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« February 2008 | Main | April 2008 »
Monday, March 31, 2008 - 18:02:28
Going home
Before I make any more posting mistakes! I misblogged, I admit it. I'm just human. The open line starts here.Another Bush success story
Chalk up another hit on the U.S. from the Bush administration: The New York Times, looking at Congressional Budget Office data, reports that the number of Americans who'll need food stamps is projected to be higher this year than since the program began nearly 50 years ago. Layoffs, food and fuel prices are the culprits.
This was posted earlier on the Eat Arkansas blog by mistake. (It was an error, not a pun.)
Drop that gauge
The state Health Department says a radioactive gauge, in a yellow plastic transport case, turned up missing from a construction firm vehicle near Brinkley. It could pose a health risk if carried for an extended period of time. The gauge, which measures soil moisture, weighs 90 pounds. Anyone finding the gauge should call their nearest police or 1-800-633-1735, the radioactive materials program.Short day at the legislature
It's Opening Day, both for baseball and for the state's special legislative session. Baseball has six months ahead of it. The session has about three days. If today's activities are any indication, they will be about as leisurely as a mid-summer nightcap. All issues under consideration breezed through committee with hardly any questions or objections.The severance tax -- a 1.5 percent tax on shale gas for the first 3-4 years of a well, and 5 percent thereafter -- made it through both House and Senate Committees. The tax is expected to pass the full legislature without issue.
In other business, the House Judiciary Committee approved a correction of a botched bill from the 2007 Session that inadvertently allowed a child of any age to marry with the agreement of their parents. The new age would be 16 for a girl and 17 for a boy, assuming parental consent. Without consent marriage would be barred to both sexes until 18. (If you're 14 and itching to get hitched, act now: Marriages conducted under the previous provisions will be valid unless slapped down by a judge.)
The House Education Committee approved a bill that would extend the deadline for for school districts to be declared unitary from June 14 to the end of the year
The bills will undergo further committee vetting tomorrow. They should come up for a vote before the full legislature by the end of the week.
Rehm's Moving
Quarters are usually cramped for the monthly speakers series at the Clinton School for Public Service, but word comes now that an upcoming talk by NPR's Diane Rehm has been moved to Robinson Auditorium in order to accommodate an expected overflow crowd.Rehm, the host of NPR's "Diane Rehm Show," will speak Thursday, April 3, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. in the Barry L. Travis Exhibition Hall at Robinson Auditorium. She will sign copies of her book, "Finding My Voice" afterward.
Seats are still available. Reserve yours by calling (501)683-5239 or sending an e-mail to: publicprograms@clintonschool.uasys.edu. All previous seat reservations are still valid.
Big Love
A new study from George Mason University finds that the big chain retail stores --including Arkansas-based Wal-Mart -- vastly outperformed FEMA when it came to helping devastated communities in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
From Canada's National Post:
"...chief executive officer of Wal-Mart, Lee Scott, gathered his subordinates and ordered a memorandum sent to every single regional and store manager in the imperiled area. 'A lot of you are going to have to make decisions above your level," was Scott's message to his people. 'Make the best decision that you can with the information that's available to you at the time, and above all, do the right thing.'... While the Federal Emergency Management Agency fumbled about, doing almost as much to prevent essential supplies from reaching Louisiana and Mississippi as it could to facilitate it, Wal-Mart managers performed feats of heroism. In Kenner, La., an employee crashed a forklift through a warehouse door to get water for a nursing home. A Marrero, La., store served as a barracks for cops whose homes had been submerged. In Waveland, Miss., an assistant manager who could not reach her superiors had a bulldozer driven through the store to retrieve disaster necessities for community use, and broke into a locked pharmacy closet to obtain medicine for the local hospital...."