AltWeeklies Wire
Marriage: Turning a Tradition into a Rightnew
Same-sex couples in Idaho take a road trip to say "We do." If and when Idaho will recognize same-sex marriage is anyone's guess, although one statistician predicts that it could happen as soon as 2011. Local LGBT activists and lawmakers think that may be a bit ambitious.
Boise Weekly |
Rachael Daigle |
06-17-2009 |
LGBT
How the Energy Industry is Moving Out of the Dark Agesnew
The energy revolution doesn't hinge on technological discovery. Indeed, the vast majority of technology it will draw on has existed for years, if not decades. The energy revolution is about something much more difficult to change: our own human behavior.
Metro Spirit |
Matt Spaur |
06-17-2009 |
Environment
Schoo's Out Forever At Two Oregon Jailsnew
Mount Hood Community College -- the community partner that has led GED classes at Inverness Jail and the Multnomah County Detention Center for nearly 10 years -- is ending its GED program as it grapples with a tight budget.
Willamette Week |
Beth Slovic |
06-17-2009 |
Crime & Justice
How Oregon's Largest Teachers Union Helped Shape Charter Schools Billnew
Online charter school supporters have obtained emails between a lobbyist for the state's teachers union and an Oregon Department of Education staff attorney. Those emails, they say, show that the lawyer for the ostensibly neutral state agency tinkered with a bill to serve the union's interests and contradicted written instructions from Oregon State Board of Education chairman Duncan Wyse.
Willamette Week |
Nigel Jaquiss |
06-17-2009 |
Education
Is West Texas' Water Supply at Risk of Radioactive Contamination?new
For years, Waste Control has touted its 1,300-acre dump site as nearly geologically perfect for containing radioactive waste for tens of thousands of years. The company’s primary selling point has been what it calls the "almost impenetrable red bed clay" in which the waste will be buried. But the red bed is leaking.
The Texas Observer |
Forrest Wilder |
06-17-2009 |
Environment
Have San Francisco's Service Animal Laws Gone to the Dogs?new
In San Francisco, snakes, lizards, pit bulls, chickens, pigeons, and rodents have all been declared service animals, hauled onto public transportation, housed legally in city apartments, and, essentially, given the full run of the city.
SF Weekly |
Joe Eskenazi |
06-17-2009 |
Animal Issues
Texas Creates Task Force on Sexual Slavery as One Trafficking Case Wraps Upnew
Despite the fact that three out of four victims of sex trafficking in the United States are U.S. citizens, House Bill 4009, now awaiting Governor Rick Perry's signature, would be the first state-level legislation to assist domestic victims.
San Antonio Current |
Greg Harman |
06-17-2009 |
Crime & Justice
The Battle Over Biofuelsnew
As plant-based fuels are increasingly criticized from both left and right, UC Berkeley's Chris Somerville is leading the effort to perfect them.
East Bay Express |
Robert Gammon |
06-17-2009 |
Environment
Dying to Build: Why Texas is the Deadliest State for Construction Workersnew
A construction worker dies in Texas every 2 1/2 days. The causes are far from mysterious: lax enforcement of labor and safety regulations, too many overtime hours without rest breaks and a lack of safety training and equipment.
The Texas Observer |
Melissa del Bosque |
06-17-2009 |
Business & Labor
Take the High Road with One of Orange County's Medical-Marijuana Delivery Servicesnew
We make deliveries with Racer X, a part-time driver for one of some two dozen cannabis clubs in Orange County that offer members door-to-door marijuana-delivery services.
GM Hits the Rocks: Will it be a 'Surgical' Bankruptcy?new
GM will now concentrate on small cars, and it is expending a lot of capital on the Chevrolet Volt, a radical plug-in hybrid still due in late 2010 that can travel 40 miles on its lithium-ion batteries alone.
New Haven Advocate |
Jim Motavalli |
06-16-2009 |
Business & Labor
As a 24-Year-Old with Down Syndrome, Trevor Falk is a Hot Commoditynew
The population of disabled residents in private group homes in Texas has grown to about 14,000, and the industry generates about $896 million in revenue from state funds alone, according to the state's figures from 2008. It does so by targeted people like Falk.
Houston Press |
Paul Knight |
06-16-2009 |
Business & Labor
GM's Bankruptcy Marks the End of an Era of Second-Best Arrogancenew
The truth is we all lose and, in a sense, it is the end of an era. But romanticizing GM's past, particularly the past several years, when we've watched it fall further and further behind Asian automakers in terms of affordability and technology isn’t healthy either.
Pasadena Weekly |
Jennifer Hadley |
06-16-2009 |
Business & Labor
Connecticut's Needle Exchange Programs Face the Chopping Blocknew
New Haven launched one of the first needle-exchange programs in the country in 1990, and it became a national model for curbing the spread of AIDS through intravenous drug use. Gov. Jodi Rell's plan to eliminate the entirety of the $455,000 the state spends yearly on needle exchange is pennywise and pound foolish, advocates say, ensuring a spike in infections.
New Haven Advocate |
Andy Bromage |
06-16-2009 |
Science
How Do You Take the Rust Out of the Rust Belt?new
It's a question politicians and policymakers have been asking themselves for years. Now, with a new administration in the White House and stimulus money at the ready, local lawmakers and nonprofits are looking for ways to funnel some much-needed capital into revitalizing Great Lakes cities.
