power. He might get more mileage if he devoted some of that time to persuading Congress to extend the tax credits that have helped fuel growth in the alternative energy field. If the credits are allowed to expire at the end of the year, the wind and solar industries may end up being as limp as a ship's sails on becalmed seas.

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• Oil futures edge lower as traders eye storm, dollar
Crude-oil futures traded lower early Thursday, as market participants watched the path of Hurricane Ike, which headed for the Gulf of Mexico, as well as movements in the U.S. dollar. Crude for October delivery fell 36 cents to $102.27 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex.

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• Gas prices set to go even lower
Gasoline prices dropped in the Inland Empire Wednesday for the 64th time in the past 65 days, with the possibility of more decreases bolstered by a decline in the price of crude oil to its lowest level since April 1.

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• Genetically Engineered Bacteria Could Make Cheaper Ethanol
A team of researchers made a discovery that could prove important for producing large quantities of cellulosic ethanol. Researchers from Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering and Mascoma Corporation in Lebanon, N.H., have, for the first time, genetically engineered bacteria to produce ethanol more efficiently from inedible cellulosic biomass, including wood, grass, and various waste materials.

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• OPEC decides to curb overall output through quotas
OPEC said Wednesday it would trim overall output by more than 500,000 barrels of oil a day by adhering closer to production quotas — a compromise meant to avoid a backlash from the biggest petroleum consuming nations and stop the rapid decline in oil prices.

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• Economist Says Expect to Spend More on Heating Bills
With energy at the top of the political agenda, representatives of state energy offices are in Kansas City hitting all the hot button issues. An economist with the National Petroleum Institute told member of the National Association of State Energy Offices that the average household could expect to see their heating bills go up by several five to six hundred dollars this winter because of higher fuel prices.

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• OPEC leans towards no formal change, for now
OPEC ministers meeting on Tuesday were expected to keep output targets steady, but stood poised to trim excess supply above agreed limits to bolster an oil market trading around five-month lows.

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• U.S. Dept. of Energy Installs SunPower's High-Efficiency Solar Array on Its Washington, D.C. Headquarters
SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR), a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency, solar cells, solar panels, and solar systems, today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has installed a 205-kilowatt SunPower solar-electric system atop the roof of the Forrestal Building in Washington, D.C. U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman dedicated the system at a ceremony being held at the facility today.

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• Energy Independence: It's About Demand, Not Supply
'Tis the political season, and so we’re treated to scenes of one group happily chanting “Drill, baby, drill!” while another group pledges more support for solar and wind power, while clean coal industry lobbyists throw convention parties for delegates and an oil billionaire buys ads to promote wind and natural gas.

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• Opec may have to cut oil supply as economy slows
Slower demand, an economic downturn and cheaper oil could convince Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) it needs to trim supply unofficially, but the producer group is expected to leave public output targets unchanged when it meets next week. Prices have plunged from a peak of more than $147 a barrel in July after leading oil exporter Saudi Arabia took a unilateral decision to pump at the fastest rate since 1981.

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• U.S. Gulf energy output slow to return after Gustav
Oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico continued to recover slowly in the wake of Hurricane Gustav on Friday as a second fierce storm threatened to enter the energy-rich region next week. Some 90.5 percent of U.S. Gulf oil production and 79.8 percent of its natural gas production remained shut as of 11:30 a.m. CDT (1630 GMT), from 95.2 percent and 87.5 percent respectively on Thursday, the Minerals Management Service said in a report.

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• School recess cutbacks overstated, report says
Reports that recess is vanishing as elementary schools strive to improve students’ scores on standardized tests have been overblown, according to a national report released earlier this month.

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• Cattlemen’s Capitol Concerns, COOL, Horse Slaughter, Veterinarian Shortage
On Friday, September 5, 2008, representatives from the livestock and meat industries briefed USDA Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Bruce Knight on a standardized affidavit that can be used throughout the cattle marketing chain to verify animals’ origin.

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• Nationalisation a blow to free market system
In the past few years even the few hold-outs - countries such as Libya, Cuba and North Korea - seemed on the point of acknowledging that markets, competition and private enterprise were the only rational way of organising economic life, regardless of politics or history or religion or national culture. But just as the triumph appeared to be complete, the innermost sanctum of the global capitalist system suddenly collapsed.

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• Sept. 11 Marked With Moment of Silence Lead by President, Other Ceremonies
President Bush led a moment of silence at the White House Thursday and other ceremonies were taking place in New York and Pennsylvania in honor of the 3,000 people who died Sept. 11, 2001, in the worst terrorist attack on American soil.

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• Schools fiasco sparks action by state board
In an attempt to prevent other school systems from ending up like Clayton County’s, the state Board of Education is looking at a proposal to give them the power to remove local board members, take over school systems and legislate who can run for office.

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• Congress should not provide more money for fence, Texas border officials say
Congress should reject the Bush administration's request for another $400 million to build fencing on the U.S.-Mexico border, a coalition of Texas border officials and business leaders said Wednesday.

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• State Voters Can Give Themselves Stronger Voice
Nov. 4 will be a seminal day. We the people will be able to gain a stronger voice by voting yes on a ballot question, "Shall the state Constitution Convention be convened to revise or amend the state Constitution?" This question appears every 20 years as provided for in our state constitution.

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• Thomas Says Constitution Forbids Racial Preference
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Tuesday that African-Americans are better served by colorblind programs than affirmative action.

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• More first-time test-takers passing high school exit exam
Faced with the possibility of not receiving a diploma, more California sophomores are passing the state-mandated high school exit exam on their first try, according to preliminary data released this week by the state Department of Education.

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• Controversial cross-border trucking program to move forward
A program allowing Mexican trucks unrestricted access to U.S. highways has been extended for two more years. Now an expert from Arizona State University will get on board.

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• Don’t trample the Constitution
A few days ago I was talking with a friend, a retired board chairman of one of our largest banks, and I asked him if he knew anything about the North American Union. He said no, and I suspect this is the case with the vast majority of citizens of our country.

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• How other states fixed schools
No better argument exists for a state takeover of a local school system than Clayton County, where an obstructionist board of education repelled offers of assistance from the state and caused the district’s loss of accreditation earlier this month. Unlike 25 other states, Georgia has no mechanism for a state takeover of an entire district.

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• NAFTA Renegotiation Has Ag, Energy Implications
Renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could put U.S. producers in a detrimental position, from a farm cost as well as an export standpoint. So says American Farm Bureau Federation trade economist Allison Specht, who is concerned about a request from a group of Mexican senators that their government renegotiate the agreement purportedly to guarantee sustainable rural development south of the border. If the U.S. refuses to review the nearly 15-year-old agreement, the group warns Mexico may file a World Trade Organization complaint against U.S. ag subsidies.

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• NOT SO FAST
U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak says the Great Lakes Compact is on a fast track to approval, and folks can ''kiss the Great Lakes goodbye'' if that happens. The compact, designed to protect the Great Lakes from large withdrawals, contains a loophole that would commercialize water, contends Stupak, D-Menominee. That would prevent the U.S. government from restricting future exploitation of the region's water, he said during a visit to Bay City on Thursday.

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• The Great North American Phone-In
Those who are angry about the possible creation of a North American Union and are tired of being ignored by elected officials who deny the NAUs existence have an opportunity to deal with both. Set the date on your calendar: September 16, 2008. That's the day scheduled in both Canada and the U.S. for "The Great North American Phone In." On that date, citizens of the United States and Canada are encouraged to call members of the U.S. Congress and the Canadian Parliament to voice opposition to the NAU. The purpose is to flood these centers of the "people's representatives" with phone calls to literally shut down their switchboards. Maybe that will get their attention.

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• U.N. Agency Eyes Web Anonymity Controls
A United Nations agency is quietly drafting technical standards, proposed by the Chinese government, to define methods of tracing the original source of Internet communications and potentially curbing the ability of users to remain anonymous.

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• OECD: Nations should adapt immigration to future demand
A new report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) says that its member nations should adapt their labor migration policies to likely future demand for workers in all areas of their economies. OECD countries include popular immigration destinations such as Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

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• Calls for investigation after GM seeds found in Scotland
ANTI-GM campaigners have reacted furiously after unauthorised GM seeds were discovered in a field of oilseed rape in Scotland. The findings came after GM material was discovered in trial sowings of a new seed variety, and Scottish environment minister Michael Russel said the risk could have been ‘very serious’.

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• NYC suspends school visits to U.N. over fire safety
The city and the United Nations, which have tussled for years over parking tickets and property taxes, are now squabbling over schoolchildren – specifically, whether it's safe for them to visit U.N. headquarters.

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• Do You Take Democracy for Granted?
The United Nations has declared 15th September 2008 the International Day of Democracy - A day to celebrate our right to free and fair elections allowing us a voice in how our nations are run.

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• U.N. chief to students: Act globally
It wasn't hard to figure out what the head of the United Nations was thinking during his first Garden State speech yesterday. In a half-hour-long talk to stu dents at Fairleigh Dickinson University, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon managed to utter the words "global," "globally" and "globalization" at least 30 times.

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• Shun meat, says U.N. climate chief
People should consider eating less meat as a way of combating global warming, says the U.N.'s top climate scientist. Rajendra Pachauri, who chairs the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), will make the call at a speech in London on Monday evening.

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• Sri Lanka: A Sad Statement from the U.N. Secretary General
The Sri Lankan Peace Secretariat views with some astonishment what purport to be highlights of a press briefing by the Secretary General of the United Nations in which he seems to be expressing concerns about recent military activities in Sri Lanka. Though ostensibly his worries are for civilians, the exhortations about ‘the principal of proportionality and the selection of targets’ seem intended to send a message.

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• EU sees lower euro zone 2008 growth, higher inflation
Euro zone economic growth will halve in 2008 from 2007 and inflation will be much higher because of financial turmoil, soaring commodity prices and housing market shocks, the European Commission said on Wednesday.

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• Congo hosts Sustainable development forum to lay Africa’s development foundations
The 6th Global Forum on Sustainable Development (GFSD) scheduled to be held in Congo (27- 30 October) will lay the foundations of development in Africa, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) representative in Brazzaville, Andre Kanden, said.

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• Terrorism and counterterrorism
A week ago the European Court of Justice annulled the implementation within the European Community of the United Nations sanctions regime against Al Qaeda, the Taliban and their associates. Although the court's judgment affects only a Saudi businessman, Yassin Abdullah Kadi, and the Al Barakaat International Foundation, which brought their cases to its attention, the Sept. 3 ruling is likely to have far-reaching consequences, well beyond the jurisdiction of the court itself.

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• U.N. Secretary-General Calls for Increased Attention to Connection Between Literacy, Health, Including HIV/AIDS
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on International Literacy Day on Monday called for increased attention to the connection between literacy and health, including HIV/AIDS issues, Xinhuanet reports. "Illiteracy has a direct impact on human health," Ban said in a statement, adding, "It prevents people from being able to read the instructions on a medicine bottle. It means that people are less likely to know facts about AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases."

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• U.N. labor chief demands policies for social justice
Unions, businesses and politicians must promote policies in concert so to prevent a backlash against “unbalanced, unfair and unsustainable” globalization, the head of the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) said today.

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• U.N. condemns rich nations
In criticism aimed primarily at the United States, Japan and the European Union, a United Nations report said rich donor nations have failed to deliver on promises to help the world's poorest countries and must increase aid by US$18 billion ($27 billion) a year. The report also criticised the failure of rich and poor nations to reach a trade pact in seven years of talks that would expand global trade opportunities for developing countries to reduce poverty.

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• Policy coherence crucial to ensure equal globalization gains
Unions, businesses and politicians must promote policies in concert so to prevent a backlash against “unbalanced, unfair and unsustainable” globalization, the head of the United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO) said today.

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• Will They Ever Learn?
  By Larry Pratt
Alaska Lieutenant Governor Sam Parnell appears to have lost a squeaker in his effort to unseat anti-self defense Alaska Representative Don Young. It did not have to end this way. Parnell should have won walking away.

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• The death of Orthodox Islam
  By Alan Caruba
Wars are won and lost by the calculations made by those that start them. The Japanese Empire destroyed itself when it attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. By contrast, the Vietnamese War was lost because President Lyndon B. Johnson never understood that it was, first, a war of liberation from colonial France and, second, a civil war. Within the LBJ White House and over at the CIA, no one had any realistic idea of who they were fighting.

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• Inhofe, Voinovich Co-Sponsor the CAIR Reinstatement Act of 2008
  By Marc Morano
U.S. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, today joined Senator George Voinovich (R-OH), Ranking Member of the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, to introduce legislation in response to the July 11, 2008, decision by the D.C. Circuit Court vacating the Clean Air Interstate Rule